1. The Red Rose of Lancaster
The Wars of the Roses
The White Rose of York
The Red Rose of Lancaster

2. When Edward III died in 1377, his heir was his 10 year-old grandson, Richard (son of Edward the Black Prince who had died a year earlier).
During Richard’s rule there were a number of problems:
Expenses of the Hundred Years War
Increasing power of House of Commons
Powerful nobles, including too many king’s uncles!
Richard II

3. Richard had too many uncles!
Edward III
Edward, the Black Prince
Lionel, Duke of Clarence
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Edmund, Duke of York
Thomas, Duke of Gloucester
Richard II
Richard had too many uncles!

4. Between 1382 and 1386 Richard began to give power, titles, and estates to his personal friends—to the dismay of his council of barons.
Richard was handsome, cultured, and sensitive—but totally lacking in political sense!

5. During the first five years of Richard’s reign, from 1377 to 1382, a baronial council ruled England under the leadership of Richard’s uncle, John of Gaunt.
Parliament demanded that Richard dismiss this council and rule only with the consent of Lords and Commons in Parliament.
The leader of this opposition party was another of the king’s uncles, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester.
John of Gaunt

6. Richard believed that only the absolute rule of a king could bring peace to England. (Divine Right)
He was determined to rule through use of the royal prerogative, without requiring the consent of Parliament.
In 1388, Parliament, dominated by the Lords Appellant appointed a council to rule with the King
This marks the high point of parliamentary power and the low point of royal power in medieval England.

7. In 1397, Richard ordered the arrest of the Lords Appellant, leaders of the opposition party.
For two years, Richard ruled without Parliament, angering the politically powerful barons and merchants.
The murder of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester (Richard II’s uncle) at Calais.

8. Henry, Lord Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt)
When (uncle) John of Gaunt died in 1399, Richard confiscated the lands of Gaunt’s heir, Henry, Lord Bolingbroke, and exiled him.
Most of the barons felt this was too much.
John of Gaunt had remained faithful, and if his lands were not safe, no one’s lands were.
Some insinuated that Richard was “mad” (insane)
Henry, Lord Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt)

9. Unfortunately for Richard, Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile with an army.
He captured Richard, summoned a Parliament, and forced Richard’s abdication.

10. Henry Bolingbroke claimed the throne through right of descent, conquest, and Richard’s faulty government.
He prevailed because Richard had made himself universally hated.
By choosing to remove Richard through act of Parliament, Henry set an important precedent.

11. “Uneasy lies the head that bears the crown.”
William Shakespeare, Henry IV
Henry IV was a capable king and good military leader.
But his uncertain title to the crown meant many plots, and lack of money meant dependence on Parliament.
The barons who had helped to put him on the throne expected that their wishes would be heard.
Henry IV

12. Henry IV’s weakness was an opportunity for Parliament, especially the House of Commons.
Commons refused taxes unless Henry agreed to select his councilors from Parliament, to govern with their advice, and to allow Commons to appoint auditors to oversea the crown’s expenditures.

13. Henry IV also had trouble with his son, Shakespeare’s “Prince Hal,” who wished to resume the war with France—a war his father could not afford.
Upon the death of Henry IV, Henry V came to the throne in 1413, at the age of 25—
Modern historians consider him cruel, domineering, selfishly ambitious, and overly pious.
In 1415, Henry V invaded France to regain all the territory his ancestors had lost.

14. At the Battle of Agincourt on Oct
At the Battle of Agincourt on Oct. 25, 1415, an outnumbered English army defeated a French force five times larger.
By the Treaty of Troyes, 1420, Henry V married the sister of Charles VI of France, Catherine of Valois.
Henry was also acknowledged as the heir to the French king.

