ABSTRACT
A copy of a resumption petition was considered suitable material for inclusion in the commonplace book of a London citizen. The resumption was to take effect from 6 November 1449, the day on which the parliament had been assembled, and to cover all the royal grants of Henry VI’s reign from the first day of the reign to the date of dissolution of the parliament unless exemption was obtained under the terms of the act. Such a half-hearted resumption was sure to come under fire as soon as a new parliament met and political circumstances favoured the government’s parliamentary critics when this new assembly was summoned to Westminster for 6 November 1450. The immediate effect of the resumption on the national finances can best be gauged from the receipt rolls. To end the story of the Lancastrian resumption at the point on a note of success and co-operation between king and parliament would, of course, be unrealistic.
