how serious was the political instability of the period...

S E C T I O N 1

THE WARS OF THE ROSES, 1459–61:THE LIMITS OF POLITICAL INSTABILITY

KEY POINTS• Henry VI’s weaknesses in the 1450s led to serious

divisions within the nobility.• Richard, Duke of York, who was allied to the Neville

family, engaged in a series of battles after 1459 againstwhat he called the king’s ‘evil advisers’.

• Though York was killed in the struggles, Henry VI wasoverthrown by York’s son, Edward, Earl of March, in1461. Edward was crowned in London and thendefeated Henry VI’s forces at the Battle of Towton. Thenew king styled himself King Edward IV.

TIMELINE1453 Henry VI suffers a mental collapse.

1455 First Battle of St Albans – York defeats theLancastrians.

1459 Battle of Ludlow – York defeated and flees toIreland.

1460 Battle of Northampton – Lancastrians defeated byYorkists. Act of Accord – Parliament agrees thatYork is now Henry VI’s heir. York killed at Battle ofWakefield.

1461 York’s son declares himself king as Edward IV.Battle of Towton – Edward IV defeated theLancastrians to secure the throne.

Fate of the YorkistsIn 1476, the same year as William Caxton began operatingthe first English printing press in Westminster, KingEdward IV organised a bizarre and moving ceremony in thechurch at Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire. Although

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10 The Wars of the Roses and Henry VII: England 1459–c.1513

How serious was the political instability ofthe period 1459–61?

KEY PLACEChurch at FotheringhayThe collegiate church hadbeen founded by Edmund,Duke of York, and now it wasto be the family mausoleum.

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Edward IV was a Plantagenet, he was also a Yorkist, sincehis father was Richard, Duke of York. This duke was thecentre of attention at Fotheringhay on this occasion, eventhough he had been dead for fifteen years. Edward IV hadhad his father’s body exhumed and the corpse carefullyprepared for reburial. Also present was another corpse, thebody of Edward IV’s younger brother, Edmund, Earl ofRutland. Father and son had been killed in battle inYorkshire late in 1460. They had been fighting against theLancastrian forces of Henry VI (Henry VI’s greatgrandfather was the Duke of Lancaster) and mistook themain Lancastrian army for a foraging party. They rushedout of the safety of Sandal Castle and were promptly killed.The Duke of York’s head was cut off and sent to the city ofYork, where it was exhibited on a long pole and decoratedwith a paper crown for the benefit of passers-by.

Violent death was not unusual for the family of York.Henry V had executed York’s father, Richard, Earl ofCambridge in 1415, on charges of treason. In the sameyear, York’s uncle, Edward, Duke of York, who was agrandson of King Edward III was killed in the battle ofAgincourt. He was already buried in the great collegiatechurch at Fotheringhay, which he had founded, and nowhis nephew and successor as Duke of York was to be buriedalongside him.

York’s surviving sons fared little better than their father.Most would meet their deaths in violent circumstances.While Edmund of Rutland had been killed in battle withhis father, another son, George, Duke of Clarence, was to bejudicially murdered by his own brother (Edward IV), andthe youngest of York’s sons, Richard, Duke ofGloucester, born in Fotheringhay Castle, would die atBosworth in 1485; the last English king to die in battle.

The next generation of Yorkists proved to be similarlydoomed. Edward IV’s two sons – the ‘princes in theTower’ – were murdered there, while their cousin,Edward, Earl of Warwick, was to spend most of his lifein prison, only to be put to death by Henry VII in 1499.The one exception to the rule that Yorkists died violentdeaths was Edward IV himself, who became king at the ageof eighteen. Although briefly overthrown, he went on torule successfully and died in his bed!

