Birth of the Yorkist Faction

In September 1450, Richard of York suddenly abandoned his post as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and returned to England.

During the Cade Rebellion of that summer, the rebels had demanded that York (among others) should be elevated to the King’s Council. Even more provocatively, their leader had assumed the epithet of ‘Mortimer’. This was the family name of York’s mother and an allusion to York’s potential claim to the throne of England.

York himself had remained silent, away in Ireland, whilst all this was going on. Nevertheless, it did not stop many from wondering whether he may have had a hand in instigating the uprising.

When York returned, he initially claimed that his only desire was to meet with King Henry VI to reassure him of his loyalty and clear his good name. However, recent events and the unbidden manner of his return inevitably raised the prospect of ulterior motives.

So, what was Richard really trying to achieve in 1450? Were his intentions as honourable and well-meaning as he claimed? Or was he a self-serving opportunist?

A Year of Disasters

At the beginning of 1450 Richard of York had been in Ireland, far away from the court. He would remain far away as a series of disasters plunged the regime into crisis during the first half of the year.

In the spring, a truce with France in the Hundred Years’ War broke down. Within a few short months a large French army overran the English holdings in Normandy following a string of humiliating defeats. The fallout from the debacle claimed the life of Henry VI’s principal minister, the Duke of Suffolk; murdered whilst attempting to flee to the continent.

Then, in the summer, a major peasant uprising plunged the country into further chaos. The rebels even forced the King to flee from London. They ran amok in the capital for several days before the situation was finally brought back under control.

*The Cade Rebellion unleashed several days of chaos in the capital*

But at the end of August the rebellion was crushed. It seemed like the immediate crises had passed, for good or ill.

York Returns

Then, in the febrile atmosphere of late summer, York chose to return from Ireland unbidden. He landed near Denbigh in Wales on 7^th September.

Why had York chosen this precise moment to return? No one can deny that the news reaching Richard in Ireland must have been most disturbing. Normandy was in flames; Suffolk and several leading courtiers were dead and a chaotic peasants’ revolt had ravaged the capital. York may well have been preparing to return for some time. Perhaps the news of Cade’s rampage had been the last straw that prompted him to act.

However, there was no denying that the deaths of important courtiers like Suffolk, Moleyns and Fiennes, earlier that year, had left a void at the heart of government. Given the deteriorated situation, it is not hard to see how Richard may have reasoned that this was his opportunity to step in and fill that void.

Richard and Henry

Aside from the King himself, Richard was the leading member of England’s nobility in 1450. He was also, since the death of Gloucester and in the absence of royal issue, the obvious heir to the throne. That such a senior magnate should be excluded from the heart of government at a time of crisis seemed unconscionable to many. Certainly, this had been the view expressed by the Cade rebels. And, by September 1450, Richard himself seems to have come to share it.

From Henry’s point of view, Richard’s unbidden return was troubling. Throughout the year his regime had faced popular dissent and open rebellion which had increasingly been associated with York’s name. The rebels had made it very clear they wanted rid of the likes of the Suffolks, Fiennes and Somersets – men whom Henry trusted. Instead, they wanted York. So why had York returned, Henry must have wondered? Was it just to clear his name? Or was it, as some suspected, a naked power grab?

York’s Good Name

Henry despatched agents to Wales to delay York and discover his intentions. The meeting between Henry’s men and York’s entourage was, by all accounts, a very tense affair. Both parties were wary of the other’s intentions. York wrote to the King to explain his presence in Wales, claiming that he was concerned that ‘language has been used about me in your presence to my dishonour and reproach’. York went on to declare that his only intention was to come before the King to personally reassure him of his loyalty.

Initially this was enough to reassure Henry. However, as Richard made his way to the capital, his entourage grew as various knights and noblemen joined with him. Many of them probably believed York was about to be given an important position in government. Doubtless many hoped to profit from York’s rising fortunes by ingratiating themselves early in the Duke’s favours. But York’s growing entourage must have looked increasingly menacing to Henry’s court.

York’s Call for Justice and Reform

In October, York wrote again to Henry, and it was clear his agenda had evolved. Now he not only sought to clear his name but openly offered his services to help the King reform the government. In his letter, he warned of widespread rumours to the effect that ‘justice is not duly administered’. York now offered to help Henry clear out the rotten apples and set things right.

It was now clear that York intended to place himself at the heart of government as the King’s principal advisor.

Henry’s response inevitably fell a long way short of Richard’s expectations. He offered to form a council to investigate Richard’s concerns. Richard was offered a place on the council but not the top job.

