202
Constitutional History.
[chap.
session1. Neither petition nor statute ventures to touch the
question of the validity of laws passed under the Lancastrian
kings; perhaps the subject was too difficult to be attempted,
perhaps the public interests were lost sight of in the anxiety
to preserve individual rights. The other branch of the work
of the session was the punishment of the opposing party.
Biii of A bill of attainder was presented to the king in the form of
passed, an act of parliament2, and with his approval laid before the
commons, who assented to it ; it was then by advice and assent
of the lords spiritual and temporal returned to the king to
receive the royal assent, which was given in the usual form
against ‘le roy le voet.’ By this act Henry VI is attainted of high
Margaret, treason, and condemned to forfeit the duchy of Lancaster, his
and their .., . . 1 . _ f, . it
friends. patrimonial estate, which is Iienceiorth attached as a separate
provision to the crown ; Margaret likewise is attainted for high
treason, and with her son suffers forfeiture ; the attainder is
shared on diverse counts by the fouιteen lords, living or dead,
who had most vigorously supported them3, and by a large
number of knights, squires, clerks, merchants, and others, the
most notable of whom are Sir John Fortescue, the late chief
justice, and John Morton, afterwards archbishop of Canterbuiy.
Restoration Parallel with the attainder of the dead lords is the act restor-
of the vic- , , , t ,
timsoftte mg the reputation and legal position of the early victims of
of 1399∙ Henry IV; the attainder of the eaιl of Salisbury and lord Ie
Despenser, who perished in 1400j was reversed, that the earl
of Warwick and his mother might have their inheritance ; the
heirs of lord Lumley were restored, and the sentence against
Richard of Cambridge, the king’s grandfather, was annulled4.
Some obdurate commoners were summoned to submit or incur
ɪ Statutes, ii. 380 sq.
2 Rot. Parl. v. 476-483 ; W. Wore. p. 77S.
3 Henry duke of Somerset, Thomas Courtenay earl of Devon, Henry late
earl of Northumberland, Tliomas lord Roos, John late lord Neville, Henry
duke of Exeter, William viscount Beaumont, John late lord Clifibrd, Leo
late lord Wells, lord Rougemont-Gray, Randolf late lord Dacre, Robert
lord Hungerford, Jasper earl of Pembroke, James late eaɪl of Wiltshire;
Rot. Park v. 480. Hardyng wrote to press on Edward the example of
Henry IV, in favour of clemency ; Chr. p. 409. The Yorkists were dis-
satisfied with his moderation; Paston Letters, ii. 30.
4 Rot. Parl. v. 484.
XVIII.]
Parliament of 1461.
203
the penalties of treason1; the defenders of Harlech, which still
held out for Margaret, were condemned to forfeiture2. An
ordinance directed against liveries, maintenance, and gambling, statutes of
was proclaimed by the king, and a statute, referring indict- SentTlha
ɪnents taken in sheriff’s tourn to the justices of the peace,
completed the legislative work of the session3.
On the 21 st of December the parliament was prorogued, Royal
, . speech in
after a speech addressed by the king to the commons, in which, prorogation,
in modest and manly language, he thanked them for their
share in what he regarded as a restoration, and for helping
him to avenge his father, promising to devote himself heartily
to the national service, and asking for a continuance of their
good-will4. The parliament met again in the following May
only to be dissolved5. Its work ended here, and seemed to
promise better days to come ; no money had been asked for, no
barbarous severities were perpetrated ; many of the attainted
lords were dead, the way for reconciliation was open for the
living. Pope Pius II on the 22nd of March, 1462, wrote to
congratulate the new king on his accession 6. The royal success
had been so great as almost to dispense with new cruelties.
It would have been well if the policy thus foreshadow ed could Favourable
have been carried into effect. It must be remembered that
Edward w as not yet twenty, and that he had been fairly well
educated and trained; he was not the voluptuary that he
afterwards became, and he was under the influence of the
Nevilles, who, whatever their faults may have been, were wise
enough to see the importance of moderation. The king’s
character did not stand the test to which it was from this
time subjected, but he need not be regarded as intentionally
false now because in after-life he became a tyrant.
357. The Lancastrian cause might have seemed desperate,
but Margaret knew no despair. In Scotland first, and then in
1 Rot. Part. v. 483. 2 lb. v. 486.
3 lb. v. 487 sq. ; Statutes, ii. 389.
4 Rot. Part. v. 487.
5 lb. v. 488 : the Convocation of Canterbury granted a tenth on the
2ist of July, 1462 ; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 580.
δ Rymer, xi. 489.