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RYThe Wars of the Roses, 1459–61: the limits of political instability 11

KEY PERSONRichard, Duke of York(1411–60) Richard was thefounding father of the Yorkistdynasty. He was the son of theEarl of Cambridge andinherited the dukedom ofYork from his uncle, who waskilled at Agincourt. Hismarriage to Cecily Nevillebrought him powerfulpolitical and military supportfrom the Neville family. Hebecame dissatisfied with thegovernment of the Lancastrianking, Henry VI, andattempted to overthrow himin 1460. Blocked by most ofhis supporters as well as hisenemies, he was made heir tothe throne by an Act ofParliament (1460) but waskilled in the Battle ofWakefield in the same year.

KEY TERMJudicially murdered Refersto the fact that althoughClarence was found guilty oftreason, his execution was notcarried out in public as thelaw demanded.

KEY PERSONRichard, Duke ofGloucester (1452–85)The youngest son of Richard,Duke of York. He took thethrone in 1483 as Richard IIIon the basis that the two sonsof Edward IV wereillegitimate and could not,therefore, inherit the throne.Two years later, he was killedat the Battle of Bosworth.

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Edward III = Philippa of Hainault1312–1377 d.1369

HOUSE OF LANCASTER

Edward‘The BlackPrince’d.1376

Lionel,Duke ofClarenced.1368

John of Gaunt,Duke of Lancasterd.1399

= (1) Blanched.1369

= =(2) Constanzaof Castled.1394

(3) Katherine Swynfordd.1403

Henry IV(Henry Bolingbroke)1367–1413

Mary de Bohund.1394

= John Beaufortd.1410

Edward IV = Elizabeth Woodville1442–1483 d.1492

John Beaufort,Duke ofSomersetd.1444

(1) Henry V = Katherine Valois = (2) Owen Tudor1387–1422 d.1437 executed 1461

Margaret = Henry VIof Anjoud.1482

born 1421,murdered in theTower 1471

Edward,Prince of Waleskilled atTewkesbury 1471

Jasper,Duke ofBedfordd.1495

Edmund,Earl ofRichmondd.1456

= Margaret Beaufort,Countess ofRichmond and Derbyd.1509 Edward V

born 1470,died1483?

Richard,Duke of Yorkdied 1483?

TUDOR

Henry VII = Elizabeth of York1457–1509 d.1503

Arthur1486–1502

= Catherine of Aragon

Margaret1489–1541

= (1) James IV of Scotlandkilled at Flodden 1513

= (2) Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus d.1557

Henry VIII1491–1547

= (1) Catherine of Aragon div. 1533

= (2) Anne Boleynexecuted 1536

The families of York and Lancaster


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Thomasof Woodstockd.1397

HOUSE OF YORK

Edmund,Duke of Yorkd.1402

Richard Earl ofCambridgeexecuted 1415

= Anne Mortimer

Dukes ofBuckingham

Richard, Duke of Yorkkilled at Wakefield 1460

Margaretof Burgundyd.1503

= Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy d.1477

Elizabethd.1503

= John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk d.1491

Richard IIIborn 1452, killed atBosworth 1485

George, Duke of Clarenced.1478

Katherined.1527

= William Courtenay,Earl of Devond.1511

Henry, Marquis of Exeterexecuted 1538

Edward,Earl of Warwickexecuted 1499

Margaret,Countess ofSalisburyexecuted1541

= Sir Richard Poled.1505

John de la PoleEarl of Lincoln,killed atStoke 1487

Edmund de laPole, Earl ofSuffolkexecuted 1513

Richard de laPole killed atPavia 1525

Reginald Pole,Cardinal of Englandd.1558

Henry Pole,Lord Montagueexecuted 1538

6= (3) Jane Seymour

d. in childbirth1537

= (4) Anne of Cleves d.1557= (5) Catherine Howard executed 1542= (6) Catherine Parr d.1548

Elizabeth1492–95

Mary1495–1533

= (1) Louis XII of France d.1515= (2) Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk d.1545

