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112-522: The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet . Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York , the fourth surviving son of Edward III . In time, it also represented Edward III's senior line, when an heir of York married the heiress-descendant of Lionel, Duke of Clarence , Edward III's second surviving son. It

224-482: A Yorkist army at the Battle of Edgcote . Edward was allowed to resume his rule after Warwick failed to replace him with his brother George of Clarence . Within a year, Warwick launched an invasion of England alongside Henry VI's wife Margaret of Anjou . Edward fled to Flanders , and Henry VI was restored as king in 1470. Edward mounted a counter-invasion with aid from Burgundy a few months later, and killed Warwick at

336-422: A claim to the throne based upon the principle that the son of the heir apparent (Edward, in this case) had priority in the line of succession over his uncles. Thus, Richard had a superior claim to the throne than his much older uncles: John, Edmund and Thomas. However, Richard was a minor; had no siblings; and his three living uncles (at the time of Edward III's death) were politically powerful and ambitious, so there

448-408: A client kingdom of France, was derided and rejected by Parliament, which was predominately controlled by the knights fighting the war. Richard decided to negotiate a de facto peace directly with Charles without seeking Parliament's approval and agreed to marry his six-year-old daughter, Isabella of Valois . Richard used the interim peace to punish his political rivals. In 1397, he took his revenge on

560-405: A close ally of Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou. Margaret herself wielded almost complete control over the pliable king Henry, and her close friendship with Somerset led many to suspect the two were having an affair; indeed, upon the birth of Henry and Margaret's son, Edward of Westminster in 1453, there were widespread rumours that Somerset was the father. On 15 April 1450, the English suffered

672-532: A collection of all the individuals to whom a lord had gathered for service, and came to be one of the most fundamentally defining aspects of bastard feudalism. These affinities also had the means of tying the more powerful magnates to the lower nobility, although these relationships were now largely defined by personal connections that exhibited reciprocal benefit, rather than tenurial or feudal relationships that preceded bastard feudalism. Consequently, lords could now raise retinues they could implicitly trust, since

784-438: A common way of keeping the family's wealth intact and reducing familial disputes, it did so at the expense of younger sons and their descendants. Both before and after a state legal default of inheritance by primogeniture, younger brothers sometimes vied with older brothers to be chosen as their father's heir or, after the choice was made, sought to usurp the elder's birthright. In such cases, primary responsibility for promoting

896-557: A continued deterioration of the unstable political situation, which polarised around long-standing feuds between the more powerful noble families, in particular the Percy-Neville feud , and the Bonville-Courtenay feud , creating a volatile political climate ripe for civil war. To ensure the country could be governed, a Regency Council was established and, despite the protests of Margaret, was led by Richard of York, who

1008-508: A continued prosecution of a military solution against France. Suffolk and the Beaufort family frequently received large grants of money, land, and important government and military positions from the king, who preferred their less hawkish inclinations, redirecting much-needed resources away from Richard and Gloucester's campaigns in France, leading to Richard developing a bitter resentment for

1120-434: A force of around 3,000–7,000 troops south toward London, where they were met by Henry's force of 2,000 at St Albans , north of London, on 22 May 1455. Though the ensuing struggle resulted in fewer than 160 casualties combined, it was a decisive Yorkist victory. King Henry VI had been taken prisoner by York's men, who had found the monarch hiding in a local tanner's shop , abandoned by his courtiers and advisors. Despite

1232-450: A granddaughter of John of Gaunt, and had thirteen or possibly fifteen children: Despite his elevated status, Richard Plantagenet was denied a position in government by the advisers of the weak Henry VI , particularly John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset , and the queen consort, Margaret of Anjou . Although he served as protector of the realm during Henry VI's period of incapacity in 1453–54, his reforms were reversed by Somerset's party once

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1344-502: A large extent a quarrel between Welsh Marcher Lords , who were also great English nobles, closely related to the English throne." The question of succession following the death of Edward III in 1377 is said by historian Ian Mortimer to be the root cause of the Wars of the Roses. Although Edward's succession seemed secure, there was a "sudden narrowing in the direct line of descent" near

1456-468: A legitimized branch of the House of Lancaster put forward his claim. Furthermore, some Edwardian loyalists were undeniably opposed to Richard, dividing his Yorkist power base. A coup attempt failed in late 1483, but in 1485 Richard met Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth Field . During the battle, some of Richard's important supporters switched sides or withheld their retainers from the field. Richard himself

1568-661: A major reversal in France at Formigny , which paved the way for the French reconquest of Normandy . That same year, there was a violent popular uprising in Kent, which is often seen as a precursor to the Wars of the Roses. The rebel manifesto, The Complaint of the Poor Commons of Kent , written under the stewardship of rebel leader Jack Cade, accused the crown of extortion, perversion of justice, and election fraud. The rebels occupied parts of London, and executed James Fiennes ,

