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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 101, The War of the Roses:
February 28, 2005:
Edward IV (1442 - 1483), son of Richard Duke of York, was crowned king of England in June of 1461. This was after he had trounced the Lancastrians at Towden. This did not end the War of Roses, however. That little fracas continued until 1485 or there about. This War of Roses was even tougher on England that the Hundred Years War which was fought mostly in France. This one was fought exclusively in the English countryside and it had devastating effects in terms of human life and property. Technically, we say it started in 1455 when Richard attacked Queen Margaret's forces and whipped them. In truth, the groundwork was laid for this fiasco when Bolingbroke knocked of King Richard II in 1400. Bolingbroke became Henry IV establishing the rule of the House of Lancaster. These royalty types can hold a grudge a long time.
When Edward won the battle at Towden and took the throne. Henry VI fled to Scotland. He returned in 1464 and started an uprising to regain the throne. However, he was not very good at this military stuff and he got captured again in 1465 whereupon he was put in the Tower of London. Meanwhile Edward IV got in a snorting contest with a guy named Richard Neville, earl of Warwick. This Neville was a powerful guy in England. Like I said, everyone had their own army. Well Neville decided to depose Edward IV and put Henry back in power. This came about in 1470, but it did not last.
It had not bothered the parliament, but it did anger a number of the noblemen when Edward married a commoner, Elizabeth Woodville in 1464. That also annoyed Neville who was planning to marry him into French Nobility. On top of that Edward brought a bunch of his queen's relatives into the court which undermined Neville's power base. That is really why Neville turned on Edward and supported Henry.
Edward IV went to Holland for a short time, perhaps to gather his nerve. He came back in 1471, raised an army, and took on Neville and Queen Margaret at Tewkesbury. Neville was killed in the fracas and the Queens army was routed once again. By this time Edward was really annoyed. He put Henry in the Tower of London and had him killed a few days later. So there! Does all this get silly or what? It has all the sounds of the Hatfield-McCoy feud with a great deal more silliness and bloodshed.
With the deaths of Neville and Henry VI, Edward had firm control of the throne and the rest of his rule was relatively uneventful. Of course, there was the obligatory short war with France. This ended amicably when Louis XI agreed to a payoff to get peace. Edward got an annual subsidy from France.
One of the things that made it easy on Edward was his good relations with Parliament. When he was first crowned in 1461 it was by acclaim of Parliament. Then he set a historic precedent by going to the House of Commons to thank them in person. He also fostered commerce which pleased just about everyone in the realm. It was under his rule that printing and silk manufacturing were first brought to England.
In the last years of Edward's reign he made improvements in law enforcement. He managed to use a council of royal estates to repress lawlessness in Wales. This became the forerunner of the council of Wales and the marches that finally subjugated the area to English rule. This eventually lead to the First act of Union, whereupon Wales was absorbed into the Empire. Other good works included the rebuilding of St. Georges Chapel, Windsor and patronage of the printer William Caxton. Caxton was the first printer to print books in English. His collection later became the basis of the Old Royal Library of the British Museum.
Edward died peacefully in 1483 and the throne would have gone to his son Edward V, but he was underage being only 13. Instead a real schemer, Edward's uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, made himself regent. His first act was to declare martial law and he second act was to send Edward V and his kid brother to the good old Tower of London. The ruse was, it was for their own protection. After that, no one ever heard from the kids again. Isn't that odd?
Now Richard was free to declare himself Richard III, King of England, which he did. He justified this ascent by the fact that he was brother to Edward IV. Of course, this did not sit well with the Lancaster folks. So the War of Roses continued with the Lancaster's targeting Richard III and his supporters.
One of the supporters of the Lancaster group was a Welsh prince named Henry Tudor. He had a small claim to the throne being related to the Lancaster's. He managed to raise an army to take on Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field. This was the last battle of the War of Roses and Tudor won a decisive victory. Richard III was killed in that battle and the rule of the House of York came to an ignominious end. It has lasted a mere 24 years.
Upon his victory, Henry Tudor declared himself King Henry VII
of England. At this time, there were no serious candidates from
the House of York or the House of Lancaster. Now Henry VII was
no dummy. One of the first things he did was try to resolved the
civil war by marrying the daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth. Now
the two warring houses were ostensibly merged and in control of
the throne.
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