Edmund1499–1500

Catherined. at birth1503

Edward,Duke of Yorkkilled at Agincourt1415


Reburial in Fotheringhay, 1476The bodies of Richard, Duke of York and Edmund, Earl ofRutland had been buried for fifteen years in Pontefract. Thecorpses (or what was left of them) were dug up andtransported over a five-day period from Yorkshire to theYorkist stronghold of Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire,with its large castle and magnificent church. Clothed incloth of gold, the two bodies reached their final destinationand, amid much pomp and circumstance, were duly buried

in the collegiate church,with its glorious lateGothic architecture.Meanwhile, all thenobility of the realm,together with all thebishops and archbishops,acted as onlookers as thebodies were lowered intotheir final resting places.The proceedings werewatched over by the

Duke of York’s widow and his three surviving sons,including the king of England himself. It was a massiveceremony – perhaps 5000 people attended, crowding intothe church and the castle. There was feasting for thepowerful men assembled there, while alms were given tothe poor and needy.

It was an extraordinary ceremony by any stretch of theimagination, but what did it mean? What was Edward IVtrying to prove beyond devotion to his fallen father? Whyhad he not done it before now – after all, he had been kingfor some fourteen years already? For Edward IV, theceremony did two things, which were meant to strengthenhis control of the country.

• First, it forcibly reminded the assembled notables of thedisadvantages of civil war. Both the victims had fallenduring a period of intense civil war, known since (butnot at the time) as the Wars of the Roses. The red rosesymbolised the family of Lancaster, while the white roserepresented the family of York.

• Second, the ceremony was designed to promote the ideathat the family of York had arrived on the throne and

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KEY PEOPLEPrinces in the Tower Thetwo sons of Edward IV. Onhis death in 1483, the elder(aged twelve) was proclaimedking as Edward V but wasnever crowned. His uncle,Richard of Gloucester,claimed the throne andEdward V and his brotherRichard (aged ten) wereprobably murdered in theTower of London, possibly onRichard’s orders.

Edward, Earl of Warwick(1471–99) The only son ofthe Duke of Clarence andWarwick’s eldest daughter,Isobel. He was imprisoned formost of his short life; first byRichard III and then byHenry VII. Since he had abetter claim to the thronethan either of these monarchs,he was an unwitting threat totheir regimes. Aged only 28,he was finally executed byHenry VII in 1499, probablyunder pressure from Spain,who did not want Catherineof Aragon to come to Englandto marry Arthur Tudor whileother claimants to the thronewere still alive. Some claimedthat his prospects wereblighted not only by hisimprisonment but also by thefact that he was mentallydisabled and that his fatherhad been attainted andexecuted by Edward IV.

Duke of York’s widowThe Duke of York had beenmarried to Cecily Neville.Their marriage brought abouta long-standing politicalalliance between the familiesand was central to York’sability to wage war againstthose who advised Henry VI.

Fotheringhay Church.


that they intended to stay. The duke was the foundingfather of a royal dynasty keen to establish permanenceon the English throne.

By 1476, Edward had done all the things necessary toassure success. He had seen off his rivals for the throne, hadled an expedition to France and would soon invadeScotland. This ceremony was designed to show theassembled notables, peers and clergy, that the conflictswhich had brought the Yorkists to power were well andtruly over. In this hope, Edward IV was proved right:though his father and grandfather had met violent deaths,Edward IV would not.

OVERVIEWLooking back from the perspective of the reburial service in1476, it would be easy to think that the conflict thatpreceded it had been very serious indeed. The period1459–71 is often seen as the high point of the so-calledWars of the Roses: a series of battles, murders, betrayalsand executions engaged in by the Lancastrians andYorkists, which engulfed England in the middle of thefifteenth century. There was an outbreak of serious battlesin the period 1459–61 and a further round of fighting in1470 and 1471. In the ensuing carnage and confusion,kings came and went. Henry VI was deposed twice and hisrival, Edward IV, once. The Earl of Warwick becameknown as the Kingmaker because he helped both men tothe throne! Many leading noblemen were killed on bothsides in scenes of carnage more concentrated and intensethan any seen before in England, at least not since thetroubled reign of King Stephen (1135–54).

