Council of the North

The Council of the North was an administrative body set up in 1472 by King Edward IV of England, the first Yorkist monarch to hold the Crown of England, to improve government control and economic prosperity, to benefit all of Northern England. Edward's brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) was its first Lord President.

The Council was based in Yorkshire throughout its history: first at Sheriff Hutton Castle and at Sandal Castle, and then at King's Manor, York. Henry VIII re-established the Council after the English Reformation, when the north became identified with Roman Catholicism. It was abolished in the preamble to the English Civil War.

The Council was established in 1472 by King Edward IV of England. Its chief headquarters was at Sheriff Hutton Castle and Sandal Castle. It was established to administer Royal justice in the northern parts of England, including Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmorland, Durham and Northumberland. Richard appointed a group of local supporters to the council. It was administered from Sheriff Hutton. When Richard became king the council continued under the nominal leadership of his son Edward of Middleham. After Edward's death in 1484, Richard placed it in the hands of his new heir John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who was charged with control primarily of Yorkshire.

After Richard's death the council was re-established by Henry VII in 1489, nominally led by the king's young son Arthur Tudor. After Arthur's early death it existed as a sporadically constituted body to deal with pressing issues. Most of the administration of the north was handled by the king's mother Margaret Beaufort via a council based in the Midlands.

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