One cause of the weakness of the government was its poverty. The
revenues of the Crown had been greatly diminished by gifts and grants
to favorites. The King was obliged to pawn his jewels and the silver
plate from his table to pay his wedding expenses; and it is said on
high authority[1] that the royal couple were sometimes in actual want
of a dinner.
[1] Fortescue, on the "Government of England" (Plummer).
On the other hand, the Earl of Warwick and other great lords had made
fortunes out of the French wars,[2] and lived in regal splendor. This
Earl, it is said, had at his different castles and his city mansion in
London upwards of thirty thousand men in his service. Their livery,
or uniform, a bright red jacket with the Warwick arms--a bear erect
holding a ragged staff--embroidered on it in white, was seen, known,
and feared throughout the country.
[2] First, by furnishing troops to the government, the feudal system
having now so far decayed that many soldiers had to be hired;
secondly, by the plunder of French cities; thirdly, by ransoms
obtained from noblemen taken prisoners.
Backed by such forces it was easy for the Earl and other powerful
lords to overawe kings, parliaments, and courts. Between the heads of
the great houses quarrels were constantly breaking out. The safety of
the people was endanged by these feuds, which became more and more
violent, and often ended in bloodshed and murer.