On the other hand, the scale of the conflict should not beexaggerated. Despite the battles, English society did notdescend into anarchy and confusion. Edward IV ruledwithout too much difficulty between 1461 and 1469 andthe fighting was very much concentrated in two distinctperiods before and after. Whatever the changing fortunes ofthe two monarchs, the institution of monarchy remainedstrong and respected. With the deaths of Henry VI and hisonly son, Prince Edward, in 1471, Edward IV ruledunopposed and England quickly resumed its accustomedstability.

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KEY TERMThe Wars of the Roses isa term used by somehistorians to describe theseries of conflicts and battleswhich took place in Englandbetween 1455 and 1485 or1487. The term was notused at the time and it willbe argued in this book thatthe term is rather misleadingand unhelpful in explainingthe events of the period.

KEY TERMLancastrians A term usedto denote those men whofought for King Henry VI inthe military conflict of theperiod. Henry VI was thegrandson of Henry IV, whohad previously been the Dukeof Lancaster.

KEY PERSONPrince Edward (1453–71)Edward was Henry VI’s onlyson and thus Prince of Wales.His marriage to AnneNeville, the younger ofWarwick’s two daughters,sealed the alliance thatbrought back Henry VI.Unfortunately, Edward waskilled by the Yorkists aftertheir triumph at the Battle ofTewkesbury in 1471.


Causes and course of the fighting

Weaknesses of Henry VIThe origins of the conflicts between the families ofLancaster and York, which are often referred to as the Warsof the Roses, went back many years and revolved aroundthe weaknesses of King Henry VI and the ambitions ofRichard, Duke of York.

• Henry VI had succeeded his father, Henry V (who haddefeated the French at Agincourt in 1415), in 1422. Asa small child, he was crowned king of both England andFrance. His minority proceeded surprisingly smoothlyand showed the innate strength of English medievalmonarchy. One of his uncles, Humphrey, Duke ofGloucester, took charge of England, while another uncle,John, Duke of Bedford, had charge of England’sFrench possessions.

• Problems arose, however, after Henry came of age. Hewas a rather shadowy figure, a meek and piousindividual, with apparently none of the military orpolitical skills needed by a good king. Unlike hisfamous father, who was a warrior king and theembodiment of strong medieval kingship, Henry VIseemed to possess little will of his own, littleappreciation of politics and had no apparent interest infighting!

• Henry VI was easily dominated by favourites at hiscourt, which annoyed powerful men excluded fromfavour. At the same time, his government was on thelosing end of conflict in France, so that by 1453 theEnglish had been expelled from France, except for theport of Calais. This was a terrible disaster for Henry’sregime.

York’s powerThe man who felt most excluded from power, and a mannot associated with the disasters in France, was the mostpowerful man in the land after the king himself. Richard,Duke of York held extensive estates in the north, southWales and Ireland. He was linked by marriage to thepowerful Neville family and together these families had theability to raise whole armies if need be. At the same time,

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KEY TERMMinority Refers to theperiod when the ruler is achild or a minor.

KEY THEMESEngland’s Frenchpossessions Refers to thefact that ever since theNorman Conquest of 1066,kings of England heldsubstantial lands in France.Indeed, many medieval kingsof England were really Frenchrather than English. However,by the fifteenth century,English fortunes in Francewere on the wane. AlthoughEdward III (ruled 1322–77)had campaigned successfullyin France, the growingstrength of the Frenchmonarchy meant that Englishinfluence in France was beingeroded. The end came in thereign of Henry VI. Afterdefeat at Castillon in 1453,the port of Calais and a fewforts nearby were the fullextent of English possessionson the Continent.


until the birth of Henry VI’s son in 1453, the Duke ofYork was also heir presumptive, since he was Henry VI’sclosest male relative. At first it seemed unlikely that thetension between the king and York would result in warfareand it was even more unlikely that York would dare tochallenge for the throne itself.

Problems of 1453–5In 1453, however, a series of events seriously underminedHenry VI’s government.