*Richard of York and Edmund of Somerset arguing before Henry VI*

It now seemed increasingly clear that Somerset was being lined up to lead the government. In a way, it was an understandable choice. Henry knew Somerset well and clearly trusted the man. But Somerset was not a popular choice in many quarters. He had, after all, overseen the disastrous defeat in Normandy earlier that year.

York was far from happy but chose to bide his time until Parliament could meet that November.

Parliament Meets

Parliament met in London on 23^rd November. The atmosphere was tense, and the threat of violence was in the air. Angry former soldiers and disposed refugees from France made way to the capital to vent their anger. York’s badge of the falcon and fetterlock was provocatively raised by persons unknown only to be torn down (also by persons unknown) and replaced by the royal arms. Bills of complaint were in wide circulation accusing various members of Henry’s court of treason.

York succeeded in getting his man, Sir William Oldhall, elected as Speaker. This allowed York to push his agenda. York’s faction pressed for, and got, Parliament to approve an Act of Resumption. Its aim being to re-appropriate Crown lands shared out to various court favourites over the past decade. It also put in place an oversight committee to administer any future such grants. Restraints on spending by the Royal Household were also pushed through. The Yorkist party also raised the issue of unfair taxation and extortions.

However, all this served only as a prelude for putting forward a list of undesirable courtiers, whom York wanted removed from power.

Justice for Traitors

The more hysterical elements in Parliament demanded that ‘traitors’ be brought to justice. They also wanted Gloucester to be posthumously exonerated of treason. York himself was keen to persuade Parliament to impeach Somerset for his actions in Normandy. Doubtless York hoped that such a move would sideline Somerset and leave the way open for him to lead the King’s Council.

However, events began spiralling out of control, going beyond anything York had likely intended.

On 30^th November, Westminster Hall was stormed by an armed rabble shouting ‘justice for traitors’. The next day, the Duke of Somerset’s residence was stormed by a mob, baying for his blood. Things had got so out of hand that Thomas Courtney, one of York’s allies, had to send his retinue to rescue Somerset. Courtney had Somerset spirited away to the Tower of London for his own safety whilst a mob looted his lodgings.

York pressed on regardless and even succeeded in getting Somerset impeached on 1^st December, but things were clearly getting badly out of control by this time. York had not planned for the chaos that was unfolding on London’s streets. He and the Duke of Norfolk were forced to hastily muster their retainers to clear the streets of rabble and restore some semblance of order.

Undesirables

Parliament resumed in January. Although York enjoyed strong support in the Commons, the Lords were less enthusiastic. In total the reformers pressed for as many as 29 members of Henry’s court to be censured and banned from the King’s presence. The Yorkist faction accused them of corruption and treason and even demanded they be stripped of their wealth. This list bore a strikingly unfortunate similarity to lists circulating amongst the Cade rebels the previous summer.

Many amongst the nobility feared that it was nothing but an excuse for packing the court with York’s men. For many, a government packed with York favourites was even less appealing than the current arrangement, whatever its failings.

In the end, the Yorkists were unable to dislodge Somerset or, indeed, most of the 29 individuals on the list. Only a few of the more genuinely notorious individuals were ultimately removed from court. In the end the net effect of Yorkist efforts is best summed up by the Annales Rerum Anglicarum:

“…the Commons petitioned the king to remove several of his familiars, but nothing came of it.”

[Annales Rerum Anglicarum, January 1451]

Sidelined

Henry was in no mood to listen to the demands of the Commons. He responded by digging his heels in. The popular demands for traitors to face justice had begun to look increasingly like a hysterical witch hunt. The mounting violence it had provoked on London’s streets had done nothing but damage the Yorkist cause.

Henry refused to exonerate Gloucester and, more significantly for Richard, he refused to appoint York to his council.

Just as Parliament was coming to an end, a Yorkist supporter by the name of Thomas Young proposed that Henry should formally name Richard of York his heir. His motive was likely to pre-empt the possibility of Somerset being named heir at some point in the future. Henry took great personal offense; both he and his wife were still in their twenties and the idea they may not produce a son was an insult. Young was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower for his impudence.

Despite York’s efforts to remove Somerset, such victories as he’d won in Parliament proved to be pyrrhic ones. Henry not only quashed Somerset’s impeachment but formally confirmed Somerset’s appointment as Chamberlain of the Royal Household. As Parliament dissolved, it was clear that York had achieved little and, in many ways, he’d overplayed his hand with the nobility. Over the coming year, York remained excluded from Henry’s inner circle.

