Edward IV

As part of the transformation from PhD dissertation to book, one must transform the passive voice to the active voice.  As a result, I have started work on attempting to identify the specific people who were involved in embalming the kings and queens consort of England, 1216-1509.  This is very early days on this effort.

‘Best loved of the King’: homosocial bonding and male friendships at the courts of Edward IV and Henry VIII


Homosocial bonding played a major role throughout the Middle Ages in the transfer of power and prestige between the king and his men at court. In particular the bond between knights at the courts of both Edward IV and Henry VIII was expressed as a form of ennobling love. Many of these ‘new men’ at the courts of Edward IV and Henry VIII were able to advance their status through homosocial relationships, which were clearly an important aspect of a man's identity as a courtly gentleman in this period. This paper examines and reflects on the representation of male friendships in the late Middle Ages, which has often failed to depict homosociality as anything other than a superficial interaction. Yet Edward IV and Henry VIII chose to prioritise these male friendships above their male-female relationships and they formed an emotional attachment to these men.

My analysis of Edward IV and Henry VIII’s relationship with these men focuses on one important setting that enabled them to develop a close homosocial bond with these knights: the medieval tournament. This paper argues that the primacy of Edward and Henry’s love for their chivalrous companions was displayed through a non-verbal form of interaction in the tiltyard. Though this was a public space, the close proximity and bodily contact experienced between king and knight signified the homosocial bonds of chivalry. It is the aim of this paper to demonstrate that the performance of chivalric masculinity was intimately bound up with the companionship of other men and that this desire to be included in the dominant male group led to the formation of strong emotional bonds between king and knight.

Chivalric traditions continued to shape all aspects of life for those of high status in the late medieval and early modern periods. But this same period has most often been characterised as witnessing a decline of chivalry. Indeed William Worcester and William Caxton lamented this decline of chivalry and a related loss of English masculinity, grieving for the loss of French territories, all of which took an emotional toll on the English nation. Yet in fact Edward IV’s reign brought a revival of chivalry as his kingship was presented as the antidote to England’s humiliation through his embodiment of a chivalrous version of masculinity. From the start of his reign Henry VIII also made it clear that he wanted to go to war with France. He felt compelled to equal and to even surpass the victories of his martial hero Henry V not just for his own prestige, but also for England’s. This paper argues that by the late fifteenth century the English nation was more chivalric than it had been for decades as noblemen untied against a common enemy, thus displaying a range of emotions that included: nostalgia, anger and revenge.


This paper will also examine the role of the medieval tournament in establishing knightly bonds between the men of the tiltyard and both kings who held and competed in jousting contests. Friendships between knights were the most important bonds in the elite cultural system that constituted chivalric life. This paper identifies individuals such as William Hastings and Anthony Woodville in the reign of Edward IV who demonstrated chivalric masculinity because of his knightly expertise. For Edward in the absence of brothers in the tiltyard, these men provided a substitute for this familial connection; functioning as the king’s chivalric brothers- in-arms, who promised mutual support, encouraged acts of bravery and personal loyalty. This paper demonstrates that the mutual respect between Edward and these chivalric brothers saw them develop strong emotional bonds that transcended beyond the tiltyard and even beyond death.

Henry VIII is not now remembered for his military exploits, which were rather thin. However, it is important to examine the fact that this is how he wanted to be remembered, nonetheless. War with France was the established means by which a King of England could secure lasting renown. Henry V is the best example, thus he was a model for Henry VIII. This paper will reveal the continuing power of the medieval model of martial masculinity in the early sixteenth century as Henry VIII attempted to commemorate his status as a warrior king. This paper will also discuss Henry’s designs for a monumental effigy of him on horseback that would have immortalized his martial image and presented an idealised portrait of manhood for his posterity. Henry made powerful use of this tradition of visual representation of the royal person most famously commissioning portraits by Hans Holbein and one significant wall mural to commemorate the Tudor dynasty as he wanted it to be remembered. Finally, this paper will consider Henry’s public representation of chivalrous masculinity through his participation in tournaments, in which the king sought to establish himself as a legendary jouster. For Henry VIII wanted to be remembered as a military and chivalric hero, who had equalled and even surpassed the most virtuous deeds of the Lancastrians and Yorkists.

From the Babylonian exile of the Jews to contemporary research into mass immigration, exile has proven a question of perennial interest and importance. The historical study of exiles, of people who were forced to emigrate from their original community, allows us to rethink not only how integration was understood in the past, but also how people from different geographical spaces perceived one another and interacted. This thesis is concerned with the exile of a group of Gascon nobles who left Aquitaine for England following political and economic disturbances in the mid-fifteenth century.

A special thank you to Professor Nora Berend (St. Catherine's College) and Dr. Paul Cavill (Pembroke College) from Cambridge Univesity who supervised my Masters Thesis and helped me through my research.

