The Worries of Charles VII of France: August 1453 to January 1455

The court of Charles VII was still reveling in the victory of the Battle of Castillon and the subsequent siege of Bordeaux when news of Henry VI’s death reached Paris.  As the French King and his advisors thought about how the turn of events in England would affect their enemy’s foreign policy, there was a bit of a mystery as no one knew exactly who would succeed Henry.  The fact that neither did the English wasn’t comforting to Charles as he learned that both York and Somerset were claiming the English Crown, he saw it both as an opportunity to fully push English forces out of France and a potential problem if York were to prove victorious in the certain civil war.  Soldiers were sent to join the French forces besieging Bordeaux as well as instructions to report the news of Henry’s death and the succession crisis unfolding in England then he wanted to know if it was possible to capture Calais from the garrison there.  Finally Charles thought about how his son the Dauphin, Louis, would react to the news considering their estrangement and what would Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, do now that England was on the verge of civil war.

The months past until 19 October when finally Bordeaux surrendered to French forces thus ending the 300-year English hold on Guyenne in southwestern France, the English soldiers were allowed to return to England on order by Charles.  The King would later learn that this decision had given York the numerical advantage that would prove decisive in the coming “Winter War” that would see York transformed into Richard III.  But at the time, Charles hoped the influx of defeated soldiers would escalate the chaos that seemed to be consuming England with two rivals claiming the crown.  Charles hoped to use this chaos to take Calais, however the French forces found that the garrison wasn’t about to surrender thanks to the efforts of Lionel de Welles, 6^th Baron Welles, the deputy captain of the garrison charge of Calais.  When the Burgundians looked like they were about to interfere before the end of 1453, the French had no choice but to retreat and Charles wondered if the Burgundians activity was the result of Louis convincing Philip to intervene.

Early in 1454, news reached Paris that London had opened its gates to York who had been proclaimed Richard III.  To Charles the apparent ascension of York to the throne meant that English foreign policy would shift dramatically back to the “war party” that had been marginalized the latter half of Henry VI’s reign in favor the Somerset-led “peace party” that the French used to their advantage the last few decades.  As the French court continued to follow what was happening in England, Charles tried to find out what Louis was doing in regard to the situation as well as Philip and his son Charles in Burgundy.  But Charles also had to consider rumors about the Count of Armagnac and his sister, though only rumors it was disturbing on the surface and the King didn’t like the implications if they were true.

The news reached Charles on the result of Bosworth it did not surprise him and decided on a wait-and-see approach when it came to Richard’s actions in regards to the conquered territory of Guyenne.  In the months that followed, Charles tried to persuade his nephew Peter II, Duke of Brittany, to ally with him against the English if the need were to arise and also sent overtures to Philip in Burgundy.  Neither would give the King a clear answer resulting in Charles decided to make sure that he had enough forces to repel an invasion.  Throughout the summer of 1454, Charles tried not to think too much of the English and with no immediate threat seemingly on the horizon he decided to let down his guard.  Then when he heard that the Earls of Devon and Warwick had left Calais headed for Paris with a far too small entourage befitting their status made the King and his own councilors wonder why the two men were coming.

In their audience Devon and Warwick told of Richard’s wish to present Margaret of Anjou as a possible wife to Henry IV of Castile and hoped that Charles would not have any objections.  The King along with his advisors were surprised, but kept it from the Englishmen.  Although many of his advisors wondered what Richard was up to, Charles knew exactly what was going on.  The King reminded them that he still had two nephews in England after Henry VI’s death only to get bewildered looks in response; Charles explained that his sister Catherine had married one Owen Tudor and had given birth to Edmund and Jasper Tudor, the earls of Richmond and Pembroke respectfully.  Then he reminded them of the widow of John, Duke of Bedford, who married a minor English nobleman before stating that Richard was simply attempting to avoid another scandal by marrying his wife’s niece to a brother King in Henry IV.  To Charles it simply showed that Richard was not planning on launching a military campaign to reconquer Guyenne in the near future and decided it would be prudent to develop a good relationship with the new King of England.  The next day Charles told the two envoys that he approved of Richard’s plan to present Margaret to Henry IV for marriage, the French king told his English guests that his wife would be pleased that her brother’s daughter would once again be a Queen.  Charles appointed a trusted man to accompany Devon to Castile to help with the negotiations and suggested the men return to Calais to sail to Castile immediate so as the Dauphin wouldn’t interfere in their mission.

After the three men left Paris for Calais, Charles relaxed in his vigilance against a soon return of English soldiers.  Throughout the rest of 1454, Charles started to reinforce French rule in Guyenne and also thought about the legacy of his first great military captain, Joan of Arc.  Condemned and burned as a heretic, Joan’s tainted reputation also tainted Charles’ reign and as the aging King looked into the future and the possibility that his own soul would be in danger with such an association he did not want to leave anything to chance.  Then after Epiphany 1455, Charles learned that the Portuguese embassy led by the Marquis of Valenca that had escorted the Infanta Joan to England had arrived in Calais and was heading to Paris.  Charles put down the letter Margaret had sent him a few days previously and ordered preparations to be readied for the embassy’s arrival.

