Henry goes in 1456 on royal progress in the Midlands, where the king and queen are popular.

Margaret does not allow him to return to London, where the merchants are angry at the decline in trade and widespread disorder.

In August, the king's court is set up at Coventry in the heart of the Queen's lands, by which time the new Duke of Somerset, Henry Beaufort, who had fought in 1455 at the First Battle of St. Albans, where he had been seriously wounded and his father killed, is emerging as a favorite of the royal court.

Margaret also persuades Henry to dismiss the appointments York had made as Protector, while York is made to return to his post as Lord Lieutenant in Ireland.

Disorder in the capital and piracy on the south coast are growing, but the king and queen remain intent on protecting their own positions, with the queen introducing conscription for the first time in England.