1. Register – a fact about the war of the roses

2. TASK:
1. You need to create a brief fact file on The War of the Roses and its causes. It can be presented however you like, but must include the following information:
Explained what caused the war including bastard feudalism and issues with the monarchy (you might even want to look at this section in the form of a timeline). You should try and pull out any other issues too.
Explain what The War of the Roses was, who fought against who, when did it happen and a brief summary/diagram of the battle of Bosworth (refer back to the start of the Winter King documentary). Try not to get bogged down in the minor details!
2. To help with some of the explanation next lesson you should also print off a copy of the family tree from Edward III to Henry VII. (If you type in ‘Henry VII’s claim to the throne’ and click on images).
FLIP LEARNING
At the end of last lesson you were given the following independent learning. Its now time to see what you have come up with.
Task: Using the information you have gathered. Have a go at completing the grid on the next slide…

3. Problem
Impact
Bastard Feudalism: A contract system in which annual payments are made instead of land grants (which is what happened under Feudalism).
Being a very weak and feeble monarch like Henry VII.
Edward III granted concessions to the nobility in order to gain their support. This tips more power in the hands of the nobility compared to the crown.
England lost the 100yr war with France.
Edward III had many children and also many claimants died prematurely, so they sometimes left heirs to the throne.
The system allowed the raising of large bands of armed men, and enabled the nobility to disrupt law and order and conduct private feuds in their localities, and even to contend for control of the  national government.
Challenge task: To what extent do these reasons make England a turbulent and unstable state?

4. Traditional Feudalism
Traditional feudalism places the monarch at the top of a pyramid structure. Barons are below him. Then then knights below them. Then peasants are at the bottom. Traditional feudalism is based about land. Where a knight through an oath of vasslage ties himself to his superior in the system, in return for a grant of a territory, which in theory should provide him with an income to support himself etc.

5. Bastard Feudalism
Bastard feudalism is a somewhat controversial term invented by modern historians to characterize the form feudalism took in the Late Middle Ages. With bastard feudalism land was no longer the reward for military or other service. Services were exchanged for money. The Gentry retained servants who - in exchange for money and support - not only fought for their lords, but also testified for them in court, acted as their agents in legal matters, and helped out in tax avoidance schemes.

6. Did Henry VII have the right to be king?
Good learning:
Understand Henry’s accession to the English throne
Great learning:
Explain Richard Rex’s argument in regards to Henry’s claim to the throne
Even better:
Evaluate historical arguments on how strong Henry’s claim was
Key Word:
How effectively did the Tudors restore and develop the powers of the monarchy?

7. How did Henry get on to the English throne?
If you did your independent learning correctly, you should have already started to have an understanding of this (though it still might be a little confusing).
TASK: You are going to watch the following clip twice. The first time you will highlight people on your family tree who become King. The second time you can gather about how Henry was able to have access to the throne.
Now swap your work with your partner and see if they can add any missing information for you in green pen!

8. How did Henry get on to the English throne?
You have each been given a grid like this. Stick it in the middle of an A4 page.
TASK: On the next few slides you are going to be given some information about Henry and you need to decide where his claim to the throne lies at each point. Explain your answer at each point.

9. How did Henry get on to the English throne?
Read through each of the following statements and decide where you would put him at each point and explain your answer.
1457: Henry Tudor born. His father had died several months earlier and his mother was 14. His mother was distantly related to the Lancastrian royal family but there were plenty of people who had a better claim to the crown.
Scale
0- No hope - not even part of the royal family
1 An unimportant member of the Lancastrian royal family
2 The Lancastrian leader, but no hope of being king
3 The Lancastrian leader and main challenger but only a little support from nobles and knights
4 The Lancastrian leader and main challenger with some support from nobles and knights and some support from other countries
5 King!!!
1461: The Lancastrian king, Henry VI, lost the crown to the Yorkist, Edward IV. Henry Tudor, aged 4, was looked after and closely watched by Edward’s friend, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.
1470: Henry VI became king again after a rebellion. 13 year old Henry Tudor was freed but he was still an unimportant member of the royal family because the King had a son.

10. How did Henry get on to the English throne?
1471: Edward IV won the throne back and killed Henry VI and his son. By now so many people had died that Henry Tudor was the most important Lancastrian. He escaped to Brittany to save his life but Edward was in charge again. There were hardly any Lancastrian supporters left
Scale
0- No hope - not even part of the royal family
1 An unimportant member of the Lancastrian royal family
2 The Lancastrian leader, but no hope of being king
3 The Lancastrian leader and main challenger but only a little support from nobles and knights
4 The Lancastrian leader and main challenger with some support from nobles and knights and some support from other countries
5 King!!!
April 1483: Edward IV died and his 12 year old son became Edward V – until his uncle Richard seized the crown and made himself King Richard III. Henry Tudor was still in Brittany .
August 1483: A group of lords rebelled against Richard because they thought he had stolen the crown and murdered young Edward V. They chose Henry Tudor as their leader. This showed how desperate they were to get rid of Richard because they had been Yorkists and now had a Lancastrian leader. The rebellion failed before Henry arrived in England. Some rebels escaped and lived in exile with Henry.

