William Shakespeare
2 HENRY VI, or, THE CONTENTION BETWIXT THE TWO FAMOUS HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER, PART ONE
circa 1590–pre 23 June 1592
a synoptic, alphabetical character list
ALEXANDER IDEN
A Kentish gentleman. After five days of hiding following the failure of his rebellion, Jack Cade is hungry enough to risk being caught. He ventures into a garden looking for sustenance, but is captured by the landowner Alexander Iden, who kills him, brings his head to Henry, and is knighted for the deed.
ASMATH or ASNATH
Margery
Jourdain identifies the spirit that Bolingbrook conjures for Eleanor as Asmath or Asnath. The spirit reveals that Henry will be deposed, that Suffolk shall die by water, and that Somerset should avoid castles.
BEADLE
Gloucester uses judicious questions to prove that the miraculous cure of Simpcox's blindness is a ruse, and then he demonstrates that the man's lameness is also an imposture when Simpcox flees the beadle who has been summoned to whip him.
CAPTAIN
In the quarto version, the Lieutenant of the ship is called the Captain.
CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BISHOP of WINCHESTER
Cardinal Beaufort, the Bishop of Winchester, is King Henry's great uncle. With Margaret, Suffolk, and the Duke of York, he conspires against Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. He also conspires to eliminate York as a potential competitor for power, nominating him to lead the defense against the Irish rebels. After Gloucester is murdered in prison, the cardinal suddenly becomes ill and dies, but not before revealing his guilt in hysterical symptoms including seeing Gloucester's ghost, blaspheming, and confessing his misdeeds to his pillow.
CITIZEN
He informs Lord Scales that Jack Cade is still alive and has taken London Bridge. He informs Scales that the Lord Mayor has requested his aid in repulsing the rebels.
CLERK of CHATHAM
When Jack Cade launches his commoners' rebellion, the Clerk of Chatham is among the first casualties. Cade sentences him to death by hanging for the crime of doing his job.
CLIFFORD, LORD
Lord Clifford and the Duke of Buckingham attempt to end Jack Cade's rebellion by promising that Cade's supporters will be pardoned if they relent, but Cade persuades the rebels that such promises cannot be trusted. When Clifford warns the rebels that they are making England vulnerable to a French invasion, they recognize the danger of the rebellion and transfer their allegiance to King Henry. Clifford dies defending his king against the Yorkist rebels, slain by York himself.
DICK the BUTCHER
Dick the butcher, John Holland, Smith the weaver, a sawyer and Michael are all followers of the rebel Jack Cade. It is Dick who suggests that their first order of business should be killing all the lawyers.
EDWARD PLANTAGENET
Edward and Richard are the sons of Richard, Duke of York. Both eventually become king, Edward in 3 Henry VI, Richard in Richard III.
ELEANOR COBHAM
Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, second wife of Humphrey, encourages her husband to usurp King Henry and claim the crown for himself. At Eleanor's behest, the duplicitous priest Hume arranges a séance in which Roger Bolingbrook, the priests Hume and Southwell, and the witch Margery Jourdain conjure a spirit who will ostensibly help Eleanor to become queen. Hume is secretly working for Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk, who plan to use Eleanor to discredit her husband. With Hume's collusion the séance is interrupted and the participants arrested. King Henry condemns the three men to the gallows, Margery Jourdain to Smithfield where she will be burnt as a witch, and Eleanor to the Isle of Man where she will live in exile. As a prelude to her banishment, Eleanor is led through the streets barefoot.
GENTLEMEN, TWO
When Suffolk is exiled, English pirates capture him and several gentlemen and make the men their prisoners.
GEORGE BEVIS
Bevis is a follower of the rebel Jack Cade.
HENRY VI
Much of 2 Henry VI is concerned with showing how King Henry is manipulated by unscrupulous people around him. Margaret and Suffolk, along with their faction, succeed in wresting power away from the monarch and exerting it for their own ends by driving a wedge between Henry and the Lord Protector, his uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. When Gloucester is murdered in prison, Henry realizes the price of his weakness, even before Warwick arrives to announce that the commoners blame Suffolk and Cardinal Beaufort and want revenge. Salisbury conveys a message to Henry from the commoners, calling for Suffolk's death or banishment in retribution, and warning that Suffolk is a threat to Henry as well. Henry tells Salisbury that he has decided to banish Suffolk. After facing rebellion led by Jack Cade and instigated by the Duke of York, Henry realizes that he needs to learn to be a better king or give England cause to curse his reign.
