The War of the Roses

I. Introduction

The Middle Age considers one of the most exciting periods in English history. One of the most historical events of the medieval era is the Wars of the Roses in the fifteenth century. The Hundred Years’ War, in which England lost practically all its lands in France, ended in 1453, but there was no peace in the country.

The feudal struggle had broken out and the atmosphere in this country was instable and uncertain leading to the civil war in the fifteenth century. The War of the Roses was a series of dynastic civil war for the throne of England between supporters of two rival branches of the royal house Plantagenet: the house of Lancaster (whose badge was a red rose) and York (whose badge was a white house) from 1455-1485. These thirty years of warfare were even more destructive to England the Hundred Years’ War that had been in the previous century. Most of the fighting in the Hundred Years’ War took place in France, which meant most of the military damage affected in French peasantry rather than the English. In the War of the Roses, most of the fighting occurred in England, and thus the loss of life and property was much greater for England citizens).

Why was called The War of the Roses? Why did the War of the Roses happen? How did it happen? And what was the result?

There are many interesting things about this famous war. Let’ discover together.

II. The Name of the War of the Roses:

It is really an exciting name.

Why was called the war of the roses?

This name was given to the Wars by Tudor historians. The name "Wars of the Roses" refers to the Heraldic badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.

However, it is not thought to have been used during the time of the wars.

• The White Rose was one of the many emblems which were used by King Edward IV as a symbol of his father's right to some lands and a castle in the North. Generally, he preferred to use the emblem of the sun and its rays, a reference to the three suns which appeared at the dawn of the day of the battle of Mortimer's Cross 1461. The White Rose only later became accepted as the symbol of the House of York, particularly when Elizabeth of York married King Henry VII, but before then other emblems were in general use by the Yorkists.
• The Red Rose was the emblem of the House of Tudor, and the Tudors only played a substantial part in the Wars during their final stages. King Henry Tudor united the two roses to create the Tudor ‘rose which contains both white rose and red rose after marrying Elizabeth of the York. > That‘s why the war between them got the name the War of the Roses.

III. Famous People Relating to the War of the Roses

During the war of the Roses, there are kings or Dukes who contributed main roles in the war. Let’ begin our discovery with the first king of the house Lancaster.

The House of Lancaster

1. King Henry IV

• Reign: 30 September 1399 – 20 March 1413
• Coronation: 13 October 1399
• Predecessor: Richard II
• Successor: Henry V

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland (1399–1413). He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet. He became the first King of England from the Lancaster branch of the Plantagenet, one of the two family branches that were belligerents in the War of the Roses.

2. King Henry V

• Reign: 20 March 1413 – 31 August 1422
• Coronation: 9 April 1413
• Predecessor: Henry IV
• Successor: Henry VI

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422.

He was the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster. After military experience fighting various lords who rebelled against his father, Henry IV, Henry came into political conflict with the increasingly ill king. After his father's death, Henry rapidly assumed control of the country and embarked on war with France. Henry IV was a very brilliant king.

3. King Henry VI

• Reign: 31 August 1422 – 4 March 1461
• Coronation: 6 November 1429
• Predecessor: Henry V
• Successor: Edward IV

Henry VI (1421 – 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. His periods of insanity and his inherent benevolence eventually required his wife, Margaret of Anjou, to assume control of his kingdom, which contributed to his own downfall, the collapse of the House of Lancaster, and the rise of the House of York.

4. King Henry VII (Henry Tudor)

• Reign: 22 August 1485 – 21 April 1509
• Coronation: 30 October 1485
• Predecessor: Richard III
• Successor: Henry VIII

Henry VII (Welsh: Harri Tudur;1457 – 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry won the throne when he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Fiel. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. He was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the Wars of the Roses. He founded a long-lasting dynasty and was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII, after a reign of nearly 24 years.

The House of the York:

5. King Edward IV

• Reign: 4 March 1461 – 3 October 1470
• Coronation: 28 June 1461
• Predecessor: Henry VI
• Successor: Henry VI

Edward IV (1442 – 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England. The first half of his rule was marred by the violence associated with the Wars of the Roses, but he overcame the Lancastrian challenge to this throne at Tewkesbury in 1471 to reign in peace until his sudden death.

6. King Richard III

• Reign 26 June 1483 – 22 August 1485
• Coronation 6 July 1483
• Predecessor Edward V
• Successor Henry VII

Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty.

III. Causes of the War of the Roses

There are three main causes leading to the War of the Roses.

• The first reason is the political crisis (dynastic problems)

In 1215, the Norman barons were united with the Saxon nobles and the growing bourgeoisie of the big towns and they took part in the governing in the country.

