ABSTRACT
Henry VI's policies vacillated between peace and war; indeed he sometimes tried to pursue negotiations simultaneously with war preparations. The first major attempt at negotiations took place at Gravelines in 1439, and involved the Burgundians as well as the French. Despite the Franco- Burgundian agreement at Arras in 1435, the mercantile ties between the duchy and England made it desirable for the duke to reach some settlement with Henry. The original instructions to the English ambassadors were completely uncompromising, reasserting Henry VI's claim to the French throne, but these were essentially a formal gesture and more flexible powers of treating were granted to Cardinal Beaufort, the head of the English delegation. Suffolk's death did not mean the end of disorder, but proved to be the prelude to a more substantial period of trouble in Jack Cade's rising. Political grievances undoubtedly played a part in this, and during it more of Suffolk's former associates were put to death.