HERALD
He summons Gloucester to the parliament at Bury St. Edmunds.
HUMPHREY, FIRST DUKE of BUCKINGHAM
The Duke of Buckingham, King Henry's cousin, informs Henry and Gloucester that Gloucester's wife Eleanor has been arrested for her part in a séance which enlisted a spirit, a witch, a conjurer and two priests in league against Henry. Later, Buckingham and Lord Clifford attempt to end Jack Cade's rebellion by promising that Cade's supporters will be pardoned if they relent, but Cade persuades the rebels that such promises cannot be trusted. He later accepts York's capitulation to the crown.
HUMPHREY, DUKE of GLOUCESTER
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester is Lord Protector of the realm, the chief advisor to his nephew King Henry. In the first scene of 2 Henry VI, Gloucester declares his opposition to his nephew King Henry's treaty with France and his marriage to Margaret. Cardinal Beaufort urges the assembled nobles not to oppose the king's will, and Buckingham and Somerset ally themselves with the cardinal against Gloucester. Meanwhile, Warwick, York and Salisbury join together against the Cardinal. After Gloucester's wife Eleanor is banished for treason, Margaret and Suffolk seize the opportunity to turn Henry against him. Henry is not convinced of Gloucester's guilt, but he gives in to their united persuasions. After further plotting by the faction, Gloucester is murdered in prison.
JACK CADE
Encouraged by Richard, Duke of York, Jack Cade foments rebellion, promising to reform the realm with such enticing innovations as the abolition of money, and, famously, the death of all lawyers. Cade calls himself by the pseudonym Sir John (or Lord) Mortimer, claiming to be the long-lost secret son of Edmund Mortimer, Duke of March and the Duke of Clarence's daughter. The Duke of Buckingham and Lord Clifford attempt to end the rebellion by promising that Cade's supporters will be pardoned if they relent, but Cade persuades the rebels that such promises cannot be trusted. When Clifford warns the rebels that they are making England vulnerable to a French invasion, they recognize the danger of the rebellion and transfer their support to King Henry. When Cade escapes, the commoners who had been his supporters become his hunters, promised a reward for his head. After five days of hiding following the failure of his rebellion, Jack Cade is hungry enough to risk being caught. He ventures into a garden looking for sustenance, but is captured by the landowner Alexander Iden, who kills him, and takes his head to Henry.
JOHN GOODMAN
A "ghost character." When several petitioners make their cases to Margaret and Suffolk, one man complains that John Goodman, Cardinal Beaufort's man, has appropriated his house, lands, and wife.
JOHN HOLLAND
John Holland, Dick the butcher, Smith the weaver, a sawyer, and Michael are all followers of the rebel Jack Cade.
JOHN HUME
A priest. At Eleanor's behest, the duplicitous priest Hume arranges a séance in which Roger Bolingbrook, the priests Hume and Southwell, and the witch Margery Jourdain conjure a spirit who will ostensibly help Eleanor to become queen. Hume is secretly working for Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk, who plan to use Eleanor to discredit her husband, the Duke of Gloucester. With Hume's collusion the séance is interrupted and the participants arrested. King Henry condemns the three men to the gallows, Margery Jourdain to Smithfield where she will be burnt as a witch, and Eleanor to the Isle of Man where she will live in exile after a public humiliation.
JOHN SOUTHWELL
A priest. At Eleanor's behest, the duplicitous priest Hume arranges a séance in which he, Roger Bolingbrook, the priest Southwell, and the witch Margery Jourdain conjure a spirit who will ostensibly help Eleanor to become queen. Hume is working for Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk, who plan to use Eleanor to discredit her husband, the Duke of Gloucester. With Hume's collusion the séance is interrupted and the participants arrested. King Henry condemns the three men to the gallows, Margery Jourdain to Smithfield where she will be burnt as a witch, and Eleanor to the Isle of Man where she will live in exile after a public humiliation.
LIEUTENANT
The lieutenant is one of the English pirates who capture several gentlemen prisoners among whom is the exiled Suffolk. Suffolk identifies himself in the hope that they will spare his life, but Walter Whitmore and his lieutenant agree that Suffolk's misdeeds, compounded by his rude behaviour to the pirates, merit death. In a long speech, the lieutenant enumerates Suffolk's crimes against England, from orchestrating Henry's match with an unworthy mate to the murder of Gloucester. Whitmore and the lieutenant kill Suffolk.