At the battle of Mortimer’s Cross in Wales on the 2 February 1461, the eighteen year old Edward earl of March, proved himself to be a capable soldier, defeating a Lancastrian force. At the time Edward’s contemporaries did not doubt his military prowess, or great courage and hardiness. Thomas More wrote that: ‘in war, sharp and fierce; in the field, bold and hardy’. It was Edward’s decisive victory at Mortimer’s cross, which clearly demonstrated that he was the best general on the Yorkist side. Edward IV set a heroic example to his men of being fierce in battle and having proved his hegemonic masculinity, there could be no question regarding his ability to embody the warrior ideal.


In this paper, I argue that there was a strong identification between the warrior ethos and notions of manhood and kingship in the late medieval and early modern period. Edward IV and Henry VIII’s reigns brought a renewal of military activity as both sought to recuperate English chivalric masculinity, whilst they also celebrated the earlier achievements of the medieval warrior kings. Edward was a warrior king in the first instance because he had to be. Henry tried to be one. It becomes apparent in this paper that this was the sort of king that his subjects wanted too.


Significantly for Edward and Henry their nobles remained intrinsically warriors, as a result they were able to develop strong homosocial bonds with their men as they took personally to the battlefield unlike their predecessors. One important aspect that this paper also illustrates is that those men, who took a leading role in warfare tended to be the same men, who had dominated the tiltyard during the reigns of Edward IV and Henry VIII.

'Oure souerayn lord hath wonne the feld… [and] he was resseyued into York with gret solempnyté and processyonz'. Edward the fourth had won the crown in a vicious conflict between the armies the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. He was a king with a long military career, with chivalric magnificence and prowess on his side. Henry the sixth, the Lancastrian king he defeated, was politically weak and, according to Paston, 'fledde into Scottelond, [as] they ben chased and folwed' by the Yorkists. Chronicler Jean de Waurin described the aftermath of Towton with 'many knights, earls and barons [coming] into [Edward's] presence… [Edward stating] he would never rest until he had killed or captured King Henry and his wife'. This was a new king who was driven by revenge, power and chivalric concepts of monarchical strength. The vicious political war of the late fifteenth century, known as the Wars of the Roses, began to define and manipulate the concept of chivalry, practically and as a cultural ideology. Chivalric principals had so defined the character of war in the medieval period and there are many scholars of the opinion that as the medieval gave way to the early modern, it was well into decline; the Wars of the Roses in England being in that period between the late medieval and the beginning of the early modern era. What this paper will argue is that the Wars of the Roses saw a change to the ideal of chivalry, rather than decline, in terms of the practical uses. Whilst the ideal of chivalry had always been about performance, promotion of individual skill on the battlefield, the battles in this civil war seemingly began to erode that ideal. In discussing and comparing details from the battles of Towton in 1461 and Bosworth in 1485, there are distinct challenges to the employment of chivalry in warfare, and by looking at kingship in particular there are indications as to how chivalry stood culturally, through the late medieval period and onto the early modern. Chivalry as it stood in the later Middle Ages was a variable and somewhat ambiguous term. The late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries saw the ideal in England and France being channelled into the Hundred Years' War. Chivalry was based on concepts of honour and the moral integrity, being strongly linked with warfare, strength and self promotion through prowess and valour. In England, it was synonymous with the idea of kingship-the king being the most chivalrous of men was crucial to monarchical power. To some, chivalry wasn't simply an ideal to take into battle, to many it was an overriding ideology for how people lived their lives.

In this article I give a comprehensive view of the relationship between Margaret of York (1446-1503), the wife of the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold, and Voorne, from 1477 onwards her dower lands in the south of the county of Holland. I will concentrate on three different aspects of this relationship. First, I will demonstrate the economic importance of the isle for the duchess. At the same time I will show the interests of the inhabitants of Voorne and explain how they benefited from the patronage of their new lady. Finally, I will treat Margaret’s charitable and devotional works on the isle. I will demonstrate how these fit into a pious tradition of the lords of Voorne on the one hand and into the devotional practises of Margaret and other members of the Burgundian-Habsburg dynasty on the other.

This paper explores the relationship between genealogy and the second version of John Hardyng's Middle English verse Chronicle. Written c. 1460-65 for Richard, duke of York, and his son, Edward IV, the Chronicle immitates and negotiates the selective bias of contemporary genealogical rolls and political treatises, to underscore the importance of women in Britain's history and associate femininity with legitimate authorship and truth.

This essay focuses on the production and circulation of Earl Rivers's Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers. I argue that Rivers's patronage of William Caxton during the printer's early years at Westminster was part of a precise cultural plan, which entailed the dissemination of moral and educational literature outside the court. As revealed by a preliminary investigation of the ownership of incunables and manuscript witnesses, the readership of Rivers's Dicts is to be found in the gentry-a social class interested in books as both receptacles of typically courtly literary models and material symbols of a newly-acquired power.