• Quite unexpectedly, Henry VI suffered a mental collapse– now thought to be catatonic schizophrenia – whichrendered him helpless and apparently speechless for atleast fifteen months and possibly longer. This meantthat some kind of protector or regent would have to beappointed to rule in the king’s name. This was York’sopportunity to gain power. As the king’s closest adultmale relative, English traditions suggested that Yorkshould be protector, in the same way as if the king werestill a child. Indeed, in 1454, Parliament petitioned thatYork should assume this position and offered him thesame limited powers as those given to the king’s unclesduring his minority. It was agreed that York should beprotector until Henry recovered. York duly becameprotector and the previous favourite, EdmundBeaufort, Duke of Somerset, was arrested andimprisoned.

• However, York’s powerwas uncertain and wasundermined by twoother developments.First, in October 1453,Henry VI’s French wife,Margaret of Anjou,gave birth to a son,Prince Edward. If thechild were indeedHenry’s – and therewere soon stories that he

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KEY TERMSHeir presumptive Theperson who is the king’ssuccessor or heir but has notbeen officially named as such.Henry VI at this date had nochildren, so York, as hisclosest male relative, thoughthe would be the king’ssuccessor.

Catatonic schizophreniaRefers to a medical conditionmarked by near or totalunresponsiveness to theenvironment or other people.

KEY PEOPLEEdmund Beaufort, Duke ofSomerset (1439–71)Fourth Duke of Somersetsince 1464 and son of thesecond Duke of Somerset, alsocalled Edmund, who waskilled at St Albans in 1455.This Edmund Beaufort wasonly sixteen when his fatherwas killed and 25 when hiselder brother (Henry, thethird Duke) was killed by theYorkists at Hexham. Thefourth Duke was thus adie-hard Lancastrian and ledtheir forces at Tewkesbury in1471. He was capturedduring the battle, tried andbeheaded by Edward IV soonafterwards. His youngerbrother was also killed in thebattle.

Margaret of Anjou(1429–82) The daughter ofthe Count of Anjou, Margaretwas married to Henry VI in1445. Her only son was borneight years later and someclaimed that the king was nothis father. Politically,Margaret was very important,as it was she who allied withSomerset and other lordsagainst York and his allies.After the king’s illness,Margaret took control ofaffairs.

The Duke of Somerset being executed after the Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471.


was not – then York was no longer heir to the throne.• Queen Margaret then appealed to French traditions to

claim that she, not York, should be protector while herhusband was ill. Around Christmas time, 1453, sheclaimed that King Henry had recovered his sanity.Immediately, the Duke of Somerset was released, Yorkwas ousted from the Council and several of his enemiesamong the nobility were welcomed back to court.

• Stung by this sudden reversal in his fortunes, Yorkresorted to force. Together with his ally, RichardNeville, Earl of Salisbury, he raised troops andmarched menacingly on London. The king’s adviserswere taken by surprise and the royal forces were defeatedat St Albans in May 1455. The battle was little morethan a skirmish but the Duke of Somerset and the Earlof Northumberland were killed, leaving their heirs toplot revenge against York and his allies.

The Lancastrians seek revengeAlthough York made himself protector again in November1455, opposition from many of the nobility and fromMargaret of Anjou caused him to resign his office just threemonths later. After that, the court party, led by the queenand the Dukes of Somerset and Buckingham, seemeddetermined to destroy York and his allies. The queen builtup a power base in the Midlands, in the area where heryoung son held lands. In 1459, royal forces were againmustered to take on Yorkist troops being raised in theLudlow area. At Ludford Bridge, Yorkist forces fled fromthe field when soldiers from the Calais garrison decided toabandon the duke and went over to the king’s side. At thesubsequent Parliament held in Coventry (the Yorkistsnicknamed it the Parliament of Devils), York and his allieswere denounced as traitors. This meant that they livedunder sentence of death and all their lands were confiscatedand handed over to royal stewards.

The Yorkists strike back, 1460Faced with this desperate situation, the Yorkists had nochoice but to resort to armed force. Luckily, they possessedlarge estates and could raise troops quite easily. In addition,they had refuges, where royal forces could not reach them.

