The politics of madness : government in the reigns of Charles VI and Henry VI

97 Pages·2011·3.31 MB·English

by  Alger, S

The Politics ofMadness: Government in the Reigns of Charles
VI and Henry VI
By Sarah Alger BA
A thesis submitted aspart ofthe requirements for the degree of
Bachelor ofArts with Honours in History
School ofHistoryand Classics
University ofTasmania
July 2001
Acknowledgments
My sincere thanks must go to the following people, whose indispensable assistance has
made this thesis possible:
To ProfessorMichael Bennettfor his eternallypatient, constructive and insightful
supervision, without which this thesis would not have been achievable.
To DoctorMegan Cassidy-Welch forher assistance whilstProfessorBennettwas on
leave in 2000.
To Doctor Chris Williams from the PsychologyDepartment, who helped me to
understand the psychological aspects ofCharles VI and HenryVI's cases.
To Jenny Alger forher help intranslating sections ofthe Chroniques du Religieux de
SaintDenis andHistoire de Charles VI,without which myprimarysources regarding
Charles VIwould have been insufficient.
To myproofreaders and critics, Roland Alger, Jenny Alger and Kristy Willson-Alger,
withoutwhom this thesis would be littered with errors.
To Andrew Richardson forproofreading my appendices and doing many othertedious
tasks, for the use ofhis computerwhen mine crashed and forhis unswerving support.
To myniece Hazel forprovidingmany hours ofwelcome distraction and stress relief.
Special thanks must also goto my Honours colleagues whose bizarrebehaviours made
the stresses ofthe year easier tobear.
Finallymy gratitude must go to my family and friends whose unstinting tolerance and
understanding has helped me through this intense experience.
Contents
Introduction - p. 1
Chapter One: The Problems ofPersonality- p. 10
Chapter Two: Mental Illness and the Stresses ofKingship: A Nexus -po 26
Chapter Three: The Struggle for Stability - p. 42
Conclusion - p. 59
Appendix 1:The Treaty ofTroyes, 1420 - p. 62
Appendix 2: The Appointment ofthe Duke ofYork, 1454 - p. 68
Bibliography- p. 72
List of Illustrations
Table 1:The House ofValois, (from M.G.A. Vale, Charles VII,Berkley &
Los Angeles: 1974).
Table 2: The House of Lancaster, (from R.A. Griffiths, The Reign of
Henry VI: TheExercise ofRoyalAuthority, London: 1993).
Table 3: The House ofYork, (from R.A. Griffiths, The Reign ofHenry VI:
TheExercise ofRoyal Authority, London: 1993).
Table 4: The Beaufort Family, (from R.A. Griffiths, The Reign ofHenry
VI: The Exercise ofRoyal Authority, London: 1993).
Map 1: England During the Wars of the Roses, (from C. Carpenter, The
Wars of the Roses, Politics and the Constitution in England c.
1437-1509, Cambridge: 1997).
Map 2: Lancaster and Valois in France, (from C. Carpenter, The Wars of
the Roses, Politics and the Constitution in England c. 1437-1509,
Cambridge: 1997).
List of Illustrations
Table 1:The House ofValois, (from M.G.A. Vale, Charles VII,Berkley &
Los Angeles: 1974).
Table 2: The House of Lancaster, (from R.A. Griffiths, The Reign of
Henry VI: TheExercise ofRoyalAuthority, London: 1993).
Table 3: The House ofYork, (from R.A. Griffiths, The Reign ofHenry VI:
TheExercise ofRoyal Authority, London: 1993).
Table 4: The Beaufort Family, (from R.A. Griffiths, The Reign ofHenry
VI: The Exercise ofRoyal Authority, London: 1993).
Map 1: England During the Wars of the Roses, (from C. Carpenter, The
Wars of the Roses, Politics and the Constitution in England c.
1437-1509, Cambridge: 1997).
Map 2: Lancaster and Valois in France, (from C. Carpenter, The Wars of
the Roses, Politics and the Constitution in England c. 1437-1509,
Cambridge: 1997).
""
Tahlp 1. The House ofValois
.zr
PH1L1P
(1328-50)
I
JEAN II·= I 130!'H1~ de Ll4Xembour,g. dtr ofJNl1 de l.uxel11bvurs. k. of Bohemia.
(1350- Got) 2 Jeal1l1E: d'AuwrSl1E:, dtr. of Guill.lume XII, et. of Al(Yt'r.9~\e
I
I I I I I I
CHARLES ::sz:= Jeunue LouisI, Je;nt, Philip Je",lt1le J.Llrie [sabdla~ Gi..ms",leuzzo
