Bastard feudalism as well as recruiting local gentry into their affinities. By offering money instead of land, lords could afford to retain more followers. In return for becoming retainers, the gentry would expect to rely on their lord's influence in local and national politics. This practice was known as "maintenance". The retainer might wear his lord's livery badge or the grander form, a livery collar, which could be very useful in a courtroom. Under a weak king, such as Henry VI (reigned 1422–1461 and 1470–1471), the rivalries of magnates might spill over from the courtroom to armed confrontations, thereby perverting justice. Since
Gervase Clifton (died 1471) Gervase Clifton (died 1471) Sir Gervase Clifton (died 6 May 1471) of Clifton, Nottinghamshire and London was a 15th-century English knight and landowner. He was beheaded after the Battle of Tewkesbury. Gervase Clifton was the son of Sir Gervase Clifton (died 15 November 1453) of Hodsock and Clifton, Nottinghamshire, only son of Sir John Clifton (slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403), and his wife, Katherine Cressy. Gervase Clifton's mother was Isabel Fraunceys (d. 13 June 1457), the daughter of Sir Robert Fraunceys of Foremark, Derbyshire. His only sibling was a brother, Robert Clifton. He was a