3 Henry VI: Debt

3 Henry VI: Debt

1. The longer the war went on - the greater the burden of taxes at home

   • The noble + gentry taxpayers were reluctant to fund failure

2. The loss of Normandy in 1450, and Gascony 1451 affected the incomes of a large number of noble families

3. It has been calculated that by 1450 - the Crown owed in the region of £370,000

   • Richard, Duke of York was owed around £38,000

4. The reg income enjoyed by the Crown had fallen to £45,000 (a drop of roughly £120,000) which was due to a number of reasons:

   • An increase in spending on the war
   • A reduction in income from customs + taxes from a general trade depression
   • A reduction in income from Crown lands due to inflation + rising arrears in payments of rent
   • An increase in loans + interest payments from Italian bankers + merchants

5. Henry was unable to offer the kind of cash incentives that his nobility might have accepted in lieu of land in France

   • This did not deter him from spending money he did not have, or granting away Crown lands in England that he could ill-afford to lose
     • This led to a collapse in royal finances - meaning the crown had an increased dependence on the nobility
       • By 1455 - the Lancastrian dynasty was virtually bankrupt