I3<5 Constitutional History. [chap.
were given that Somerset’s authority should not prejudice the
position of the duke of York as regent1 ; but the provision
was almost neutralised by Iiis promotion to the rank of duke.
John Beaufort was made duke of Somerset in August 1443.
His campaign was marked by no great success, and in the
following May he died, 'leaving as his heiress the little Iady
Margaret, and as the representative of the family his brother
Edmond Edmund, who was created marquess of Dorset on the 24th of
June 1442. Stafford, who in May 1443 succeeded Chichele in
the primacy, was still chancellor. Lord Cromwell, after nearly
ten years of office, resigned the treasurership in July 1443,
and was succeeded by Ralph Boteler, lord Sudeley2, who re-
eaɪtedɑin tɑɪɪied it until 1446. No parliament was held between 1442
i443∙ and 144g, but a great council was ordered for the third week
after’ Easter in 1443, to which in ancient fashion all free-
holders were to be called, and possibly a new tax propounded3.
It is uncertain whether it was ever summoned, and if sum-
moned it either did not meet or effected nothing. The year
Political 1444 was occupied with negotiation. The earl of Suffolk,
the earl of IVilliam de la Pole, grandson of Richard Il’s chancellor, and
closely connected by marriage with the Beauforts, was the head
of the English embassy to France ; and he, whether pressed by
Negotiations the court in defiance of his own misgivings, or deliberately
pursuing the policy which, whilst it was the best for the
country, he felt would be ruinous to himself4, concluded on the
1 Ordinances, v. 261.
2 lb. v. 299, 300; Kymer, xi. 35. Sudeley retained office until Dec. 18,
1446, when bishop Lumley of Carlisle succeeded him.
3 Λll the king’s freemen and the great council were to be summoned to
meet at Westminster a fortnight after Easter, May 5, 1443 ; Ordinances,
v. 236, 237. No records are in existence that show this assembly to have
met, but it is possible that some financial expedients which are described
in the Ordinances, v. 418 sq., may belong to this date.
1 On tlιe 1st of February, 1444, Suffolk’s mission was discussed in
council ; he said that he had been too intimate with the duke of Orleans
and other prisoners to be trusted by the nation, and he was very unwilling
to go ; but the chancellor overruled the objections; Ordinances, vi. 32-35.
Accordingly, on February 20, the king wrote to Suffolk promising to warrant
all that he might do in the way of obtaining peace, and overruling his
scruples at undertaking the task ; Rymer, xi. 53. This shows that Suffolk
was throughout open and straightforward in his behaviour. The council
XVIII.]
Marriage of Henrg.
IB?
28th of May a truce which was to last till the ɪst of April, ʌtruce con^
. . . . 1 vluded, x444.
14461. During the truce negotiations were briskly pushed for
a marriage, or number of marriages, which might help to secure
a permanent peace. Henry, it was proposed, should marry
Margaret, daughter of René of Anjou, the titular king of
Naples and count of Provence ; and fhe duke of York might
obtain a little French princess for his baby son Edward2. The The king’s
former match was pressed and concluded by Suffolk, who, April ¾45.
having been created a marquess on the 14th of September
1444, was sent to Nancy to perform the ceremonies of betrothal.
Margaret was brought to England early in the following year
and married on the 22nd of April; on the 30th she was
crowned. She was sixteen at the time.
Henry, in contemplation of the ceremony, had on the 25th Parliament
of February opened a parliament, which sat, with several pro-
rogations, until April 9, 1446'. This parliament, in March,
1445, granted a half-fifteenth and tenth4, and in April, 1446,
a whole fifteenth and tenth and another half® : it also con-
tinued the subsidy on wool until Martinmas, 1449. The peace
and the young queen -were as yet new and popular, and the
restoration of commerce with France iras a great boon. On Suffolk
the 2nd of June, 1445, Suffolk gave an account of his labours ɪɪw services,
to the lords, and on the 4th repeated it to the commons ; both
houses thanked him and recommended him to the king for his
special favour ; the record of his services and the votes of
thanks were entered on the rolls of parliament6. On the last
day of the session the chancellor addressed Henry in the name
of the lords, in contemplation of the king’s visit to France for
knew what his policy was, and was warned of the dangers which ultimately
overwhelmed him.
1 Rymer, xi. 59-67 ; Rot. ParL v. 74.
2 Stevenson, Wars in France, i. 79» 80, ι6o, 168.
ɜ Rot. ParL v. 66. William Burley was speaker.
4 Mar. 15 ; Rot. ParL v. 68. Convocation granted a tenth in Oct. 1444,
and another in 1446 ; Wilk. Cone. iii. 539 sq., 554. The pope had also
imposed a tenth on the clergy for a crusade, and sent the golden rose to
Henry; ib. p. 551. The king and clergy refused the papal tenth. Cf.
Stow, p. 385. The golden rose was delivered Nov. 29, 1446.
5 Rot. ParL v. 69 ; Hall, Chr. p. 206.
6 Rot. ParL v. 73 ; Stow, p. 385.