As well as this Richard of York was definitely an over mighty subject. York was a blood relation to the royal family, a descendant of Kind Edward III and the owner of a vast estate that stretched across England! He was the heir apparent, which gave him advantage and means to push to try and become king (or try to get his heir onto the throne next). Overall he seemed to be more suited for the role as king than Henry VI was. Furthermore Henry also owed him a £38,000 and became increasingly angry with this. To try and settle the debt he pressed the king, saying that he wanted the money or employment; reluctantly accepting lieutenancy in Ireland his debts remained unpaid – which still gave York a hold over Henry!
On the other hand many other factors contributed to the conflict in 1455. To start with King Henry VI’s personality was not fit for being a king. One of his major problems was finance; he was unable to effectively manage money and got into debt of around £370,000. It became an increasing problem due to the fact that nobles and gentry were reluctant to fund his failure and in 1450 and 1451 he lost Normandy and Gascony. £38,000 of his debt was to Richard of York. As Richard was one of his advisors it became clear that, if he wanted to, Richard might be inclined to blackmail Henry with his debt. The bill of money became an accumulating factor, which provoked stress and anxiety across the country. Coupled with the fact that Henry was too generous with his assets, he was widely known for giving away land and other means of belongings, that the downfall he had started on slowly got bigger. Henry died in massive debt!
Another fault of Henry’s part was that Henry was an under-mighty king. For the first 16 years of his reign Henry was under the influence of a select group of nobles tasked with the government of the kingdom and the prosecution of the war in France. Even when he reached his majority he was still prompted greatly by ‘favourite’ nobles. This led to tension and rivalry at court between the most powerful and ambitious nobles, which the king seemed unable to manage and control. As Henry misunderstood the seriousness of the bitter rivalry that grew between Richard of York and the Duke of Somerset. His failure to resolve and make amends with the two warring Dukes contributed to the outbreak of civil war.
Henry had many problems with mental illness. In 1453 and 1455 he had 2 major breakdowns, although it is believed that he was never completely ‘normal’ in the first place. During this period advisors/nobles had to take his place whilst he recovered. For the country it was not the suitable thing to do, the people needed a strong and stable ruler – all of these things Henry was not! Instead, he was thought of as being very childlike and immature. He was unable to deal with problems, whether that be in his personal life or to do with his role as king. His interest in his affairs was very little; it was reported that he had neglected the naval and coastal security and was failing to establish peace and effective law and order. Henry also had no interest in war – being the first king never to command an army against a foreign territory – this he left in the hands of others and did not live up to the reputation of his father (Henry V). It was quite clear that Henry was weak, he became a target and others knew that he was not capable to deal with whatever conflict they may cause.
Margaret of Anjou could also been said to have added conflict and tension which may have helped the lead up to the break out of war. She was a very strong and powerful character, which made the king seem weaker and indecisive. Unlike in France, where if her husband became sick she could take over his affairs, in England she had to let this job fall into the hands of others (e.g. nobles). Some of the nobles became increasingly tired of Margaret’s meddling ways and were particularly unhappy with her close relationship with William de la Pole. Unfortunately for Margaret she was being closely compared with a previous unfaithful French queen. Many people saw her as having traits like another French queen and this created a massive unpopularity towards her! People thought of her as taking advantage over Henry as he was obviously incapable of trying to give order to her with his mental capacity. Margaret also saw Richard of York as a threat to her family. Having son already she worried that Richard would try and take control of the throne and she was going to do everything in her power to stop him. She persuaded Henry to change his role as advisor and aimed to ‘strip him of his powers’ before he could do the same to her baby! With Henry’s problems already rising, his wife being an unpopular queen was just adding extra fuel to the fire.
Overall, Richard of York did have many aspects that meant that he posed threat and worry to the king and his men. However, there were never any recorded cases of York actually trying to overtake the throne; although there were many reasons why you could understand others wanting him out of his powerful position, you cannot say that York was solely to blame! There were some issues with the changing of his ambitions but they did not play as much of a vital role in the cause. One figure who adds conflict the idea that Richard of York was greatly to blame is King Henry! It is obviously noticeable that he was not a powerful leader and grouped with his wife the two did not have good means of ruling. In conclusion, Richard can only be blamed somewhat for the conflict in 1455 but many other factors play a much bigger role.