Historian views on the Political stability and instability

Historian views:

• The period of 1459-1471 is often viewed as representing the complete breakdown of law and order, as overmighty subjects and undermighty kings slugged it out for control of the kingdom. 
• Some historians have claimed that the entire social fabric was torn apart due to the break down of the old fuedal system on law and service, which was replaced by '******* feudalsim.'
• Political stability was made much worse by the return of 1000s of soldiers from France. 
• Paston letters from the Paston family who were an upwardly mobile family. 

Social and political structure of the Crown and Nobility:

• The Wars of the Roses were serious.
• However, they did not represent a breakdown in the political or social structure. 
• This was because English society had always been violent, and the Noble's first duty was to fight for the kingdom or defend their land. 
• All wealthiest men retained other men who could call upon to fight.
• Ownership of land was the source of all political power. 
• Laws of inheritance were far from clear:
  • Marriages were arranged to seal great political alliances among the nobility were developed. 

There were some weaknesses in the Moncarch's power which includes:

• The King could not tax his subjects without their consent, which meant that the ordinary revenue was funded by the King's personal income from his own lands.
• Extraordinary revenue had to be raised with the consent of Parliament. 
• Therefore, the Monarch of England was seriously under funded. 
• The King did not have a standing army, so he depended on the nobility raising their retainers to mount serious military campaigns.

The King's relationship with the Local Govt:

• The nobility and gentry were relied on, by the King, to enforce law and order in the localities. 
• Therefore law and order depnded on the great land owners, who held their own courts and could put pressure on the local Justices of Peace. 
• In all areas, there were competing families which lead to fighting. 
• The Nevilles and Percy's were great men, in the north, who had the power to raise great armies to oppose and protest about the King's advisors. 

Limits to disorder:

• Both the Crown and nobility saw taking up of arms, as a last resort. 
• In this period, historian J.R Landler claimed that 35 peerage families fought for the Lancastrains, whilst 19 or 20 families sided with the Yorkists. 
• However, as the decade wore on, the involvement of the nobility in fighting, declined. 
• In 1470-71, there were 2 alternative kings, where Warwick would swap from one side to the other. 
• A weak king, mentally and politically, or Edward IV (politically weak) combined with one seriously overmighty subject (Warwick), resulted in war. 

The nature of warfare was limited:

• This was a war of episodic campaigns and sporadic battles, as half of the period saw active military campaigning. 
• Between 1461-1464, Edward mopped up Lancastrian reistance fairly easily. 
• Between 1461-1470, violence was limited because there were no pitched battles. 
• There were uprsings sparked by Wawick and Clarnence were staged managed affairs. 
• They were not popular uprising becaue there was protesting about the breakdown of law and order.
• Towton was the biggest battle as it has been said that there around 50,000 men fighting. 
• Barnet and Tewkesbury saw armies of around 5000 men on each side. 
• Nobles, gentry and other landowners were hard hit, but few families died out. 
• Warwuc was the hardest hit, but other Nevilles remained, however their power was broken. 
• Overall, the population of England was little affected, therefore the Wars did not spark off a demographic disaster. 
• There were no real food shortages and the economic well being of the realm was little affected.
• Trade was the same as before, especially between London and Calais.

Respect for the Monarchy continued, even if there were 2 Kings:

• After the campaigns of 1459-61, most of nobility settled down under Edward IV's regime.
• Edward IV showed must mercy towards former enemies. 
• As a result, these noblemen realised that their best interests would be serving or complying with the Yorkist government. 
• Edward IV was safe, until his own cousin, brother and the greatest noblemen turned against him. 
• This was a failing relationship, rather than a general breakdown of political rule, that brought Edward IV down in 1469-70. 
• Once his rivals were dead in 1471, the Wars of Roses was over.