Political Society in Yorkist England: Somerset and Dorset, 1461–91 (original) (raw)

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.