The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown by Nathen Amin

Author:Nathen Amin [Amin, Nathen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Biography
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 2017-08-14T22:00:00+00:00

16

In Defence of the King

1431–1436

The carefully orchestrated trial and politically expedient execution of Joan of Arc failed to have any significant impact on the immediate war in France, much to Cardinal Beaufort’s dismay. The response of the Armagnac French leadership to the news of the Maid’s death was muted, and they pressed ahead with their offensive campaign against Bedford’s forces.

The cardinal remained in Rouen alongside the young king of England throughout the summer of 1431, overseeing the general administration of Normandy and propping up the regime with another series of loans between June and September, totalling almost £6,000 in gold. When petitioned by Gloucester and the Council in London to defer repayments of pre-existing loans by a few months, the cardinal not only readily agreed, but offered to lend another 10,000 marks to the king, an offer that was accepted.1 His money was put to good use, prolonging the siege at Louviers and providing funds for King Henry’s planned coronation in Paris towards the end of the year. Without Beaufort capital, it is debatable whether either would have been possible, such was the dire state of the crown finances.

Louviers was situated twenty miles south of Rouen and had been recaptured by the French in December 1429, ending a decade of English control. Bedford, now able to concentrate on military matters while Cardinal Beaufort oversaw the more mundane aspects of governance, was infuriated by the loss of a fortress that protected the road between Paris and Rouen, and prioritised its return. One of the men ordered to help retake Louviers was Thomas Beaufort, the king’s ‘very dear cousin’, who was dispatched on 18 May 1431.2 He would not live to see the town surrender, passing away on 3 October, just three weeks before the conclusion of the five-month siege. The circumstances of his death, much like that of his elder brother Henry at Rouen in 1418, are unclear. The count of Perche had spent most his adulthood either imprisoned or serving in France, and left no wife or children.3 It was yet another devastating blow for Margaret Holland, a second son perishing overseas while a third continued to languish in captivity.

The priority for the English council in France was the coronation of Henry VI, a political necessity to counteract the crowning of Charles VII in Reims. Having played a minimal role in the king’s first coronation in London, Cardinal Beaufort was determined to be at the forefront of the latest ceremony. The English royal court departed from Rouen at the end of November, defended by a guard of a thousand archers, some on horseback and many on foot. No chances were taken with the king’s protection. Conspicuous alongside young Henry each step of the way was the proud cardinal, resplendent, as always, in his flowing red robes and cap, and closely accompanied by his nephew Edmund, count of Mortain. Following were the dukes of Bedford and York, along with the earls of Suffolk, Salisbury, Warwick, Ormonde, Oxford and Huntingdon.

The royal procession

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