How far was the outbreak of civil war in 1455 a direct result of Henry

VIs inadequacies as a King?

The outbreak of civil war in 1455 was the result of a number of causes and
factors, to be examined and evaluated in this essay. Some of the main factors
which undoubtedly helped to cause the civil war included: Henry VIs pious
personality and gentle demeanour, his mental illness, disastrous foreign policy in
regard to France and the lack of authority in dealing with nobles feuds. Whilst it
seems unfair to pin the cause of the outbreak of civil war on any one factor, it is
fair to say that a lot of the causes were certainly related to Henrys inadequacies
either directly or indirectly; all that remains is to evaluate the culpability of the
individual factors. One should note however that it seems likely that the
statement will prove true, as in the words of John Wethamstede Abbot of St
Albans said in 1456, Henry VI could not resist those who led him to unwise
decisions which will be evident at the roots of many of the causes.
The outbreak of civil war in 1455 being a direct result of Henrys inadequacies as
King has a lot going for it; the Kings favouritism bred resentment amongst the
nobles, his inflexible desire for peace led to French lands being lost, and his
insanity in 1453 allowed York to get a taste for power. All of these factors were
direct results of Henrys inadequacies, and a good place to examine first is
Henrys character: it is well documented that Henry VI was perceived as a weak,
pious man, lacking in political judgement and often picking favourites in court.
Henry VI spent much of his time praying, and following the advice of his
favourites whilst neglecting other nobles in equal capacity. A particularly striking
example of this is in the way Henry favoured Edmund Beaufort, Duke of
Somerset. Somerset was a member of the Kings council, and enjoyed political
favours, gifts of fiefdoms and titles; and the revenue these gifts brought with
them. Similarly to Somerset, another favourite of Henrys was William de la Pole,
the Earl of Suffolk, who was made captain of Calais later on; a role from which
York was deprived. This favouritism from the king was instrumental in breeding
resentful nobles; it was not only York who was excluded from Henrys favour
Neville E. Warwick also fell out of favour with the King following a quarrel with
Somerset. This favouritism was dangerous, because it helped create factional
politics, and would eventually emerge into the Yorkist and Lancastrian camps. In
addition to factional politics being born, Englands appalling foreign policy under
Henry VI, which was clearly a direct result of the Kings inadequacies, was
important to. Henrys desire for peace was to come at any cost. Subsequently,
disregarding the large numbers of English living in Maine and Anjou, as well as
the nobles such as York who received a lot of revenue and soldiers from French
lands, the King brought about the truce of Tours in 1444 whereby Margaret of
Anjou was betrothed to him without a dowry, and in return the English had to
give Anjou and Maine. The terms were initially kept secret because it was known
how unpopular they would be. Either way, the truce soon ended when the
English attacked the Breton town of Fougres in 1449, most probably with the
approval of Suffolk. The French then captured Normandy in 1450, Gascony in

