Hello everyone and welcome to the History of England episode 164 Madness.

Now then, where were we with the story before we wandered off on the historiography thing?

Where I believe in 1451 or 1451 in England anyway, we'd nipped across the channel to Castillo

to watch the grand old Earl of Salisbury fall before the guns of the French, and take with him

England's last hope of regaining cascany. But meanwhile, back in Glyty, Richard of York,

had retired to his estates in Wales at Ludlow, feeling grumpy and disenfranchised.

Now this was a problem for some of certain Henry, whether they realised it or not.

They were probably just pleased to see the back of him. But now they had a choice.

They could bring York firmly to heel, or find a way to engage him and bring him back inside the tent.

While they deliberated this vexed question, if indeed they did deliberate, York gave them a little

nudge towards one side of the options in September 1451, by salying out from his castle at Ludlow

ostensibly to do his duty. To explain, let us travel down to the farce

southwest of England to Devon, which is another good example of the kind of inter-magnet grief

that was causing violence and instability all over Henry's kingdom.

Down in Devon he'd always had three main players. He'd got the king, who is Duke of Cornwall,

which has traditionally been a royal honour. Then you have the court-ness and the Bonville's.

The court-ness were Earls of Devon. The Earls of Devon hadn't really troubled these pages since

being first created in the 12th century. Essentially the beaches down there are lovely,

in fact everything about Devon is lovely, but it's a long way from Westminster.

The current Kirtney Earl of Devon was married to a Beaufort. They get everywhere, don't they?

Like a rash. Down in Devon it'd always been Claire, who was boss, the Earls of Devon.

And one of their most helpful partners were the Bonville family, who knew the side of which

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