Identification of a regional element to Edward IV’s governance – as accepted by numerous historians (D.A.L. Morgan, C.D. Ross, M.A. Hicks, and others) – was the inspiration for this interdisciplinary study which examines the crown's approach to government in South-West England: investigating Edward IV's policy towards the English regions, and exploring the feasibility of a regional approach to the politics, government, and elites of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset (1450–1500).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ◈ 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Discussing historians’ views of Edward IV’s ‘regional policy’, its implications for governance (core-periphery relations, royal authority) and methodology (county studies, prosopography, South-West England as a ‘political region’) are extrapolated: by testing whether this regional model of governance is valid, this survey provides a synthesis and longer-term overview of the region’s shire societies – favouring a Britannicist perspective (emphasising regional differences and peripheries) – thereby offering an alternative view of late medieval English government.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡-𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝
Considering whether Edward IV’s scheme was based on existing expressions of regional identities, regions, identities, and their definitions are explored: examining how the south-western shires might be delineated by geography (geology, topography); economy (agriculture, commerce, settlement patterns); culture (ethnicities, counties, mythologies, laws); and political structures, both public (shrievalties, dioceses), and private (lordship); ultimately identifying the importance of the meso-scale regions of Somerset/Dorset and Devon/Cornwall.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 ◈ 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
Political structures in general (council, parliament, royal household, crown estates, county administration), and with specific reference to the region, are explored: in particular, the prime role played by the Duchy of Cornwall (whose estates, regalities, and administration have remained largely unstudied). Consideration of lordship, with an exposition of the principles of patron-client ('bastard feudal'/clientelist) relationships and examination of the evidence (and limitations, subtleties, and uncertainties) relating to the (re-)construction of lordship/socio-political alliances, forms a basis for a methodological approach to the categorisation of clients into 'affinities' (a widely-accepted method in medieval Scottish historiography).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 ◈ 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬
The nature of elites and their definition is examined – suggesting the significance of counties’ administrative elites (sheriffs, escheators, knights of the shire and burgesses (MPs), and JPs). This definition is applied to the region (comprising local peerage and administrative elites; totalling 347 individuals: 82 peers and 265 gentry), and the extent to which they may have identified with their locality, county, or region is questioned by evaluating the degree to which their land- and office-holding, marriage alliances, testamentary dispositions, and interactions were regional. The degree to which their associations were regional is examined by means of three case studies (selectively chosen because of their importance): the Hungerfords, Arundells, and Edgcumbes (in which the clientelist principles outlined in Chapter 3 are demonstrated).

The crown's use of royal household servants in local government – increasingly the vital institution for exerting royal influence (a topic unduly neglected) – is examined alongside regional governance and the significance of the Duchy of Cornwall. These themes – in ensuing chapters – are silhouetted against a (chronological) analysis of government and local political alignments (utilising published (and unpublished) family and county studies, and Duchy of Cornwall archives), with each county analysed on an equal basis (thereby highlighting recurrences of major figures and themes between shires), and a regional evaluation offering a broader overview.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓 ◈ 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝟏𝟒𝟓𝟎–𝟔𝟏
After consideration of pertinent personalities during previous decades, the influence of the Beaufort, Dukes of Somerset in Somerset and Dorset (involving associations with Lords Stourton and Hungerford) is examined, before outlining Bonville-Courtenay rivalry and the pre-eminence of William, Lord Bonville (through associations with Sir Philip Courtenay, and William, Lord FitzWaryn in Devon, and John Arundell in Cornwall). Later, the regional ascendancy of James, Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire during Queen Margaret’s direction of government is also explored.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝟏𝟒𝟔𝟏–𝟕𝟏
There is a particular emphasis on Edward IV’s gubernatorial system and the regional ascendancy of Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Southwick (d.1469) who held estates and Duchy offices throughout the region and appears to have been associated with Stourton-Hungerford associates in Somerset/Dorset (through his uncle, Lord Stourton), former Bonville-FitzWaryn affiliates (Devon), and Arundell associates in Cornwall (through his stepfather, John Arundell).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝟏𝟒𝟕𝟏–𝟖𝟑
The re-structuring of regional politics during Edward IV's second reign is examined: from an initial focus upon George, Duke of Clarence, to the roles of William, Lord Hastings (through his son’s marriage to the Hungerford heiress) in Somerset/Dorset, John, Lord Dinham (Devon), and the potential regional significance of Thomas, Marquess of Dorset (through his marriage to the Bonville heiress).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖 ◈ 𝐔𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝟏𝟒𝟖𝟑–𝟓
Contributing to ongoing discourses concerning the region’s contribution to the October Rebellion, Richard III’s ‘Northern Plantations’, and the uneasy aftermath, focus falls on the roles of Lords Audley and Zouche (Somerset/Dorset), and the importance of Lord Dinham (Devon) and Sir James Tyrell (through his Arundell marriage) in Cornwall.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗 ◈ 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝟏𝟒𝟖𝟓–𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎
Henry VII's governance – which remains largely unexplored with regard to local and regional politics – is examined: surveying a complex settlement and highlighting the relevance of Lord Cheyne (husband of Lord Stourton’s widow), and the prominence of Giles, Lord Daubeney (Somerset/Dorset). Similarly, whilst recognising the important roles of Lord Dinham and Edward, Earl of Devon (Devon), and the Edgcumbes, and John Arundell (Cornwall), the  significance of Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke (Cornwall/Devon) is also examined.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎 ◈ 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The themes of ‘regional governance’ and ‘household governance’ are evaluated within a wider historical context. Rather than stressing the role of magnate-led-affinities, leading-gentry-led associations may have provided a durable foundation beneath the evanescent manoeuvrings of local politics. In addition, elites’ interactions, alliances, and identities indicate the strength of the county-unit and meso-regional communities of Somerset/Dorset and Devon/Cornwall (as discerned in the region’s geography, economy, and culture), and the broader relevance of south-western elites and identities is discussed in relation to the study of meso- and macro-scale regions.

