Secret Tokens used by Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou
As the political and military situation ebbed and flowed in the year after the Rout at Ludford, the need for secure messaging increased. This was most evident at the highest levels, with King Henry VI and Queen Margaret often separated. To enable some form of security the royal couple used tokens as a means of identifying a true and honest messenger. In theory, this would mean that any news from a messenger with such a token would be genuine.
Intercepting and Forging Tokens
Of course, that did not stop third parties from trying to intercept messages, alter messages, or interfere in the decision making processes at the centre of the Lancastrian Court. In 1460, just before the Battle of Northampton, it seems that the royal couple were alerted to attempts to misuse their system of tokens. These tokens, quite possibly as simple as badges denoting the affiliation to the household of the King, Queen, or Prince of Wales, were, it appears, being forged.
And moste comynly she rode by-hynde a yonge poore gentylle-man of xiiij yere age, hys name was Jon Combe, i-borne at Amysbery in Wyltschyre. And there hens she remevyd fulle prevely unto the Lorde Jesper, Lorde and Erle of Penbroke, for she durste not a byde in noo place that [was] opyn but in pryvatt. The cause was that conterfete tokyns were sende unto hyr as thoughe that they hadde come from hyr moste dradde lorde the Kyng Harry the VI.; but hyt was not of hys sendyng, nothyr of [his] doynge, but forgyd thyngys, for they that brought the tokyns were of the kyngys howse, and sum of [t]epryncys howse, and sum of hyr owne howse…
‘Gregory’s Chronicle: 1451-1460‘, in The Historical Collections of a Citizen of London in the Fifteenth Century, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1876), pp. 196-210.
a specyalle tokyn unto hyr that no man knewe but the kynge and she
The response and solution was quite straightforward. Beware of tokens, they are being forged so are no longer trustworthy. The King is said to have cautioned Queen Margaret to give no worth to any such tokens in future. Instead, the pair were only to trust ‘specyalle tokyn… that no man knewe but the kynge and she‘. In the heat of the moment and with battle nearing the solution to the intervention in the Royal families messenging was quite simply to send something, be that a token or phrase, that only they would previously be party to. In other words, they would use personal details, gifts, and items known only to each other to make the validity of any such message clear.
…and bade hyr beware of the tokyns, that she gave noo credans there too; for at the kyngys departynge fro Covyntre towarde the fylde of Northehampton, he kyste hyr and blessyd the prynce, and commaundyd hyr that she shulde not com unto hym tylle that [he] sende a specyalle tokyn unto hyr that no man knewe but the kynge and she.
Gregory’s Chronicle.
Trust nobody…
With the armies of the Lancastrian crown and the Yorkists about to clash at Northampton, the King is said to have determined that only the use of such a special token should be seen as being his, or her, true word. In simple terms, trust nobody and nothing in the aftermath of the battle that is about to be fought. The reasons for such diligence are clear. The pair feared that in the event of a loss at Northampton, or through opportunism or subterfuge, the Yorkist lords would seek to take Margaret of Anjou into custody and take her to London, where she would be unable to orchestrate a lancastrian defence against Yorkist actions.
For the lordys wolde fayne hadde hyr unto Lundon, for they knewe welle that alle the workyngys that were done growe by hyr, for she was more wyttyer then the kynge, and that apperythe by hys dedys, &c.
Gregory’s Chronicle.
Did this really happen?
It is impossible to truly determine whether or not a system of token use by Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou had been interferred with. Men such as the Earl of Warwick certainly had the motivation and, probably, the means to undertake such forgeries and methods of spying. It could quite as easily be Gregory simply suggesting that the Lancastrian court were very wary of the future once they learnt of the Yorkist Lords returning from Calais.
Stopping Queen Margaret as a political desire of the Yorkists
That the House of York would wish to have the King, and his Queen, under their control is a reasonable assumption to make. They had taken Henry VI into a form of protective custody and installed a Protectorate after the First Battle of St. Albans. On that occasion the Queen was able to continue to act politically, and ultimately managed to secure the restoration to full powers of the King, along with the return to favour of men such as the Duke of Somerset. Having the Queen safely looked after in the Tower of London, or at Ludlow, or Middleham, would prevent her from acting against the Yorkists in court, or Parliament.
Battle of Northampton and the aftermath
In the event, the Battle of Northampton was a Yorkist victory. King Henry VI was taken into custody by the Yorkists. His wife, Queen Margaret, was able to evade Yorkists and made her way to the safety of Lancastrian lands in the north, via Wales. The Duke of York landed in the north west shortly after the Battle of Northampton and the poltical scenario changed once more as he shocked Council, and possibly his closest kin and supporters, by claiming the throne for himself. This led to the Act of Accord and the return of hostilities in December 1460 when the Duke of York and Earls of Salisbury and Rutland were among those killed in or shortly after the Battle of Wakefield.
Source of Information
‘Gregory’s Chronicle: 1451-1460′, in The Historical Collections of a Citizen of London in the Fifteenth Century, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1876), pp. 196-210. British History Online
Featured Image
In 1463 Margaret of Anjou stayed at Bar-le-Duc in France with her father whilst making arrangements for the next stage of the Lancastrian defence of their north-eastern enclave. Whilst there a Milanese medalist made a 8.5cm diameter portrait of the Queen. This is therefore a likeness of Margaret at the age of 33. The inscription reads:
IMBUTA FULGET VIRTUTIBUS · AUDIAS SAGAX
Imbued with courage she shines · May you be styled shrewd!
[A Pictorial History of … Queens’ College Cambridge, by Browne & Seltman, 1951, Plate 4]