Wheathampsted tells us that the Duke died intestate (Whethamstede, i. 74), and on March 24, 1427, a commission was issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Say de Sele, Sir Thomas Stanley, John Somerset, and Richard Chester, empowering them to dispose of the goods and chattels of the late Duke of Gloucester, since he had died intestate (Rot. Pat., 25 Henry VI., Part ii. m. 35; Rymer, V. i. 171). On the other hand, there is a strong presumption that a will did really exist, and that the Duke’s enemies suppressed it. No such document has survived, but in one of their frequent letters written to various persons in the hope of securing the books promised to them, the authorities of the University of Oxford ask for a copy of Gloucester’s will, as though it were a well-known fact that such a document existed (Epist. Acad., 285). In several other letters the will is referred to, though it is noticeable that when writing to the King on the subject, its existence is not mentioned (Epist. Acad., 252). The date of this last letter is 1447, whilst the former was written in 1450, which seems to imply that the University had obtained evidence of the existence of a will in the interval. Moreover, in one letter there is a thinly veiled suggestion that those in power were diverting the property of the late Duke to their own private ends (Epist. Acad., 286). It seems likely that Gloucester’s enemies seized the majority of his property, and that the King himself presented some of his uncle’s possessions to the foundations at Eton and Cambridge in which he was so much interested. Certainly some church ornaments and jewels, which had belonged to Humphrey, and were then in the keeping of the Abbey of St. Albans, found their way to these institutions, though the monks were to a certain extent compensated for the loss (Rot. Parl., v. 307; Whethamstede, i. 65), and we have already shown the probability that the Library of King’s College, Cambridge, was begun with a collection of Humphrey’s books. It is noteworthy that a loving-cup, now in the possession of Christ’s College, bears the arms of Gloucester quartered with those of his Cobham wife; (ex relatione Sir Alfred Scott-Gatty, Garter); this, too, was probably part of the plunder which fell to the King on his uncle’s death. The supposition that there was a will, and that it was suppressed, is strengthened by the fact that the Parliament of Bury passed an ordinance annulling Eleanor of Gloucester’s right to any dower, or to any freehold or other possession left to her by her husband (Rot. Parl., v. 135). Apart from the question of dower, how could Eleanor have any claim to the late Duke’s possessions except under the terms of his will?

It is significant that the question of the settlement of Duke Humphrey’s affairs was reopened by the Parliament which was called after the first battle of St. Albans under Yorkist influence, the same assembly that petitioned the King for the vindication of his uncle’s memory. In another petition this Parliament besought the King to provide for the administration of Gloucester’s estate, since his creditors had not been paid, and were in great want. It was suggested that fresh commissioners for this purpose should be appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that they should have right of action against those who were detaining the property of the Duke illegally. It was definitely stated that the existing goods and chattels would not both pay his debts and fulfil his will, a statement which cannot be regarded as consistent with the assertion that he died intestate (Rot. Parl., v. 339). The petition was dismissed with the familiar formula ‘Le roi s’advisera,’ but some steps were ultimately taken, and in 1462 we find the Archbishop of Canterbury busy in arranging for ‘the performance of the will of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (Westminster Abbey MSS., Miscellanea, Press 6, Box 2, Parcel 20; see Hist. MSS. Rep., iv., Appendix, p. 176). All the facts suggest that Wheathampsted was once again mistaken with regard to the events which surrounded his friend and patron’s death, and that a will was made by Gloucester, but suppressed by his triumphant enemies, and probably in the end never completely executed.