Regency government, 1422–1437

Regency of England

The Duke of Gloucester (above) and Henry Beaufort (bottom)

The regency government of the Kingdom of England from 1422 to 1437 ruled while Henry VI was a minor. Decisions were made in the king's name by the Regency Council made up of the most important and influential government of England, and dominated by Henry IV's son Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and Bishop Henry Beaufort (Cardinal Beaufort from 1426), who was Henry V's half-uncle and Henry IV's half-brother.

The Council soon split along lines of opposition and support to the continuation of the war in France. Gloucester had always been fervently in favour of finishing the war his brother had started in France and seeing it through to victory at any price. However, in the face of a resurgent French army led by Joan of Arc, the crowning of the Dauphin as Charles VII in 1429, it became clear that the French were gaining the upper hand and slowly expelling the English from their country. A peace party emerged led by Cardinal Beaufort, who saw the war as a drain on resources and unwinnable.

However, for most of the period the regency council was able to govern effectively and fairly. The splits became most evident towards the end. In 1432 Anne of Burgundy died; she had been married to John of Lancaster, Henry V's other brother, a marriage which was instrumental in maintaining the alliance between England and Burgundy against France. However, following her death, in 1433 Bedford married Jacquetta of Luxembourg, which the Duke of Burgundy disapproved of and Burgundy made peace with France. With the loss of the alliance with Burgundy, Bedford became convinced that peace was the only solution, but at a conference arranged in Arras in 1435, the English delegation refused to give up their claim to the French throne. Bedford died just after the conference and was replaced with Richard of York who did not favour the peace policy.

When Henry finally came of age in 1437, he took over at just about the worst time possible, when splits about the war and rivalries between the various nobles were at their deepest, the crown had huge war debts and there was general lack of leadership in the French territories which seemed to be slipping slowly but surely out of English hands.

See also

• Dual monarchy of England and France
• England in the Late Middle Ages
• Parliament of Bats
• Regency era

References

• Beck, Sanderson (2010). "England under the Regency 1422–37". England of Henry IV, V, and VI 1399–1461. 
• Griffiths, Ralph A. (1981). The Reign of King Henry VI: The Exercise of Royal Authority, 1422–1461. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04372-5. 
• Innes, Arthur Donald (1912). "The Regency of Henry VI". A History of the British Nation. OL 7225313M. 
• McKenna, J. W. (1965). "Henry VI of England and the Dual Monarchy: Aspects of Royal Political Propaganda, 1422–1432". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. The Warburg Institute. 28: 145–162. JSTOR 750667.