During the Hundred Years’ war, they built castles with high walls and kept private armies of thousands of men. Realizing the danger with big barons represented to the crown, Edward III tried to marry his sons to their daughters, and the heiresses of the House but this not help to strengthen the position of the House Plantagenet. Then, Henry Bolingbroke seized the crown and became the first king of the Lancaster dynasty, Henry IV (1399- 1413). It marked the end of the line of the Plantagenet monarchy and the beginning of the Tudor reign; the end of Medieval England and the beginning of the country’s Renaissance. However, Henry IV‘s reign was not an easy one. Having taken the throne by force, he had made many enemies, especially those whose legitimate claim to the throne he had ignored. Henry‘s oldest son ( who would become Henry V ) was a brilliant and courageous warrior and was responsible, on many occasions, for putting down major rebellions against his father

Rebellions that came from the other side of the family who wanted the throne. Beginning in 1405, Henry IV suffered from a recurring illness that finally took his life in 1413.

Henry V (1387-1422) would go on to secure English-held lands in France and strengthen the bond between the two countries by winning the right to the French, as well as to the English, Crown. Henry V died at a young age in battle in France, leaving a nine-month-old son

King Henry VI. While Henry V was busy fighting wars in France and accumulating wealth for his country, the feudal between the York and Lancaster Houses was subdued. Only one rebellion occurred, and the leader of that rebellion was tried for treason and killed.

However, with Henry V's death and only a baby for a king, and Henry V's wife, who was not only young but of French blood members of both Houses began maneuvering again for power. Henry VI was a weak man, surrounded by poorly managed counselors. Not only did Henry suffer from mental illnesses, but he also lost most of the land that his father had won in France. Although Henry VI technically was king of France, he lost all authority in that country. Many English nobles, each with his own powerful army, grew discontent with Henry VI's rule. The interests of the House of the Lancaster supported by the big barons collided with the interests of the lesser barons and merchants of the towns, who support the House of the York. As a result, the feudal struggle grew into an open war between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

William Shakespeare offers one poetic endorsement of this view: "My Lord of Hereford [Henry IV] here, whom you call king, Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king [Richard II]: And if you crown him, let me prophesy: The blood of English shall manure the ground, And future ages groan for this foul act; Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels, And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound; Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny Shall here inhabit, and this land be called The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls. O, if you raise this house against this house, It will the woeful last division prove That ever fell upon this cursed earth. "

• The second reason, in my opinion, is financial problems and societal changes.

The fifteenth century had many changes in society that seriously affected the war of the roses. The issues increased from the beginning of Henry VI's reign in 1422 with corruption, public disorder, riots, and the maladministration of justice. After the leadership of King Henry V, "The Flower of Chivalry" and the "Mirror of all Christian Kings," the weak and placid Henry VI was a great disappointment. >We can see that it was a bad government, militarily ineffective and financially irresponsible.

His fool and weakness in governing directed his country down the bloody road of civil war. The king loaded his ministers and friends with gifts and pensions. Many people who were owed money at the Exchequer, such as military commanders, could not collect on their debts because there was not enough money to go around. People lost faith in the courts and turned to threats and violence to gain victory in their disputes. The result is a social climate approaching gangsterism. The social violence before and during the Wars of the Roses is often blamed on a phenomenon known as "bastard feudalism."

• Finally, I consider the hundred years’ war affecting the war of the roses, too.

The Wars of the Roses began soon after the Hundred Years War ended. The suggestion that nobles were trying to retrieve fortunes lost in the withdrawal from France does not agree with the evidence. Few major families lost much by the English defeat - most of the major magnates were growing wealthier.

However, the end of the Hundred Years war did remove one reason for unity within England: foreign war tends to unite people at home. The end of the War also left many unemployed soldiers - a destabilizing group in society.

Medieval knights and nobles were a military caste, and it was as easy for them to engage in domestic as foreign warfare.

IV. The War of the Rose

The war of the roses, which lasted for thirty years (1455-1485), turned into a bitter struggle for the Crown, in which each party murdered every likely heir to the throne of the opposite party. It was a dark time for England when the Kings and nobles were busy fighting and murdering each other and no time to take care of the common people, who suffered greatly.

The opening battle of the Wars took place at St Albans in 1455. Richard of York leads a force of about 3,000 on a march toward London.

Henry VI moves from London to intercept the Yorkist army. Henry halts his march in the town of Saint Albans and waits. Richard attacks and defeats Henry inflicting about 300 casualties. The Queen and her young son Edward flee into exile. The Yorkist faction also kills the Lancastrian ally Somerset, the primary supporter of Henry VI.

After that, the queen rebelled at these actions, gathered an army around her, and positioned herself outside of York. When the Duke learned of this, he went after her, although the queen's troops were double the size of the duke's. The duke's army was easily defeated.

In 1459 Richard was killed at the Battle of Wakefield.

In 1461, the Battle of Towson, one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil at the time, was fought with an estimated 25,000 people dying. Edward's army greatly defeated the queen's army, forcing the queen and king, with their son, to flee to Scotland. That same year, Edward was officially crowned king of England, becoming Edward IV.

