| The Wars of the Roses and their aftermath: |
|
the succession of Henry VII |
1399-1485
saw violent
struggles among the nobles, and many changes of monarch.
Kings
were violently deposed six times.
Three Kings
were murdered, and another was killed in battle.
The Plantagenets
| Edward III m. Philippa of Hainault 24 January 1328 |
Edward (the Black Prince) b. 15 June 1330 | |
| Lionel (Duke of Clarence) b. 29 November 1338 | ||
| › | John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster) b. March 1340 | |
| Edmund of Langley (Duke of York) b. 5 June 1341 | ||
| Thomas of Woodstock (Duke of Gloucester) b. 7 January 1355 |
| Edward, The Black Prince m. Joan Plantagenet, Countess of Kent 10 October 1361 |
› | Richard II b. 6 January 1367 d. 6 January 1400 |
 | In 1377 the senile Edward III died, leaving as King his grandson Richard II aged 10. He was the son of Edward III's eldest son - Edward, the Black Prince (so called because he wore black armor). But Edward III had also had four other sons, and these uncles of Richard II were extremely powerful. |
|
Richard's reign saw the development of factional disputes between Richard II's courtiers and opposition nobles led by five powerful figures (the "Lords Appellant") who included Richard's uncle Thomas, Duke of Gloucester and his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby and Duke of Hereford. For a while under the thumb of the Lords Appellant, Richard II later re-asserted his authority by dividing them - winning over Henry by bribes, while Gloucester was murdered, probably on Richard's orders. |
|
Finally, Richard II moved against Henry too, banishing him &
confiscating his lands; this drove Henry to desperation.
Richard II's despotic actions alienated many other nobles. In 1399, Richard II unwisely went to Ireland; the exiled Henry Bolingbroke returned to Northern England and raised troops there with the cooperation of the local nobles. Richard returned from Ireland, but was unable effectively to resist Henry. Richard was deposed by Parliament, and soon afterwards killed on the orders of Henry, who now proclaimed himself Henry IV. |
|
John of Gaunt
(Duke of Lancaster) |
m. Blanche Plantagenet 19 May 1359 |
› | Henry IV
(b. May 1366) |
| m. Constance of Castile 21 September 1371 |
› | Catharine m. Henry III of Castile |
|
| m. Catherine Swynford 13 January 1396 |
› | John Beaufort, Earl of
Somerset (b. 1373; legitimated 1397) |
|
Henry IV
m. 1380/1 |
› | Henry V (b. 9 August 1387) m. Catherine of Valois (2 June 1420) |
› | Henry VI b. 6 December 1421 acc. 1 September 1422 |
Thomas, Duke of Clarence (1388-1421) John, Duke of Bedford (1389-1435) Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (1390-1447) Blanche (1392-1409) Philippa (1394-1430) (m. Eric IX of Denmark) |
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| m. 7 February 1403 Joan (daughter of Charles of Navarre) |
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|
The usurpation of
power by Henry IV proved the root of many problems, even after the
death of Richard II. Primogeniture (the right of the eldest son to inherit) meant that the descendants of Lionel, Duke of Clarence had a good claim to the throne. |
| Lionel
of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence m. Elizabeth de Burgh 15 August 1342 |
› | Philippa (b. 16 August 1355) m. Edward Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March 15 February 1359 |
› | Roger, 4th Earl of March (b. 1374) m. Alianora Holland 7 October 1388 |
› | Edmund, 5th Earl of March (d.1421)
Anne Mortimer |
| The Percy rebellion and Glendower's uprising both appealed to the Mortimer claim, but Roger, Earl of March remained loyal to Henry V and Henry VI. |
| Richard, Earl of Cambridge plotted against Henry V in 1415 and was executed, but Henry V was mostly successful in keeping order over nobles, because they liked his warlike character, and his success in beating the French. |
| During his short reign (1413-22) Henry V conquered almost all of Northern France including Paris, but in 1422 he died of dysentery. |
1422-1461
| Henry VI was a babe-in-arms when he acceded to the throne. |
| Henry VI's minority was a period of factional conflict amongst his uncles: his majority was hardly more stable, because he was periodically mad and always feeble minded. |