(136.;.-So) de 13011rbol1, d.of d.of the :Bold.. (t1373) (tl-fO-f) (t'37Z) Visconti,
. eltr. of A~ou. Berry d. or d.of;\liICllt,
Fterre I, (t138-f) (t'+16) :BU)'9UH~
d.ofBourbon (t1+O+)
CHARLES :Y'I = [si-lbdla LouisI, Catherine ValeHUni-l = LOllis II
(1380-HZ::) of 13avarin d.of Orle",;IS (t138B) Visconti d.of Orl~.lHs
. (tH3S) (tl-tO~)
lsabcllr;= 1 'Richil.rd. II. J,,,,rtne = Jelll1Y, )(ichelle=Philip Louis.= .\(i-ll'3,lret Je,ln,=Jucqucliue C,ltf\<ri",= 1 ){nlrv Y
tt40~ k of . (t1+33) d. of . (tl-f~2) the d. of ofBllrSl(iIJy d.of ofBll~\\)\,t (t'+;S) ofEI~Sl(\Hd.
EI1,91al1d. . :Brittc'):.>' , Good, GliyeHHe TOllNt>le 2 OweH
z Chllrles. d. or (t1-t1S) (tIN: Tu.i"r
d. ofOrlf,Hls cttnlltn,ty
(t'+67)-
)(,lrie ofAnjcu, = CHARLES ill
dtr. of LOI,is II} (1+;;;::-61)
d.ofA>ljOli '
I
(L1O46U1-IS8;;X) I = 1 Aodtftr",$rCqoiv-ftlluCtllhi, (Ctu1t4h-+c6r)ine = CCcthh.Caolrrlfoel,C;,li,;, Je.1Hl'1e.=Jcdeetil.l'Lop.f.vt~r~o}L, Ydilltdc=Lrp'iio;eudcisnf.w'lt..J,(\l,tdCliHe= Gfcota.isxtoofll lY oCdf.hl,F'wfrl.<u;icc..II
Jnmcs I, 5Jtl of· Clenl1':;;;: [elt,r Berry I
k. of Scott.tt:l fhilip theGood, d.ofSCl\'U (t1+;:) 1
(t1H 5) d.(If 1311r31nt~y .,
z CIt.lr10U.:
of $ClYOY, I
dtr, of LOllis II,
d. of S,woy 1
1
r------- -1---__- - - -1-------- - J
=AlIthoiH~
.ll'l!.:' = Olivier de Ch.lrtJtte=J.1Cqles Jw1ntle
CoWvy. dc13ri:': de Bltcil
S':tlesdlal
ofGI~etlHC
Table 2. The House of Lancaster
Edward III
(d.1377)
I
I I I
Edward. prince Lionel.duke Thomas,duke
of Wales of Clarence of Gloucester
(d. 1376) (d. 1368) (d. 1397)
See Table2 See Table4
RichardII
(d.1400)
i I 1
Philippa=JohnI. Elizabeth= (2)JohnHoland, HenryIV
kingof dukeof Exeter (d. 1413)
Portugal (d. 14(0) Catherine= HenryIII.
(d. 1433) <, kingofCastile
(d. 1406)
(i) (ii) I
DuarteI.kingof John.dukeof Mary Bohun JoanofNavarre JohnII,
Portugal Exeter(d. 1447) (d. 1437) kingofCastile
(d. 1438) (d. 1454)
I . f I
AlfonsoV,king0 Henry,dukeof = Anne HenryIV,
Portugal Exeter Plantagenet kingofCastile
(d. 1481) (d. 1475) See Table2 (d. 1474)
(i) HenryV =Katherine =(ii)Owen Thomas,duke John,duke Humphrey.duke Blanche= Lewis. Philippa= Eric,
(d. 1422) ofValois Tudor ofClarence of Bedford ofGloucester count king
(d. 1437) (d. 1461) (d. 1421) (d. 1435) (d. 1447) palatine of
Denmark
I
HenryVI = Margaretof Anjou Edmund.earl of Margaret Beaufort Jasper,earl of
(d. 1482) Richmond See TableJ Pembroke
(d. 1456) (d. 1495)
Edward,princeof Wales =Anne Neville
(d. 1471) See Table5 HenryVII
Table 3. The House ofYork
EdwardIII
(d. 1377)
I
I I
Edward!prince Lionel JfAntwerp, Johnof Gaunt, Edmundof Langley. Thomasof Woodstock,
of Wales. duke of Clarence dukeof Lancaster dukeof York duke ofGloucester
(d. 1376) (d. 1368) (d. 1399) (d. 1402) (d. 1397)
I
See TableI See TableI see Table4
Philippa = EdmundMortimer,
(d. 1386) carl of March
(d. 1381)
Roger Mortimer.
earl of March
(d. 1398)
I I
Edmund Mortimer. Anne Richard.carl Edward,duke
earl of March ofCambridge of York{the
(d. 1425) (d. 1415) elderson]
(d. 1415)
Richard,duke =CicelyNeville Isabel =Henry,Viscount
ofYork see Table5 Bourgchier
(d. 1460) seeTable4
Anne = HenryHoland, Henry Edward IV Edmund,earl Elizabeth = John.duke George RichardIII Ursula
duke ofExeter (d. 1483) of Rutland ofSuffolk (d. 1478) (d. 1485)
(d. 1475) (d. 1460) (d. 1491)
Table 4. The Beaufort Family
John ofGaunt.
dukeof Lancaster
(d. 1399)
(i) (ii)
Blancheof Lancaster ConstanceofCastile
See TableI See TableI
I I I
JohnBeaufort, Henry,bishop Thomas.dukeof Joan =(2)Ralph Neville,carl
marquessof of Winchester Exeter of Westmorland
Somerset (d. 1447) (d. 1426) (d. t425)
(d. 1410) See TableS
I
I I I
Henry.earl John.duke Joan = JamesI.
ofSomerset ofSomerset kingof
(d. 1418) (d. 1444) Scotland
I
I
Margaret= (i)John.dukeof Henry, Edmund, JamesII. kingofScotland
Suffolk dukeof dukeofSomerset
(ii) Edmund.carlof Somerset (d. /471)
Richmond(d. 1456) (d. 1464)
(iii)HenryStafford
(d. 1471)
SeeTable4
(iv)Thomas,
Lord Stanley
(d. 1503)
~
Map 1.England during the Wars ofthe Roses
o
50 100 miles
I : :
o
80 160 kilometres
•
Towns n Castles
X
Battles