The Norman and Plantagenet Kings

The Hundred Years War Same People…Different Topic Because William the Conqueror had been a powerful leader in French Normandy, he claimed both England, as well as much of France as his kingdom. Later English kings maintained their right to rule parts of France. This created a great deal of resentment for both the French people, as well as their kings, who wanted control of their lands back.

In A.D King Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor was the heiress to much of the lands in the southwest of France. This gave King Henry II control over more of France than the French king had.

In A.D when the king of France died without leaving a direct heir the situation became dangerous. King Edward III of England was the grandson of the former French King. As such, he was the rightful successor to the French throne. This gave the King Edward III the right to rule both England and France from a single throne. Edward III Plantagenet

The Hundred Years War The French were not ready to be ruled by an English King. Feelings between the English and French were too bitter. A Frenchman by the name of Philip of Valois who was the nephew of the former king of France began preparations for war with England. A war that would last from A.D until A.D

The Hundred Years War After more than one hundred years of fighting, the French were eventually able to declare victory over the English. The One Hundred Years War greatly strengthened France, while weakening England. Following the war, England would enter a period of turmoil and civil war The War of the Roses that would last for another 30 years.

The War of the Roses Following the Hundred Years War, England found itself in turmoil. The war had seriously weakened the monarchy, and drained much of the nation’s treasury. The nation was ruled by the house of Lancaster, which bore the emblem of a red rose. The Duke of York, whose family bore the emblem of a white rose saw the kings weakened state as an opportunity to seize power, and establish himself as king.

The War of the Roses By the reign of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war broke out between rival claimants to the throne, dating back to the sons of Edward III.

The Lancastrian dynasty descended from John of Gaunt, third son of Edward III, whose son Henry deposed the unpopular Richard II. Yorkist claimants such as the Duke of York asserted their legitimate claim to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son,Edmund of Langley, but through a female line.

Causes The Wars of the Roses therefore tested whether the succession should keep to the male line or could pass through females. Captured and briefly restored, Henry VI was recaptured and put to death in 1461, and the Yorkist faction led by Edward IV gained the throne

Princes in the Tower The Yorkist conquest of the Lancastrians in 1461 did not put an end to the Wars of the Roses, which rumbled on until the start of the sixteenth century. Family disloyalty in the form of Richard III's betrayal of his nephews, the young King Edward V and his brother, was part of his downfall. 2 of Edward IV sons – Edward (Would be Edward V) and Richard were locked up in the Tower of London since the end of May 1483 by their Uncle Richard. –In mid-July, Richard had his nephews declared illegitimate, –which meant that neither boy would be able to become king, –and arranged to have himself crowned Richard III

House of Tudor Henry Tudor, a claimant to the throne of Lancastrian descent, defeated Richard III in battle and Richard was killed. Henry was crowned Henry VII With the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth the sister of the young Princes in the Tower, reconciliation was finally achieved between the warring houses of Lancaster and York in the form of the new Tudor dynasty, which combined their respective red and white emblems to produce the Tudor rose.