Henry VI and the politics of kingship / John Lovett Watts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watts, John (John Lovett), 1964- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Henry VI, King of England, 1421-1471.

Henry.

Monarchy--Great Britain--History.

Monarchy.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1399-1485.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--Henry VI, 1422-1461.

Great Britain--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 399 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Henry VI & the Politics of Kingship

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Henry VI (1422-61) was one of the most spectacularly inadequate kings of England, and his reign dissolved into the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Yet he held on to his throne for thirty-nine years and, for almost thirty of them, without much difficulty. What was the nature of Henry's inadequacy, and why did it have such ambivalent and complicated results? Since the 1970s most histories of fifteenth-century England have focused on the individual interests and private connections of politicians as a means of making sense of politics. By contrast, this 1996 work argues that we can understand what happened in Henry VI's reign only if we look at common interests and public connections as well. Ultimately it is the problem of establishing royal authority which emerges as paramount, with the supposedly factious and 'overmighty' nobility appearing as doomed but devoted servants of the state.

Contents:

1. Introduction: ideas and politics in fifteenth-century history

2. The conceptual framework. The norms of kingship in the later middle ages. The ideological impact of the civil wars. The political ideas of the nobility

3. Government. National government. Local government

4. Features of Henry VI's polity. The problem of the king's personality. The minority and its legacy

5. The years of transition, 1435-1445. The changing forms of government. The formation of a royal regime. Authority and politics, 1439-1445. Conclusion

6. The rule of the court, 1445-1450. The workings of the 'personal rule'. Suffolk and the household. Suffolk's policy and the nobility, 1445-1448. The decline and fall of Suffolk's regime, 1448-1450. Conclusion

7. The search for authority, 1450-1461. York and the common voice, 1450-1452. Somerset and the restoration of government, 1450-1453. The demise of the king, 1453-1456. The rule of the lords in the 1450s. The anarchy, 1456-1459.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (pages [367]-385) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-58317-6

0-511-00197-5