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The War of the Roses
 The
Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) is the name generally
given to the intermittent civil war fought over the
throne of England between adherents of the House of
Lancaster and the House of York. Both houses were
branches of the Plantagenet royal house, tracing their
descent from King Edward III. The name Wars of the Roses
was not used at the time, but has its origins in the
badges chosen by the two royal houses, the Red Rose of
Lancaster, whose retainers tended to favour red coats or
red roses as their symbol, and the White Rose of York,
whose men often sported white coats or white rose
insignia. The Wars were fought largely by the landed
aristocracy and armies of feudal retainers. The House of
Lancaster found most of its support in the north and
west of the country, while support for the House of York
came mainly from the south and east. The Wars of the
Roses, with their heavy casualties among the nobility,
would usher in a period of great social upheaval in
feudal England and ironically lead to the fall of the
Plantagenet dynasty. The period would see the decline of
English influence on the Continent, a weakening of the
feudal power of the nobles and by default a
strengthening of the merchant classes, and the growth of
a strong, centralized monarchy under the Tudors. It
arguably heralded the end of the medieval period in
England and the movement towards the Renaissance.
The Lancastrian King Henry VI of England was surrounded
by unpopular regents and advisors. The most notable of
these were Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who were blamed
for mismanaging the government and poorly executing the
continuing Hundred Years' War with France. Under Henry
VI virtually all of the English holdings in France,
including the lands won by Henry V, had been lost. Henry
VI had begun to be seen as a weak, ineffectual king. In
addition, he suffered from embarrassing episodes of
mental illness. By the 1450s many considered Henry
incapable of rule. The short line of Lancastrian kings
had already been plagued by questions of legitimacy, and
the House of York believed that they had a stronger
claim to the throne. Growing civil discontent, the
abundance of feuding nobles with private armies, and
corruption in Henry VI's court together formed a
political climate ripe for civil war.
When, in 1453, King Henry suffered the first of several
bouts of mental illness, a Council of Regency was set
up, headed in the role of Lord Protector by the powerful
and popular Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and head
of the House of York. Richard soon began to press his
claim to the throne with ever-greater boldness,
imprisoning Somerset, and backing his allies, Salisbury
and Warwick, in a series of minor conflicts with
powerful supporters of Henry, like the Dukes of
Northumberland. Henry's recovery in 1455 thwarted
Richard's ambitions, and the Duke of York was soon after
driven from the royal court by Henry's queen, Margaret
of Anjou. Since Henry was an ineffectual leader, the
powerful and aggressive Queen Margaret emerged as the de
facto leader of the Lancastrian faction. Queen Margaret
built up an alliance against Richard and conspired with
other nobles to reduce his influence. An increasingly
thwarted Richard finally resorted to armed hostilities
in 1455 at the First Battle of St Albans.
Henry VI (December 6, 1421 – May 21/22, 1471) was King
of England from 1422 to 1461 (though with a Regent until
1437) and then from 1470 to 1471.
"And here I prophesy: this brawl today, Grown to this
faction in the Temple garden, Shall send, between the
Red Rose and the White, A thousand souls to death and
deadly night."
— Warwick, Henry VI, Part One
Source: W. Golena |