As an ancillary core, the Duchy of Cornwall projected royal authority thereby providing a regional ‘political centre’ whilst successive appointments of magnates (with region-wide interests) to Duchy offices ensured that regional ‘governors’ became political foci. However, these hegemonies may have failed, ultimately, because they ignored pre-existing county/meso-regional identities. Moreover, because of the inherently unstable nature of quasi-regal hegemonies, the regional trend in governance discernible during the period may have been a factor in the continuance of the Wars of the Roses: but these twin policies of regional and household governance ended with Henry VII's change in approach (and trend towards conciliarisation).

This survey integrates local, regional, and national perspectives, and aims at achieving a greater appreciation of royal authority, patronage, and government in late medieval south-western England, whilst offering a perspective placed within a broader context of longer-term trends in governance, institutional evolution, and state formation during the later Middle Ages.

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐱 𝐈𝐈 ◈ 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝟏𝟒𝟓𝟎–𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎
Table I: Directory of Peerage (including all Courtenay Earls of Devon: Thomas, Thomas, John, and Edward)
Table II: Directory of Gentry

Hardback: £29.95 (2009); £84.95 (30 Jun 2010).

Composed during a period of increased dynastic awareness and political tension, John Hardyng’s late fifteenth-century Chronicle survives in two versions. Previous scholars have labelled the first version a ‘Lancastrian’ account of history, written with little purpose other than to elicit financial reward and advocate the conquest of Scotland; the second is regarded as a ‘Yorkist’ revision. This article assesses Hardyng’s representation of the kings and their kingdom, with particular emphasis on the depiction of division within the realm; it demonstrates that Hardyng’s portrayal of Henry VI in the first version, and his use of commonplace imagery and themes, are conscientiously crafted to facilitate a wider-ranging political focus and concern with late medieval affairs than previously accepted. Conversely, comparable examples from the second version show that it is not exclusively concerned with fortifying the Yorkist dynasty, but that it promotes the same call for peace and good governance as the first version.

Fifteenth century England is recognised by historians as an era characterised by political disorder and turbulence. The throne of England changed eight times during the course of the Fifteenth century alone and this goes some way in demonstrating the political instability experienced by the nation. Of the many sudden changes of political fortune, which mark English society in the fifteenth century, none is more remarkable than the recovery of the Yorkist cause. Edward, duke of York, a claimant to the throne through his descent from the second son of Edward III, was proclaimed king in March 1461 following his victory over the army of Henry VI at the Battle of Towton. Edward IV’s usurpation of the throne heralded a new Yorkist dynasty following the sixty two- year old rule dominance of the crown by the House of Lancaster.


This paper will analyse the tactics and methods by which Edward IV managed to retain his throne at the same time as reasserting the prestige of the monarchy following the disastrous reign of Henry VI. The relationship between displays of finery and masculinity, it will be argued, was representative of Edward IV’s personal inclination to consolidate his kingship through public spectacles that showcased his manhood and indicated his strong hold over the throne. The purpose of this paper is to reflect that Edward IV projected a specific form of knightly masculinity that intentionally contrasted to the pious and saintly image of Henry VI.


My analysis of Edward’s kingship and masculinity focuses on one important setting that allowed high status individuals to demonstrate their manhood: the medieval tournament. Edward IV was the first king to compete in the tournament since Edward III, who had set the precedent of the knightly model through his active participation in chivalry. This paper argues that Edward IV’s reign was a rebirth of chivalry principally through the return of the tournament at court, which enabled him to exert his authority and manhood amongst those of the elite who might seek to challenge his right to the throne.

