7 what were the problems between york and somerset
Henry VI right to be king | York relationship to the king and right to be royal councillor | Somerset relationship to the king and right to be royal councillor |
Henry VI was the third Lancastrian king - Lancastrians because they descended from John Duke of Lancaster | Richard of York appears twice on the family tree on the blue line from Edward IIIs fourth son towards Richard and on the left in a blue box | Somersets family name was Beaufort. The Beauforts were closely related to the Lancastrian kings. |
In theory the further someone is to the left of the tree, the stronger their claim to the crown. That was why Richard II inherited the crown from his grandfather Edward III. So why did the Lancastrians become kings where there were plenty of people to their left? | That’s because his father the Earl of Cambridge married Anne Mortimer a descendant of the Duke of Clarence (Edward IIIs second son) and so jumped across the tree | The first Beauforts were half-brothers to the Lancastrian Henry IV. They had the same father (John Duke of Lancaster) but different mothers. |
The answer lies in the failures of Richard II. In 1399 he was deposed by his cousin, Henry IV the first Lancastrian king | In 1450 York was Henry Vis closest legitimate cousin | The Beauforts were illegitimate, born before John of Lancaster married their mother Catherine |
Why was Henry IV king rather than one of the Clarence line who were to Henrys left on the tree? First in 1399 there was no adult male in the Clarence line as a rival candidate for the crown. Second it was Henry who led opposition because Richard II tried to stop his inheriting the dukedom of Lancaster | York expected to be among king's advisors because of his royal blood | The Beauforts were strong supporters of the Lancastrian kings. In 1450 the senior member of the family was Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset |
The Lancastrians were accepted as kings especially after Henry Vs victories over France showed they had Gods support |
| Somerset expected to be among the kings closest advisors because of his close blood relationship to Henry VI |
The conflict between somerset and york started in the 1440s when henry kept choosing the beauforts over york and replacing york with the beauforts but it all came to a head in the 50s when york was sent to Ireland for very little reason and somerset had been reinstated
Henry VI
John duke of Lancaster
Father died
Henry IV
There were no adult male heirs in the Clarence line at the time
He won major victories in France showing gods favour
Beauforts
They were originally illegitimate children of John of Gaunt
Descendant on mother and fathers side
Blood relatives