York house a week later. Crown intervention On 12 July 1453, the king and council announced a commission of Oyer and Terminer, which was headed by the earls of Salisbury and Northumberland themselves. This was however, reformed two weeks later; Griffiths has speculated that this was probably because not only was it not big enough to deal with such a serious collapse in law and order, but also the commissioners themselves 'were not very effective.' Another weakness of this commission, he suggests, is the fact that it was composed with a number of Neville retainers; thus displaying a clear partisanship which would have been obvious to the Percys, and further reduce their faith in the crown's ability—or desire—to achieve a fair settlement. By 27 July, says Griffiths, the situation in the north had deteriorated so badly that the crown effectively abrogated its authority in the region, by writing directly to the two earls, laying responsibility for ending the dispute on them, and instructing them to keep their sons in order. It was at this point too, that the commission of Oyer and Terminer of 12 July was reissued; this time, without the presence of the earls, and with a much larger number of lawyers, 328 members included. The reissued commission was composed of Sir William Lucy of Northamptonshire, Peter Arden, John Portyngton, and Robert Danby, the latter three being lawyers and the former an uninvolved knight. The commission also expanded geographically into Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, 'and Yorkshire generally,’ as opposed to the narrow remit of just York and environs as had the first one. Griffiths points to the fact that it actually found against at least four of John Neville's 'principle accomplices'- Sir John Conyers, Sir James Pickering, Sir Randolph, and Sir Thomas Mountford. The crown continued to write to the involved parties. On 8 October 1453, the council wrote to the earl of Westmorland and congratulated him on not assisting the Middleham branch. It also wrote again to Salisbury and Northumberland, 'more in sorrow than in anger,’ as Griffiths has phrased it, exhorting them to remember their positions of Commissioners of the Peace and also as members of the king's council. At the same time, Parlt demanded that the nobility resolve their problems peaceably rather than in force. However, the king's letters 'concluded wearily' that both of them kept raising armed forces in spite of the appeals from king