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The Wars of the Roses and the Princes
in the Tower Henry VI was troubled all his
life by recurring bouts of madness, during which the country was ruled by regents.
The regents didn't do any better for England than Henry did, and the long Hundred Years
War with France sputtered to an end with England losing all her possessions
in France except for Calais. In England itself anarchy reigned. Nobles gathered
their own private armies and fought for local supremacy.
The
Wars of The Roses. The struggle to rule on behalf of an unfit king was one
of the surface reasons for the outbreak of thirty years of warfare that we now
call the Wars of the Roses, fought between the Houses of York
(white rose) and Lancaster (red rose). In reality
these squabbles were an indication of the lawlessness that ran rampant in the
land. More squalid than romantic, the Wars of the Roses decimated both houses
in an interminably long, bloody struggle for the throne. The rose symbols that
we name the wars after were not in general use during the conflict. The House
of Lancaster did not even adopt the red rose as its official symbol until the
next century.
Edward IV. Henry VI was
eventually forced to abdicate in 1461 and died ten years later in prison, possibly
murdered. In his place ruled Edward IV of the house of York who managed to get
his dubious claim to the throne legitimized by Parliament. Edward was the first
king to address the House of Commons, but his reign is notable mostly for the
continuing saga of the wars with the House of Lancaster and unsuccessful wars
in France. When Edward died in 1483 his son, Edward
V, aged twelve, followed him. In light of his youth Edward's uncle Richard,
Duke of Gloucester, acted as regent.
The Princes in The Tower.
Traditional history, written by later Tudor historians seeking to legitimize their
masters' past, has painted Richard as the archetypal wicked uncle. The truth may
not be so clear cut. Some things are known, or assumed, to be true. Edward and
his younger brother were put in the Tower of London, ostensibly for their own
protection. Richard had the "Princes in the Tower" declared illegitimate,
which may possibly have been true. He then got himself declared king. He may have
been in the right, and certainly England needed a strong and able king. But he
was undone when the princes disappeared and were rumoured to have been murdered
by his orders.
In the 17th century workmen repairing a stairwell at
the Tower found the bones of two boys of about the right ages. Were these the
Princes in the Tower, and were they killed by their wicked uncle? We will probably
never know. The person with the most to gain by killing the princes was not Richard,
however, but Henry, Earl of Richmond. Henry also claimed the throne, seeking "legitimacy"
through descent from John of Gaunt and his mistress. See a more in-depth article
on the Princes in the Tower here.
The Battle of Bosworth
Field. Henry defeated and killed Richard at the Battle
of Bosworth Field (1485). The crown is said to have been found hanging upon a
bush, and it was placed on Henry's head there on the field of battle. Bosworth
marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. There was no one else left to fight.
It also marked the end of the feudal period of English history. With the death
of Richard III the crown passed from the Plantagenet
line to the new House of Tudor, and a new era of history began.
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| A prosperous merchant in 1475 |
Kings were gaining the upper hand in the struggle with the barons.
They encouraged the growth of towns and trade. They took more advisors and officials
from the new merchant middle class. This eroded the power of the land-based
nobility. Further, kings established royal courts to replace local feudal courts
and replaced feudal duties (which had been difficult to collect in any case) with
direct taxation. They created national standing armies instead of relying on feudal
obligations of service from vassals. Feudal kingdoms moved slowly towards becoming
nations. Online Resources:
Richard III Foundation
- dedicated to the life and times of King Richard III, and to research and scholarship
into his era. MORE Medieval Britain :
Back: From Richard II to Henry V
Next: Feudalism and Medieval Life
Related
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in the Tower
Act of Accord
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