The Royal Demesne in English History: 55 (Routledge Library Editions: The Medieval World) by B.P. Wolffe

Author:B.P. Wolffe [Wolffe, B.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780429558801
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2019-07-07T22:00:00+00:00

3. THE ‘YORKIST’ ACT OF RESUMPTION OF 1455–6

To end the story of the Lancastrian resumption at this point on a note of success and co-operation between king and parliament would, of course, be unrealistic. While it is certainly true that in some ways the summer of 1453 must have appeared the most auspicious point in Henry VI’s period of personal rule, in others it was the most disastrous. Even the final loss of Gascony may have been a blessing in disguise, but the king’s first attack of helpless insanity, which followed within a brief time of his speech of thanks to parliament,51 was an overwhelming catastrophe. This was probably due to enforced constant attention to affairs of state since 1450 which proved entirely beyond his powers to sustain. It brought to nothing all attempts to create a strong and solvent kingship and shattered any illusion that this could ever be attained under such a king. Politics degenerated into an open struggle for power between York and the queen.

In these radically changed circumstances less than two years passed before a petition for a further resumption was submitted.52 This petition was presented in the first session of the 1455–6 parliament which ended on 31 July 1455.53 Less than two months previously the Yorkist lords had taken the field against the king’s Household at St Albans. As a result they were in forcible control of the government, were apprehensive lest parliament would not approve their actions and had made strenuous efforts to influence the elections.54 Undoubtedly their endeavours were sufficiently successful to enable them to give an anti-Lancastrian bias to this petition.55 Yet it is important to realize that all sections calculated to infringe the king’s prerogative were carefully removed before this petition was accepted. The act itself in its final form cannot therefore be considered partisan.56 However, in the autumn of 1455 the king again became totally incapacitated57 and York held the office of Protector from 17 November 1455 until 25 February 1456 when the king appeared in person in parliament and relieved him of it. Consequently for much of the period during which petitions for exemption were being submitted to the Lords spiritual and temporal the Yorkist lords were in complete control.58 How they used this act of resumption to carry out a thorough reduction of annuities and pensions still held by members of the king’s Household is shown by the survival of the original petitions for exemption as submitted by grantees, with the comments of the ‘Lords spiritual and temporal’ upon them, scaling down their grants before any exemption was allowed.59

50. Rot. Parl, v, 246–7. The details of the assignment given appear to be incomplete. They do not amount to 10,000 marks. The exchequer copy (K.R., Mem. Rolls, E. 159/231 (33 Hen. VI), ‘coinmunia’, Mich., m.39), is identical, but a copy in Ancient Petitions (S.C.8/24/1187 B) has an additional item at the end of the list which is crossed out.

51. Possibly in July and certainly by early August 1453.

52. The

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.