1680-667: A profession such as law, religion, academia, military service or government office. Some cadet branches came to inherit the crown of the senior line, e.g. the Bourbon Counts of Vendôme mounted the throne of France (after civil war) in 1593; the House of Savoy-Carignan succeeded to the kingdoms of Sardinia (1831) and Italy (1861); the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken obtained the Palatine Electorate of

1792-405: A promotion from Earl to Marquess (and would be made a Duke in 1448) for his efforts, the clauses of the treaty that required cession of lands to France were kept secret from the English public due to fears of a significant backlash, but Henry insisted on the treaty. Two years later in 1447, Suffolk succeeded in having Gloucester arrested for treason. Gloucester died while awaiting trial, with some at

1904-604: A refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which the king was an elevated figure. Richard's reign as Richard II of England was tumultuous, marked by increasing dissension between the monarch and several of the most powerful nobles. Richard ruled without a regency council despite his young age in order to exclude his uncle, John of Gaunt the Duke of Lancaster, from wielding legitimate power. Unpopular taxes which funded unsuccessful military expeditions in Europe triggered

2016-447: A reformer to demand better government, he was eventually imprisoned for much of 1452 and 1453. By the summer of the latter year, Richard seemed to have lost the power struggle. Throughout these quarrels, Henry himself had taken little part in proceedings. He displayed several symptoms of mental illness, possibly inherited from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France . His near-total lack of leadership in military matters had left

2128-531: A serious threat to the throne and attempted to cut off his supplies, however a French attack on Sandwich in August 1457 ignited fears of a French invasion, forcing Margaret to concede and provide Warwick with the funding he required to protect the realm. However, in February 1456, Henry recovered his mental faculties, and once again relieved York of his office as Lord Protector, reassuming personal governance over

2240-514: A small force that quickly grew in numbers, meeting little resistance. With the support of much of the disaffected nobility, Bolingbroke deposed Richard and was crowned as Henry IV, the first Lancastrian monarch. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate. Richard's posthumous reputation has been shaped to a large extent by William Shakespeare , whose play Richard II portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for

2352-430: A son, Henry . The following year, Henry V died of dysentery , and his son ascended to the throne at just nine months old. Henry V's younger brothers produced no surviving legitimate heirs, leaving only the Beaufort family as alternative Lancastrian successors. As Richard of York grew into maturity and Henry VI's rule deteriorated, York's claim to the throne became more attractive. The revenue from his estates also made him

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2464-455: A substantive shift in social dynamics in which the conscription-based feudal levy came to be replaced by a system of royal payment in return for military service by the magnates who served the monarch. Thus, instead of vassals rendering military service when called, they paid a portion of their income into their lord's treasury, who would supplement the owed service with hired retainers. These retinues were known as affinities ; essentially

2576-401: Is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with its rival, the House of Lancaster , it had a superior claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture , but an inferior claim according to agnatic primogeniture . The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. It became extinct in

2688-592: The Battle of Barnet . Henry was returned to prison, and his sole heir later killed by Edward at the Battle of Tewkesbury , followed by Henry's own death in the Tower of London , possibly on Edward's orders. Edward ruled unopposed for the next twelve years, during which England enjoyed a period of relative peace. Upon his death in April 1483, he was succeeded by the twelve-year-old Edward V , who reigned for 78 days until being deposed by his uncle Richard III . Richard assumed

2800-780: The Castilian fleet in May 1458, and against a fleet of the Hanseatic League a few weeks later. His position in Calais also enabled him to establish relations with Charles VII of France , and Philip the Good of Burgundy , international connections that would serve him in the future. In response to the attacks, Warwick was summoned to London to face inquiries along with York and Salisbury. However, fearing arrest once they were isolated from their allies, they refused. York instead summoned

2912-1057: The Duchy of Lancaster were primarily located in Gloucestershire , North Wales , Cheshire , and, ironically, in Yorkshire , while the estates of the Duke of York were spread throughout England and Wales, with many in the Welsh Marches . Historians disagree over which factors were the main causes of the wars. Edward III , who ruled England from 1327 to 1377, had five sons who survived into adulthood; Edward of Woodstock "the Black Prince" , Lionel of Antwerp , John of Gaunt , Edmund of Langley , and Thomas of Woodstock . Throughout his reign, he created duchies for his sons; Cornwall in 1337 for Edward, and in 1362 Clarence for Lionel and Lancaster for John. In 1385, during

3024-512: The First Battle of St Albans , upon which York was appointed Lord Protector by Parliament . Fighting resumed four years later when Yorkists led by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick captured Henry again at the Battle of Northampton . After attempting to seize the throne, York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield , and his son Edward inherited his claim per the controversial Act of Accord . The Yorkists lost custody of Henry in 1461 after

3136-491: The House of Lancaster and House of York , two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet . The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit their claim to the throne through the female line . Conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England. The Wars of