Reformer or Rebel?

The question as to whether Richard of York’s actions in 1450 marked him out as a reformer or a rebel, of course, has no simple answer.

Firstly, we can probably say with reasonable certainty that Richard was not seeking to directly usurp the throne at this time. Nevertheless, he was certainly seeking to force the King to admit him to a senior position on his council.

Secondly, on balance it seems unlikely that Richard himself directly ordered the murder of Suffolk or directly incited the Cade rebellion. The events of early 1450 ran out of control, driven, at least partially, by an unruly populist element in the general population. It was a movement that would have been regarded as an existential threat to the interests of the nobility. It is hard to imagine Duke Richard agreeing with Suffolk’s vigilante executioners when they declared that sovereign power ultimately rested with the people!

*The Falcon and Fetterlock – the heraldic badge used by Richard of York*

But what should we make of Richard’s efforts to drive through reform? The reforms that he championed raise two questions:

Were the reforms being proposed really an answer to the nation’s ills?
Were Richard’s motives for proposing them altruistic or self-serving?

Addressing the Nation’s Ills

The Yorkists advocated tighter fiscal controls as an answer to ballooning Crown debt. This, broadly speaking, was a two-pronged policy. On the one hand, they called for spending cuts, on the other they pressed for resumption (ie. the reappropriation of Crown lands).

Resumption and fiscal restraints would undoubtedly have helped. However, given the magnitude of the challenges, such measures alone were unlikely to have been enough. Radical fiscal reform was not considered. In many ways these policies were a return to a very traditional and conservative way of doing things.

Rooting out criminally corrupt courtiers became the clarion call of the Yorkist cause. And, indeed, there was corrupt practice amongst some of Henry’s courtiers. However, corruption was virtually endemic across the English elite throughout the Middle Ages. And, if we look at York’s noble allies in 1450, several were just as corrupt as the Lancastrian courtiers they aimed to supplant. The Earl of Devon and the Duke of Norfolk both had skeletons in their closets every bit as unpleasant as any of the court faction.

The problem with corruption in 1450 was not so much that it existed. The problem lay with the ability of the King to ameliorate its worst excesses. And this was something Henry often failed to do. Sadly, only a change of king could have solved that problem.

York’s Motives

York’s motives in 1450 were in many respects both altruistic and self-serving. There can be little doubt he must have been genuinely concerned to restore order after the chaos of Cade’s rebellion. It is also likely that he genuinely believed his proposed reforms were the right thing to do. But it would be naïve to pretend that he did not also see an opportunity to place himself at the heart of government. Indeed, his denouncement of Suffolk’s government and its peace policy was cynical and disingenuous. Richard had happily gone along with Suffolk’s policies, only openly turning against them in the latter half of 1450. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Richard’s actions were also undeniably a power grab (although not an overt attempt to usurp the throne). That said, that does not mean that Richard did not genuinely believe he could make a better job of things than the court faction.

Unfortunately for him, the wider nobility was too suspicious of Richard to back his more radical demands. And, at the end of the day, Richard’s proposed reforms offered nothing meaningful to address the deteriorating situation in France and no fundamental fiscal reform.

The Court Triumphs

The court faction triumphed in early 1451. Somerset became the head of government and York, for all his efforts, remained on the political margins.

York had, rightly, understood that there was significant dissatisfaction with the court faction within the wider population. He also understood that there was a ground swell of popular support for his inclusion at the heart of government. What he’d failed to appreciate, however, was the mood of the Lords. His association with the Cade rebellion, however indirect, made the nobility uneasy. And the chaotic mobs that ran amok in London in December 1450 in support of the Yorkist cause simply confirmed the worst fears of many.

Ultimately York had limited support amongst the Lords at this time. Many may not have been enthusiastic about a court dominated by Somerset. However, it was clear that most of the Lords did not find the prospect of a court dominated by York any more appealing. It was very much a case of better the devil you know.

The Birth of the Yorkist Cause

Although York achieved little in 1450, his intervention marked the birth of the Yorkist political faction. And, undeniably, York had succeeded as establishing himself as a clear political alternative to the Somerset government. So, however faltering it may have been, it was a start.

Keep up to date with our stories…

If you like reading our work and would like to keep up to date with the latest stories and news from our blog page, you can follow us on Facebook. We always announce any news and promote new stories as they are published here:

https://www.facebook.com/MedievalHistorian