Preface; Abbreviations; Some Important Dates; Acknowledgements; Introduction to Third Edition; Introduction: the making of a reputation; Part One: Collective Rule, 1422-1436; 1 The King's Accession; 2 The King's Councillors; The new council; The protector and his colleagues; The conciliar regime; 3 The King and his Household; Henry's early upbringing; The visit to France, 1430-32; Politics and the royal household, 1432-36; The queens-dowager; 4 Clients, Patrons, and Politics, 1422-1429; The new establishment; The appearance of faction, 1424-26; The months of crisis, 1425-26; A delicate political balance, 1427-29; Disposing of the king's patronage, 1422-29; 5 Clients, Patrons, and Politics, 1429-1436; Partisanship and patronage, 1429-33; Bedford in England, 1433-34; Conciliar patronage, 1434-36; 6 Financial Resources; Income and expenditure; The crown's creditors, 1422-29; France and a question of priorities; Loans in the 1430s; 7 Lawlessness and Violence; The nature of crime during the protectorate; Crime and law enforcement, 1422-29; The lollard rising of 1431; Continuing disorder; Parliamentary remedy, 1429-37; 8 Frontiers and Foreigners; The north; The Irish problem; Aliens in the realm; 9 England and the French Realm; England and France; Calais and Gascony during the protectorate; The war in northern France, 1422-29; Two coronations, 1429-32; Calais and the war strategy, 1433-34; The possibility of peace; The defence of Calais and Normandy-and the neglect of Gascony; The defence of England in the 1430s; 10 Propaganda and the Dual Monarchy; Part Two: Personal Rule, 1436-1453; 11 The King and his Queen; The ending of the king's minority; Contemporary observations; Education and foundations; The king's character; The new queen; 12 King Henry and his Council; The king's declaration of 1437; The councillors, 1437-45; The council's ordinances of 1444; Suffolk's faction, 1445-49; The crisis of 1449-50; Continued faction, 1450-53; 13 The King's Court and Household; Court and household; The formation of a household faction; The household under fire; The costs of the household; The unpopularity of the king's purveyors; 14 The King's Patronage and the Royal Household; The favoured servants; Patronage and the provinces; The English shires; The duchy of Lancaster; Wales and Cheshire; Bishops, lords, and king; The king's special agents; The grounds of criticism; 15 In Search of Money; The financial problem; Parliamentary taxation; Clerical taxation; Desperate expedients; Resumption; Loans; 16 Scotland, Ireland, and the Defence of the Realm; Anglo-Scottish relations; Lordship in Ireland; The coasts and seas; 17 The Fall of Lancastrian France-I; The duke of Orleans and the search for peace, 1437-40; Keeping up the guard, 1437-40; Defeats and disasters, 1440-44; 18 The Fall of Lancastrian France-II; The king's marriage, 1444-45; The elusive peace, 1445-49; The collapse of peace; Holding Calais, losing Gascony; 19 The Aliens in the Realm; 20 Lawlessness and Aristocratic Violence; Country and town; Noble lawlessness; The law's effectiveness; 21 Cade's Rebellion, 1450; A chronology; The rebel leader; The rebel host; The king's men; The Londoners' attitude; The rebel grievances and proposals; Conciliation, turmoil, and retribution; 22 The Political Education of Richard, Duke of York; Upbringing and early experience; The duke's counsellors; The indictment of the duke of Suffolk; Popular agitation; The return to England; The Dartford incident; Part Three: The Approach of Civil War, 1453-1461; 23 York's Opportunity, 1453-1456; The king's illness; The birth of a prince; The struggle for power; The first protectorate; Recovery and reaction; St Albans; The second protectorate; 24 The Royalist Reaction, 1456-1460; A change of regime; The king and the queen; Coventry: government from the provinces; Financing a provincial regime; London and the crown; The aristocracy and the court; The court and the Yorkist lords; The international dimension; The Lancastrian triumph; 25 Lancastrian King and Yorkist Rule, 1460-1461; Yorkist plans, Lancastrian precautions; The Yorkist victory; The question of the throne; Epilogue: The Destruction of a Dynasty; Genealogical Tables; Maps; List of Authorities; Index.