11. How did Henry get on to the English throne?
1484: Richard bribed the Duke of Brittany to capture Henry for him. Henry escaped at the last minute, dressed as a servant and rode across the border into France.
Scale
1484: The King of France wanted to distract Richard from invading France so he gave Henry an army to invade England. Early in August Henry landed in Wales with an army of French and Scottish soldiers and some ex-Yorkists. He hoped Thomas, Lord Stanley (married to Henry’s mother) might join in on his side.
0- No hope - not even part of the royal family
1 An unimportant member of the Lancastrian royal family
2 The Lancastrian leader, but no hope of being king
3 The Lancastrian leader and main challenger but only a little support from nobles and knights
4 The Lancastrian leader and main challenger with some support from nobles and knights and some support from other countries
5 King!!!
1485: Henry faced Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. Richard charged and battered down Henry’s standard bearer. For a moment Richard and Henry fought each other and then the Stanleys charged in – against Richard! Henry was king!

12. Q. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘CONVINCING’
What do historians think about Henry’s claim to the throne?
The first part of your exam you will be expected to assess
how convincing three extract are in relation to an aspect of
the topic.
Q. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘CONVINCING’
In the exam, you do not need to compare these three
extracts, and therefore we can start by looking at one
interpretation at a time.

13. What do historians think about Henry’s claim to the throne?
Richard Rex: The Tudors
Henry Tudor was one of the unlikeliest men ever to ascend the throne of England. Royal blood ran thin in his veins - drawn ultimately from illegitimate origins and filtered through the female line – and he was one of the few men in late medieval England with absolutely no claim to the throne whatsoever: his Beaufort ancestors, John of Gaunt’s bastards by Catherine Swynford. For all the trouble Henry took to bolster his dubious legitimacy, his reign was always overshadowed by the fact that he was little more than a noble adventurer who got lucky: the first dozen years of his reign were spent scheming and fighting against pretenders whose claims were only slightly more ridiculous than his own.
Stick in the middle of an A4 piece of paper.

14. Paragraph 1: What is the Historian’s argument?
Richard Rex: The Tudors
Henry Tudor was one of the unlikeliest men ever to ascend the throne of England. Royal blood ran thin in his veins - drawn ultimately from illegitimate origins and filtered through the female line – and he was one of the few men in late medieval England with absolutely no claim to the throne whatsoever: his Beaufort ancestors, John of Gaunt’s bastards by Catherine Swynford. For all the trouble Henry took to bolster his dubious legitimacy, his reign was always overshadowed by the fact that he was little more than a noble adventurer who got lucky: the first dozen years of his reign were spent scheming and fighting against pretenders whose claims were only slightly more ridiculous than his own.
Read through the extract and highlight Richard Rex’s argument

15. Paragraph 2: Which elements of the argument ARE convincing?
Richard Rex: The Tudors
Henry Tudor was one of the unlikeliest men ever to ascend the throne of England. Royal blood ran thin in his veins - drawn ultimately from illegitimate origins and filtered through the female line – and he was one of the few men in late medieval England with absolutely no claim to the throne whatsoever: his Beaufort ancestors, John of Gaunt’s bastards by Catherine Swynford. For all the trouble Henry took to bolster his dubious legitimacy, his reign was always overshadowed by the fact that he was little more than a noble adventurer who got lucky: the first dozen years of his reign were spent scheming and fighting against pretenders whose claims were only slightly more ridiculous than his own.
Write one paragraph that takes one elements of the argument, and uses your own knowledge to explain why it is convincing

16. Paragraph 2: Which elements of the argument ARE NOT convincing?
Richard Rex: The Tudors
Henry Tudor was one of the unlikeliest men ever to ascend the throne of England. Royal blood ran thin in his veins - drawn ultimately from illegitimate origins and filtered through the female line – and he was one of the few men in late medieval England with absolutely no claim to the throne whatsoever: his Beaufort ancestors, John of Gaunt’s bastards by Catherine Swynford. For all the trouble Henry took to bolster his dubious legitimacy, his reign was always overshadowed by the fact that he was little more than a noble adventurer who got lucky: the first dozen years of his reign were spent scheming and fighting against pretenders whose claims were only slightly more ridiculous than his own.
Write one paragraph that takes one elements of the argument, and uses your own knowledge to explain why it is not convincing

17. Overall, how convincing is Richard Rex’s argument about Henry’s claim to the throne?
NOT CONVINCING
CONVINCING
Post its to stick on

18. Overall, how strong is Henry VII claim to the throne?
Weak
Post its to stick on