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KEY PERSONRichard Neville, Earl ofSalisbury, (1400–60)York’s brother-in-law andpolitical ally, since Yorkmarried his youngest sister,Cecily Neville. He was killedwith York at the Battle ofWakefield in 1460. Salisburywas father of the famousWarwick the Kingmaker,who made Edward IV kingand then overthrew him infavour of Henry VI.

KEY PLACECalais garrison This wasthe army that defended Calaisfrom French attack. At a timewhen the king had armedguards but no permanentarmy, control of the Calaisgarrison would proveimportant in the fighting.Luckily for the Yorkists, theCaptain of Calais at this timewas their ally, Warwick, theKingmaker.


• After the disaster at Ludlow, York had retreated to hisestates in Ireland, where government by the EnglishCrown existed in name only. His ally, Richard Neville,Earl of Warwick, slunk away to Calais, across the water,where he was Captain of the garrison.

• In June 1460, Warwick, together with his father, theEarl of Salisbury, and York’s eldest son, Edward, Earl ofMarch, sailed from Calais and landed in Kent. Theybrought troops and a papal legate called Coppini withthem. As the Pope’s ambassador, he gave spiritualsignificance to the Yorkist cause and thoughtfullyexcommunicated most of the Lancastrian nobles fromthe Roman Catholic Church.

• As the royal court was in the Midlands at the time, therebels took charge of London, where the merchantssupported the Yorkists, as they tended to back whoevercontrolled the port of Calais.

Marching north-west, the Yorkists met with unexpectedsuccess. In July 1460, they defeated a large Lancastrianforce at Northampton, killing the Duke of Buckinghamand the Earl of Shrewsbury in a battle that lasted barely anhour. The real bonus for the Yorkists was that they alsocaptured the enfeebled Henry VI, who was apparentlywatching the battle in a state of incomprehension. Withthe king on their side, the Yorkists could hope to rule inhis name and get rid of their enemies. They would arguethat they were merely getting rid of evil men who hadmisled the hapless King Henry. However, York, who hadplayed no part in the battle, took a different view.

In September, he arrived from Ireland and marched onLondon. When he arrived at the Parliament being heldthere, he strode into the House of Lords and placed hishand on the empty throne, meaning to claim it for himself.Instead of the shouts of approval and acclamation he hadhoped for, he was greeted by a deafening silence. Even hisclosest allies had no idea that he intended to claim thethrone for himself and they clearly disapproved of such amove. To rule in the name of a childlike king was onething, but to depose an anointed sovereign wasunthinkable, even if that king was mad. Such was theresidual power of English kingship that everyone backedaway from such a sacrilegious act.

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KEY TERMSPapal legate The Pope inRome was the spiritual headof the universal CatholicChurch. His power over thegreat rulers of Europe waslimited, but he often sent outleading churchmen tocommunicate with them.Such roving ambassadors werecalled papal legates.Technically, the Archbishop ofCanterbury was a papal legateby virtue of his office.

Excommunicated TheChurch’s most severe weaponagainst those who seriouslyupset the Pope or whoquestioned the CatholicChurch’s main ideas(doctrines). Those who wereexcommunicated were refusedparticipation in the Church’sceremonies and faced theprospect of eternalpunishment in hell if theyfailed to make their peacewith the Church.

Anointed sovereign Kingswere anointed with holy oil attheir coronation, symbolisingthat they were chosen by Godas ruler. Despite the politicalinstability of this period andthe mental condition of theking, very few were preparedto dethrone a king who hadbeen so anointed. SomeEnglish kings had been killedby their enemies (Edward IIand Richard II), but killingthe king was a terrible crimeand Henry VI was obviouslyhelpless and confused. Tomany of those around him,Henry VI’s childlikesimplicity appeared to showthat he was close to God.


York claimed the throne on the basis that Henry VI’sgrandfather, Henry IV (who ruled 1399–1413), hadillegally taken the throne from Richard II in 1399.However, the English nobility refused to allow usurpationof the throne by York and instead would agree only to anunworkable compromise. Trying to placate both sides, theAct of Accord of 1460 declared that Henry VI wouldremain king for his own lifetime but on his death theCrown would pass to Richard of York or, if York had diedin the meantime, to York’s heir, Edward, Earl of March.

