the Beauforts illegitimate in
blood so far as regarded the inheritance of the crown. Such royal
alterations of statutes however had been illegal since the time of Edward
the Third; and the Beauforts never recognized the force of this provision.
But whether they stood in the line of succession or no, the favour which
was shown them alike by Henry the Fifth and his son drew them close to the
throne, and the weakness of Henry the Sixth left them at this moment the
mainstay of the House of Lancaster. Edmund Beaufort had taken an active
part in the French wars, and had distinguished himself by the capture of
Harfleur and the relief of Calais. But he was hated for his pride and
avarice, and the popular hate grew as he showed his jealousy of the Duke
of York. Loyal indeed as Richard had proved himself as yet, the
pretensions of his house were the most formidable danger which fronted the
throne; and with a weak and imbecile king we can hardly wonder that the
Beauforts deemed it madness to leave in the Duke's hands the wide power of
a Regent in France and the command of the armies across the sea. In 1444
York was recalled, and his post was taken by Edmund Beaufort himself.

[Sidenote: Loss of Normandy]

But the claim which York drew from the house of Mortimer was not his only
claim to the crown; as the descendant of Edward the Third's fifth son the
crown would naturally devolve upon him on the extinction of the House of
Lancaster, and of the direct line of that house Henry the Sixth was the
one survivor. It was to check these hopes by continuing the Lancastrian
succession that Suffolk in 1445 brought about the marriage of the young
king with Margaret, the daughter of Duke Rene of Anjou. But the marriage
had another end. The English ministers were anxious for the close of the
war; and in the kinship between Margaret and King Charles of France they
saw a chance of bringing it about. A truce was concluded as a prelude to a
future peace, and the marriage-treaty paved the way for it by ceding not
only Anjou, of which England possessed nothing, but Maine, the bulwark of
Normandy, to Duke Rene. For his part in this negotiation Suffolk was
raised to the rank of marquis; but the terms of the treaty and the delays
which still averted a final peace gave new strength to the war-party with
Gloucester at its head, and troubles were looked for in the Parliament
which met at the opening of 1447. The danger was roughly met. Gloucester
was arre