Wars of the Roses

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Wars of the Roses
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Characteristics of the Wars

• Dynastic Struggle
• House of Lancaster (Red Rose)
• House of York (White Rose)
• Factional Conflict Between Ins and Outs
• Private Vendettas

Battle of Barnet, 1471
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Second Battle of St. Albans, 1461
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Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471
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(No Transcript)
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Beheading of Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of
Somerset in 1471 at Tewkesbury. Edward IV
watches.
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Family Feuds Neville vs. Percy
Soldiers of Edward IV Put Richard, Earl of
Warwick, to Death, 1471
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Historical Consensus

• Wars of Roses Valid Term
• No Permanent Political Polarization
• Not an Era of Moral Delinquency
• 1485 Not Significant Turning Point

Battle of Townton Moor, 1461
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Overview

• 1st War, House of Lancaster Versus House of York
• Stage 1, 1459-64
• Stage 2, 1469-71
• 2nd War, House of York Versus House of Tudor,
  1483-87

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New Conceptualization of the Wars

• Causation
• Long-Term
• Short-Term
• Immediate

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick The Kingmaker
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Earl of Warwick, The Kingmaker
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Long-Term Cause of 1st War

• Shift in Balance of Power Between Crown and
  Magnates
• Role of Edward III
• Concessions to Barons
• Impact

King Edward III (1327-77)
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Edward III
Effigy at Westminster Abby
Stained Glass Image
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Edward I Presiding Over Parliament, c. 1278
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Short-Term Causes of the 1st War Overview

• Impact of Defeat in Hundred Years War
• Old Historical Interpretation
• Current Historical View
• Financial Pressures on Landlords
• Question of Legitimacy

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Old Historical Interpretation

• Hundred Years War Ended, 1453
• Start of the Wars of the Roses, 1455
• Return of Nobles and Paid Retainers
• Flaws in Argument

Hundred Years War (1338-1453)
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New Historical Interpretation

• Impact of Defeat in Hundred Years War
• Formation of Two Factions
• Truce of 1444
• Normandy Invasion, 1449
• Impact

Richard, Duke of York
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Earl of Suffolks Death

• Lowest of the crew with a rusty sword hacked off
  his head in four or five strokes, 2 May 1450

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Financial Pressure On Landlords

• Economic Squeeze
• Rising Cost
• of Living
• 2. Impact

Warwick Castle, Ancestral Home of
the Earl of Warwick
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Question of Dynastic Legitimacy

• Kings Competence
• Consequences

Death of Richard II, 1399
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Henry IV

• Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby
• Henry IV (1399-1413)

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Immediate Causes of the 1st War Overview

• Crowns Growing Financial Weakness
• Constitutional Failure of the Crown
• Henry VIs Character
• Role of Queen Margaret of Anjou
• Courts Corruption
• Corruption of Local Government

Queen Margaret of Anjou, Wife of Henry VI
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Crowns Growing Financial Weakness

• Constitutional Theory
• Monarch must live of his own
• Kings Growing Dependence on Parliament
• Traditional Sources of Revenue
• Hundred Years War Bastard Feudalism
• Crisis in Kings Financial Position

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CONSTITUTIONAL FAILURE OF THE CROWN

• Henry VIs Inability to See that Justice was Done
• His Council Dominated by One Faction
• Serious Consequences
• End Result Escalation of Private Feuds

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Henry VIs Incompetence

• Character
• Paralysis of Royal Justice
• Private, Illegal Violence
• Kings Loss of Prestige and Authority

Henry VI (1422-61)
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Henry VI (1422-61)

•  "... our king is stupid  and out of his mind, he
  does not rule but is ruled"
• (Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.)

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Queen Margaret of Anjou
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Courts Corruption

• Kings Loss of Revenue From Crown Land
• Growth of Spoils System
• Kings Advisors Misuse Power
• Duke of Suffolk

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Corruption of Local Government

• Sheriffs, Coroners JPs
• Crowns Sanctioning of Violence

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Cause of the 2nd War, 1483-87

• Richard, Duke of Gloucesters Seizure of the
  Throne
• Revulsion Against His Political Morality
• Some Impetus from Weakness of Crown

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Richard III
(1483-85)
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Richard III
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Murdered in the Tower of London, 1483
Edward V and His Brother, Richard, Duke of York
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Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485
Henry Tudor, Henry VII (1485-1509)