Fb-fb:
Their solution to getting wrecked last time with a bigger army than the enemy is change the commanders and drill the peasants more?
They're going to get slaughtered.
I'll speak more on this below, but the Queen needs warm bodies. And warm bodies often become cold ones.
Quite frankly, this is getting ridiculous. Loyalty and honour and all that is and was a big part of being a noble but when the government is this hobbled and pathetic, constantly failing to do anything to even help its strongest supporters, a question of legitimacy still ongoing after years of speculation, an increasingly weak and disliked monarch, an outright hated Queen, and a very prominent, rich and powerful alternative who is demonstrably better at ruling and fighting wars...
Well...there's no contest is there? Aside from people personally looking to kill York or a member of his family, which at this point is less than a dozen people (albiet powerful ones).
Two things are really quite important in this equation. First, to usurp an anointed King is simply no easy task. Morally, spiritually and frankly legalistically, there are so many hoops to jump through that make it increasingly difficult. The most important of all is the legitimacy of it. Like him or no, Henry was born into and by right of inheritance (and somewhat by the voice of Parliament) the known King and few wish to upend the apple cart despite it having been done at least twice before. If one is to do it, they need a damn good case (which to be sure you outline well above) but also a magnetic candidate to gravitate to which York is not. Which brings us to the second - York is indeed prominent and rich with a fine claim to the throne. But as I have tried (or hope I have succeeded) in outlining is just how poor York is at actually getting people to go along with him. He is just not liked. And there is one other part of the equation which may explain the second - other powerful magnates may prefer a weak King that allows them their excesses than a more powerful one that may curb that. The status quo is actually to their interest.
If it were only so simple…
Main thing we’re forgetting is that this whole affair is taking place internal to the few hundred top people of the English aristocracy and they’re the only ones with anything approaching a full picture of the situation. To the rest of humanity: the average English peasant, the Pope, the HREmperor, the Spanish, and so on, Henry VI is just your average kind hearted fool that is a dime a dozen at this time. Not ideal for the English, but no reason not to acknowledge him as the internationally recognized sovereign of England. From the sound of things, only the French, Scottish, and Burgundians and maybe the middle class retainers of the various lords really know that the king of England has gone insane and the country is in both a de facto regency and tumbling towards civil war, and it’s in the vested interest of at least one of them to keep mum about it.
This is an excellent point and to follow along from the above, it is likely in the interest of many of those foreign powers to see this weak England rather than a strong one. While the historical position of Burgundy remains in place as nominal ally of England, the dynamic on the ground within Europe is drastically changed. France more than needs a weak England, the Scots are more than pleased so they may raid the border and Burgundy doesn't really need another poking around in their back yard. Plus, as you suggest, the general English peasant is not seeing this up close and personal. They are really going to need a good argument to go along with what is surely to them a drastic shift.
Which toady will be applying for the appointment of Groom of the King's Close Stool?
Aaargh, just as I’d caught up again.
But have again.
This watched pot seemed as if it would never boil, but perhaps it starts to steam away! I think it will come as a relief at first, until the generational slaughter of the nobility starts to sink in …
Your two comments go together quite well.
And indeed, things are set to finally pop.
Well it is Black William's solution and he is playing a clever game here. Not a very clever or subtle game, but given the very low calibre of the Queen's faction it doesn't need to be.
From his perspective either this plan works, and he gets rewarded by a grateful monarchy, or it goes as badly as last time, in which case he has advanced the Yorkist cause and can say that was the plan all along (provoke the Queen into 'starting' the conflict as York himself did not wish to).
As the man himself is careful to say he serves the King (never the Queen) and he does his duty (but he never says to who or what).
I am pleased that you look at this from the angle of self preservation as that is how it is meant. Black William is indeed working a longer con with his own head the most important. See below.
To all - So I had quite a few things to cover in this update and tried to cram it all in. Hopefully it works. The first and most important is Black William's suggestion of conscription. It simply was not a thing done in England at this time (or prior to this time) being more of a French tradition. Yet as above, the Queen needs numbers and leaders. While it may seem odd to hear William voicing the need, his name crops up often during this period and I have to assume he suggests such as both a practical solution but also to press the Queen into making a mistake. This initiative will not be well liked.
Secondly (and this is a thing I am struggling with perfectly crafting) is Henry's waffling nature. His shifts in mood and action are quite often extreme and difficult to explain (and express in the writing.) After the last scene, one would not assume he would assent to this call for York to present. Yet he did. Or at least that is the word coming down from him. While Margaret is finding some success getting these Lords to go along with her, they still look to the King and he is alternately useful and a stop to their plans and desires. As stated above, they likely want a weak King but one perhaps more pliable. From my reading, Henry was not "insane" during this period. Just maddeningly inconsistent.
Thirdly, I wanted to highlight the factions within the faction. The Court Party was not monolithic. In this scene alone you have the peace maker Buckingham who is at least coming on board with the idea of thwarting Warwick and York but perhaps too old to pursue it effectively, the King's brother Pembroke who sees the necessity of these actions despite his reservations (and more on him in another scene) and Somerset who is just now getting up to speed with these machinations. The Queen is the Queen and Black William is Black William. And then there is Lord Stanley. In many ways, he is a stand in for the rest of us. Thus beginning the scene with him and his backstory. A bit of an outlier standing back and watching all this idiocy from the sidelines (a place historically the Stanley clan enjoyed.)
Finally, and to the above comment, Black William may or may not be working still for York. I do not think it a spoiler to say that many of the events going forward will be effected by as much as anything the ever changing loyalties of the various Lords and other noblemen. Shifting allegiances make a huge impact despite what seems on paper a perfectly reasonable or understandable outcome. William Herbert is just one of many (and I don't mind saying that he may well be a Yorkist spy.)
Also, I just thought it time to drill down and include the Stanley brothers (see another scene coming up with the other.)
To reiterate, it is simply no easy thing to depose a King nor to counteract a powerful noble. I believe that is why this entire thing is so back and forth filled with half measures and self question. To state the obvious, Henry VI is a weak King. Yet he remains King still. If York, with all of his reasons and pedigree is reticent to fulfill what is needed, so too will be all others. It is just not a thing done even if it has already happened before. The most recent for those alive in this day would be Bolingbroke's usurpation of Richard II. While eventually accepted, I believe it remains a sour taste to most in their minds and while Henry V's successes in France made many cheer the Lancastrian monarchy, it was not as beloved as history tells us. Parliament especially questioned the entire time every moment another tax was suggested to pay for those wars. During the minority of Henry VI (which I've not really covered other than in the first chapter to a point) things really started to break down (especially after Bedford died.) Now they are stuck with the status quo and while the remedy is quite apparent, it is also a difficult pill to swallow.
Part the reason I find this entire history so fascinating. I hope I am doing it some justice in the writing.