Death of the Duke of York, 1460The Act of Accord was a recipe for more fighting. Henry’sson, Edward, Prince of Wales, was hardly likely to acceptbeing disinherited without a fight, while the Yorkistsrealised that they would have to continue fighting if theywished to achieve any degree of security.

• Margaret of Anjou, now in the north of England, setabout recruiting troops to win back her son’s inheritance.Supported by many of the great northern magnates, whodisliked York and the Nevilles, they raised a great army.

• York, who may have had plans to force Henry VI toabdicate, marched north to meet them. Just afterChristmas, 1460, he mistook the Lancastrian army for aforaging party, rushed out of the safety of Sandal Castleand was promptly killed by the Lancastrians, along withhis second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland.

• York’s brother-in-law, Salisbury, was executed by hisenemies after the battle and York’s head was hacked offand sent to the city of York. There it was put on a longpike by the main bridge over the River Ouse andapparently decorated with a paper crown. Thus all thosewho passed along the way might mock the pretensions ofa man who wished to take the Crown from the rightfulking. At the same time, this grisly sight remindedeveryone of the penalties for unbridled ambition.

The triumph of York’s son, 1461For York’s heir, Edward, Earl of March, who was onlyeighteen years old, the future looked bleak indeed. TheLancastrians, under Margaret, were now free to march southand retake possession of the capital.

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KEY THEMEYork claimed the throneAs the Duke of York hadproclaimed in 1460, ‘thoughright for a time rest and beput to silence, yet it rottethnot, nor shall it perish’. WhenYork’s son did gain the thronein 1461, the reality of thesituation was explained byCoppini, the papal legate whocommented, ‘In the end, myLord of Warwick has come offbest and has made a new kingof the son of the Duke ofYork.’


• Edward, Earl of March was recruiting in the WelshMarches and hoping to come to London when he heardthat Jasper Tudor, a keen Lancastrian, had landed insouth Wales with a force of French mercenaries. Edwardpromptly marched his forces into Hereford and defeatedTudor’s army at Mortimer’s Cross. It was the biggestbattle of the wars so far and it underlined youngEdward’s abilities as a military commander.

• Meanwhile, however, Edward’s main ally in this time ofcrisis, his cousin, Warwick, was showing his failings asmilitary commander. His army was now the only forcethat could protect the city of London from Margaret’sincreasingly undisciplined army. Yet Warwick’s failureto track the progress of that army meant that he wastaken by surprise at St Albans. Believing that the enemywas still nine miles away, he was changing theplacement of his troops when they were attacked androuted.

• Warwick fled from the scene and the Lancastriantriumph seemed complete, since Margaret had now alsoregained the person of Henry VI. Her enfeebled husbandwas discovered at the rear of the Yorkist forces andreunited with his wife and supporters. The Lancastrianforces need only retake the capital and Henry VI’sregime would be fully re-established, while the Yorkistfaction would be doomed to exile or destruction.

However, at this point, Margaret, realising that hernorthern army would take great delight in sacking Londonand much of the rest of southern England, gave the orderto march north again. In truth, the Lancastrians hadneglected the city of London for many years and now theypaid the price. Margaret had been keen to establish a powerbase in the Midlands centred on the lands of her son, thePrince of Wales. At the same time, the great Londonmerchant companies, who dominated the city’sgovernment, tended to side with whoever controlled theport of Calais. Since 1455, of course, the Captain of Calaishad been Warwick.

Queen Margaret’s decision to march north gave Edward,Earl of March, a much needed breathing space. With hisarmy fresh from victory in the west and his supportersalready streaming into London, he marched on the capital

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KEY PERSONJasper Tudor (1431–95)Henry Tudor’s uncle and half-brother to Henry VI. Hesupported the Lancastriancause throughout and washighly rewarded when hisnephew won the throne in1485. Created Earl ofPembroke by Henry VI, hewas given a dukedom(Bedford) in 1485 by hisnephew, Henry VII, after theBattle of Bosworth. Althoughhe was married, he had nochildren. He was the mainpower in Wales during HenryVII’s reign.


and gained admittance on the basis that he was the onlyman likely to protect the capital from being sacked. Oncethere, the dangers of the situation forced Edward to take adesperate gamble and claim the throne for himself.

