How successful was York's 1st protectorate?

How did York become protector?

• Made protector and defender of England in March 1454.

• Not without rivals for his position: MOA and Henry Holland.

• Appointment not welcomed by many on the king’s council and not within inner circle of king’s household.

• Many feared, like Chancellor Kemp that York would use his position to seek revenge against Somerset - explains why HVI’s illness kept secret for so long, must have hoped for HVI’s recovery, especially once Prince Edward was born.

• Death of Kemp 1443 meant that someone with executive power had to be appointed - decisions in king’s name had to be made with king’s seal attached - chancellor had control of this.

• Usually be a regent - logically MOA or York - both had a lot of baggage. MOA might favour the French, York might imprison council or household.

• Twelve members of the council tried to revive the king March 1454 but with no success. York reluctantly appointed March 1454.

York’s power limited:

• York had no idea how long he would rule for.

• He would have to submit once the king recovered or when Prince Edward came of age, so he might rule for days or years.

• Others rejected York’s authority.

• Henry Holland felt he has a stronger claim while the Percy’s doubted York’s ability to be impartial.

How successful was York in building a power base?

• Tried to be inclusive - by having members of the household on his royal council.

• Tried to avoid favouring his supports - e.g. in Devon, he did not remove Bonvilles and Earl of Wiltshire from their positions much to the dismay of Courtnay, who was looking forward to replacing Bonvilles in his position of power.

• Devon subsequently fought versus York in the battle of St Albans 1455.

How did York fail in building a power base?

• York did have to reward his supporters even if this made him look bad.

• E.g. the earl of Devon was acquitted of his treason charge for his part in the 1452 Dartford affair.

• Salisbury was made chancellor - a position usually reserved for the clergy.

• The Neville’s were favoured over the Percy’s.

• Somerset remained in the tower.

How did York succeed in the treatment of Somerset?

• York managed to have himself appointed as Captain of Calais in Somerset’s place.

How did York fail in his treatment of Somerset?

• York wanted to bring Somerset to trial but was prevented from doing so by other nobles.

• Somerset continued imprisonment in the tower without charge mean that even neutrals felt that they could not trust York.

• York could not bring himself to work with Somerset.

What were York’s successes in dealing with disorder and justice?

• Aimed to be even-handed when dealing with feuding nobles.

• Distributed grants of land and titles more fairly then the king had done.

• York dealt with the Percy offensive of may 1454 decisively by gathering an army and taking it north forcing Exeter to flee and capturing the Percy leaders after the battle of Stamford bridge November 1454.

What were York’s successes in Domestic reforms?

• York unable to replace Somerset’s supporters in the king’s household but he did manage to reduce the size and cost from £24,000 in 1450 to £5,193 in 1454.

• Increased income of the crown by persuading merchants to resume loans to the government - forged an important link between the government and wool merchants.

• Retained Calais - important for trade and national security.