| All England's French territory (except Calais) was lost by 1453. |
| Henry VI's challenged sanity meant that his nobles rarely treated him with respect; it also meant that his wife (Margaret of Anjou) and close associates were very sensitive to the possibility of plots against him. They were particularly suspicious of Richard, 3rd Duke of York because of his great wealth and good claim to throne. |
| Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (b. 5 June 1341) m. Isabella of Castille March 1372 |
› | Edward, Duke of Aumale, 2nd
Duke of York (b 1373; d. 25 October 1415 at the battle of Agincourt, a famous English victory over the French) |
||
| › |
Richard, Earl of Cambridge
(b.1375) m. Anne Mortimer (see the Mortimers above) |
› | Richard, 3rd Duke of York (b 21 September 1411) m. Cicely Neville |
|
| Margaret of Anjou and her allies tried to exclude Richard of York and his associates (especially Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, "the Kingmaker") from power. |
| This led to open warfare; in 1459 Yorkists were defeated, and attainted. |
|
The harsh treatment of Richard led many nobles to change sides. On the last day of 1460, Richard Duke of York was killed in battle; but the following year his son, Edward defeated the Lancastrians and claimed throne as Edward IV. |
| Richard, 3rd Duke of York m. Cicely Neville (b. 3 May 1415) |
› | Edward IV (b. 28 April 1442) m. Elizabeth Woodville (1 May 1464) |
› |
Elizabeth
of York (b. 11 February 1466) Edward V Richard, Duke of York |
| Elizabeth (b. 22 April 1444) m. John de la Pole 2nd Duke of Suffolk 1460 |
› |
John Earl of Lincoln (b. 1462, died 16 June 1487) Edmund, Earl of Suffolk (b. 1471, beheaded 4 May 1513) Richard, Earl of Suffolk (died at Battle of Pavia, 24 February 1525) |
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| George, Duke of Clarence (b. 21 October 1449) m. Isabel Neville 11 July 1469 |
› |
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury Edward, Earl of Warwick |
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| Richard III (b. 2 October 1452) m. Anne Neville (12 July 1472) |
1461-1485
|
Edward IV tried to offset his reliance on Warwick the Kingmaker by allying with the Woodvilles. Warwick retaliated by plotting with George, Duke of Clarence and Henry VI. | |
|
1470: a coup restored Henry VI to the throne (the "Readeption"), but not for long. | |
|
1471: Edward IV returned, killed Warwick in battle and imprisoned Henry VI in the Tower of London. Henry was murdered there in May 1471. | |
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Richard, Duke of Gloucester loyally supported Edward IV. But in 1483, Edward died leaving his 13-year-old son, Edward V to succeed. Richard seized Edward V and his younger brother Richard, imprisoned them in the Tower and placed himself on the throne as Richard III.
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|
Richard III's usurpation split the Yorkists apart. In 1483, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham rebelled. He was defeated and executed November 1483. |
| John Beaufort, Earl of
Somerset m. Margaret Holland 28 September 1397 |
› | John, Duke of Somerset (b. 1403) m. Margaret Beauchamp 1440 |
› | Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond (b. 31 May 1443) m. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond (b.1430) 1 November1455 |
› |
Henry VII (b 28 January 1457) |
|
August 1485 - Henry, Earl of Richmond sailed to Wales, marched to the Midlands & met Richard III and his army near Market Bosworth in Leicestershire. Sir William Stanley changed sides at a critical moment, bringing 3,000 men to Henry Tudor's army. William's brother, Thomas Stanley (Earl of Derby) remained neutral until after Richard III had lost the battle and his life, at which point he took the crown and placed it on Henry VII's head. Thomas Stanley had married Henry VII's mother (Margaret Beaufort) a few years earlier. |
The Causes of the Wars of the Roses:
- Bastard feudalism
- An independent nobility struggling for control of the crown
- The weaknesses of monarchy
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