3248-415: The House of Percy , led by Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland and Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester , to rebel multiple times against Henry. The first challenge was defeated at Shrewsbury in 1403 and Worcester was executed, while a second attempt failed at Bramham Moor in 1408, at which Northumberland was killed. Henry himself died in 1413, and was succeeded by his son, Henry of Monmouth , who

3360-485: The Mortimer family and had a son, Roger Mortimer , who technically would have the best legal claim of succession. However, a legal decree issued by Edward III in 1376 introduced complexity into the question of succession, since the letters patent he issued limited the right of succession to his male line , which placed his third son, John of Gaunt, ahead of Clarence's descendants, since the latter were descended through

3472-651: The Pale of Calais , shifting the balance of power in Europe, and ending the Hundred Years' War . Perhaps in reaction to the news, Henry suffered a complete mental breakdown, during which he failed to recognise his newborn son, Edward. On 22 March 1454, Cardinal John Kemp , the Lord Chancellor , died, and Henry could not be induced to nominate a successor, thus making government in the king's name constitutionally impossible. The lack of central authority led to

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3584-458: The Peasant's Revolt in 1381, and Parliament's refusal to cooperate with the king's unpopular Lord Chancellor , Michael de la Pole , created a political crisis that seriously threatened to dethrone Richard. Richard had repeatedly switched his choice of heir throughout his reign to keep his political enemies at bay. The king's dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among

3696-573: The Second Battle of St Albans , but defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton . The Yorkist Edward was formally crowned in June 1461. In 1464, Edward married Elizabeth Woodville against the advice of Warwick, and reversed Warwick's policy of seeking closer ties with France. Warwick rebelled against Edward in 1469, leading to Edward's imprisonment after Warwick's supporters defeated

3808-609: The Treaty of Troyes . The treaty disinherited the French Dauphin Charles from the line of succession, married Charles' daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry, and acknowledged their future sons as legitimate successors to the French throne. Richard of York , the son of Richard of Conisburgh, was four years old when his father was executed. As his paternal uncle, Edward, 2nd Duke of York , had died at Agincourt without issue, Henry permitted Richard of York to inherit

3920-570: The West Country . Margaret headed north to Scotland , where she successfully negotiated the use of Scottish troops and other aid for the Lancastrian cause from Queen Regent Mary of Guelders , in return for the surrender of Berwick , which a year prior, James II of Scotland , using the turmoil of the war as an opportunity tried to retake as well as Roxburgh . The latter, though successful, cost him his life. A similar successful negotiation

4032-406: The female line . Richard II , also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. During Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils, influenced by Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock . England then faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War . A major challenge of

4144-628: The heraldic badges associated with the two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet fighting for control of the English throne; the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster . Embryonic forms of this term were used in 1727 by Bevil Higgons , who described the quarrel between the two roses and by David Hume in The History of England (1754–1761): The people, divided in their affections, took different symbols of party:

4256-567: The Appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". When John of Gaunt died in 1399, Richard confiscated the lands and titles of Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke whom he had exiled to France in 1398. In May 1399, Richard left England for a military expedition in Ireland, giving Bolingbroke the opportunity to return to England. Henry invaded England in June 1399 with

4368-481: The Beauforts. Suffolk continued to increase his influence at court as the principal architect of the Treaty of Tours in 1444 to broker peace between England and France. Suffolk successfully negotiated the marriage to Henry of Margaret of Anjou , only a distant relation of Charles VII through marriage rather than blood, in exchange for the strategically important lands of Maine and Anjou . Though Suffolk earned

4480-461: The Duke of Clarence. Langley's second son, Richard of Conisburgh , had married Anne de Mortimer , daughter of Roger Mortimer and sister of Edmund Mortimer . Anne's grandmother, Philippa of Clarence , was the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp. During the fourteenth century, the Mortimers were the most powerful marcher family in the kingdom. G.M. Trevelyan wrote that "the Wars of the Roses were to

4592-482: The English forces in France scattered and weak, which left them ripe for defeat at Formigny in 1450. Henry was described as more interested in matters of religion and learning, which, coupled with his timid and passive nature and, if not well-intentioned, aversion to warfare, made him an ineffectual king for the time. On 17 July 1453, the English forces in southern France suffered a catastrophic defeat at Castillon , and England lost all her possessions in France except for

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4704-571: The Lancastrians and defeated them at Northampton on 10 July 1460. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham , John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury , John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont , and Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont were all killed defending their king. For a second time, Henry was taken prisoner by the Yorkists, who escorted him to London, compelling the surrender of the Tower garrison. That September, York returned from Ireland, and, at

4816-527: The Nevilles to rendezvous at his stronghold of Ludlow Castle in the Welsh Marches ; Warwick departed Calais with a portion of the garrison there to join the main Yorkist forces. Margaret had not been idle during this time and had been actively recruiting armed support for Henry, distributing a livery emblem of a silver swan to knights and squires enlisted by her personally. Before Warwick could join them,

