Coping with challenge and rivalry

The Neville-Percy dispute

-Close proximity of estates had led to these two families wrying for Northern dominance

-After Hotspur’s rebellion, the Percies were stripped of their estates while the Nevilles prospered ie Warwick married into the Beauchamp family

-Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, was Northumberland’s son and particularly angered

-The Percies had come into an alliance with Exeter due to shared antipathy against Lord Cromwell

Key dates: When was Thomas Neville and Maud Stanhope’s wedding?

1453

Thomas Neville and Maud Stanhope’s wedding, 1453

-Maud Stanhope was Lord Cromwell’s heiress, and thus to inherit Wressle castle, an ex-Percy castle

-In HVI’s absence, Egremont attacked their wedding, hoping to kill Salisbury but failing

The Nevilles linked to national politics

-The Nevilles supported York, who became protector in 1454, partly because HVI had favoured Somerset over them last year

-York appointed Salisbury as Chancellor and Warwick as Capt. of Calais, cementing the alliance

-Northumberland and Somerset were killed at St Albans but Egremont and Exeter survived

The Bonville-Courtenay dispute

-Traditional power Courtenay (Devon inheritance) was at odds with the recently enobled Bonville (Lord Harington) in the South-West

-Their retinues fought over Taunton Castle in 1451

-Bonvilles were rewarded with the Constable of Exeter castle, a usual Devon post

-Thomas Courtenay murdered a sr member of Bonville’s retinue in 1455

-Bonville was executed after supporting York in the 2nd battle of St. Albans

The Bonvilles’ marriages

-Confirmed pro-Yorkist allegience by marrying his grandson to one of Warwick’s sisters

-Revived family’s fortunes after Cecily Bonville married Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset

The Paston family

-Sir John Falstof’s legal adviser, John Paston, supposedly was the main beneficiary in his will

-Norfolk claimed the disputed Caister Castle in 1461 after HVI’s deposition

-EIV upheld Paston’s rights but Norfolk reclaimed Caister during the 1469-70 rebellions

-Oxford upheld Paston’s ownership again until the battle of Barnet, when Norfolk reclaimed Caister

-EIV finally confirmed Paston’s legal ownership of Caister castle in 1476

Evidence of the nation at large avoiding conflict

-Act of Accord 1460 was an attempt to find a non-violent midpoint for both factions

-Most nobles did not choose sides in the Yorkist-Lancastrian conflict during HVI’s reign

-Nobles tended to prefer the status quo, with 2x as many supporting the stinky HVI at Towton vs the handsome EIV

Who is the best example of an overmighty noble?

-Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the ‘Kingmaker’

-His support and resources were crucial for the deposition of HVI by EIV

-Was then responsible for the deposition of EIV when EIV alienated him by marrying Lizzie Woodville

How was assertion of control over the localities improved during EIV’s second reign?

-The regional magnate system and regional councils were used to isolate troublemakers and provide stability

-Appointment of trusted advisers like Hastings, Gloucester, Dorset and Rivers in localities

Who were the three kings that were able to pass on the crown to their children uncontested?

-HIV to HV

-HV to HVI

-HVII to HVIII

Overall what are the main factors that contribute to disorder?

-Overmighty nobles such as York and Neville begin to assert their power more & more over kings (HVI)

-Undermighty kings are what enable ambitious nobled to rise and become problematic as well as allowing conflicts to blow up ie Lord Egremont

-Precedent set by HIV’s usurpation of RII that the divine right to rule could be overcome by might