• In a series of stage-managed ceremonies, Edward wasapparently forced to take the throne on the basis that hehad a better descent from Edward III than his rivalHenry VI, who was grandson of the usurper Henry IV.

• Unfortunately for Edward, this Yorkist claim to thethrone via inheritance had been specifically rejected bythe judges and Parliament in 1460. Furthermore therewas, of course, no Parliament meeting in London at thistime and so there was no important institution torecognise Edward’s assumption of power.

• Edward’s claim to the throne was extremely tenuous asit broke the Act of Accord of the previous year, whichhad proclaimed that Henry VI would be king for therest of his natural life. In reality, a small faction ofnobles and merchants had proclaimed Edward king.

The Battle of TowtonWaiting just long enough to gather further troops, Edwardset off from London to meet Henry in battle. So, on 29March 1461 – Palm Sunday of that year – two greatarmies faced each other in Yorkshire, north of the town ofPontefract. The ensuing Battle of Towton was certainlythe greatest battle of the Wars of the Roses and probablythe largest pitched battle ever on English soil. At first, theLancastrian forces seemed to have the advantage, but thetimely arrival of Yorkist reinforcements turned the longdrawn out battle in their favour. After many hours offighting, the Lancastrian forces scattered and fled, manybeing killed as they tried to escape. It was a decisive battleand a decisive victory for Edward, Earl of March. Threemonths earlier, his father, Richard, Duke of York, had beenkilled at the Battle of Wakefield and Edward’s fortunesseemed to be at their lowest ebb. Spurred on by his father’sdeath, Edward, still only eighteen years old, hadproclaimed himself King Edward IV in London and hadnow secured his kingship with victory in battle. He haddefeated and scattered the forces of his opponent, KingHenry VI. Edward, the usurper, had made a reality of hispower and would rule rather more effectively than his

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KEY TERMPalm Sunday In theChristian Church, PalmSunday celebrates theoccasion when Jesus enteredJerusalem on a donkey andwas greeted by women andchildren welcoming him withpalm leaves. It is the Sundaythat starts Holy Week. HolyWeek includes Good Friday,when Jesus was crucified bythe Romans, and EasterSunday, when, according toChristian belief, he rose fromthe dead.

KEY EVENTBattle of Towton (1461)Chroniclers of the dayembroidered it with mythand divine intervention. Itwas said that three suns wereseen that day and the earlypart of the battle was foughtin a snowstorm. Perhaps50,000 men were engaged onboth sides, althoughcontemporaries almostcertainly exaggerated thedead when they claimed that28,000 had been killed.


predecessor for the next nine years. When he was brieflyoverthrown in 1470, it was not his enemies but his friendswho were responsible.

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Carnarvon

DenbighRuthin

MilfordHaven

PembrokeCardiff

Chester

Harleach

Raglan

Tretower

Ludlow

Ludford 1459Mortimer’sCross 1461

Bosworth 1485KirbyMuxloe

Blore Heath 1459 Nottingham

Tewkesbury 1471

Gloucester

Kenilworth

WarwickNorthampton 1460

Stoke 1487Newark Tattershall

Berkley

Edgecote 1469

Windsor London(Tower)

St Albans1455 & 1461

Barnet 1471

Caister

Lose-Cote Field 1470

Fotheringhay

BoltonRichmond

Middleham

SheriffHutton

Pontefract

SandalWakefield 1460

Towton 1461

CarlisleBywell

AlnwickWarkworth

Wark Bamburgh

DunstanburghHedgeley Moor 1464

Hexham 1464

Hurstmonceux

Dover

Battles

0

0 100kms

100 miles

Castles

Newcastle

York

The geography of the conflict, 1455–87


how serious was the political instability of the period...

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