4928-466: The Parliament of October that year, he made a symbolic gesture of his intention to claim the English crown by placing his hand upon the throne, an act which shocked the assembly. Even York's closest allies were not prepared to support such a move. Assessing York's claim, the judges felt that common law principles could not determine who had priority in the succession, and declared the matter "above

5040-667: The Percy family were gathering support. They were joined by Somerset and the Thomas Courtenay, 6th/14th Earl of Devon . York, his son the Earl of Rutland, and Salisbury left London to contain the Lancastrian threat in the north. On 16 December 1460, York's vanguard clashed with Somerset's forces from the West Country at the Battle of Worksop , and was defeated. On 21 December, York reached his fortress of Sandal Castle near

5152-684: The Rhine (1799) and the Kingdom of Bavaria (1806); and a deposed Duke of Nassau was restored to sovereignty in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1890). In other cases, a junior branch came to eclipse more senior lines in rank and power, e.g. the Electors and Kings of Saxony who were a younger branch of the House of Wettin than the Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar . A still more junior branch of

5264-490: The Roses were rooted in English socio-economic troubles caused by the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) with France, as well as the quasi-military bastard feudalism resulting from the powerful duchies created by King Edward III . The mental instability of King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster revived his cousin Richard, Duke of York 's interest in a claim to the throne . Warfare began in 1455 with York's capture of Henry at

5376-443: The Wars of the Roses. Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed, he may have had a personality disorder , particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that

5488-518: The Welsh nobility. Glyndŵr's rebellion would outlast Henry's reign, and would not end until 1415. During the revolt, Glyndŵr received aid from members of the Tudors , a prominent Anglesey family and maternal cousins of Glyndŵr himself, who would come to play a defining role in the coming Wars of the Roses. Disputes over promises of land, money, and royal favour in exchange for their continued support drove

5600-593: The Wettins , headed by the rulers of the small Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , would, through diplomacy or marriage in the 19th and 20th centuries, obtain or consort and sire the royal crowns of, successively, Belgium , Portugal , Bulgaria and the Commonwealth realms . Also, marriage to cadet males of the Houses of Oldenburg (Holstein-Gottorp), Polignac , and Bourbon-Parma brought those dynasties patrilineally to

5712-418: The Yorkist army of 5,000 troops under Salisbury was ambushed by a Lancastrian force twice their size under James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley at Blore Heath on 23 September 1459. The Lancastrian army was defeated, and Baron Audley himself killed in the fighting. In September, Warwick crossed over into England and made his way north to Ludlow. At nearby Ludford Bridge , the Yorkist forces were scattered due to

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5824-413: The Yorkists managed to retain the loyalty of the garrison. Fresh from their victory at Ludford Bridge, the Lancastrian faction assembled a " Parliament of Devils " at Coventry with the sole purpose of attainting York, his sons, Salisbury, and Warwick, however, the actions of this assembly caused many uncommitted lords to fear for their titles and property. In March 1460, Warwick sailed to Ireland under

5936-479: The blame for these losses. Additionally, the blame of the unfavourable request to cede Maine and Anjou to the French was laid at Suffolk's feet, though he continued to insist he made no promises during negotiations to such a demand. In 1450, Suffolk was arrested, imprisoned in the Tower of London , and impeached in the Commons. Henry intervened and instead exiled Suffolk for five years, but en route to Calais, Suffolk

6048-550: The claims of the rival House of York to control of the government. Henry, Somerset, and a select council of nobles elected to hold a Great Council at Leicester on 22 May, away from Somerset's enemies in London. Fearing that charges of treason would be brought against them, York and his allies gathered an army to intercept the royal party at St Albans , before they could reach the Council. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York led

6160-451: The coronation of Charles. Around this time, Henry's mother Catherine of Valois had remarried to Owen Tudor and bore two surviving sons; Edmund Tudor and Jasper Tudor , both of whom would play key roles in the concluding stages of the coming wars. Henry came of age in 1437 at age sixteen. However, Bedford had died two years earlier in 1435, and Beaufort largely withdrew himself from public affairs sometime thereafter, in part because of

6272-431: The crown passed to his twelve-year-old son Edward V . Edward IV's younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester , was appointed Protector, and the young king, and his brother Richard , were accommodated into the Tower of London. The famous Princes in the Tower 's fate remains a mystery. As today it is unknown whether they were killed or who might have killed them. Parliament declared, in the document Titulus Regius , that

6384-424: The de la Pole family—children of Edward's sister Elizabeth and John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk — continued in attempts to restore a Yorkist line. Margaret's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick , the son of her brother George, was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but in 1487 Margaret financed a rebellion led by Lambert Simnel pretending to be Warwick, or "Edward VI". John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln , joined

