The War of the Roses: the Historical Facts of the Tudor Myth (Shakespeare’s Histories)

FEDERAL AGENCY OFEDUCATION
NOVOROSSIYSK BRANCH OFSTATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
OF HIGHER PROFESSIONALEDUCATION
“PYATIGORSK STATELINGUISTIC UNIVERSITY”
The English Faculty
The Department of theEnglish Language

Тheory and Teaching Methods of ForeignLanguages and Culture
The War of the Roses: theHistorical Facts of the Tudor Myth (Shakespeare’s Histories)
The Course Paper in theHistory and Culture of Great Britain

Moshikova EkaterinaYurievna
Tutor:
Pereyashkin V.V.

Novorossiysk 2006

ContentsIntroduction
1. The Historical Facts of the Tudor Myth
2. Shakespeare’s Histories
Conclusion
References
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
 

Introduction
 
The antagonism between the two houses started with theoverthrowing of King Richard II by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke ofLancaster, in 1399. Being the issue of Edward III's third son John of Gaunt,Bolingbroke had a poor claim to the throne. According to precedent, the crownshould have passed to the male descendants of Lionel of Antwerp, duke ofClarence (1338-1368), Edward III's second son, and in fact, Richard II hadnamed Lionel's grandson, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March as heir presumptive.However, Bolingbroke was crowned as Henry IV. He was tolerated as king sinceRichard II's government had been highly unpopular. Bolingbroke died in 1413.His son and successor, Henry V, was a great soldier, and his military successagainst France in the Hundred Years' War bolstered his enormous popularity,enabling him to strengthen the Lancastrian hold on the throne. Henry V's shortreign saw one conspiracy against him, led by Richard, Earl of Cambridge, a sonof Edmund of Langley, the fifth son of Edward III. Cambridge was executed in 1415for treason at the start of the campaign leading up to the Battle of Agincourt.Cambridge's wife Anne Mortimer also had a claim to the throne, being thedaughter of Roger Mortimer and thus a descendant of Lionel of Antwerp. Henry Vdied in 1422, and Richard, Duke of York, the son of Richard, Earl of Cambridgeand Anne Mortimer, would grow up to challenge his successor, the feeble King HenryVI, for the crown.
The choice of this theme for ourcourse paper was mostly conditioned by the idea of learning history of GreatBritain. The object matter of the paper is the compositions of W. Shakespearemeanwhile the subject of our investigation is the war of the roses whichproduced a great effect on the further history of the United Kingdom ingeneral.
The object and purposes of the coursepaper may be formulated as follows:
- Analyticalstudy of the material on the theme;
- Exposureof the dates and importance of some events for the Lancastrians and theYorkists;
- Searchingthe peculiarities in the background of different things and events;
- Searchingfor the conditions which influenced this event;
- Definingof the consequences of the event.
To achieve the set aims we lookedthrough a list of study books, various references, pieces of press anddifferent sites in Internet. Our paper consist of the Introduction, 2 Chapters,Conclusion and the list of references.

1. The Historical Facts of the TudorMyth
TheWars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought in medieval England from 1455to 1487 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name Wars ofthe Roses is based on the badges used by the two sides, the red rose for theLancastrians and the white rose for the Yorkists. Major causes of the conflictinclude: 1) both houses were direct descendents of king Edward III; 2) theruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with unpopular nobles; 3)the civil unrest of much of the population; 4) the availability of manypowerful lords with their own private armies; and 5) the untimely episodes ofmental illness by king Henry VI. Please see the origins page for moreinformation on the start of the wars.
HenryVI was troubled all his life by recurring bouts of madness, during which thecountry was ruled by regents. The regents didn't do any better for England thanHenry did, and the long Hundred Years War with France sputtered to an end withEngland losing all her possessions in France except for Calais. In Englanditself anarchy reigned. Nobles gathered their own private armies and fought forlocal supremacy.
Thestruggle to rule on behalf of an unfit king was one of the surface reasons forthe outbreak of thirty years of warfare that we now call the Wars of the Roses,fought between the Houses of York (white rose) and Lancaster (red rose). Inreality these squabbles were an indication of the lawlessness that ran rampantin the land. More squalid than romantic, the Wars of the Roses decimated bothhouses in an interminably long, bloody struggle for the throne. The rosesymbols that we name the wars after were not in general use during theconflict. The House of Lancaster did not even adopt the red rose as itsofficial symbol until the next century.