Avery Cornburgh (d.1487) of Bere Ferrers (Devon) and Dovers (Essex) – a Lancastrian, Yorkist, and Tudor household servant – was one of the appreciable numbers of crown servants utilised in local government during the fifteenth century. Serving in Cornwall and Essex as JP, MP, sheriff, and commissioner, he was prominent in Cornish affairs as a result of the positions he enjoyed in the Duchy of Cornwall.

This case study of his career in the royal household and Duchy of Cornwall and associations with magnates and gentry in South-West England – (re-)constructed from eclectic sources (including Duchy of Cornwall (and other) archives) – provides an insight into local and national politics in the later fifteenth century: Cornburgh's Duchy and royal service culminated with his appointments as Under-Treasurer of England (under Richard III), and Keeper of the Wardrobe (under Henry VII).

A military biography of the first Yorkist king of England, focusing on his personal role in the campaigns of the Wars of the Roses. It includes detailed accounts of important battles, including Towton and Tewkesbury.

Further details: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Edward-IV-and-the-Wars-of-the-Roses-Paperback/p/3174

Focussing on the Duchy of Cornwall’s organisational structure during the Wars of the Roses, this survey examines the principal offices (which evolved around administration of its marine and terrene regalities) and personnel (administrative elite) in Cornwall and Devon. Utilising Duchy of Cornwall (and other) archives, this analysis explores the Duchy’s governance in terms of estate administration (stewards, constables, and keepers of castles and parks); Stannary administration (coinage, courts, and convocations); Havenary administration (ports, customs, and fisheries); and revenues and accounts.

Consideration of successive Princes’ Councils and counsellors (and Councils of Wales and the Marches) leads onto exploration of the roles of various courtiers, magnates, and royal household servants in the affairs of the Duchy and the wider implications – for south-western England – of Duchy service. The duchy with its political hinterland – as a subsidiary core – radiated royal authority throughout the region, hence the significance of Duchy office-holding in royal patronage and especially for assessing royal policy in terms of regional governance.

The Duchy’s singular structures ensured that Cornwall remained distinctly different from England and Wales yet reflected the realm as a whole – it was a microcosm of national politics and government. The Duchy’s role as a focus for Cornish loyalties and identities was more complex: Duchy office-holding provided an agency for advancement, careerism, and social mobility – encouraging participation whilst, simultaneously, feeding senses of solidarity and separation. However, Cornish appreciation of the Duchy depended on the Duchy’s appreciation of the Cornish, their customs, and liberties; thus when the crown was believed to reneged on its responsibilities (such as in 1497 and 1549), the Cornish rose in rebellion.

Little attention has been paid by historians to the production of firearms in the Tower of London in the fifteenth century, before the reign of Henry VII. This is due to the lack of surviving records for the office of the Ordnance prior to the 1490s. The discovery of the earliest surviving set of accounts by a Master of the Ordnance based at the Tower, however, means that it is now possible to examine the manufacture and refurbishment of guns at the Tower in the early 1470s. This evidence demonstrates that Edward IV was responsible for the re-establishment of the Tower as the principle facility for the production and storage of firearms in England, which laid important foundations that his Tudor successors built upon.

At the end of almost two years of civil war, England was on its knees. A young and vigorous king had assumed the throne, but were ordinary men and women really filled with as much optimism at the prospect of a new beginning as some chroniclers would have use believe?

Surveying historiographical, methodological and conceptual contexts (as well as the advantages and disadvantages) of county and regional studies, this survey considers these principles and approaches in relation to the study of south-western England (Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall) as a region.

The reigns of Edward IV and Richard III have long engendered fascination and debate, not least concerning the extent of the authority and power of key individuals surrounding the court at the time. This book examines the most influential men and women at the centre of their regimes: the political power-brokers. They served the king in matters of diplomacy, warfare, court ceremony, local government, and the attempt to keep order amid the ongoing crisis of kingship sparked by the Wars of the Roses. Their close royal association to the king led to rapid increases in their power and fortune. Among their ranks are well-documented figures such as the tragic "Kingmaker", Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, and the steadfast baron William, Lord Hastings. This volume however is also concerned to bring to the forefront lesser discussed figures, including Sir Thomas Montgomery, Edward's close friend whose career was remade by the Yorkist usurpation, and Sir John Fogge, one of the leading men of Kent who prospered under Yorkist rule, yet risked everything by rejecting Richard's right to rule.
Grounded on extensive archival research, this book offers a more detailed and nuanced image of the influence the power-brokers wielded and their place in the Yorkist state. It analyses the manifestation of their power and the manner in which they exercised their influence publicly and privately; and establishes their importance in the foundation, maintenance, and downfall of the Yorkist dynasty.

