Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship

ISBN-13: 9780521653930 / Angielski / Miękka / 1999 / 418 str.

John Watts

Opis

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.

Recenzje

'… historians will find in this well-written and stimulating book an essential guide to the politics of Henry VI's court.' Simon Walker, The Times Literary Supplement

Spis treści

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.