Letters of pardon, oaths, and the limits of loyalty during the Lancastrian conquest and rule of France, 1419–24

This article examines letters of pardon for what they can reveal about loyalty during political regime change. The ability to pardon was a royal privilege, particularly important for establishing and reaffirming bonds of allegiance post-conquest. During the English conquest and rule of Normandy and northern France in the fifteenth century Henry V and Henry VI gave letters of pardon in response to appeals from a broad social range. Oaths were incorporated into these letters as a guarantee of future allegiance in exchange for mercy, and petitioners also persuasively claimed acts of loyalty. Pardons are a vibrant insight into the lives and interactions of ordinary people negotiating the contested political landscape of war and rival claims to legitimacy, and they offer a multifaceted perspective on what promising loyalty and ‘living loyally’ could look like in the fifteenth century. This article is part of a Special Issue on Loyalty in Medieval Europe.