Love-Day of 1458

Love-Day of 1458
   The date 24 March 1458 became known as a “love-day” because it witnessed the apparently successful culmination of HENRY VI’s personal attempt to prevent civil war and to restore harmony to a bitterly divided English nobility. On that day, in a symbolic act of reconciliation, the sons and heirs of the noblemen who had been killed at the Battle of ST. ALBANS in 1455 walked arm in arm with the men responsible for their fathers’ deaths in a solemn procession led by the king to St. Paul’s Cathedral in LONDON.
   After their fathers were slain at St. Albans by the forces of Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York, and his allies Richard NEVILLE, earl of Salisbury, and Richard NEVILLE, earl of Warwick, the sons, Henry BEAUFORT, duke of Somerset, Henry PERCY, earl of Northumberland, and John CLIFFORD, Lord Clifford, clamored for revenge against the Yorkist lords. The country and its political system were thrown into disorder as noblemen of both parties recruited large retinues of armed followers to protect themselves and menace their enemies (see Affinity; Bastard Feudalism). To end this turmoil, Henry VI summoned the English PEERAGE to London for a great council to be held in January 1458.York arrived with 400 followers and Salisbury and Warwick with 500 and 600, respectively; Somerset came accompanied by 800 men, and Northumberland; his brother, Thomas PERCY, Lord Egremont; and Clifford brought almost 1,500 between them. To prevent an outbreak of hostilities, tense city officials lodged the Yorkists within the city walls and the Lancastrian lords without, while maintaining a constant armed watch. Despite these precautions, Northumberland, Clifford, and Egremont tried unsuccessfully to ambush York and Salisbury as they rode from London to nearby Westminster.
   The settlement eventually accepted by all parties, after long and acrimonious discussions mediated by the king, called for York to pay Somerset 5,000 marks, for Warwick to pay Clifford 1,000 marks, and for Salisbury to forgo fines previously levied on Northumberland and Egremont for hostile actions against the Nevilles during the course of the NEVILLE-PERCY FEUD. The Yorkists were also to endow the abbey at St. Albans with £45 per year for masses to be sung in perpetuity for the souls of the battle dead. The only reciprocal undertaking by a Lancastrian was Egremont’s acceptance of a 4,000-mark bond to keep peace with the NEVILLE FAMILY for ten years. Announced on 24 March, and sealed later that day with a procession that saw Queen MARGARET OF ANJOU on the arm of York and Salisbury and Somerset walking side-by-side behind the king, the love-day reconciliation proved only a temporary triumph, for it failed to resolve the key political issue of the day—the exclusion of York and the Nevilles from the exercise of royal power, which was being increasingly monopolized by Queen Margaret and her supporters. By the spring of 1459, the loveday had been forgotten, and both sides were preparing for civil war.
   Further Reading: Griffiths, Ralph A., The Reign of King Henry VI (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981); Storey,R. L., The End of the House of Lancaster, 2d ed. (Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 1999).

Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses. . 2001.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mother's Day — This article is about several worldwide days celebrating motherhood. For other uses, see Mother s Day (disambiguation). Mother s Day A homemade greeting card, one of many ways to honor one s mother Observed by Many countries …   Wikipedia

  • Clifford, John, Lord Clifford — (c. 1435–1461)    Motivated by the slaying of his father by the Yorkists at the Battle of ST. ALBANS in May 1455, John CLIFFORD, ninth Lord Clifford, committed such violent acts of battlefield vengeance against his opponents that he won the… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Chronology: Wars of the Roses — ♦1399 29 September. Deposition of Richard II; accession of Henry of Bolingbroke as Henry IV, first king of the house of Lancaster. ♦1411 22 September. Birth of Richard Plantagenet, future duke of York. ♦1413 20 March. Death of Henry IV;… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • St. Albans, Battle of —    1) (1455)    As the first armed encounter between the military forces of HENRY VI and those of Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York, the battle fought at St. Albans in the southeastern county of Hertfordshire on 22 May 1455 is often considered… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Beaufort, Henry, Duke of Somerset — (1436–1464)    The son and heir of Edmund BEAUFORT, second duke of Somerset, Henry Beaufort, third duke of Somerset, was one of the chief military leaders of the Lancastrian cause during the first phase (1459–1461) of the WARS OF THE ROSES.    In …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Percy, Henry, Earl of Northumberland —    1) (1394–1455)    Through his feud with the NEVILLE FAMILY for dominance in northern England, Henry Percy, second earl of Northumberland, helped cement a series of alliances that allowed Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York, to seriously contend… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Bourchier, Thomas — Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury (c. 1404–1486)    As archbishop of Canterbury throughout the WARS OF THE ROSES, Cardinal Thomas Bourchier participated in most of the conflict’s major events.    The brother of Henry BOURCHIER, earl of Essex, and …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Henry VI, Illness of —    HENRY VI’s inability to function as an effective monarch, which became total in 1453 with the onset of chronic mental illness, was a main cause of the WARS OF THE ROSES. In early August 1453, while staying at the royal hunting lodge at… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Neville-Percy Feud — (1450s)    In the mid 1450s, a violent feud erupted between the sons and RETAINERS of Richard NEVILLE, earl of Salisbury, and Henry PERCY, second earl of Northumberland, leaders of the two most powerful noble families in northern England. This… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Percy, Thomas, Lord Egremont — (1422–1460)    By his ruthless pursuit of the NEVILLEPERCY FEUD in the mid 1450s, Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, contributed significantly to the creation of the political factions that fueled the WARS OF THE ROSES. The second son of Henry PERCY,… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”