GLOUCESTER, HUMPHREY, DUKE OF

uncle of the king and Protector of England in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2. As Protector, Humphrey is acting king during Henry's minority, but he refuses to usurp the king's power. An honest and loyal man, he is brought down by the misdeeds of his wife, Eleanor, duchess of Gloucester, and by the lies and machinations of Queen Margaret (whose marriage to the king he opposed) and her supporters, notably Cardinal Beaufort, the bishop of Winchester.