This article seeks to examine the rebellions perpetrated against Edward IV by the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence in 1469-70. Its purpose is two-fold: to consider this series of events on its own terms; and to use language and the physical forms of the relevant documents to better understand how political discourse in the Wars of the Roses was shaped by events and vice versa. Particular emphasis is paid to contemporary linguistic and rhetorical frameworks such as the 'commons', the 'common weal', and 'treason', and the ways in which both parties navigated the turbulent politics of these years.
- Highly commended for the Richard III Society Research Prize 2019

Le temps de la restauration lancastrienne, d’octobre 1470 au printemps 1471 – appelée «Readeption» dans l’historiographie anglaise – et des rébellions du comte de Warwick qui la précèdent constitue une des périodes d’instabilité politique caractéristiques de la guerre des Deux- Roses. La rapidité des évènements suscite l’étonnement du chroniqueur de Croyland : en quelques semaines, Warwick parvient à faire fuir Édouard IV et à remettre Henri VI sur le trône. Six mois plus tard, Édouard revient d’exil et reprend le pouvoir en deux mois, la dynastie des Lancastre étant largement décimée.
Un des intérêts de l’étude de la période 1469-1471 réside dans la nature des sources disponibles. La guerre des Deux-Roses étant avant tout une guerre dynastique, les prétendants doivent affirmer et prouver leur légitimité : chaque parti se rend compte de l’importance de contrôler la diffusion de l’information. Ainsi une série de questions doivent être posées : ce contrôle de l’information peut-il être qualifié de propagande alors que le terme ne date que du XVIIe siècle ? Participe-t-il à un dessein de la part du pouvoir royal ou des rebelles ? En quoi les messages contenus dans les écrits à but propagandiste sont-ils propres au contexte de la guerre des Deux-Roses ? À quel point ont-ils été efficaces et ont-ils influencé les chroniques et autres sources narratives écrites à l’époque et en suivant ?

This article argues that Jane Shore, Edward IV's mistress in Thomas Heywood's history play, The First and Second Parts of King Edward IV, becomes a figure of chronicle history through the way her speech acts of petitions and pardons are read as politically efficacious. In separating her performative speech from her identity as a woman, commoner, and mistress, Jane transcends both her moral and social status in ways not seen in the ballad or dramatic traditions that predate Heywood's play. Instead, Jane's words achieve a political authority even beyond those of the king, effacing her former status and recrafting—and perhaps limiting—her identity in the process.

This survey of the Duchy of Cornwall’s landed and marine interests in South-West England (from Cornwall to Somerset) considers the relevance of office-holding in royal patronage policies (from Henry VI to Henry VII), and questions whether consolidation of such power – in the hands of royal favourites (such as regional governors) – might promote, rather than prevent, political instability.

South-West England was of considerable strategic importance during the Wars of the Roses, and this two-county study provides an account of the political societies of Somerset and Dorset from 1461 to 1491, concentrating on the interaction of formal and informal structures of government (county administration, nobility, and royal household servants).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ◈ 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Consideration of the historiographical, conceptual, and methodological framework of the study, and examination of the issues of ‘county communities’, local studies, and regionalism.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 ◈ 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤
An investigation into both shires’ landholding and political alignments during the 1450s is a precursor to examining Edward IV’s first reign (1461–70) – with evaluations of local government, use of royal household retainers, and particular focus on the ascendancy of Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Southwick later Earl of Devon (1461–9).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
Focussing on whether Edward IV’s second reign (1471–83) was innovative (a Yorkist Constitutional Experiment) or whether his regional scheme of governance originated in his first reign, the ascendancy of Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset (d.1501) is examined – raising the question of the extent to which the instability caused by Edward’s governance provoked Richard, Duke of Gloucester’s usurpation.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 ◈ 𝐔𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥
Richard III’s initial treatment of the two counties and their contribution to the October Rebellion is considered, as well as Richard’s ‘Northern Plantations’ which represented a significant change from previous practices in local government, and may have led to his downfall.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓 ◈ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐮𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
Henry VII’s settlement after Bosworth (1485–91), and his apparently impartial treatment of both Lancastrian and Yorkist elements, is examined whilst the importance of Giles, Lord Daubeney (d.1508) and significance of Henry’s emphasis on justice in establishing his regime are also considered.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔 ◈ 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The principal themes of the period – regional governance, noble-gentry interactions, domination of county societies by a number of inter-related families (ruling elites), and use of royal household retainers in local government, as well as the distinction between landed and political societies – are evaluated within the wider context of late medieval English government.

A magnate, as a monarch in miniature, was required to ensure that rule of his ‘country’ conformed to certain established conventions. Understanding these constraints leads onto wider consideration of the nature of bastard feudal (patron-broker-client) ties, and the importance of royal patronage in influencing local patterns of governance and magnates’ spheres of influence.

Consideration of the Duchy of Cornwall’s role in south-western England – and its wider importance in terms of royal patronage – is a precursor to examining the careers and connections of some of those individuals involved in Duchy of Cornwall administration from the 1450s onwards, such as the royal household servants John Trevelyan and Avery Cornburgh (d.1487).

