Opus 4: Henry VI, Part 3

King Henry I know not what to say; my title’s weak. The years after the Battle of St. Albans were a time of surface calm and secret plotting in and around the English royal court. Queen Margaret, who was proving to be a far stauncher defender of her husband and son than said husband himself, was convinced, probably correctly, that Richard Plantagenet would not be satisfied in the long term with anything other than the English throne — if not for him personally, than for his firstborn son Edward. For her part, Margaret was determined to ensure that the line of succession went through her own son Edward. It was a precarious situation, not least in that the effete and ascetic Henry VI had managed to give Margaret only the one child, while the robust and virile Richard had no fewer than four sons and three daughters of various ages. It was as obvious to Margaret as it was to everyone else where her principal point of vulnerability lay. She went so far as to withdraw her family from London…