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.

Consolidating Power

On 16 February, Richard III sent Fauconberg to capture Oxford and Edmund Beaufort, who were last known to be in Stamford.  The King and the Nevilles disbanded the majority of their armies after paying them on top of the booty they had taken from the Beaufort encampment, however the King made it clear than any sacking or terrorizing of the population would result in the forfeiting of their liberty, if not their lives.  Richard III accompanied by Salisbury, Warwick, a chained and heavily guarded Duke of Somerset with a small army in tow headed for London.  The Royal procession took its time during which Richard III sent word to his wife in Gloucester to come to London with the rest of their family and sent word to his sons, Norfolk, and Bourchier in London to prepare for his return.  During the march south, Richard III was greeted in every town by throngs of commoners.  Meanwhile, Fauconberg had persuaded Oxford and young Edmund Beaufort to Norwich, but before he arrived the two had boarded a ship bond for Scotland. On 23 February, Richard III and the Nevilles were greeted by the Princes Edward and Edmund, Norfolk, Bourchier, and the Lord Mayor of London outside the capital before entering the city to thunderous cheers from the citizens.  The Duke of Somerset was escorted to the Tower while the rest of the procession made its way to Westminster Abbey to hold a celebratory mass.

On 1 March, Richard III called Parliament for the beginning of April and announced that his coronation would take place by the end of May.  The King also dismissed a large percentage of his remaining army that had accompanied him from Bosworth, but those not dismissed were to help keep the peace in London for the beginning of Parliament and for the coronation.  Richard III went about forming his own Great Council to help him rule the realm.  The King appointed Salisbury the Lord Chancellor, Norfolk was confirmed to his hereditary position of Earl Marshal, Warwick was appointed the Captain of Calais, Bourchier was named Lord High Treasurer, the Earl of Devon was named Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Baron Cobham was given the position of Lord Great Chamberlain due to the face that it’s hereditary holder Oxford was to be attained.  Of the other Great Offices of the Realm, Richard III retained from Henry VI’s council the Duke of Buckingham as Lord High Constable as an olive branch to those that had remained neutral through the succession crisis, Buckingham being the most powerful, and kept his son-in-law the Earl of Exeter as Lord High Admiral so as not to create a scandal upon his eldest daughter. As of yet, Buckingham and Exeter had not arrived in London.

Of the many topics taken up by Richard III and the Council, the first concern of the King was the succession.  While the King had four sons, Richard III reminded the Council that Henry IV had come to the throne with four sons as well but they had produced only one grandson among them, the late Henry VI.  The several foreign merchants were inquired upon for the eligibility of foreign princesses; they soon arrived at a consensus upon Joan of Portugal whom the King himself believed would help his dynasty counterarguments from those that would still support the Beauforts and their like.  The King sent a delegation led by the Bishop of London and the Earl of Worchester to inquire of Afonso V about the hand of his sister.  Richard III and the council then took up the question of the Scottish capture of Berwick and the siege of Roxburgh Castle.  The King and the Council agreed that after the succession crisis that the realm needed to be stabilized before Richard again rode off to battle, in the meantime the King appointed Fauconberg, recently arrived in London after his unsuccessful pursuit of Oxford, as Lieutenant of the North and charged him to relieve Roxburgh and if practicable retake Berwick.

Several times after his arrival in London, Richard III had called upon Margaret of Anjou.  The Queen dowager was still in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey and refused to see the King, under the belief that he might have had a hand in her husband’s death and the stillbirth of her child.  Her Tudor brothers-in-law finally prevailed upon her to receive the King.  In the presence of Edmund Kyrton, the Abbot of Westminster, Richard III vowed to Margaret that she would be provided lands and income if she were to remain in England as if she was his sister or if she were to leave the country she would be provided a large dowry so that she could live comfortably as she saw fit.  By all indications Margaret was courteous to the King and the meeting between the two was without incident, though after the meeting Richard III ordered discrete inquires to be made of worthy candidates of marriage for Margaret on the Continent.

Meanwhile Cardinal Kempe, the Archbishop of Canterbury, having supported the Duke of Somerset wouldn’t reconcile himself with the new King.  The Archbishop had tried to reclaim his Cathedral only for the townspeople to chase him from it, he sent out numerous excommunications to any cleric that gave ‘the traitorous York’ the mass or attempted to crown him King.  Cardinal Kempe had also sent a letter to Rome to gain support for the House of Beaufort, filling it with vastly exaggerated or inaccurate accounts of the conduct of Richard III’s campaign.  Several nobles and clergymen attempted to persuade the Archbishop to be reconciled, but were rebuffed with the threat of excommunication.  On 22 March, Kempe suddenly fell from his horse and died while on the road to Dover.  When news of the Archbishop’s death reached him, Richard III appointed Thomas Bourchier, the Bishop of Ely, who had been one of the first to support him in the clergy and brother of Viscount Bourchier, the King’s brother-in-law, to act as Archbishop of Canterbury until confirmed by the Pope.  The King ordered the Bishop to collected Cardinal Kempe’s body and to ensure he was given a proper burial before taking up his new seat.  The King sent a letter to Pope Nicholas V detailing events since the death of Henry VI in September, including the nomination Thomas Bourchier as Archbishop.

During the last week of March 1454, magnates and nobles arrived in London for the beginning of the new Parliament and the coronation but for the King the most important arrivals were that of his wife, Cicely, and the rest of his children.  Richard III had prepared Baynard’s Castle for his family’s residence after the Earl of Richmond had relinquished it back to the Crown after the King’s return from Bosworth.  For the time being the King and his two eldest sons would continue to reside at Westminster.  The most important arrival after that of his family for the King was of Humphrey Stafford, the 1^st Duke of Buckingham, along with his son, another Humphrey, the Earl of Stafford, who was joined by clearly pregnant his wife, Margaret Beaufort daughter of the Duke of Somerset.  The Countess of Stafford’s condition made many joke that the younger Humphrey Stafford had made love and not war during the previous winter.  Richard III received Buckingham at Baynard’s Castle and invited him to take his place on the council as Lord High Constable, which the Duke accepted.  The King also received Henry Holland, the Duke Exeter, and his eldest daughter Anne of York at Baynard’s Castle. The King invited his son-in-law to reassume his position of Lord High Admiral on the Council so as not to embarrass his eldest daughter, but due to Exeter’s seemingly scandalous absence from the battlefield in support of his father-in-law he was relieved of his position as Constable of the Tower of London.