6496-408: The defection of Warwick's Calais troops under Andrew Trollope . Forced to flee, York, who was still Lieutenant of Ireland, left for Dublin with his second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland , while Warwick and Salisbury sailed to Calais accompanied by York's heir, Edward, Earl of March . The Lancastrian faction appointed the new Duke of Somerset, Henry Beaufort to replace Warwick in Calais, however,

6608-458: The end of his reign; Edward's two eldest sons, the heir apparent Edward, Duke of Cornwall ("the Black Prince") and Lionel, Duke of Clarence , had predeceased their father in 1376 and 1368 respectively. Edward III was survived by three sons with claims to the throne: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster ; Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York ; and Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester . The Black Prince had one surviving son, Richard , who had

6720-448: The family's prestige, aggrandizement, and fortune fell upon the senior branch for future generations. A cadet, having less means, was not expected to produce a family. If a cadet chose to raise a family, its members were expected to maintain the family's social status by avoiding derogation , but could pursue endeavors too demeaning or too risky for the senior branch, such as emigration to another sovereign's realm, engagement in commerce, or

6832-518: The form of the Southampton Plot . This was led by Sir Thomas Grey , Henry, Baron Scrope , and Richard of Conisburgh , the latter of whom was the second son of Edmund of Langley the 1st Duke of York. They intended to replace Henry with the young Edmund Mortimer , Richard of Conisburgh's brother-in-law, who was a great-great-grandson of Edward III and at one time the heir presumptive to Richard II. Mortimer remained loyal and informed Henry of

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6944-554: The heir presumptive was in fact Edmund Mortimer , the great-grandson of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence . However, Mortimer was descended through the female line, inheriting the claim from his grandmother, Philippa . An important branch of the House of Lancaster was the House of Beaufort , whose members were descended from Gaunt by his mistress, Katherine Swynford . Originally illegitimate, they were legitimised by an Act of Parliament when Gaunt and Katherine later married. However, Henry IV excluded them from

7056-619: The imprisoned Richard as king. The attempt failed, all four conspirators were executed, and Richard died shortly thereafter "by means unknown" in Pontefract Castle . Further west in Wales , the Welsh had generally supported Richard's rule, and, welded to a myriad of other socio-economic problems, the accession of Henry triggered a major rebellion in Wales led by Owain Glyndŵr , a member of

7168-605: The influential, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant . By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In France, much of the territory conquered by Edward III had been lost, leading Richard to negotiate a peace treaty known as Truce of Leulinghem with Charles VI in July 1389. The peace proposal, which would effectively have made England

7280-403: The king had recovered. The Wars of the Roses began the following year, with the First Battle of St Albans . Initially, Richard aimed only to purge his Lancastrian political opponents from positions of influence over the king. It was not until October 1460 that he claimed the throne for the House of York. In that year the Yorkists had captured the king at the battle of Northampton , but victory

7392-576: The king's commander in France, either to mediate or defend him against Gloucester's accusations of treason. Overseas, the French had rallied around Joan of Arc and had inflicted major defeats on the English at Orléans , and Patay , reversing many of the gains made by Henry V and leading to the coronation of the Dauphin as Charles VII in Reims on 17 July 1429. Henry was formally crowned as Henry VI, aged 7, shortly thereafter on 6 November in response to

7504-441: The king's jealous brother George, Duke of Clarence , in briefly restoring Henry in 1470–71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the House of Lancaster was wiped out with the death of Henry VI himself, in the Tower of London in 1471. In 1478, the continued trouble caused by Clarence led to his execution in the Tower of London ; popularly he is thought to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey wine. On Edward's death in 1483,

7616-410: The kingdom. York removed Somerset from his position and imprisoned him in the Tower of London. In 1455, Henry made a surprise recovery from his mental instability, and reversed much of Richard of York's progress. Somerset was released and restored to favour, and York was forced out of court into exile. However, disaffected nobles, chiefly the Earl of Warwick and his father the Earl of Salisbury, backed

7728-694: The law and passed their learning". Finding a lack of decisive support for his claim among the nobility who at this stage had no desire to usurp Henry, a compromise was reached: the Act of Accord was passed on 25 October 1460, which stated that following Henry's death, his son Edward would be disinherited, and the throne would pass to York. However, the compromise was quickly found to be unpalatable, and hostilities resumed. Queen Margaret and her son had fled to Lancastrian-held Harlech Castle , where they joined Henry's half-brother Jasper Tudor and Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter , who were recruiting troops in Wales and

7840-441: The line of succession to the throne. The House of York descended from Edmund of Langley, the fourth surviving son of Edward III and younger brother of John of Gaunt. The name derives from Langley's primary title as Duke of York, which he acquired in 1385 during the reign of his nephew, Richard II. The Yorkist claim on the throne, unlike the Lancastrian claim, was based upon the female line of descent , as descendants of Lionel,

