ABSTRACT
Fortescue and Queen Margaret followed twin paths: first, to exploit and foster opposition to the Yorkist regime at home, and second, to elicit support among European princes. The political writings of Sir John Fortescue during the 1460s also highlighted the long-standing connections between England and France, setting Lancastrian kingship firmly in a European context. Henry did nothing to prevent the collapse of the Lancastrian dynasty: he was not present at either Barnet or Tewkesbury and died ignominiously in captivity. Henry and Margaret held a court in exile. Margaret's Lancastrian court in exile was in reality a paltry affair. The short-lived, but ultimately disastrous, Readeption regime should not obscure the fact that the Lancastrian court in exile between 1463 and 1471 succeeded in maintaining a central component of the Lancastrian legacy, namely the image of the House of Lancaster as one of the foremost European princely dynasties. Henry began a period of imprisonment that would last more than five years.