1451, and Bordeaux in 1453. The loss of all these French land created a lot of
English refugees and angry nobles, but worst of all the honour of the King was in
question. These losses were also part of the reason that Cade led a rebellion in
1450; Kent wanted York reinstated because they were angry about French losses
amongst other grievances. The Kings mental illness was also crucial. Following
the news of Bordeauxs loss, the King had lapsed into his first bout of insanity in
1443. This gave Richard, Duke of York the opportunity he needed to escape from
the political wilderness. Being Henrys heir presumptive, York was appointed
protector, despite strong opposition from Somerset, and Margaret of Anjou.
Henry madness allowed York to create a power base; he appointed Richard
Neville, Earl of Salisbury as his chancellor. York wasted little time in throwing
Somerset into the tower, and although this angered the Queen, in general York
did his outmost to bring law and order to the land. Be that as it may, in
December 1454 when the King recovered from madness, he released Somerset,
and sacked York and his supporters. They reacted by instigating the first battle of
St Albans on the 22nd May 1455, whereupon the Kings column was attacked, and
Somerset and Northumberland were killed; and according to the essay title was
the start of civil war. To sum up then, a lot of the key causes for civil war
breaking out in 1455 were primarily down to Henrys favouritism, madness, and
foreign policy all of which were direct results of Henrys inadequacies as King,
and which were hugely important in starting of the Wars of the Roses.
On the other hand, one could argue that there a many factors involved in
causing the outbreak of civil war in 1455, which were not direct results of Henrys
inadequacies as King; though they may be indirectly linked to them. One such
considerable factor was the forceful and interfering queen behind the King
Margaret of Anjou. Margaret of Anjou was the main factor in turning York against
the Lancastrians; true it was Henry who had sacked York as protector in 1444,
but it was almost certainly Margaret of Anjou who had persuaded Henry to do so.
Margaret was convinced that York was after the crown, and when she had a son
Prince Edward, she became even more determined to ensure he got his
inheritance. Indeed, after eight years of childless marriage, some suspicion was
cast on the legitimacy of the child, and combined with Margarets preferential
treatment of Somerset; it heightened tensions with York and his followers
considerably, further inflaming factional politics. In addition to this, Margaret of
Anjou was also French, and would therefore always be unpopular with the English
nobility. In taking over the Kings affairs, her position was even more
questionable, because being a woman, as well as French, she faced strong
opposition from a lot of nobles, made worse by her favouritism towards the
Suffolk and Somerset, whose opponents felt alienated by the crown. So whilst
Margaret of Anjous position could not be classed the decisive cause for civil war
in 1455, her position as a strong, French queen, and her alienation of York and
his allies, was deeply influential in the outbreak of civil war a factor which was
not a direct cause of Henrys inadequacies as King.
Another important cause of the outbreak of civil war in 1455 was Yorks
indisputable blood claim to the throne; which was quite unrelated to Henrys
inadequacies as King. According to primogeniture, kingship followed the line of

first born males; therefore, Richard, Duke of York who was directly related to
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York and Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence
should have been king, as his was a very strong claim to the throne. Regardless,
Henry VI succeeded, and York was his heir presumptive, which in itself was
potentially dangerous. In point of fact, this strong blood claim, combined with the
fact that York was the most powerful man in England apart from the King made
the Queens enmity towards him most unwise. In other words, because of Yorks
position, nobles opposed to the favouritism of the King and Queen would be
drawn to him later as their leader, particularly later following the parliament of
devils. However, leading up to the outbreak of civil war in 1455 York had been
busy trying to cement his position; he was married into the Neville family who
became his allies, he used Somersets loss of Normandy as propaganda
destabilise Somersets position, and he advocated the way in which England had
been stable under his protector-ship. All of this propaganda was helping York gain
the support of both the commoners and the nobility. Therefore it is clear that
Yorks strong position and attributes would pose a significant threat to the
throne, and in 1455 at the first battle of St Albans, one could argue that York
actually started the civil war by instigating the battle; he undermined the Kings
authority by attacking his column with Warwick, and they killed the Kings
favourites Somerset and Northumberland, creating blood feuds which would take
the dynastic war far further than a fight for the crown. All of this had little directly
related to Henrys inadequacies as King, as it was more Yorks power and enmity
towards the Queen which helped to cause civil war in 1455.
In addition to Yorks claim to the throne, another closely related factor in causing
civil war to break out in 1455 was the financial weakness of the crown. This
factor is often argued to be a result of Henrys favouritism and rampant
spending, but it is not is not entirely a direct result of his inadequacies; it also
correlates to the political and economic crisis in which the country was
embroiled, which was related to the defeats in France. Following the loss English
land in France, there was a trade slump, the value of money decreased and land
became less profitable. This, combined with the Kings poor management of
accounts i.e. gifts of land to his favourites, and spending large sums of money on
gowns and hats, left the crown in debt to a lot of nobles. The decline is perfectly
illustrated in the fact that during the last five years of Henrys rule, he was
making a third of what Richard II had been turning over. This angered a lot of
nobles, York in particular, who had lost a lot of lands in France, and was owed
38,000 by the King. The war in France was costing a lot of money too, and
considering that a lot of the nobles had more wealth than was necessary for their
statures, crowns debts and the continued favouritism towards certain nobles
made the King unpopular and weak. For this reason, the financial weakness of
the crown did help to cause the outbreak of civil war in 1455, although it was
probably one of the smaller factors. It certainly didnt help the King, and
although it made him unpopular, it cannot be classed as important as other
causes such as Henrys madness or foreign policy. Nevertheless, although the
King was partly to blame for the crowns debts, they werent entirely a result of
his inadequacies.

