Editing Henry VI of England (section)

== Illness and the ascendancy of York ==
[[File:Henry VI enthroned - British Library Royal MS 15 E vi f405r (detail).jpg|thumb|450px|Depiction of Henry enthroned, from the [[Talbot Shrewsbury Book]], 1444–45]]

In 1452, the Duke of York was persuaded to return from [[Ireland]], claim his rightful place on the council, and put an end to bad government. His cause was a popular one and he soon raised an army at [[Shrewsbury]]. The court party, meanwhile, raised their own similar-sized force in London. A stand-off took place south of London, with the Duke of York presenting a list of grievances and demands to the court circle, including the arrest of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. The king initially agreed, but Margaret intervened to prevent the arrest of Beaufort. By 1453, Somerset's influence had been restored, and York was again isolated. The court party was also strengthened by the announcement that the queen was pregnant.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

However, in August 1453, Henry received the bad news that his army had been routed in the decisive [[Battle of Castillon]]. Shortly thereafter, Henry experienced a mental breakdown. He became completely unresponsive to everything that was going on around him for more than a year.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses |date=2001 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |editor-last=Wagner |editor-first=John A. |page=48}}</ref> At the age of 31, he "fell by a sudden and accidental fright into such a weak state of health that for a whole year and a half he had neither sense nor reason capable of carrying on the government and neither physician nor medicine could cure that infirmity..." and he was, "...smitten with a frenzy and his wit and reason withdrawn."<ref name=":0"/> Henry even failed to respond to the birth of his son Edward six months into the illness.<ref name=":0"/>

The Duke of York, meanwhile, had gained a very important ally, [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick]], one of the most influential magnates and possibly richer than York himself. York was named regent as Protector of The Realm in 1454. The queen was excluded completely, and Edmund Beaufort was detained in the Tower of London, while many of York's supporters spread rumours that Edward was not the king's son, but Beaufort's.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sadler |first=John |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=H5r1PAAACAAJ&dq=editions:8-DzMSwMCWYC&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y |title=The Red Rose and the White: the Wars of the Roses 1453–1487 |date=2010 |publisher=Longman |isbn=9781405823609 |pages=49–51}}</ref> Other than that, York's months as regent were spent tackling the problem of government overspending.{{Sfn|Griffiths|1981}}{{Page needed|date=August 2018}}