Posts Tagged ‘War of the Roses’

Last week, we met Henry VI, subject of Shakespeare’s history play of same name. He’s having a tough time so far, not helped by the breakdown he’s just had thanks to hereditary mental illness. And now he has the War of the Roses to contend with as conflict breaks out between the houses of York and Lancaster. As a quick recap, the Duke of York, Richard (a contender for the crown), had taken care of Henry VI’s duties while the King was ill, but his quarrels with the King’s wife, Margaret of Anjou, and other Lancastrians culminates in an attack on the Queen’s forces in 1455 at St. Albans. In 1459, Henry VI is captured, and Richard assumes the role of Protector of England; the Duke meets his demise, however at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, yet his son is victorious the next year in Towton and crowns himself Edward IV.

Henry VI is exiled to Scotland for a few years, but on returning to England in 1465 is imprisoned at the Tower of London for five years. Though he’s briefly restored to the throne at that time, Henry VI loses his only son and heir in 1471 when the Lancastrians are defeated at Tewkesbery, and Henry himself (the last of the Plantagenet family’s Lancastrian line to rule England) is murdered soon after.

To pick up with Henry VI‘s story, then, at nine months old, he is obviously too young to reign over England when he’s crowned in 1429 (and in light of his father Henry V’s victories in France, he is likewise crowned King of France in 1431), so a regency council rules in his stead until 1437. Henry VI has a few factors working against him, however: his interest in politics is only occasional, he selects unwise advisors, and his dual reign over both England and France poses an obvious challenge. He loses England’s foothold in France when Joan of Arc proves victorious in restoring the French Dauphin’s claim to the throne as Charles VII; England loses Brittany, Normandy, and Gascony by 1453, signaling the end of the Hundred Years’ War that we saw start during Edward III‘s reign…just before a war of the civil variety then commences…

In this same year, Henry VI suffers a mental breakdown due to hereditary illness. The Duke of York serves in his place for a couple years. However, on Henry’s recovery in 1453, the War of the Roses breaks out between the houses of York and Lancaster (two branches of the House of Plantagenet symbolized by a white and red rose, respectively) when Henry VI’s wife and queen, Margaret of Anjou, alienates the Duke.

Join me next week for the outcome of this fine mess!

Related sightseeing: Windsor Castle, where Henry VI was born in 1421.