HenryVI was eventually forced to abdicate in 1461 and died ten years later inprison, possibly murdered. In his place ruled Edward IV of the house of Yorkwho managed to get his dubious claim to the throne legitimized by Parliament.Edward was the first king to address the House of Commons, but his reign isnotable mostly for the continuing saga of the wars with the House of Lancasterand unsuccessful wars in France. When Edward died in 1483 his son, Edward V,aged twelve, followed him. In light of his youth Edward's uncle Richard, Dukeof Gloucester, acted as regent.
Traditionalhistory, written by later Tudor historians seeking to legitimize their masters'past, has painted Richard as the archetypal wicked uncle. The truth may not beso clear cut. Some things are known, or assumed, to be true. Edward and hisyounger brother were put in the Tower of London, ostensibly for their ownprotection. Richard had the «Princes in the Tower» declaredillegitimate, which may possibly have been true. He then got himself declaredking. He may have been in the right, and certainly England needed a strong andable king. But he was undone when the princes disappeared and were rumoured tohave been murdered by his orders.
Inthe 17th century workmen repairing a stairwell at the Tower found the bones oftwo boys of about the right ages. Were these the Princes in the Tower, and werethey killed by their wicked uncle? We will probably never know. The person withthe most to gain by killing the princes was not Richard, however, but Henry,Earl of Richmond. Henry also claimed the throne, seeking «legitimacy»through descent from John of Gaunt and his mistress.
Henrydefeated and killed Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485), claimingthe crown which was found hanging upon a bush, and placing it upon his ownhead. Bosworth marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. There was no one elseleft to fight. It also marked the end of the feudal period of English history.With the death of Richard III the crown passed from the Plantagenet line to thenew House of Tudor, and a new era of history began.
Kingswere gaining the upper hand in the struggle with the barons. They encouragedthe growth of towns and trade. They took more advisors and officials from thenew merchant middle class.
Thiseroded the power of the land-based nobility. Further, kings established royalcourts to replace local feudal courts and replaced feudal duties (which hadbeen difficult to collect in any case) with direct taxation. They creatednational standing armies instead of relying on feudal obligations of service fromvassals. Feudal kingdoms moved slowly towards becoming nations.
In the late 1400's the House of Yorkfought the House of Lancaster for the English crown. Because Lancaster'sheraldic badge was a red rose and York's was a white rose, the long conflictcame to be known as the Wars of the Roses (1455 — 1485).
Thewars started when the nobles of York rose against Henry VI of Lancaster who wasa feeble ruler. Edward IV, of York, replaced Henry as king. Later, Henry againbecame king, but lost his crown once more to Edward after the battle ofTewkesbury in 1471. The Yorkists held power until Richard III lost his throneto the Lancastrian Henry Tudor. Henry Tudor married into the House of York.This personal union ended the conflict, and a new famous dynasty, the Tudors,emerged.
«And here I prophesy:this brawl today, Grown to this faction in the Temple garden, Shall send,between the Red Rose and the White, A thousand souls to death and deadlynight.» — Warwick, Henry VI, Part One
The Warsof the Roses (1455–1485) is the name generally given to the intermittent civilwar fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House ofLancaster and the House of York. Both houses were branches of the Plantagenetroyal house, tracing their descent from King Edward III. The name Wars of theRoses was not used at the time, but has its origins in the badges chosen by thetwo royal houses, the Red Rose of Lancaster, whose retainers tended to favourred coats or red roses as their symbol, and the White Rose of York, whose menoften sported white coats, or white rose insignia.