Despite the historiographical consensus of the last fifty years, neither the stimulus of disorder in Wales nor Welsh resources were of great importance in the crisis experienced by the Lancastrian monarchy in 1456–9. Re-examination of key episodes, such as the raid by Sir William Herbert and Sir Walter Devereux on Aberystwyth and Carmarthen, does not support the suggestion that they were a trigger to decisive actions in the period. In particular, the decision of the Lancastrian court to leave London and establish itself in the English Midlands is here attributed primarily to disorder in the capital and the threat of war with Scotland.

From its creation in 1337, the Duchy of Cornwall enjoyed certain singular regalities in Cornwall and Devon, and its landholding extended throughout the realm (but was particularly concentrated in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset).

◈ 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞
The royal and political influence of the Duchy therefore radiated throughout these peripheral south-western shires, making its senior officers important foci for the region. Hence this paper – using Duchy of Cornwall, and other, archives – examines the most influential of these figures during the later fifteenth century.

◈ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬
The endowment of Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Southwick, later Earl of Devon (d.1469) with significant Duchy offices during the 1460s ensured that he became the crown’s chief agent in the south-west region (which is of broader significance because of Edward IV’s wider ‘regional policy’).

Following discussion of Lord Stafford, there is consideration of how, during the 1470s, John Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire (d.1473) was briefly entrusted with local influence before the ascendancy of the king’s stepson, Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset (d.1501); and also consideration of Richard III’s use of John, Lord Dinham (d.1501), and Henry VII’s use of Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke (d.1502) as Duchy officers.

◈ 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Comparison of these kings’ attitudes to Duchy administration enables greater evaluation of their local and regional policies, and therefore facilitates greater appreciation of changing polity-locality relations.

Identification of a regional element to Edward IV’s governance – as accepted by numerous historians (D.A.L. Morgan, C.D. Ross, M.A. Hicks, and others) – was the inspiration for this interdisciplinary study which examines the crown's approach to government in South-West England: investigating Edward IV's policy towards the English regions, and exploring the feasibility of a regional approach to the politics, government, and elites of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset (1450–1500).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ◈ 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Discussing historians’ views of Edward IV’s ‘regional policy’, its implications for governance (core-periphery relations, royal authority) and methodology (county studies, prosopography, South-West England as a ‘political region’) are extrapolated: by testing whether this regional model of governance is valid, this survey provides a synthesis and longer-term overview of the region’s shire societies – favouring a Britannicist perspective (emphasising regional differences and peripheries) – thereby offering an alternative view of late medieval English government.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡-𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝
Considering whether Edward IV’s scheme was based on existing expressions of regional identities, regions, identities, and their definitions are explored: examining how the south-western shires might be delineated by geography (geology, topography); economy (agriculture, commerce, settlement patterns); culture (ethnicities, counties, mythologies, laws); and political structures, both public (shrievalties, dioceses), and private (lordship); ultimately identifying the importance of the meso-scale regions of Somerset/Dorset and Devon/Cornwall.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 ◈ 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
Political structures in general (council, parliament, royal household, crown estates, county administration), and with specific reference to the region, are explored: in particular, the prime role played by the Duchy of Cornwall (whose estates, regalities, and administration have remained largely unstudied). Consideration of lordship, with an exposition of the principles of patron-client ('bastard feudal'/clientelist) relationships and examination of the evidence (and limitations, subtleties, and uncertainties) relating to the (re-)construction of lordship/socio-political alliances, forms a basis for a methodological approach to the categorisation of clients into 'affinities' (a widely-accepted method in medieval Scottish historiography).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 ◈ 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬
The nature of elites and their definition is examined – suggesting the significance of counties’ administrative elites (sheriffs, escheators, knights of the shire and burgesses (MPs), and JPs). This definition is applied to the region (comprising local peerage and administrative elites; totalling 347 individuals: 82 peers and 265 gentry), and the extent to which they may have identified with their locality, county, or region is questioned by evaluating the degree to which their land- and office-holding, marriage alliances, testamentary dispositions, and interactions were regional. The degree to which their associations were regional is examined by means of three case studies (selectively chosen because of their importance): the Hungerfords, Arundells, and Edgcumbes (in which the clientelist principles outlined in Chapter 3 are demonstrated).

