7 Henry VI: 'Over-Mighty Subjects'

7 Henry VI: 'Over-Mighty Subjects'

1. It can be argued that Richard, Duke of York comes very close to defining an 'over-mighty subject'

   • 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
     • He seemed to be everything Henry was not:
       • A capable politician
       • A warrior of distinction
       • A father of healthy sons
   • His strength of personality matched his ambition
     • Which by the 1450s was to embrace the crown of England

2. York was not alone in aspiring even greater land, wealth + power: these aims were shared by almost all nobles

   • Where they differed - his over-reaching ambition

3. Somerset, Suffolk + Gloucester too were 'over-mighty subjects' - but they only wanted to control the crown

4. 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

   • This suggests - the Wars of the Roses was as much a war between nobles as one between the monarchy and the nobles