TheWars were fought largely by the landed aristocracy and armies of feudalretainers. The House of Lancaster found most of its support in the south andwest of the country, while support for the House of York came mainly from thenorth and east. The Wars of the Roses, with their heavy casualties among thenobility, would usher in a period of great social upheaval in feudal Englandand ironically lead to the fall of the Plantagenet dynasty. The period wouldsee the decline of English influence on the Continent, a weakening of thefeudal power of the nobles and by default a strengthening of the merchantclasses, and the growth of a strong, centralized monarchy under the Tudors. Itarguably heralded the end of the medieval period in England and the movementtowards the Renaissance.The antagonism between the two housesstarted with the overthrowing of King Richard II by his cousin, HenryBolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, in 1399. Being the issue of Edward's III thirdsonJohn of Gaunt, Bolingbroke had a poor claim to the throne. According toprecedent, the crown should have passed to the male descendants of Lionel ofAntverp, Duke of Clarence (1338-1368), Edward's III second son, and in fact,Richard II had named Lionel's grandson, Roger Mortimer, 4th earl of March asheir presumptive. However, Bolingbroke was crowned as Henry IV. He wastolerated as king since Richard II's government had been highly unpopular.Bolingbroke died in 1413. His son and successor, Henry V, was a great soldier,and his military success against France in the Hundred Years’ War bolstered hisenormous popularity, enabling him to strengthen the Lancastrian hold on thethrone. Henry V's short reign saw one conspiracy against him, led by Richaed,earl of Cambridge, a son of Edmund of Langley, the fifth son of Edward III.Cambridge was executed in 1415 for treason at the start of the campaign leadingup to the Battle o9f Aglicourt. Cambridge's wife, Anne Mortimer, also had aclaim to the throne, being the daughter of Roger Mortimer and thus a descendantof Lionel of Antwerp. Henry V died in 1422, and Ricard, Duke of York, the sonof Richard, Earl of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer, would grow up to challenge hissuccessor, the feeble King Henry VI, for the crown.The Lancastrian King Henry VI of Englandwas surrounded by unpopular regents and advisors. The most notable of thesewere Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who were blamed for mismanaging the government and poorly executing thecontinuing Hundred Years’ War with France. Under Henry VI virtually all of theEnglish holdings in France, including the lands won by Henry V, had been lost.Henry VI had begun to be seen as a weak, ineffectual king. In addition, hesuffered from embarrassing episodes of mental illness. By the 1450s manyconsidered Henry incapable of rule. The short line of Lancastrian kings hadalready been plagued by questions of legitimacy, and the House of York believedthat they had a stronger claim to the throne. Growing civil discontent, theabundance of feuding nobles with private armies, and corruption in Henry's VIcourt together formed a political climate ripe for civil war.
When,in 1453, King Henry suffered the first of several bouts of mental illness, aCouncil of Regency was set up, headed in the role of Lord Protector by thepowerful and popular Richard Plntagenet, Duke of York, and head of the House ofYork. Richard soon began to press his claim to the throne with ever-greaterboldness, imprisoning Somerset, and backing his allies, Salisbury and Warwick,in a series of minor conflicts with powerful supporters of Henry, like theDukes of Northumberland. Henry's recovery in 1455th warted Richard's ambitions,and the Duke of York was soon after driven from the royal court by Henry'squeen, Margaret of Anjou. Since Henry was an ineffectual leader, the powerfuland aggressive Queen Margaret emerged as the de facto leader of the Lancastrianfaction. Queen Margaret built up an alliance against Richard and conspired withother nobles to reduce his influence. An increasingly thwarted Richard finallyresorted to armed hostilities in 1455 at the First Battle of St. Aslbans.
Although armedclashes had broken out previously between supporters of King Henry and Richard,Duke of York, the principal period of armed conflict in the Wars of the Rosestook place between 1455 and 1489.
Richard,Duke of York led a small force toward London and was met by Henry VI's forcesat ST. Albans, north of London, on May 22,1455. The relatively small FirstBattle of St. Albans was the first open conflict of the civil war. Richard'saim was ostensibly to remove «poor advisors» from King Henry's side. Theresult was a defeat for the Lancastrians, who lost many of their leadersincluding Somerset. York and his allies regained their position of influence,and for a while both sides seemed shocked that an actual battle had been foughtand did their best at reconciliation. When Henry suffered another bout ofmental illness, York was again appointed Protector, and Margaret was chargedwith the king's care, having already been sidelined from decision-making on theCouncil.
