Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship

by John Watts

Overview

Henry VI (1422-61) was one of the most spectacularly inadequate kings of England, and his reign dissolved into the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Yet he held on to his throne for thirty-nine years and, for almost thirty of them, without much difficulty. What was the nature of Henry's inadequacy, and why did it have such ambivalent and complicated results? This book looks intensively at the political system itself, rather than at individuals, their personalities and patronage networks, and thus offers the first truly structured narrative of the reign.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521653930
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/28/1999
Series:	History of the Native Peoples of the AME
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	418
Sales rank:	895,806
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, John Watts was the oldest of eight children. He and his young brothers, Christopher and Patrick, formed a dance team named The Robot Brothers that appeared on TV’s The Gong Show on three different occasions, winning each time. In 1980, the group appeared on The Tonight Show as one of the first African American dance groups to perform on the show. Later he owned a number of businesses including the Club Casanova nightclub in Marina Del Rey and a home health care agency in Los Angeles, becoming the first black owner of such an institution.

Table of Contents

Preface; List of Abbreviations; 1. Introduction: ideas and politics in fifteenth-century history; 2. The conceptual framework; 3. Government; 4. Features of Henry VI's polity; 5. The years of transition, 1435–45; 6. The rule of the court, 1445–50; 7. The search for authority, 1450–61; 8. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Watts' book offers a great deal, not least in terms of his clarification of the values, norms, and expectations of politics in late medieval England.... " Michael J. Bennett, Albion

"This study takes a respectable place in the recent and admirable literature that reappraises 15th-century England." Choice

"...by far the most substantial and sustained case for the new constitutional history." American Historical Review

"...Watts has written a convincing argument.... The book, ...will engender much debate on this maligned monarch. For this, Watts has made a notable contribution to fifteenth-century English historical studies." Ronald Edward Zupko, The Historian

"The book...will engender much debate on this maligned monarch. ...a notable contribution to fifteenth-century English historical studies." Ronald Edward Zupko, The Historian

From the Publisher