7952-525: The magnates became powerful enough to defend the interests of their lord against even the authority of the monarch, as John of Gaunt, and later his son, Henry Bolingbroke , did against Richard. During the wars, disaffected magnates such as Richard of York and Warwick the Kingmaker were able to rely upon their complex network of servants and retainers to successfully defy the authority of Henry VI . The House of Lancaster descended from John of Gaunt,

8064-574: The male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick , in 1499. The fourth surviving legitimate son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault , Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York , was created earl of Cambridge in 1362 and the first duke of York in 1385. Edmund's first marriage was to Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York , daughter of Peter of Castile and María de Padilla , and sister of Constance of Castile , second wife of Edmund's older brother John of Gaunt . Through this marriage Edmund had two sons, Edward, 2nd duke of York and

8176-604: The maternal and the paternal line gave Richard a significant claim to the throne if the Lancastrian line should fail, and by cognatic primogeniture arguably a superior claim. He emphasised the point by being the first to assume the Plantagenet surname in 1448. Having inherited the March and Ulster titles, he became the wealthiest and most powerful noble in England, second only to the king himself. Richard married Cecily Neville ,

8288-440: The men of the affinity owed their positions to their patron. These affinities were often much larger than the number of men the lord actually knew, since the members of the affinity also knew and supported each other. Under the reign of Richard II , this created a power struggle with the magnates, as Richard sought to increase the size of his own affinities as a counterweight to the growing retinues of his nobles. The retinues of

8400-531: The name on a scene in William Shakespeare 's play Henry VI, Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4), set in the gardens of the Temple Church , where a number of noblemen and a lawyer pick red or white roses to symbolically display their loyalty to the Lancastrian or Yorkist faction respectively. During Shakespeare's time, the conflict was simply referred to as the "civil wars". The Yorkist faction used

8512-435: The north, Warwick gained control of the capital and had Edward declared king in London in 1461. Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out. The early reign of Edward IV was marred by Lancastrian plotting and uprisings in favour of Henry VI. Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and

8624-423: The partisans of the house of Lancaster chose the red rose as their mark of distinction; those of York were denominated from the white; and these civil wars were thus known over Europe by the name of the quarrel between the two roses. The modern term Wars of the Roses came into common use in the early 19th century following the publication of the 1829 novel Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott . Scott based

8736-544: The paucity of casualties on either side, many of York and the Neville family's most influential foes were killed, including Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset , Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland , and Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford . With the king in his custody and many of his key rivals dead, York was again appointed Lord Protector by Parliament , and the Yorkist faction regained their position of influence. York's allies were soon in ascendancy thanks to

8848-501: The plot, who had all three ringleaders executed. Henry captured Harfleur on 22 September and inflicted a decisive defeat on the French at Agincourt on 25 October which wiped out a significant part of the French nobility. Agincourt and Henry's subsequent campaigns firmly entrenched the legitimacy of the Lancastrian monarchy and Henry's pursuit of his claims on the French throne. In 1420, Henry and Charles VI of France signed

8960-590: The protection of the Gascon Lord of Duras to concert plans with York, evading the royal fleet commanded by Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter , before they returned to Calais. In late June 1460, Warwick, Salisbury, and Edward of March crossed the Channel and rode north to London, where they enjoyed widespread support. Salisbury was left with a force to besiege the Tower of London , while Warwick and March pursued Henry northward. The Yorkists caught up with

9072-594: The realm. Despite the tenuous peace, disorder was returning to the kingdom as sporadic fighting once more broke out between the Neville and Percy families. To quell the growing discontent, Henry attempted to broker a public display of reconciliation between the two sides at St. Paul's Cathedral on 25 March 1458, however, no sooner had the procession dispersed than the plotting resumed. Meanwhile, as Henry attempted in vain to secure peace in England, Warwick, in disregard of royal authority, had conducted attacks against

9184-486: The reign of Richard II , Edmund became Duke of York and Thomas became the Duke of Gloucester . Dukedoms had hitherto never been conferred by any English monarch upon a subject until the creation of the Duchy of Cornwall in 1337, and their genesis spawned a powerful new class of English nobility with claims to the throne and, theoretically, enough power to vie for it, since the new duchies provided Edward's sons and their heirs presumptive with an income independent of

9296-565: The reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and the young king played a central part in the successful suppression of this crisis. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative , Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated

9408-497: The revolt and was killed in the suppression of the uprising at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. Warwick was implicated in further failed invasions supported by Margaret by Perkin Warbeck claiming to be Edward IV's son Richard of Shrewsbury and executed on 28 November 1499. With this both the houses of Plantagenet and York went extinct in the legitimate male line. Edward Plantagenet became Edward IV in 1461, thus merging