Afterthe First Battle of St Albans, the compromise of 1455 enjoyed some success,with York remaining the dominant voice on the Council even after Henry'srecovery. The problems which had caused conflict soon re-emerged, particularlythe issue of whether the Duke of York, or Henry and Margaret's infant son,Edward, would succeed to the throne. Queen Margaret refused to accept anysolution that would disinherit her son, and it became clear that she would onlytolerate the situation for as long as the Duke of York and his allies retainedthe military ascendancy. Henry went on royal progress in the Midlands in 1456,and Margaret did not allow him to return to London—the king and queen werepopular in the Midlands but becoming ever more unpopular in London wheremerchants were angry at the decline in trade and widespread disorder. Theking's court set up at Coventry. By then the new Duke of Somerset was emergingas a favourite of the royal court, filling his father's shoes. Margaret alsopersuaded Henry to dismiss the appointments York had made as Protector, whileYork himself was again made to return to his post in Ireland. Disorder in thecapital and piracy on the south coast were growing, but the king and queenremained intent on protecting their own positions, with the queen introducingconscription for the first time in England. Meanwhile, York's ally, RichardNeville, Earl of Warwick (later dubbed «The Kingmaker»), was growingin popularity in London as the champion of the merchant classes.
Followingthe return of York from Ireland, hostilities resumed on September 23, 1459, atthe Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire, when a large Lancastrian armyfailed to prevent a Yorkist force under Lord Salisbury from marching from MiddlehamCastle in Yorkshire and linking up with York at Ludlow Castle. After aLancastrian victory at the Battle of Ludford Bridge, Edward the Earl of March(York's eldest son, later Edward IV of England), Salisbury, and Warwick fled toCalais. The Lancastrians were now back in total control, and Somerset wasappointed Governor of Calais. His attempts to evict Warwick were easilyrepulsed, and the Yorkists even began to launch raids on the English coast fromCalais in 1459–60, adding to the sense of chaos and disorder.
By1460, Warwick and the others were ready to launch an invasion of England, andrapidly established themselves in Kent and London, where they enjoyed widesupport. Backed by a papal emissary who had taken their side, they marchednorth. Henry led an army south to meet them while Margaret remained in thenorth with Prince Edward. The Battle of Northampton, on July 10, 1460, proveddisastrous for the Lancastrians. The Yorkist army under Richard Neville, Earlof Warwick, aided by treachery in the Lancastrian ranks, was able to captureKing Henry and take him prisoner to London.
Inthe light of this military success, York now moved to press his own claim tothe throne based on the illegitimacy of the Lancastrian line. Landing in northWales, he and his wife Cecily entered London with all the ceremony usuallyreserved for a monarch. Parliament was assembled, and when York entered he madestraight for the throne, which he may have been expecting the lords toencourage him to take for himself as they had Henry IV in 1399. Instead therewas stunned silence. He announced his claim to the throne, but the Lords, evenWarwick and Salisbury, were shocked by his presumption; there was no appetiteamong them at this stage to overthrow King Henry. Their ambition was stilllimited to the removal of his bad councillors.
Thenext day, York produced detailed genealogies to support his claim based on hisdescent from Lionel of Antwerp and was met with more understanding. Parliamentagreed to consider the matter and finally accepted that York's claim wasbetter; but, by a majority of five, they voted that Henry should remain asking. A compromise was struck in October 1460 with the Act of Accord, whichrecognised York as Henry's successor to the throne, disinheriting Henry's sixyear old son Prince Edward. York had to accept this compromise as the best onoffer; it gave him much of what he desired, particularly since he was also madeProtector of the Realm and was able to govern in Henry's name. Margaret wasordered out of London with Prince Edward. The Act of Accord proved unacceptableto the Lancastrians, who rallied to Margaret, forming a large army in thenorth.The Duke of York left London later thatyear with Lord Salisbury to consolidate his position in the north against QueenMargaret's army, which was reported to be massing near the city of York.Richard took up a defensive position at Sandal Castle near Wakefield at Christmas1460. Although Margaret's army outnumbered Richard's by more than two to one,on December 30 York ordered his forces to leave the castle and mount an attack.His army was dealt a devastating defeat at the Battle of Wakefield. Richard wasslain during the battle, and Salisbury and Richard's 17 year old son, Edmund,Earl of rutland, were captured and beheaded. Margaret ordered the heads of allthree placed on the gates of York.