The crown's use of royal household servants in local government – increasingly the vital institution for exerting royal influence (a topic unduly neglected) – is examined alongside regional governance and the significance of the Duchy of Cornwall. These themes – in ensuing chapters – are silhouetted against a (chronological) analysis of government and local political alignments (utilising published (and unpublished) family and county studies, and Duchy of Cornwall archives), with each county analysed on an equal basis (thereby highlighting recurrences of major figures and themes between shires), and a regional evaluation offering a broader overview.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓 ◈ 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝟏𝟒𝟓𝟎–𝟔𝟏
After consideration of pertinent personalities during previous decades, the influence of the Beaufort Dukes of Somerset in Somerset and Dorset (involving associations with Lords Stourton and Hungerford) is examined, before outlining Bonville-Courtenay rivalry and the pre-eminence of William, Lord Bonville (through associations with Sir Philip Courtenay, and William, Lord FitzWaryn in Devon, and John Arundell in Cornwall). Later, the regional ascendancy of James, Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire during Queen Margaret’s direction of government is also explored.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝟏𝟒𝟔𝟏–𝟕𝟏
There is a particular emphasis on Edward IV’s gubernatorial system and the regional ascendancy of Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Southwick later Earl of Devon (d.1469) who held estates and Duchy offices throughout the region and appears to have been associated with Stourton-Hungerford associates in Somerset/Dorset (through his uncle, Lord Stourton), former Bonville-FitzWaryn affiliates (Devon), and Arundell associates in Cornwall (through his stepfather, John Arundell).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕 ◈ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝟏𝟒𝟕𝟏–𝟖𝟑
The re-structuring of regional politics during Edward IV's second reign is examined: from an initial focus upon George, Duke of Clarence, to the roles of William, Lord Hastings (through his son’s marriage to the Hungerford heiress) in Somerset/Dorset, John, Lord Dinham (Devon), and the potential regional significance of Thomas, Marquess of Dorset (through his marriage to the Bonville heiress).

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖 ◈ 𝐔𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝟏𝟒𝟖𝟑–𝟓
Contributing to ongoing discourses concerning the region’s contribution to the October Rebellion, Richard III’s ‘Northern Plantations’, and the uneasy aftermath, focus falls on the roles of Lords Audley and Zouche (Somerset/Dorset), and the importance of Lord Dinham (Devon) and Sir James Tyrell (through his Arundell marriage) in Cornwall.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗 ◈ 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝟏𝟒𝟖𝟓–𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎
Henry VII's governance – which remains largely unexplored with regard to local and regional politics – is examined: surveying a complex settlement and highlighting the relevance of Lord Cheyne (husband of Lord Stourton’s widow), and the prominence of Giles, Lord Daubeney (Somerset/Dorset). Similarly, whilst recognising the important roles of Lord Dinham and Edward, Earl of Devon (Devon), and the Edgcumbes, and John Arundell (Cornwall), the significance of Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke (Cornwall/Devon) is also examined.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎 ◈ 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The themes of ‘regional governance’ and ‘household governance’ are evaluated within a wider historical context. Rather than stressing the role of magnate-led-affinities, leading-gentry-led associations may have provided a durable foundation beneath the evanescent manoeuvrings of local politics. In addition, elites’ interactions, alliances, and identities indicate the strength of the county-unit and meso-regional communities of Somerset/Dorset and Devon/Cornwall (as discerned in the region’s geography, economy, and culture), and the broader relevance of south-western elites and identities is discussed in relation to the study of meso- and macro-scale regions.

As an ancillary core, the Duchy of Cornwall projected royal authority thereby providing a regional ‘political centre’ whilst successive appointments of magnates (with region-wide interests) to Duchy offices ensured that regional ‘governors’ became political foci. However, these hegemonies may have failed, ultimately, because they ignored pre-existing county/meso-regional identities. Moreover, because of the inherently unstable nature of quasi-regal hegemonies, the regional trend in governance discernible during the period may have been a factor in the continuance of the Wars of the Roses: but these twin policies of regional and household governance ended with Henry VII's change in approach (and trend towards conciliarisation).

This survey integrates local, regional, and national perspectives, and aims at achieving a greater appreciation of royal authority, patronage, and government in late medieval south-western England, whilst offering a perspective placed within a broader context of longer-term trends in governance, institutional evolution, and state formation during the later Middle Ages.

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐱 𝐈𝐈 ◈ 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝟏𝟒𝟓𝟎–𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎
Table I: Directory of Peerage (including all Courtenay Earls of Devon: Thomas, Thomas, John, and Edward)
Table II: Directory of Gentry

As a case study of the interaction between central government and the localities, this survey of Somerset and Dorset political societies (between 1461 and 1485) focusses upon the local nobility, shire administrators and members of the royal household, with consideration of such themes as Edward IV’s regional policy and Richard III’s ‘Northern Plantations’.

Consideration of the historiographical and methodological contexts of south-western England during the Wars of the Roses leads onto an examination of local politics and governance during the later years of Henry VI’s reign (1450–61), and the potential role of Queen Margaret’s favourite James Butler, Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire (d.1461).

Discussion of the family, career, and landholdings of Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Southwick, later Earl of Devon (d.1469) is a precursor to an exploration of his associations with leading figures in Somerset and Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, their involvement in shire administration, and – after Stafford’s execution – the possible role of George, Duke of Clarence (d.1478) in the South West during the 1470s is also examined.