15. But Henry died only two years later, in 1422, leaving a 9-month-old son as his heir.

16. During the reign of Henry VI, the power of the English monarchy reached its lowest point.
Henry VI grew up as a pious, sensitive recluse, with little capacity for politics or governing.
England is in the 100 years war with France
He marries Margaret of Anjou (niece of the French king)
Henry VI

17. The Lancaster (RED ROSE) faction was led by Queen Margaret of Anjou.
She is concerned her children with Henry will be denied the throne.
She aligns herself with Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (a descendent of John of Gaunt through his third marriage).
It is rumored that when Margaret becomes pregnant, it is actually his child

18. The York faction (WHITE ROSE) was led by Richard, Duke of York, and later, his son Edward.
Henry VI has one of several mental breakdowns and Richard is named protector of the realm.
Henry makes a mental come back and Margaret convinces him to reverse this… but then has another breakdown and York is again reinstated.
Henry comes back again. But he is now faced with an army led by friends of York (The rich Earl of Warwick) . Henry agrees to make York’s children, not his own, the successors to the throne.
Richard
Of York

19. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the “Kingmaker”)

20. Edward III Richard II Henry IV Henry V Edward, the Black Prince
Lionel, Duke of Clarence
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Thomas, Duke of Gloucester
Edmund, 1st Duke of York
Richard, 2nd Duke of York
Edward Edmund Richard
Richard II
Edmund Beaufort from later marriage
Henry IV
Henry V

21. Richard of York died at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, his son Edward became the leader of the York forces.
As York’s son, he is now in line to be the next king.
Margaret and Henry’s son is ALSO named Edward (Lancaster). Margaret expects him to be king. He is reportedly not a very nice young man.
Edward IV at 19
Edward Lancaster

22. Edward YORK self proclaims he is king in 1461.
Henry is taken prisoner.
Margaret rounds up an army and battles ensue.
Henry is captured again
Margaret and son escape to France.
Edward IV

23. Anne married Richard (d. 1460)
Edward III
Edward, the Black Prince
Lionel, Duke of Clarence
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Edmund, Duke of York
Thomas, Duke of Gloucester
Richard II
Anne married Richard (d. 1460)
Edward IV Edmund Richard (III)
d. 1460

24. In 1464 Edward married Elizabeth Woodville, a widow with two sons.
The marriage so infuriated Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, that he turned against Edward.
In alliance with Margaret of Anjou, he forced Edward to flee England and put Henry VI back on the throne!

25. Henry VI’s “re-adoption” as King did not last long.
Margaret and Edward Lancaster return from France seeing a chance to claim the throne for young Edward (Lancaster).
Edward (York) quickly raised a large army in the Netherlands and defeated and killed the Earl of Warwick. Edward Lancaster is also killed.
From 1471 to his death in 1483, Edward ruled England without challenge.

26. Oh this isn’t over yet…

27. Upon Edward’s death, his brother Richard makes a claim for the throne.
Evidence was presented to Parliament that Edward V had married another woman, Lady Eleanor Butler, prior to his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.
Such a marriage, if true, would make his marriage to Elizabeth bigamous and his children bastards.
Parliament accepted the claim of bastardy and proclaimed Richard King.

29. Memorial urn in Westminster Abbey
In 1674, the bones of two children were found at the foot of a staircase in the Tower of London.
Tradition has held that the bones of those of the two princes.
Memorial urn in Westminster Abbey

30. Richard is portrayed as a villain but…
Edward’s brother Richard is Shakespeare’s “Crookback,” although no contemporary evidence of disability exists.
Richard is portrayed as a villain but…
Most of the evidence for Richard’s villainy comes from later Tudor historians.
Facial reconstruction of Richard after his bones were located under a parking lot in 2012

31. Henry Tudor is named after Henry VI
Meanwhile in the Lancaster camp: The new leader of the Lancastrian forces was Henry Tudor, a young man with a very remote claim to the throne.
Henry Tudor’s father was Edmund Tudor, the the illegitimate son of Owen Tudor (servant to the court of baby Henry VI) and Catherine (Henry VI’s mother).
During His reign, Henry VI recognized Edmund as his step-brother, legitimizing him and his children (Henry)
Henry Tudor is named after Henry VI
Young Henry Tudor I

32. Henry Tudor takes advantage of Richard’s unpopularity and invades
Henry Tudor takes advantage of Richard’s unpopularity and invades. On Aug. 22, 1485, Richard III was slain by treacherous allies at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

34. Henry Tudor claimed the throne through right of conquest and descent
He puts an end to the war of the roses with his marriage to Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.
The York and Lancaster families are now combined, which ends the competition for the throne
Henry Tudor

35. The Tudor Rose combined the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York.
Bronze effigies of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York