TO WHAT EXTENT WAS HENRY VI'S INCOMPETENCE THE PRIMARY CAUSE FOR THE OUTBREAK OF THE WARS OF THE ROSES?

Vergil wrote: ‘King Henry was a man of mild and plain dealing disposition, who preferred peace

before wars, quietness before troubles’. This quote displays that Henry held the opposite traits to

those demanded of a king by his contemporaries. It is supported by the quote of Henry’s admiring

chaplain, JohnBlacman, who tells us: ‘His delight was in the law of the Lord by day and night’. 

This further demonstrates the incorrect positions of the priorities of Henry VI. A.J.Pollard gives a

blunter, more critical view of Henry, saying ‘Henry was weak, vacillating, feckless and

profligate’. It is indeed correct to apply each of these terms to Henry, and every one of these

traits led to actions with undesirable results. Henry was weak, and strength was especially

necessary in a Lancastrian due to Henry IV’s (Henry VI’s grandfather) dubious claim to the

throne. This made a Lancastrian king vulnerable to attack. Henry’s lack of such a strength not

only strengthened the power of other claimants but also encouraged people to question his right to

be king. The king’s inauthoritative presence produced a lack of confidence in a King of so little

strength amongst his people. It also encouraged his council as well as Margaret of Anjou to

dominate parliamentary decisions. R.L Storey tells us ‘Record of the meetings of the King’s

Council, indeed, do not indicate that Henry regularly attended its sessions. While it sat as

Westminster, the King was frequently absent from the capital’. This quote demonstrates an

obvious shortcoming of Henry. His absence from Parliament was a direct indication of his

disinterest in his kingly duties. The quote also reminds us that we cannot put full blame on

Henry’s Council for their increasingly powerful roles. John Watts is less critical of courtiers than

most and claims they were simply filling a void created by the absence of an active king.

McFarlane is strongly critical of Henry where the rising power of others was concerned. He wrote

‘his personal lack of fitness was the cause, not the weakness of his office and his resources’. 

Wolffe wrote that Henry ‘dissolved the unity and purpose of the realm and made all his advisers

seem like knaves or fools or both’.  Wolffe agrees that Henry was in part the most responsible

for the actions of his Council. Henry’s absence and disinterest in royal matters were not the only

problems of his incompetence. His feeble qualities combined with his feckless attitude resulted in

an unmerited and unreasonable distribution of patronage as well as an increase in bastard

feudalism and noble rivalries. A.J Pollard writes that Henry was ‘a man who always agreed with

the last to have spoken with him, he created confusion by contradictory policy decision and

duplicated grants’. This is evident from many of his actions. Henry showered vast amounts of

patronage on Richard, Duke of York who became one of the greatest landowners in the country,

owning vast estates in England, Wales and Ireland as well as several castles, including his

stronghold in Ludlow. This leads us to consider how great a role Henry played in his eventual

rival’s rise in power. An example of Henry’s ineffective distribution of patronage is that of his

actions in 1441, when he granted the stewardship of the Duchy of Cornwall to both the Earl of

Devon and Sir Bonville. Such careless mistakes increased noble feuds and put greater pressure on

his council who had to correct his errors. Henry’s incompetence due to his personality was a great

cause of the Wars of the Roses and must be considered as a factor of the other sources of the

Wars.

It is certain that until 1453, Henry was not yet mentally ill but simply incompetent. However, the

fact of Henry’s complete mental and physical breakdown in 1453-4 is undisputed. Just three

weeks after hearing of the defeat at Castillon, Henry VI’s health suddenly collapsed. He became

utterly withdrawn, bringing things to a head as a regent was needed to rule in Henry’s name. The

following events – York’s loss of the regency, his raising of an army against the Queen resulting

in the Queen’s actions at her ‘Parliament of Devils’ – heightened tensions in the build up to the

consequential wars. Henry’s sudden deterioration of his mental fitness had caused further conflict

between his wife and Richard, Duke of York, giving additional stimulation to the quarrels which

led to the Wars of the Roses.

A certain amount of blame for the outbreak of the Wars has been placed, by some historians, on

the faults of Henry’s Council, above all on the ‘over-mighty nobles’ who sought power beyond

their duty, most prominently Richard, Duke of York. The general view amongst historians is that

Henry was in fact responsible for the growing confidence of subjects in his office, for example

McFarlane wrote that ‘only an undermighty ruler had anything to fear from overmighty

subjects’. It is indeed

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