LIONEL, DUKE of CLARENCE
A "ghost character." Jack Cade claims that his real name is John (or Jack) Mortimer, and that he is descended from the house of the Duke of Clarence, who was the second son to Edward III, and therefore he has a stronger claim to the throne than has the Lancaster Henry VI, who descends from John of Gaunt, third son of Edward III.
LORD SAY
Lord Say is a chief target of Jack Cade's rebels, who accuse him being an enemy of the people for, among other things, relinquishing Maine and Normandy to France. Cade confesses that he is moved by Say's pleas, but in the end orders his execution.
LORD SCALES
Lord Scales helps to defend London against Jack Cade's rebellion. He sends Matthew Goffe to lead the citizens against Jack Cade's rebellion. Historically, Thomas, seventh Baron Scales, fought with Henry V in France and then with Talbot in France.
MARGERY JOURDAIN
A witch. At Eleanor's behest, the duplicitous priest Hume arranges a séance in which he, Roger Bolingbrook, the priest Southwell, and the witch Margery Jourdain conjure a spirit who will ostensibly help Eleanor to become queen. Hume is working for Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk, who plan to use Eleanor to discredit her husband, the Duke of Gloucester. With Hume's collusion the séance is interrupted and the participants arrested. King Henry condemns the three men to the gallows, Margery Jourdain to Smithfield where she will be burnt as a witch, and Eleanor to the Isle of Man where she will live in exile after a public humiliation.
MASTER
The ship's master is allotted a prisoner, the First Gentleman, and demands one thousand pounds in ransom or else he will behead him.
MASTER'S MATE
The shipmaster's mate is allotted a prisoner, the Second Gentleman, and, following the master's example, demands one thousand pounds in ransom or else he will behead him.
MATTHEW GOFFE
When the Lord Mayor sends word to Lord Scales asking for reinforcements to protect London from Jack Cade's rebels, Scales sends Matthew Goffe, who is slain by the rebels.
MAYOR of LONDON
A "ghost character." When Jack Cade storms London and takes over London Bridge, he sends a messenger to ask assistance from the king in repulsing the rebels. The First Citizen carries the plea to Scales.
MAYOR of ST. ALBANS
He is fooled when Simpcox pretends to have been cured of blindness at St. Albans. He presents Simpcox to the King. Shakespeare is mistaken here. St. Albans was not incorporated before the reign of Edward VI and therefore had no mayor during the period of the play. The chief officer would have been a bailiff.
MESSENGER, FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD
There are two messengers who bring intelligence to the king.
The First Messenger arrives at the palace in London to warn the King that the rebels are in Southwark. He also tells the king that Jack Cade is calling himself Lord Mortimer, descended from the house of the Duke of Clarence, and has proclaimed Henry VI a usurper.
The Second Messenger arrives shortly after to report that Cade has taken London Bridge. He also brings a message from the Mayor of London craving the king's aid in repulsing the rebels.
Later, another messenger reports the Duke of York's return from Ireland, accompanied by an army.
MICHAEL
Dick the butcher, John Holland, Smith the weaver, a Sawyer and Michael are all followers of the rebel Jack Cade.
MOTHER JOURDAIN
An alternate designation for Margery Jourdain, the witch.
MURDERERS, TWO
Suffolk hires two murderers to kill Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in prison.
NEIGHBORS
Before Thomas Horner faces his apprentice Peter Thump in the single combat which will determine whether Thump's accusation of treason against his master is well-founded, three of Horner's neighbors drink with him.
PETER THUMP
Peter Thump, Thomas Horner's apprentice, is among the petitioners who approach Margaret and Suffolk in I.iii. Peter accuses his master of saying that the Duke of York is the rightful heir to the throne. When the case is brought before King Henry, Horner offers to provide a witness against Peter, and the two men are sentenced to single combat at Gloucester's recommendation. Horner is vanquished and confesses his treason before he dies.
PETITIONERS
Margaret and Suffolk are approached by several petitioners, who mistake Suffolk for Gloucester, the Lord Protector. Among their complaints, the petitioners accuse Suffolk and Cardinal Beaufort's man John Goodman of injustices, and Peter Thump accuses his master Thomas Horner of treason.
