Henry VI, who had become king as a baby, grew up to be simple-minded and
book-loving.' He hated the warlike nobles, and was an unsuitable king for such
a violent society. But he was a civilised and gentle man. He founded two places
of learning that still exist, Eton College not far from London, and King's
College in Cambridge. He could happily have spent his life in such places of
learning. But Henry's simple-mindedness gave way to periods of mental illness.
England had lost a war and was ruled by a mentally ill king who was bad
at choosing advisers. It was perhaps natural that the nobles began to ask
questions about who should be ruling the country. They remembered that Henry's
grandfather Henry of Lancaster had taken the throne when Richard II was deposed.
There were not more than sixty noble families controlling England at
this time. Most of them were related to each other through marriage. Some of
the nobles were extremely powerful. Many of them continued to keep their own
private armies after returning from the war in France, and used them to
frighten local people into obeying them. Some of these armies were large. For
example, by 1450 the duke of Buckingham had 2,000 men in his private army.