TheAct of Accord and the events of Wakefield left the 18 year old Edward, Earl ofMarch, York's eldest son, as Duke of York and heir to the throne. Salisbury'sdeath meanwhile left Warwick, his heir, as the biggest landowner in England.Margaret travelled north to Scotland to continue negotiations for Scottishassistance. Mary of Guelders, Queen of Scotland agreed to provide Margaret withan army on condition that England cede the town of Berwick to Scotland and herdaughter be betrothed to Prince Edward. Margaret agreed, although she had nofunds to pay her army with and could only promise unlimited booty from theriches of southern England, as long as no looting took place north of the riverTrent. She took her army to Hull, recruiting more men as she went.
Edwardof York, meanwhile, met Pembroke's army, which was arriving from Wales, anddefeated them soundly at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross in Herefordshire. Heinspired his men with a «vision» of three suns at dawn (a phenomenonknown as «parhelion»), telling them that it was a portent of victoryand represented the three surviving York sons—himself, George and Richard. Thisled to Edward's later adoption of the sign of the sunne in splendour as hispersonal emblem.
Margaretwas by now moving south, wreaking havoc as she progressed, her army supportingitself by looting the properties it overran as it passed through the prosperoussouth of England. In London, Warwick used this as propaganda to reinforceYorkist support throughout the south—the town of Coventry switching allegianceto the Yorkists. Warwick failed to start raising an army soon enough and,without Edward's army to reinforce him, was caught off-guard by theLancastrians' early arrival at St Albans. At the Second Battle of St Albans thequeen won the Lancastrians' most decisive victory yet, and as the Yorkistforces fled they left behind King Henry, who was found unharmed under a tree.Henry knighted thirty of the Lancastrian soldiers immediately after the battle.As the Lancastrian army advanced southwards, a wave of dread swept London,where rumours were rife about the savage Northerners intent on plundering thecity. The people of London shut the city gates and refused to supply food tothe queen's army, which was looting the surrounding counties of Hertfordshireand Middlesex.
Edwardwas meanwhile advancing towards London from the west where he had joined forceswith Warwick. Coinciding with the northward retreat by the queen to Dunstable,this allowed Edward and Warwick to enter London with their army. They werewelcomed with enthusiasm, money and supplies by the largely Yorkist-supportingcity. Edward could no longer claim simply to be trying to wrest the king fromhis bad councillors. With his father and brother having been killed atWakefield, this had become a battle for the crown itself. Edward now neededauthority, and this seemed forthcoming when the Bishop of London asked thepeople of London their opinion and they replied with shouts of «KingEdward». This was quickly confirmed by Parliament and Edward wasunofficially crowned in a hastily arranged ceremony at Westminster Abbey amidstmuch jubilation. Edward and Warwick had thus captured London, although Edwardvowed he would not have a formal coronation until Henry and Margaret wereexecuted or exiled. He also announced that Henry had forfeited his right to thecrown by allowing his queen to take up arms against his rightful heirs underthe Act of Accord; though it was by now becoming widely argued that Edward'svictory was simply a restoration of the rightful heir to the throne, whichneither Henry nor his Lancastrian predecessors had been. It was this argumentwhich Parliament had accepted the year before.
Edwardand Warwick next marched north, gathering a large army as they went, and met anequally impressive Lancastrian army at Towton. The Battle of Towton, near York,was the biggest battle of the Wars of the Roses thus far. Both sides had agreedbeforehand that the issue was to be settled that day, with no quarter asked orgiven. An estimated 40-80,000 men took part with over 20,000 men being killedduring (and after) the battle, an enormous number for the time and the greatestrecorded single day's loss of life on English soil. The new king and his armywon a decisive victory, and the Lancastrians were decimated, with most of theirleaders slain. Henry and Margaret, who were waiting in York with their sonEdward, fled north when they heard of the outcome. Many of the survivingLancastrian nobles now switched allegiances to King Edward, and those who didnot were driven back to the northern border areas and a few castles in Wales.Edward advanced to take York where he was confronted with the rotting heads ofhis father, brother and Salisbury, which were soon replaced with those ofdefeated Lancastrian lords like the notorious Lord Clifford of Skipton-Craven,who had ordered the execution of Edward's brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland,after the Battle of Wakefield.
