Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship
Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship
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? This book looks intensively at the political system itself, rather than at individuals, their personalities and patronage networks, and thus offers the first truly structured narrative of the reign.
- A paperback edition of the most detailed and original account of the reign of Henry VI to have appeared in many years
- Sheds light on the other reigns in later medieval England, during the period of the 'Wars of the Roses'
- Re-asserts the notoriously 'weak' king Henry VI in terms of constitutional aims and priorities
Reviews & endorsements
"Watts' book offers a great deal, not least in terms of his clarification of the values, norms, and expectations of politics in late medieval England.... " Michael J. Bennett, Albion
"This study takes a respectable place in the recent and admirable literature that reappraises 15th-century England." Choice
"...by far the most substantial and sustained case for the new constitutional history." American Historical Review
"...Watts has written a convincing argument.... The book, ...will engender much debate on this maligned monarch. For this, Watts has made a notable contribution to fifteenth-century English historical studies." Ronald Edward Zupko, The Historian
"The book...will engender much debate on this maligned monarch. ...a notable contribution to fifteenth-century English historical studies." Ronald Edward Zupko, The Historian
Product details
August 1996Hardback
9780521420396
420 pages
235 × 158 × 30 mm
0.73kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- 1. Introduction: ideas and politics in fifteenth-century history
- 2. The conceptual framework
- 3. Government
- 4. Features of Henry VI's polity
- 5. The years of transition, 1435–45
- 6. The rule of the court, 1445–50
- 7. The search for authority, 1450–61
- 8. Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index.
