England
Lord Protector
Henry was stricken in August of 1453. We don't really know from what he suffered, but it's likely some sort of schizophrenia. We do know that Henry was in this episode rendered catatonic—unable to speak or to move about, or even to stand on his own.
It soon became clear that his recovery could not be predicted, so he was given a guardian, rather like when he had been a child. Parliament in March 1454 chose a Lord Protector for the king. The Lord Protector would sign documents, attend public functions, and dispense the royal income just as if he were the king.
The man chosen for the job was Richard, Duke of York. Somerset (Edmund Beaufort), who had been one of King Henry's favorites, was relieved of his post as Captain of Calais and placed in the Tower of London. Piling insult upon insult, York himself took the title and he made his friend Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury, Chancellor of England. Whereas York was simply a political rival to Somerset, Salisbury he despised personally. And Chancellor was the second most-powerful position in the realm.
All through the summer and fall, then, York had the upper hand. He brought the Nevills into power and edged the Beauforts out. If Henry had stayed insensate, perhaps that's the way the business would have ended, but he did not. As suddenly as he had lost them, Henry regained his senses on Christmas Day, 1454.
England had a king again, after a fashion, and it no longer had need of a Lord Protector.