Chapter 3 - How peaceful was England between 1455 and 1459?

1455-1459

- No open warfare between Lancastrians and Yorkists

- Neither side had the strength nor numbers to take on the other = uneasy peace

- Hostilities between 1455-1459 localised with the main problems being in the south-west

- The north, for the time being, was at peace largely due to the death of Northumberland at St Albans 1455

The Courtenays and the Bonvilles in the south-west

- Dispute between Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and William Bonville over who should be the dominant family in Devon

- Early 14th century = Courtenay family dominated Devon

- Challenged by ambitious William Bonville, member of a gentry family

- Bonville provided good service to Henry V and Henry VI in France = raised to the peerage as a reward becoming Lord Bonville of Chewton in 1449

- Bonville married Thomas Courtenay's aunt = now involved in Courtenay affairs = annoyed Thomas Courtenay more

- Bonville's rise connected to Suffolk and Beaufort parties = natural for Courtenay to be drawn to York

- Collapse of court party after Battle of St Albans 1455 led to Bonville seeking alliance with Yorkists = marriage of Bonville's grandson and heir to Earl of Salisbury daughter

- Infuriated by the political manoeuvring, the Courtenays resorted to violence.

- They attacked the house of the elderly Nicholas Radford, Bonville's lawyer, and killed him

- This was followed by the holding of a mock inquest by one of Courtenay's sons at which a verdict of suicide was given (basically the investigation was led by one of Courtenay's sons and he said it was suicide to defend his family)

- The body was thrown naked into a hole and crushed with stones so that another inquest could not be held

- The Courtenay's then attacked and took control of Exeter, attacked Powderham castle (owned by Sir Philip Courtenay, an ally of Bonville whose son had married Bonville's daughter) and defeated the Bonvilles at Clyst on 15 December 1455

- At this point York intervened, the Earl of Devon submitted to him and was arrested and placed in the Tower of London

- The Courtenays were later granted a royal pardon for every offence they committed including the murder of Radford

Wales

- Summer of 1456 -Edmund Tudor, Henry VI's half-brother, vs William Herbert and Walter Devereux, two of York's men

- Tudor seized Carmarthen castle from York's custody

- Devereux managed to capture the castle and Tudor with it

- Tudor died soon after his release

- Leaving his young, pregnant wife, Margaret Beaufort, a widow

London

- Atmosphere in London = tense

- Yorkists took to wearing padded jackets = fearful of attack

- Margaret of Anjou moved her court to west Midlands and encouraged Henry VI to join her at Kenilworth Castle because she felt very much disliked by the city of London

- 1455-59: many attacks on foreign traders such as the Lombards and the Venetians

Lancastrians and Yorkists

- Autumn 1456: attempt on the life of the Earl of Warwick

- The men who ambushed him were the Duke of Exeter, the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Duke of Somerset who was seeking vengeance for the murder of his father at the Battle of St Albans

- Warwick and his father, the Earl of Salisbury, hoped that the death of their enemies, the Earl of Northumberland, and the Duke of Somerset, would bring an end to the need to fight however now they were just targets for revenge attacks