7 Henry VI: 'Over-Mighty Subjects'

It can be argued that Richard, Duke of York comes very close to defining an 'over-mighty subject'
1. He was a blood relation to the royal family (a descendent of King Edward III) + an owner of vast, landed estate that stretched across England + English-owned parts of France
  1. He seemed to be everything Henry was not:
    1. A capable politician
    2. A warrior of distinction
    3. A father of healthy sons
2. His strength of personality matched his ambition
  1. Which by the 1450s was to embrace the crown of England
York was not alone in aspiring even greater land, wealth + power: these aims were shared by almost all nobles
1. Where they differed - his over-reaching ambition
Somerset, Suffolk + Gloucester too were 'over-mighty subjects' - but they only wanted to control the crown
The outbreak of the Wars of the Roses showed that Henry was no longer in control of his nobility + in turn they had allowed that political rivalry to spill over into armed conflict
1. This suggests - the Wars of the Roses was as much a war between nobles as one between the monarchy and the nobles

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	Created by hattiedg about 10 years ago