POST
In the midst of the Suffolk faction's treasonous plotting to murder Gloucester, a post arrives to announce an Irish rebellion.
PRENTICES
Friends of Peter Thump. Before Peter Thump faces his master Thomas Horner in the single combat that will determine whether Thump's accusation of treason against his master is well-founded, several apprentices drink with Thump and wish him success.
QUEEN MARGARET
The new queen. At the end of 1 Henry VI, Suffolk had concocted a plan to have Margaret marry King Henry, believing that he would be able to control the king through her. 2 Henry VI opens with Margaret's transfer from Suffolk to Henry, and as the first act continues we learn that Margaret and Suffolk are in league against Eleanor and Gloucester, Cardinal Beaufort, and the Duke of York.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET
Edward and Richard are the sons of Richard, Duke of York. Both eventually become king, Edward in 3 Henry VI, Richard in Richard III. At play's end Richard describes Salisbury's valor and of how he himself assisted Salisbury in the field. Salisbury attests that Richard saved his life in battle on three separate occasions.
ROGER BOLINGBROOK
At Eleanor's behest, the duplicitous priest Hume arranges a séance in which he, Roger Bolingbrook, the priest Southwell, and the witch Margery Jourdain conjure a spirit who will ostensibly help Eleanor to become queen. Hume is working for Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk, who plan to use Eleanor to discredit her husband, the Duke of Gloucester. With Hume's collusion the séance is interrupted and the participants arrested. King Henry condemns the three men to the gallows, Margery Jourdain to Smithfield where she will be burnt as a witch, and Eleanor to the Isle of Man where she will live in exile after a public humiliation.
SALISBURY
The Earl of Salisbury supports the Duke of York's claim to the throne. Nonetheless, he continues to serve King Henry, conveying the message that the commoners are calling for Suffolk's death or banishment in retribution for the murder of Gloucester and warning that Suffolk is a threat to Henry as well.
SAWYER
Dick the butcher, John Holland, Smith the weaver, Michael and a sawyer are all followers of the rebel Jack Cade.
SERVANTS
When Eleanor undergoes the public humiliation that precedes her banishment for treason, her husband Gloucester awaits her accompanied by several of his servants.
SHERIFF
After Eleanor's public humiliation for treason, the Sheriff relinquishes her to Sir John Stanley, who will convey her to the Isle of Man where she has been exiled.
SIMPCOX, SAUNDER
Posing as a blind man whose vision has been restored by some miracle, Simpcox is quickly detected by Gloucester's shrewd questioning. Gloucester orders Simpcox and Simpcox's wife publicly whipped all the way from St. Albon to their home village of Berwick.
SIMPCOX'S WIFE
When Gloucester proves that the miraculous cure of Simpcox's blindness is a ruse, Simpcox's wife pleads for mercy on the grounds that their poverty drove them to it. Gloucester orders Simpcox and Simpcox's wife publicly whipped all the way from St. Albon to their home village of Berwick.
SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD
When Bolingbrook arranges a séance for Eleanor, Sir Humphrey Stafford participates in the raid and arrests her along with the witch Margery Jourdain the priests Hume and Southwell, and the conjurer Bolingbrook. Later, Stafford is sent to quell Jack Cade's rebellion, but the rebels kill him and his brother William Stafford.
SIR JOHN HUME
At Eleanor's behest, the duplicitous priest Hume arranges a séance in which he, Roger Bolingbrook, the priest Southwell, and the witch Margery Jourdain conjure a spirit who will ostensibly help Eleanor to become queen. Hume is working for Cardinal Beaufort and Suffolk, who plan to use Eleanor to discredit her husband, the Duke of Gloucester. With Hume's collusion the séance is interrupted and the participants arrested. King Henry condemns the three men to the gallows, Margery Jourdain to Smithfield where she will be burnt as a witch, and Eleanor to the Isle of Man where she will live in exile after a public humiliation.
SIR JOHN MORTIMER
When Jack Cade mounts a rebellion, he calls himself by the pseudonym Sir John (or Lord) Mortimer, claiming to be the long-lost secret son of Edmund Mortimer, Duke of March and the Duke of Clarence's daughter.
SIR JOHN STANLEY
When Eleanor is banished to the Isle of Man, Henry appoints Lord Stanley as her jailer. In history his name was Thomas, not John.