9520-422: The rise to prominence of his ally William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk as the dominant personality in the royal court. Like Beaufort, Suffolk favoured a diplomatic rather than a military solution to the deteriorating situation in France, a position which resonated with Henry, who was by nature averse to violence and bloodshed. Suffolk was opposed by Gloucester and the rising Richard of York , both of whom favoured

9632-400: The rival houses through marriage with Elizabeth of York , Edward IV's eldest daughter and heir. The wars concluded in 1487, with Henry VII's defeat of the remaining Yorkist opposition at Stoke Field . The House of Tudor would rule England until 1603, a period that saw the strengthening of the monarchy and the end of the medieval period in England . The name "Wars of the Roses" refers to

9744-441: The sovereign or the state, thereby allowing them to establish and maintain their own private military retinues. Over time, these duchies began to exacerbate the structural defects inherent in so-called " bastard feudalism ", a somewhat controversial term coined in 1885 by historian Charles Plummer but largely defined by Plummer's contemporary, William Stubbs . During the reign of Edward's grandfather, Edward I , Stubbs describes

9856-544: The symbol of the white rose from early in the conflict, but the red rose of Lancaster was introduced only after the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. After Henry's victory and marriage to Elizabeth of York , the heir of Edward IV , the two roses were combined to form the Tudor rose , to symbolise the union of the two claims. The use of the rose itself as a cognizance stemmed from Edward I 's use of "a golden rose stalked proper". Often, owing to nobles holding multiple titles, more than one badge

9968-620: The temporarily stabilised situation, particularly the young Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , who, in his capacity as Captain of Calais , had conducted anti-piracy operations in the English Channel . Warwick rapidly overtook his father, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury , as York's key ally, protecting York from retribution in Parliament. Warwick's position as commander of the strategically important port of Calais also gave him command of England's largest standing army . Henry's consort, Margaret of Anjou , considered Warwick

10080-437: The third surviving son of Edward III. The name derives from Gaunt's primary title as Duke of Lancaster, which he held by right of his spouse , Blanche of Lancaster . The Lancastrian claim on the throne had received preference from Edward III which explicitly emphasised the male line of descent . Henry IV based his right to depose Richard II and subsequent assumption of the throne upon this claim, since it could be argued that

10192-442: The throne amid controversies regarding the disappearance of Edward IV's two sons . He was met with a short-lived but major revolt and a wave of Yorkist defections. Amid the chaos, Henry Tudor , a descendant of Edward III through Lady Margaret Beaufort and a veteran Lancastrian, returned from exile with an army and defeated and killed Richard at Bosworth Field in 1485. Tudor then assumed the English throne as Henry VII and united

10304-412: The throne there were eighteen Plantagenet descendants who might today be thought to have a stronger hereditary claim. By 1510 this number increased with the birth of sixteen Yorkist children. However, Henry VII married Elizabeth of York the eldest daughter of Edward IV. This made their children his cognatic heirs. Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy —Edward's sister and Elizabeth's aunt—and members of

10416-482: The thrones of Russia , Monaco , and Luxembourg, respectively. The Dutch royal house has, at different times, been a cadet branch of Mecklenburg and Lippe(-Biesterfeld). In the Commonwealth realms, the male-line descendants of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are cadet members of the House of Glücksburg . It was a risk that cadet branches maintaining legal heirs could sink in status because shrunken wealth that

10528-424: The time suspecting that Suffolk had had him poisoned. Richard of York was stripped of his prestigious command in France and sent to govern the relatively distant Lordship of Ireland with a ten-year term of office, where he could not interfere with affairs at court. During this time, England continued to suffer reversals in France. Suffolk, who was now the principal power behind the throne , could not avoid taking

10640-476: The title and lands of the Duchy of York . When Edmund Mortimer died childless in 1425, Richard of York also inherited the Earldom of March and Mortimer's claim to the throne through his late mother, Edmund Mortimer's sister. Henry, who himself had three younger brothers and had recently married Catherine, did not doubt that the Lancastrian claim on the crown was secure. On 6 December 1421, Catherine gave birth to

10752-543: The title of Duke of York with the crown. Cadet branch In families and cultures in which that was not the custom or law, such as the feudal Holy Roman Empire , the equal distribution of the family's holdings among male members was eventually apt to so fragment the inheritance as to render it too small to sustain the descendants at the socio-economic level of their forefather. Moreover, brothers and their descendants sometimes quarreled over their allocations, or even became estranged. While agnatic primogeniture became

10864-466: The two boys were illegitimate, on the grounds that Edward IV's marriage was invalid, and as such Richard was heir to the throne. He was crowned Richard III in July 1483. Though the House of Lancaster's claimants were now the Royal Houses of Portugal and Castile through the Duke of Lancaster 's two legitimate daughters, who had married into those houses, Henry Tudor , a descendant of the Beauforts,

10976-420: The unpopular Lord High Treasurer . They dispersed after they were supposedly pardoned but several ringleaders, including Cade, were later executed. After the rebellion, the grievances of Cade and his followers formed the basis of Richard of York's opposition to a royal government from which he felt unduly excluded. Richard of York used the opportunity to return from Ireland and went to London. Angling himself as