Edward enjoys a few years of peace, but when he married Elizabeth Woodville in secret, he embarrassed Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who was working to arrange a marriage for Edward with the French king.

Edward also disallowed his brothers, Richard and George, to marry Neville's daughters. In 1469, Neville and George fought against Edward. They won a decisive battle, held Edward hostage, killed Edward's father-in-law, and forced Edward to have parliament recognize Edward as an illegitimate king and to give the crown to George. Edward's younger brother, Richard, rescued the king, and Neville and George had to flee to France.

In France, it was King Louis XI who suggested the alliance of Queen Margaret and Neville. The two agreed, Neville promised his daughter as wife to the queen's son and returned to England with a powerful army.

Edward was defeated and had to flee to Holland and then to Burgundy. Edward, supported by the king of Burgundy, returned to England. Shortly after Neville had paraded Henry VI all over London as the restored king, he was defeated by Edward's new army in 1471. Henry as well as his son were then killed, strengthening Edward's claim to the throne.

Edward died young, in 1483, leaving his twelve-year-old son heir to the throne. Edward V's reign lasted only a couple of months. Richard, the uncle to the young king, claimed that his brother (Edward IV) had married Elizabeth illegally and therefore his heirs could not be crowned king.

Parliament agreed and crowned King Richard III in 1483. Edward V was placed in the Tower of London, along with his younger brother, and was never again seen.

Two years later, in 1485, Richard would meet his death in a battle against Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster; he would become King Henry VII. Henry married Elizabeth of York, the strongest claimant for the throne from the York House, thus securing his position and ending the long Wars of the Roses.

The map of the battles in the War of the Roses (1455-1485)

V. The Result and Effects of the War of the Roses

Historians still debate the true extent of the conflict's impact on medieval English life, and some revisionists suggest that it led to many profound changes in England. The most obvious impact is the collapse of the Plantagenet and the rise of the Tudor dynasty. ; Moreover, with their heavy casualties among the nobility, the wars are thought to have continued the changes in feudal English society caused by the effects of the Black Death, including a weakening of the feudal power of the nobles and a corresponding strengthening of the merchant classes, and the growth of a strong, centralized monarchy under the Tudors.

It marked the end of the medieval period in England and the movement towards the Renaissance.

VI. Summary

In my opinion, the Middle Ages encompass one of the most exciting and bloodthirsty periods in English and European History with two important events. They are the Hundred Years’ War and The War of the Roses which seriously affected the society, politics, economy, and other aspects of England at that time especially the War of the Roses. It marked the end of the line of the Plantagenet monarchy and the beginning of the Tudor reign (118 years) and even the end of Medieval England and the beginning of the country’s Renaissance.

It was really an exciting period. I hope that some information above will be useful for all of you during this course and later.

VI. Bibliography

1. The War of the Rose Evans, HT (introduction by Ralph A Griffiths) – Sutton Publishing 1998
2. The Wars of the Roses Gillingham, John – Weidenfeld & Nicholson 2001
3. The Wars of the Roses Griffiths, Ralph A – Sutton Publishing 1998
4. Lancaster & York Ramsay, JH – Oxford University Press 1892

Questions:

1. Which is considered the first main battle in the war of the roses?

a. The battle of St. Albans

b. The battle of Barnet

c. The battle of Tadcaster

d. The battle of Blore Heath

2. Henry IV had a famous wife, depends on your point of view, who was this powerful woman.

a. Margaret of Anjou

b. Mary de Guise

c. Eleanor of Aquitaine

d. Matilda of Flanders

3. Richard duke of York was killed at which major battle?

a. battle of Doncaster

b. Battle of Wakefield

c. Battle of Tadcaster

d. Battle of Sedgemoor

4. how long did the War of the Roses last?

a. 10 years

b. 30 years

c. 50 years

d. 100 years

5. this battle is widely thought to have the bloodiest ever fought in England soil. It marked a major Yorkist victory in 1461. which of these is it?

a. battle of Hexham

b. Battle of Towton

c. Battle of the Tadcaster

d. Battle of the Hedgley Moor

6. what color rose was used to represent Lancastrians?

a. white

b. red

c. blue

d. black

7. In which century did the wars of the Roses take place?

a. 14th-century

b. 15th-century

c. 16th-century

d. 17th-century

8. which foreign power sided with Edward IV during the wars

a. Italy

b. Spain

c. France

d. Bungery

9. which of these people was on the Lancastrian side during the war of the Roses?

a. Thomas Cromwell

b. Margaret of Anjou

c. Richard Neville the kingmaker

d. Richard Duke of York

10. Who was the first king of the House of Lancaster?

a. Richard Duke

b. Henry Bolingbroke

c. Henry Tudor

d. Edward II

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The War of the Roses. (2018, Apr 30). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-war-of-the-roses/

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