SIR WILLIAM STAFFORD
When Sir Humphrey Stafford is sent to quell Jack Cade's rebellion, the rebels kill him and his brother William Stafford. The dramatis personae gives his name though the text refers to him only as "Brother."
SMITH the WEAVER
Dick the butcher, John Holland, Smith the weaver, a Sawyer and Michael are all followers of the rebel Jack Cade.
SOMERSET
The Duke of Somerset returns from France to announce that England's French territory has been lost. He dies defending Henry against the Yorkist rebels, slain by the Duke of York's son Richard Plantagenet (who in later plays will become Richard III).
SPIRIT
Margery Jourdain identifies the spirit that Bolingbrook conjures for Eleanor as Asmath or Asnath. The spirit, who appears and disappears in thunder, reveals that Henry will be deposed, that Suffolk shall die by water, and that Somerset should avoid castles.
SUFFOLK
William de la Pole. At the end of 1 Henry VI, the Duke of Suffolk had concocted a plan to have Margaret marry King Henry, believing that he would be able to control the king through her. 2 Henry VI opens with Margaret's transfer from Suffolk to Henry, and as the play continues we see Suffolk's plan coming to fruition. He is Margaret's lover and Henry's enemy. With Margaret's collusion, and some assistance from Cardinal Beaufort, Buckingham and York, Suffolk has Gloucester imprisoned for treason and arranges for him to be killed. Here, Suffolk has overreached himself, and when the commoners demand retribution for Gloucester's murder Henry banishes Suffolk. When pirates off the coast of Kent capture him, Suffolk identifies himself in the hope that they will spare his life, but Walter Whitmore and his lieutenant agree that Suffolk's misdeeds, compounded by his rude behavior to the pirates, merit death. In a long speech, the lieutenant enumerates Suffolk's crimes against England, from orchestrating Henry's match with an unworthy mate to the murder of Gloucester. Whitmore and the lieutenant kill Suffolk.
THOMAS HORNER
Horner, an armorer, tells his apprentice Peter Thump that the Duke of York is the rightful heir to the throne. When Peter testifies to his master's treason before King Henry, Horner offers to provide a witness against Peter, and the two men are sentenced to single combat at Gloucester's recommendation. Horner is vanquished and confesses to the treason before he dies.
VAUX
Vaux reports that Cardinal Beaufort has been seized by a sudden, mysterious illness that seems likely to result in his death. The symptoms include seeing Gloucester's ghost, blaspheming, and confessing his misdeeds to his pillow, a fitting punishment for helping Suffolk orchestrate Gloucester's murder.
WALTER WHITMORE
Walter Whitmore, an English pirate, helps to capture several gentlemen prisoners among whom is the exiled and disguised Suffolk. Suffolk identifies himself in the hope that Whitmore will spare his life, but Whitmore and his lieutenant agree that Suffolk's misdeeds, compounded by his rude behaviour to the pirates, merit death. They kill him.
WARWICK the "KINGMAKER"
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, son of the Earl of Salisbury, opposes the treaty which Henry has signed ceding Anjou and Maine to the French in exchange for Margaret of Anjou. After Gloucester dies in prison, Warwick reports that the commoners blame Suffolk and Cardinal Beaufort for the death, and after examining the body at Henry's request he concurs that Gloucester has been murdered. Warwick's investigation, along with pressure from the commoners, persuades Henry to banish Suffolk. Warwick serves Henry faithfully throughout most of the play even though he supports the Duke of York's claim to throne, and in 3 Henry VI will return to the Lancastrian side. In the final lines of 2 Henry VI, Warwick is still a Yorkist, and he praises the Yorkist forces for their victory in Saint Albons, anticipating their future glory.
YORK
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, is ambitious to claim England's crown. When he traces the lineage by which he is the rightful heir to the throne, Warwick and Salisbury agree to support his claim. When news of an Irish rebellion reaches England, the Suffolk faction urges King Henry to place York in charge of the military response. York realizes the faction is simply trying to get him out of the way by sending him to Ireland, but he predicts that their plotting will be their own downfall. He plans to destabilize Henry's power with some assistance from the rebel Jack Cade, who leads a domestic rebellion orchestrated by York.
YOUNG CLIFFORD
When his father is slain defending Henry from the Yorkist rebels, Young Clifford tends to his father's corpse and vows revenge on the House of York.