ABSTRACT
Politics and power in the medieval world went hand in hand. Monarchs needed military strength, political skills and authority in order to maintain power, and, when any of these were lacking, they found their position threatened, and that in turn would lead a realm into turmoil. The theme of this paper is how Hospitaller priors in England responded to crisis-situations. This discussion will focus on three examples: the crisis of the 1320s, with the rebellion against the Despensers and the overthrow of Edward II; the problems during the minority of Richard II that culminated in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381; and, finally, events concerning the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV in the context of the Wars of the Roses. Power and politics concerned the relationship not just between the prior and the king, but also between the prior, the queen and important magnates, as for example Prior Archer and the Despensers and Mortimers, Prior Hales and John of Gaunt, and Prior Langstrother and Warwick the Kingmaker. Two of the aforementioned priors lost their lives during these crises, and so one has to ask how some were able to survive, whereas others did not. It is also crucial to discuss how their successors dealt with the aftermaths of these crises.