Henryand Margaret fled to Scotland where they stayed with the royal court of JamesIII, implementing their earlier promise to cede Berwick to Scotland and leadingan invasion of Carlise later in the year. But lacking money, they were easilyrepulsed by Edward's men who were rooting out the remaining Lancastrian forcesin the northern counties.
EdwardIV's official coronation took place in June 1461 in London where he received a rapturous welcome from his supporters as the new king of England.Edward was able to rule in relative peace for ten years.
Inthe North, Edward could never really claim to have complete control until 1464,as apart from rebellions, several castles with their Lancastrian commandersheld out for years. Dunstanburgh, Alnwick (the Percy family seat) and Bamburghwere some of the last to fall. Last to surrender was the mighty fortress ofHarlech (Wales) in 1468 after a seven-year-long siege. The deposed King Henrywas captured in 1465 and held prisoner at the Tower of London where, for thetime being, he was reasonably well treated.
Therewere two further Lancastrian revolts in 1464. The first clash was at the Battleof Hedgeley Moor on April 25 and the second at the Battle of Haxham on May 15.Both revolts were put down by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1stMaquess of Montagu.
Theperiod 1467–70 saw a marked and rapid deterioration in the relationship betweenKing Edward and his former mentor, the powerful Richard Neville, Earl ofWarwick—«the Kingmaker». This had several causes, but stemmedoriginally from Edward's decision to marry Elizabeth Woodville in secret in1464. Edward later announced the news of his marriage as fait accompli, to theconsiderable embarrassment of Warwick, who had been negotiating a match betweenEdward and a French bride, convinced as he was of the need for an alliance withFrance. This embarrassment turned to bitterness when the Woodvilles came to befavoured over the Nevilles at court. Other factors compounded Warwick’sdisillusionment: Edward's preference for an alliance with Burgundy (over France),and Edward's reluctance to allow his brothers George, Duke of Clarence, andRichard, Duke of Gloucester, to marry Warwick's daughters, Isabel Neville andAnne Neville, respectively. Furthermore, Edward's general popularity was alsoon the wane in this period with higher taxes and persistent disruptions of lawand order.
By1469 Warwick had formed an alliance with Edward's jealous and treacherousbrother George. They raised an army which defeated the King at the Battle ofEdgecote Moor, and held Edward at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire. Warwick hadthe queen's father, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, executed. Heforced Edward to summon a parliament at York at which it was planned thatEdward would be declared illegitimate and the crown would thus pass to Clarenceas Edward's heir apparent. However, the country was in turmoil, and Edward wasable to call on the loyalty of his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and themajority of the nobles. Gloucester arrived at the head of a large force andliberated the king.
Warwickand Clarence were declared traitors and forced to flee to France, where in 1470Louis XI of France was coming under pressure from the exiled Margaret of Anjouto help her invade England and regain her captive husband's throne. It was KingLouis who suggested the idea of an alliance between Warwick and Margaret, anotion which neither of the old enemies would at first entertain but eventuallycame round to, realising the potential benefits. However, both were undoubtedlyhoping for different outcomes: Warwick for a puppet king in the form of Henryor his young son; Margaret to be able to reclaim her family's realm. In anycase, a marriage was arranged between Warwick's daughter Anne Neville andMargaret's son, the former Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster, and Warwickinvaded England in the autumn of 1470.
Thistime it was Edward IV who was forced to flee the country when John Nevillechanged loyalties to support his brother Warwick. Edward was unprepared for thearrival of Neville's large force from the north and had to order his army toscatter. Edward and Gloucester fled from Doncaster to the coast and thence toHolland and exile in Burgundy. Warwick had already invaded from France, and hisplans to liberate and restore Henry VI to the throne came quickly to fruition. HenryVI was paraded through the streets of London as the restored king in Octoberand Edward and Richard were proclaimed traitors. Warwick's success wasshort-lived, however. He overreached himself with his plan to invade Burgundywith the king of France, tempted by King Louis' promise of territory in theNetherlands as a reward. This led Charles the Bold of Burgundy to assistEdward. He provided funds and an army to launch an invasion of England in 1471.Edward defeated Warwick at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. The remainingLancastrian forces were destroyed at the Battle of Tewkesbury, and PrinceEdward of Westminster, the Lancastrian heir to the throne, was killed. Henry VIwas murdered shortly afterwards (May 14, 1471), to strengthen the Yorkist holdon the throne.
