Wars of the Wars of the RRosesoses

1455–1487

ContensContensWhat were The wars of the What were The wars of the RRoses?oses?The situation before warThe situation before warThe first battlesThe first battlesEdward IV's victoryEdward IV's victory2 Lancastrian revolts2 Lancastrian revoltsThe period 1467-70The period 1467-70Richard, Duke of GloucesterRichard, Duke of GloucesterYorkist victories in 1471Yorkist victories in 1471Princess in the towerPrincess in the towerThe last battles and Henry The last battles and Henry TudorTudorBattles – time lineBattles – time lineBattles - mapBattles - mapThe RoyalsThe RoyalsBooksBooks

What were The wars of the What were The wars of the RRoses?oses?

the Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars - between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York

both houses were branches of the Plantagenet royal house

the name "Wars of the Roses" - badges associated with the two royal houses, the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White rose of York

What were The wars of the What were The wars of the RRoses?oses?

Badges

the white rose of York

the red rose of Lancaster

The situation before warThe situation before warthe antagonism started with the overthrow of King Richard II in 1399.

Henry Bolingbroke was crowned as Henry IV. He was tolerated as king since Richard II's government had been highly unpopular.

Henry IV - died in 1413

after Henry IV‘s death - 8 month son- instructions how to command till he will be full aged

Richard II

Henry IV

The situation before warThe situation before war

Henry V - great soldier - military success

main power - Lancaster‘s branch Beaufort

reasons of the war : - bad condition of economy- bad ending of the 100 year‘s

war

Henry V

The first battlesThe first battlesSt.Albans - on 22nd May 1455

- Richard Duke of York - small force toward London - the first open conflict

The Battle of Blore - on September 23, 1459

- a large Lancastrian army failed - the Earl of Salisbury (York)

The Battle of Ludford Bridge - shortly after the Battle of Blore

- combined Yorkist armies X much larger Lancastrian force

- Yorkist leaders fled - York himself fled back to Ireland- Edward, Earl of March (York's eldest son,

later Edward VI), Salisbury, and Warwick fled to Calais

- The Lancastrians - total control

The first battlesThe first battlesThe Battle of Northampton - on 10 July 1460

- proved disastrous for the Lancastrians- the Yorkist army under the Earl of Warwick - with the King Henry the Yorkists returned to

London.

The Battle of Wakefield - 1460- The Duke of York with the Earl of Salisbury

X Margaret of Anjou

- Margaret's army outnumbered Richard's by more than two to one

- Richard was slain

The Second Battle of St Albans – 1461- the Queen won the Lancastrians' most

decisive victory yet “Yorkist forces fled they left behind King Henry,

who was found unharmed, sitting quietly beneath a tree“

- Henry knighted 30 Lancastrian soldiers

Edward IV's victoryEdward IV's victory

The Battle of Towton - 1461- the biggest battle - 20,000 men being killed during the

battle - the greatest recorded single day's loss

of life on English soil- Edward and his army won - Henry and Margaret - were waiting in

York with their son Edward → fled north when they heard of the

outcome

In June 1461- Edward IV's official coronation- rapturous welcome from his supporters - Edward was able to rule in relative peace for ten years Edward IV

2 Lancastrian revolts2 Lancastrian revolts

In 1464 - Lancastrian revolts in the North

The Battle of Hedgeley Moor - on April 25

Battle of Hexham- on May 15

→ both revolts were put down by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu

The period 1467-70The period 1467-70

The period 1467-70 - deterioration in the relationship between King Edward and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick - "the Kingmaker".

This had several causes:1. Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in

secret in 1464.2. Edward's preference for an alliance with

Burgundy (over France), 3. Edward's reluctance to allow his brothers

George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to marry Warwick's daughters, Isabel Neville and Anne Neville.

Richard, Duke of GloucesterRichard, Duke of GloucesterIn 1469 - Warwick had formed an alliance with Edward's brother George →the Battle of Edgecote Moor - Warwick defeated and held Edward at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire → Edward had to summon a parliament at York

1) Edward would be declared illegitimate2) the crown would thus pass to George,

Duke of Clarence country was in turmoil and Edward was able to call on the loyalty of his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the majority of the noblesRichard arrived at the head of a large force and liberated King EdwardWarwick and Clarence were declared traitors and forced to flee to France In France - a marriage was arranged :Warwick's daughter Anne Neville + Margaret's son, the former Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster → Warwick invaded England in the autumn of 1470

Yorkist victories in 1471Yorkist victories in 1471

The Battle of Barnet - in 1471- was fought in thick fog - some of Warwick's men attacked each other by mistake - Warwick's army fled- he himself was cut down trying to reach his horse.

The Battle of Tewkesbury – Margaret‘s army, commanded by Duke of Somerset, was destroyed - prince Edward of Westminster, the Lancastrian was killed- Henry VI -no heirs-was murdered shortly afterwards

Tewkesbury

Princess in the towerPrincess in the towerthe restoration of Edward IV in 1471 is sometimes seen as marking the end of the Wars of the Roses

when he died suddenly in 1483, political and dynastic turmoil erupted again

at the time of Edward's premature death, his heir, Edward V, was only 12 years old

Edward's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester → captured the young king Edward V and kept him in the Tower of London he was later joined by his younger brother

Richard alleged Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville as illegal

-alleged the two boys illegitimate

Richard named as King Richard III

Richard III

princess

The last battles and Henry The last battles and Henry TudorTudor

The Battle of Bosworth Field - in the summer of 1485 Henry Tudor (claim to the throne was through his mother, Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of Edward III ) defeated Richard -Henry became King Henry VII of England and Richard was slain during the battle- Henry then strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV -symbols of the red and white roses into the new emblem of the red and white Tudor Rose

many historians consider the accession of Henry VII to mark the end of the Wars of the Roses

The Battle of Stoke in 1487, Lambert Simnel - close physical resemblance to the young Earl of Warwick-Henry defeated forces led by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln

Henry VII

Battles – time lineBattles – time line

Battles - mapBattles - map

The RoyalsThe Royals

BooksBooks