Lastly, Bastard feudalism, and feuds between rival nobles played a big part in
bringing about civil war in 1455. This is most evident in the feud between the
Nevilles and the Percys, who fought in the north due to the Percys frustration at
the Nevilles growing wealth - and because a percy had been killed in Scotland
with the Nevilles. As a consequence, law and order collapsed, with each family
raiding the others lands, whilst the King did nothing except to ask them to stop.
This conflicts aura grew with the support of Somerset for the Percys following a
dispute over inheritance; and because of Yorks enmity towards Somerset and
marriage links with the Nevilles, joined in too. In turn, another feud developed
between Lord Cromwell and the Duke of Exeter; and because Cromwell was
friends with the Nevilles, Exeter joined the Percys. These feuds festered on,
primarily because of the lack of authority from the King, who ought to have
adjudicated. Instead, these feuds would emerge into the Yorkist and Lancastrian
sides; and once it became a blood feud following St Albans, it would ensure that
the dynastic war would last much longer. Thus although the feuds themselves
did not directly lead to the battle of St Albans in 1455, they did embitter the
conflict, and made peace very unlikely. In answer to the essay title, noble feuding
was not a direct result of Henrys inadequacies as King, though again, it was
related, and despite not playing a particularly big role in bringing about civil war
in 1455, it helped develop the Lancastrian and Yorkist sides.
In conclusion then, one would have to surmise that the outbreak of civil war in
1455 probably was a direct result of Henry VIs inadequacies as King. This is
because nearly all the causes of civil war link back to the Kings madness, his
favouritism or his foreign policy. The Kings madness gave York the opportunity to
cement his position and get a taste for power during his role as protector; which
made him and his allies all the more embittered when the king recovered and
sacked them. This favouritism also meant that a lot of feuds took place; and as
the weak and pious King was never prepared to adjudicate, these feuds
inevitably got out of hand. With over-mighty nobles, in a country which had
bastard feudalism, Henry should never have allowed feuds to fester, as it meant
that a lot of disenchanted nobles turned to York for leadership. Equally important
in starting civil war was Henrys dreadful foreign policy; in agreeing to the treaty
of Tours in 144, he freely gave up Anjou and Maine, angering both the nobles
who received revenues from these lands, and the English settlers who had to
vacate. Followed up by the loss of Normandy, Gascony, and Bordeaux, the nobles
were furious with Henry and peasants too English defeats in France helped
cause the Cade rebellion. Admittedly, one could argue that Margaret of Anjou
being a forceful French queen behind the Crown was also important in starting
Civil war. After all, her position as powerful woman, made her unpopular in the
first place; but her persistent enmity towards York was positively nave. York was
a blood claimant to the throne, who arguably had stronger links to the royal line
than Henry VI. Therefore the queen should not have made him an outcast- which
would eventually turn him against the King himself. Another point one should
also mention, is that the Crowns financial weakness werent entirely down to
Henrys exuberant spending; the trade slump following the los of lands had
greatly reduced revenues, and this cannot be directly linked to the Kings

inadequacies. In conclusion then, although Queen Margaret, the crows financial

weaknesses, and Yorks legitimate claim to the throne were all vital in causing
the outbreak of civil war in 1455, the personal inadequacies simply played a
more important role: Had Henry not chosen favourites York might have stayed
loyal to him, had he not agreed to the treaty of Tours it is unlikely that as much
land would have been lost, and had he not fallen mad, York would never have
been protector. These factors proved crucial in causing civil war to break out in
1455, and all were direct results of Henrys inadequacies as King either through
his madness, or through his lack of political judgement.