11088-487: The way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall. Almost immediately after assuming the throne, Henry IV faced an attempted deposition known as the " Epiphany Rising " in 1400 by John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury , John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter , Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey , and the Thomas Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester , to re-install

11200-554: The wealthiest magnate in the kingdom. From early childhood, Henry VI was surrounded by quarrelsome councillors and advisors. His younger surviving paternal uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , sought to be named Lord Protector until Henry came of age, and deliberately courted the popularity of the common people for his own ends, but was opposed by his half-uncle, Cardinal Henry Beaufort . On several occasions, Beaufort called on John, Duke of Bedford , Gloucester's older brother and nominal regent to Henry, to return from his post as

11312-458: The younger Richard of Conisburgh . His second marriage was to Joan Holland , whose sister Alianore Holland was mother to Anne Mortimer , the great-great-granddaughter of Edward III via Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence , second surviving son of Edward III, and the elder brother of John of Gaunt. Richard of Conisburgh married Anne Mortimer, the marriage producing two children, Isabel of Cambridge and Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York . It

11424-417: Was appointed Lord Protector and Chief Councillor on 27 March 1454. York appointed his brother-in-law, Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury to the post of Chancellor, backing the Nevilles against their chief adversary, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland . In backing the Nevilles, York gained a key ally, Salisbury's son Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , one of the wealthiest and most powerful magnates in

11536-492: Was captured and executed on 2 May 1450. Suffolk was succeeded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset , nephew of Henry Beaufort, as the leader of the faction pursuing peace with France, who had been appointed as Richard's replacement as commander in France in 1448. Somerset's political position was somewhat fragile, as English military failures in 1449 following a resumption of hostilities left him vulnerable to criticism from Richard's allies at court. Somerset had by this time become

11648-474: Was confined to those in "continuous employ of a lord", thus excluding, for example, mercenary companies. For example, Henry Tudor's forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon , while the Yorkist army used Richard III's personal device of a white boar . While the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster , the corresponding duchy and dukedom had little to do with these cities. The lands and offices attached to

11760-437: Was considerable uncertainty within the realm over who should inherit the throne. Ultimately, Edward was succeeded by his grandson who was crowned Richard II at just 10 years old. Under the laws of primogeniture , if Richard died without a legitimate heir, his successors would be the descendants of Lionel of Antwerp the Duke of Clarence, Edward III's second eldest son. Clarence's only child, his daughter Philippa , married into

11872-428: Was crowned Henry V. To cement his position as king both domestically and abroad, Henry revived old dynastic claims to the French throne , and, using commercial disputes and the support France loaned to Owain Glyndŵr as a casus belli , invaded France in 1415 . While not plagued by constant rebellions as his father's reign was, Henry V faced a major challenge to his authority on the eve of his expedition to France in

11984-467: Was killed. He was the last of the Plantagenet kings, as well as the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor declared himself king, took Elizabeth of York , eldest child of Edward IV, as his wife, claiming to have united the surviving houses of York and Lancaster, and acceded to the throne as Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty which reigned until 1603. At the point Henry VII of England seized

12096-587: Was made for the use of French troops and aid for the Lancastrians cause that same year, this time in return for the surrender of Jersey , thus having the Auld Alliance backing the Lancastrian side to prevent the Yorkist ruled England from joining the Burgundian State in its war with France, a scenario that neither ally had the stomach for. The Lancastrians rallied in the North of England , where

12208-424: Was short-lived. Richard and his second son Edmund were killed at the battle of Wakefield on 30 December. Richard's claim to the throne was inherited by his son Edward . With the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ("The Kingmaker"), Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou were campaigning in

12320-595: Was through Anne Mortimer's lineage that the Yorkists derived their main claim to the throne. Following Edmund of Langley's death in 1402, his son Edward succeeded to the dukedom but had no issue before he was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. His other son Richard had been executed for treason earlier in the same year following his involvement in the Southampton Plot to depose Henry V in favour of Edmund Mortimer , Richard's brother-in-law. The dukedom therefore passed to Richard's son, who became Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York. Being descended from Edward III in both

12432-657: Was too meagre to survive the shifting political upheavals (legal mechanisms in factionalism or revolution of attainder , capital offences and show trials ) as much as unpopularity or distance from the reigning line. Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses , known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars , were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The wars were fought between supporters of

12544-500: Was used: Edward IV , for example, used both his sun in splendour as Earl of March , but also his father's falcon and fetterlock as Duke of York . Badges were not always distinct; at the Battle of Barnet , Edward's 'sun' was very similar to the Earl of Oxford's Vere star , which caused fatal confusion in the fighting. Many participants wore livery badges associated with their immediate liege lords or patrons. The wearing of livery

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