Chinon Agreement

(1462)

   The Chinon Agreement of June 1462 was a largely unsuccessful attempt by Queen MARGARET OF ANJOU to create an alliance with FRANCE that could supply her with the men, money, and supplies required to overthrow EDWARD IV and the house of YORK and restore HENRY VI and the house of LANCASTER to the English throne.

   In April 1462, Margaret left SCOTLAND, where she and her family had been in exile for the past year, and sailed for France, where she hoped to convince her kinsman, LOUIS XI, to support the Lancastrian cause.Willing to cede CALAIS to France for a substantial loan, Margaret induced the French king to conclude a secret agreement with her at Chinon on 24 June. Four days later, the Franco-Lancastrian alliance was publicly proclaimed in the Treaty of Tours, which, to protect Margaret’s reputation in England and deprive Edward IV of a PROPAGANDA weapon, made no mention of the provisions concerning Calais. As a favor to Margaret, Louis also released her friend Pierre de BRÉZÉ from prison and allowed him to assist her in recruiting men.

   When Louis informed Duke PHILIP of BURGUNDY and Duke FRANCIS II of BRITTANY of the alliance, the former refused permission for French troops to cross Burgundian territory to attack Calais, while the latter gave modest support to a Lancastrian naval squadron being prepared in Normandy. With his designs on Calais stymied by the Burgundians, Louis failed to provide Margaret with much of the promised support. Upon her departure for Scotland in October, Margaret took with her only about 800 men, who may have been largely paid for by de Brézé.Yet, despite her lack of men and money, Margaret’s return to northern England in late October was sufficient to cause the surrender to her forces of ALNWICK and BAMBURGH Castles, and the renewal of Lancastrian resistance in northeastern England.

   Further Reading: Griffiths, Ralph A., The Reign of King Henry VI (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981); Kendall, Paul Murray, Louis XI (New York:W.W. Norton, 1971); Ross, Charles, Edward IV (New Haven:Yale University Press, 1998).