Shakespeare's Kings (79 page)

Government
was
thereafter
effectively
in
the
hands
of
Suffolk,
now at
the
summit
of
his
power.
In
1447
he
was
successively
appointed Chamberlain,
Constable
of
Dover,
Lord
Warden
of
the
Cinque
Ports and
Admiral
of
England;
in
1448
he
became
Governor
of
Calais
and, on
2
July,
a
duke.
But
all
too
soon
he
ran
into
trouble.
He
continued to
be
blamed,
however
unjustly,
for
the
loss
of
Maine
-
which
had been
formally
surrendered
in
February
1448
—
and
of
Anjou;
there
were
difficulties, too, with Richard of York, whom the death of Duke Humphrey had brought a step nearer the throne and who now led the opposition party. It was almost certainly Suffolk who now relieved York of his command in France and had Henry nominate him royal Lieutenant in Ireland for the next ten years. Seeing this appointment -with good reason - as tantamount to banishment, a furious Richard delayed his departure for more than eighteen months. Even when he finally sailed in July
1449,
there were few at court who believed that he would stay there long.

York's place in France was taken by Edmund Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, who had succeeded his elder brother in the earldom (though not the dukedom) four years before. By this time, thanks in large measure to the continued dissatisfaction among the English over the surrender of Maine and Anjou—which certain garrisons, such as that at Le Mans, flatly refused to evacuate until forcibly expelled by the French — the truce was being honoured as much in the breach as in the observance; and on
24
March
1449
one of
the
English detachments recently expelled
from Maine crossed the frontier into Brittany, stormed the town of Fougeres and put it to the sack. Charles VII and Philip of Burgundy lodged a furious protest; Somerset, however, instead of making reparation, foolishly refused to surrender the town or even to apologize for the incident; and a renewal of
the war was the inevitable result.

But it was henceforth to be an unequal struggle. The English proved no match for the revitalized French army. Verneuil fell, despite the heroic efforts of Talbot, who fought 'like a boar enraged' to relieve it; Mantes and Lisieux followed, together with a number of other important towns and strongholds, until finally in October Charles drew up his men outside Rouen, where Somerset had taken refuge. Once again Talbot set an example of endurance and courage, but this time it was the people of Rouen themselves who eventually opened their gates and on
10
November Charles, accompanied by Rene of Anjou, entered the city in triumph. March
1450
saw the arrival of reinforcements from England; but on
15
April, at the little village of Formigny some twenty-five miles north-west of Caen, the French under the Comte de Clermont virtually exterminated them. Nearly
4,000
were killed, another
1,400
taken prisoner. After this, the spirit went out of the English. Vire, Avranches, Caen and Falaise soon surrendered;

Cherbourg
fell
on
12
August.
In
little
more
than
a
year,
Henry's dominions
in
France
had
been
reduced
to
the
city
of
Calais
-
to
remain for
another
century
in
English
hands
-
and
a
sad
remnant
of
Guyenne.

Responsibility
for
the
catastrophe
rested
squarely
on
the
shoulders of
Somerset.
It
was
he,
as
commander-in-chief,
who
had
permitted
the assault
on
Fougeres;
he
who
had
refused
to
make
reparations
afterwards; he
whose
lack
of
energy,
courage
and
leadership
had
led
to
defeat
in every
action
in
which
he
had
been
personally
engaged.
Yet
it
was
not upon
him
but
upon
Suffolk
that
the
storm
broke.
Long
allied
to
the Beauforts,
both
in
politics
and
also
by
marriage,
it
was
he
after
all
who had
been
responsible
for
Somerset's
appointment.
On
28
January
1450, accused
by
Parliament
of
having
sold
the
realm
to
the
French
and treasonably
fortified
Wallingford
Castle,
he
was
committed
to
the Tower.
Further
charges
followed:
he
had
conspired
to
seize
the
throne for
his
son,
husband
of
Margaret
Beaufort,
the
infant
heiress
of
the
first Duke
of
Somerset;
he
had
engineered
the
release
of
Charles
of
Orleans; he
had
forfeited
Anjou
and
Maine,
betrayed
secrets
to
the
French,
failed to
strengthen
the
English
armies
and
antagonized
Brittany
and
Aragon. He
had
promoted
unworthy
persons
to
high
positions,
and
had
been guilty
of
various
acts
of
malversation
and
maladministration.
Finally,
in March,
after
repeated
protestations
of
his
innocence
and
without
having been
formally
found
guilty
of
any
wrongdoing,
he
was
sentenced
to five
years'
banishment
from
1
May.

On
the
last
day
of
April
Suffolk
came
to
Ipswich,
where
he
swore
a further
oath
on
the
sacrament
that
he
was
innocent
of
all
the
charges
laid against
him.
The
following
morning,
having
written
a
touching
letter
of farewell
to
his
little
son,
¹
he
set
sail
for
France
with
two
ships
and
a
pinnace, which
he
sent
off
in
advance
to
Calais
to
seek
confirmation
that
he
would be
amicably
received
there.
Almost
at
once,
however,
the
pinnace
was intercepted
by
another
vessel,
the
Nicholas of the Tower,
which
had
been purposely
lying
in
wait.
It
then
bore
down
on
the
other
two
ships—which seem
to
have
offered
no
resistance
-
and
took
Suffolk
on
board.
He
was granted
a
day
and
a
night
in
which
to
make
his
confession;
then,
on
the morning
of
2
May,
he
was
rowed
out
in
a
small
boat
and
beheaded
-according
to
one
account,
with
half
a
dozen
strokes
of
a
rusty
sword.
The

1. See the
Paston Letters,
i, 121-2.

body
was
brought
back
to
England
and
buried
in
the
family
church
at Wingfield,
in
the
county
which
bears
his
name.
¹

The
circumstances
of
his
murder
remain
a
mystery.
The
fact
that
the
Nicholas of the Tower
was
a
royal
ship
suggests
that
the
crime
was
instigated by
a
person
or
persons
of
considerable
influence
-
quite
possibly
Richard of
York
himself.
As
to
motive,
since
Suffolk's
career
was
obviously over
it
can
hardly
have
been
political;
the
obvious
alternative
was revenge.
He
had
never
courted
favour,
and
had
often
quite
unnecessarily antagonized
those
whom
he
would
have
been
better
advised
to
flatter or
indulge.
His
death
was
largely
unlamented
by
his
contemporaries, and
inspired
a
number
of
cruelly
satirical
verses.
Later,
his
reputation was
further
stained
by
the
certainly
baseless
allegations
-
made
by
both Hall
and
Holinshed,
as
well
as
Shakespeare
-
of
adultery
with
Queen Margaret.
Suffolk
deserved
better
than
this.
His
speech
to
Parliament of
22
January
1450
—
to
say
nothing
of
his
last
letter
to
his
son
-
both reveal
in
their
very
different
ways
a
man
of
sincerity
and
genuine
piety, who
remained
utterly
loyal
to
his
King.
He
gave
Henry
sterling
service, and
was
ill
repaid.