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
Henry Stafford (c. 1425 – 1471) Henry Stafford (c. 1425 – 1471) Sir Henry Stafford (c. 1425 – 4 October 1471) was the second son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Anne Neville, daughter of Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and Lady Joan Beaufort. Henry's elder brother, also named Humphrey, died before their father, and so it was Henry's nephew, also Henry, who became the 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Stafford was the third husband of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby. The marriage was relatively long and successful and coincided roughly with the minority of Margaret's son, the future Henry VII