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  1. Home
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  3. Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship
  • Cited by 58
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
January 2010
Print publication year:
1996
Online ISBN:
9780511583179
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583179
Subjects:
British History 1066-1450, History
Information

Book description

Henry VI (1422–61) was one of the most spectacularly inadequate kings of England, and his reign dissolved into the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Yet he held on to his throne for thirty-nine years and, for almost thirty of them, without much difficulty. What was the nature of Henry's inadequacy, and why did it have such ambivalent and complicated results? Since the 1970s most histories of fifteenth-century England have focused on the individual interests and private connections of politicians as a means of making sense of politics. By contrast, this 1996 work argues that we can understand what happened in Henry VI's reign only if we look at common interests and public connections as well. Ultimately it is the problem of establishing royal authority which emerges as paramount, with the supposedly factious and 'overmighty' nobility appearing as doomed but devoted servants of the state.

Reviews

‘… the most original study of the reign of Henry VI to have appeared for a long time, striking out for a fresh interpretation of its troubles … This is an important book, incorporating highly intelligent historical thinking which promises to throw new light on other English reigns besides that of Henry VI.’

M. H. Keen Source: Nottingham Medieval Studies

‘… historians will find in this well-written and stimulating book an essential guide to the politics of Henry VI’s court.’

Simon Walker Source: The Times Literary Supplement

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