Margaret of Anjou and the Politics of Resistance in Fifteenth-Century England

In the turbulent setting of fifteenth-century England – marked by the Wars of the Roses, in which the crown changed hands seven times over thirty years – few figures embody resistance as controversially as Margaret of Anjou. As Queen consort to the mentally fragile Henry VI, she faced significant opposition from the House of York, emerging as one of the most persistent political figures of the era. This article seeks to move beyond the traditional caricature of Margaret of Anjou as a dramatized villain of the Wars of the Roses, instead investigating how her actions constituted a persistent form of political resistance within the tumultuous power struggles of fifteenth-century England. 

Arrival in England 

Margaret of Anjou’s arrival in England was determined by the 1445 Truce of Tours, which was a peace settlement between England and France that intended to stabilise relations in the later stages of the Hundred Years War. However, key members of the nobility, such as the Duke of Gloucester, disapproved of the marriage alliance as a method of restoring Anglo-French relations, and the Truce proved to be highly controversial. Despite this, Margaret was quickly able to assert her political awareness and resilience, stemming from seeing her mother rule Anjou. Critically, Margaret’s capabilities became particularly evident during Cade’s Rebellion in 1450, where she suppressed widespread unrest against the maladministration of Henry VI by either offering pardons to the rebels, or ensuring their execution. 

Lancastrian Resistance 

Moreover, her transition into the key symbol of Lancastrian resistance came with the onset of Henry VI’s illness in 1453. After becoming incapacitated – left in a catatonic state upon hearing of the English defeat at the Battle of Castillon, the rapid collapse of royal authority enabled political factions to attempt to manoeuvre their way into greater positions of authority. During the king’s illness, Richard, the Duke of York, was appointed as Lord Protector of the realm while Margaret of Anjou was denied the role of regent due to her position as a French woman. For Margaret, this shift in the balance of power represented a true threat to the Lancastrian line of succession, thus warranting her organisation of Lancastrian resistance against the rising, ambitious Yorkist faction. 

Margaret's resistance to the Yorkist challenge reached its peak in the Coventry Parliament of 1459, later named the "Parliament of Devils". While escalating tensions had already led to open military conflict, Margaret also sought to defeat her rivals by erasing their political legitimacy. Following the Yorkist flight after the Battle of Ludford Bridge, the Lancastrian regime capitalised on the opportunity, issuing acts of attainder against leading Yorkist figures – including Richard, Duke of York and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick – declaring them traitors and stripping them of their lands and titles. In doing so, Margaret demonstrated a calculated willingness to deploy legal authority alongside military force, exposing a somewhat overlooked dimension of her resistance: she did not solely rely on the battlefield. 

The legacy of Lancastrian resistance 

However, the severity of the attainders issued in Coventry ultimately exacerbated conflict, rather than resolving it. By removing the possibility of a compromise, parliament cemented the notion that the Yorkists had nothing to lose, thus returning with greater force. Within a year, they were able to return to England and depose Henry VI. Nevertheless, the Parliament of Devils stands as one of the clearest demonstrations of Margaret of Anjou’s calculated resistance against the House of York.

Bibliography 

Abbot, Jacob, History of Marget of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI of England, (Ktocyzta, 2018), pp. 51-55, pp. 89-108

Cook, D.R.. Lancastrians and Yorkists: The Wars of the Roses (Taylor & Francis, 1984) pp. 34-40 

Grummitt, David, A Short History of the Wars of the Roses, (I.B. Tauris, 2012) pp. 60-82

Hicks, Michael, The Wars of the Roses, (Yale University Press, 2010) pp. 105-120

Jones, Dan, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors (Faber and Faber, 2015)