Christmas 1454

The return of the court to London on 6 December was greeted with cheers from the populous especially as Prince Edward and Lady Joan rode together in the procession before it broke apart to several locations within the city.  The majority of the procession accompanied Richard III to Westminster Palace as preparations for Christmastide had to be taken care of as well as several decisions when it came to governing the kingdom.  Bishop Kempe along with some retainers was the first to separate from the procession, proceeding to his residence and return to the business of governing his diocese.  Worcester was the next to leave the procession, riding to the Tower of London to take up his position as Constable, a message from Richard having arrived a few days before notifying the officer in charge of the appointment of Worcester.  The rest of the procession not going with the King was headed for Baynard’s Castle as Prince Edward escorted Queen Cicely and Joan there along with the many ladies-in-waiting accompanying them.  Upon their arrival at Baynard’s Castle, the Princes George and Richard greeted their mother and were introduced to Joan.  After ensuring everything was in order, Edward and his knight escort rode for Westminster Palace.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were not without events occurring; one of the most important things on Richard’s mind was the restoration of Ludlow Castle, which had been sacked the previous year.  Although some repairs had been done since his coronation, Richard knew Ludlow still needed a lot of work especially if he wanted to serve the purpose he planned for it.  Ludlow had been the seat of the Earls of March, the most powerful lords in Wales before it became a part of Richard’s inheritance including his right to the crown.  Now it would be the seat of the Prince of Wales and as the residence of the heir apparent like Westminster Palace had become, but for that to happen Richard need to ensure it looked the part.  Already money had been set aside from lands confiscated that spring and Richard was getting the work organized as he wanted Ludlow finished by the time Edward and Joan were officially married when they were could officially begin their duties as future King and Consort.

As Richard set about restoring Ludlow, he also set about to fully secure the support of Buckingham by literally buying him off.  The Buckingham was the senior descendant of Thomas of Woodstock, the fifth son of Edward III, through Thomas’ daughter Anne of Gloucester.  Buckingham was also the senior heir of the Bohun inheritance through Thomas’ wife Eleanor de Bohn the eldest daughter of the last Earl of Hereford.  However when the last Earl of Hereford died without a son, his estate was divided between his daughters, the aforementioned Eleanor and her younger sister Mary.  Mary de Bohun had married John of Gaunt and was the mother of Henry of Bolingbroke later Henry IV, thus incorporating Mary’s portion of the Bohun inheritance into the lands of the House of Lancaster that later passed into Richard’s hands as part of the Crown while the title of the Earl of Hereford fell into abeyance.  It was with this portion of the Bohun inheritance and the Earldom of Hereford that Richard meant to give Buckingham with the consent of Parliament.  Buckingham was surprised when he received Richard’s writ of issue and heard the bill presented on the King’s behalf in Parliament.  The resulting outcome would be what Richard hoped, Buckingham would be truly loyal.

Beyond the material and political events Richard was concentrating on was entertaining the Portuguese party lead by the Marquis of Valenca.  The King did not have to worry about many of the Portuguese knights as various English knights or prominent families set about to entertain them as well as potentially wed a daughter to one of them.  This allowed Richard along with Salisbury, Buckingham, and others time to talk with the Marquis.  Afonso, the eldest son of the Duke of Braganza who was the natural son of King John of Portugal, informed them of the political goings on throughout various Iberian kingdoms as well their relations with France in particular.  The Marquis was forthcoming that Afonso V had instructed him to visit the French court before returning to Portugal as the potential marriage between Henry IV of Castile to Margaret could result in an alliance against either Aragon, Navarre, or both as they were under a personal union under the worst circumstances that Portugal might have to involve itself in.  Richard appreciated Afonso’s candor and the Marquis also understood Richard’s wish to prevent another scandalous marriage in regards to Margaret.  The issue of Margaret was a worry for Richard as the former Queen had sent her reply to the preliminary agreement she had been sent, the King did not know anything about either in detail as Devon and Warwick in Valladolid only gave summaries as the French led the negotiations with the Castilians.

Early in January 1455 after celebrating Epiphany, the Marquis and the Portuguese knight took their leave of Richard.  The King insisted that they take the short trip to Calais to ensure the quickest and safest across the Channel, which the Marquis graciously accepted.  After a visit to Joan and the Portuguese ladies-in-waiting, the Marquis and his party were escorted to Dover by the Buckingham and Essex where they boarded a ship and shortly arrived in Calais.  Richard then started planning for his first progress through the Midlands where the Beaufort cause had been the strongest and where most of his soldiers had come from.  The plan was to travel north through Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Rutland before stopping for a long stay at Fotheringhay Castle in northern Northamptonshire.  Fotheringhay was one of Richard’s favorite residences and it had survived the succession crisis unscathed, both Richard and Cicely had not been to the castle in years and both wanted to return for a long extended stay.  The return journey to London would go south through Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and Buckinghamshire.

The reign of Richard III seemed to be going well as a major succession crisis had been soundly defeated and a diplomatically important marriage had been made for his heir, the future looked bright however to the west there was a storm about to rise on the horizon.