Therestoration of Edward IV in 1471 is sometimes seen as marking the end of theWars of the Roses. Peace was restored for the remainder of Edward's reign, butwhen he died suddenly in 1483, political and dynastic turmoil erupted again.Under Edward IV, factions had developed between the Queen's Woodville relatives(Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Thomas Grey, 1stMarguess of Dorset) and others who resented the Woodvilles' new-found status atcourt and saw them as power-hungry upstarts and parvenus. At the time ofEdward's premature death, his heir, Edward V, was only 12 years old. TheWoodvilles were in a position to influence the young king's future government,since Edward V had been brought up under the stewardship of Earl Rivers inLudlow. This was too much for many of the anti-Woodville faction to stomach,and in the struggle for the protectorship of the young king and control of thecouncil, Edward's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who had been named byEdward IV on his deathbed as Protector of England, came to be de facto leaderof the anti-Woodville faction.
Withthe help of William Hastings and Henry Stafford, Gloucester captured the youngking from the Woodvilles at Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire. ThereafterEdward V was kept under Gloucester's custody in the Tower of London, where hewas later joined by his younger brother, the 9-year-old Richard, Duke of York.Having secured the boys, Richard then alleged that Edward IV's marriage toElizabeth Woodville had been illegal, and that the two boys were thereforeillegitimate. Parliament agreed and enacted the Titulus Regius, whichofficially named Gloucester as King Richard III. The two imprisoned boys, knownas the «Princes in the Tower», disappeared and were possibly murdered;by whom and under whose orders remains one of the most controversial subjectsin English history.
SinceRichard was the finest general on the Yorkist side, many accepted him as aruler better able to keep the Yorkists in power than a boy who would have hadto rule through a committee of regents. Lancastrian hopes, on the other hand,now centred on Henry Tudor, whose father, Edmund tudor, 1st Earl ofRichmond, had been an illegitimate half-brother of Henry VI. However, Henry'sclaim to the throne was through his mother, Margaret Beaufort, a descendant ofEdward III, derived from John Beaufort, a grandson of Edward's III who was alsothe illegitimate son of John of Gaunt.
HenryTudor's forces defeated Richard's at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 andHenry Tudor became King Henry VII of England. Henry then strengthened hisposition by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and the bestsurviving Yorkist claimant. He thus reunited the two royal houses, merging therival symbols of the red and white roses into the new emblem of the red andwhite Tudor Rose. Henry shored up his position by executing all other possibleclaimants whenever he could lay hands on them, a policy his son, Henry VIII,continued.
Manyhistorians consider the accession of Henry VII to mark the end of the Wars ofthe Roses. Others argue that the Wars of the Roses concluded only with theBattle of Stoke in 1487, which arose from the appearance of a pretender to thethrone, a boy named Lambert Simnel who bore a close physical resemblance to theyoung Earl of Warwick, the best surviving male claimant of the House of York.The pretender's plan was doomed from the start, because the young earl wasstill alive and in King Henry's custody, so no one could seriously doubt Simnelwas anything but an imposter. At Stoke, Henry defeated forces led by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln—who had been named by Richard III as his heir, but had been reconciled withHenry after Bosworth—thus effectively removing the remaining Yorkistopposition. Simnel was pardoned for his part in the rebellion and sent to workin the royal kitchens.
2. Shakespeare’s histories Richard III
“TheLife and Death of King Richard III” is William Shakespeare’s version of theshort career of Richard III of England, who receives a singularly unflatteringdepiction. The play is sometimes interpreted as a tragedy; however, it morecorrectly belongs among the histories. It picks up the story from “Henry VI”,Part III and is the conclusion of the series that stretches back to Richard II.It is the second longest of Shakespeare's 38 plays, after Hamlet. The length isgenerally seen as a drawback and the play is rarely performed unabridged oftencutting out various characters peripheral to the main plot. Synopsis
The play begins with Richardeulogizing his brother, King Edward IV of England, the eldest son of the lateRichard, Duke of York.
Now is thewinter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York
Thespeech reveals Richard's jealousy and ambition, as his brother Edward rules thecountry successfully. Richard is an ugly hunchback, describing himself as“rudely stamp'd” and “deformed, unfinish'd”, who cannot “strut before a wantonambling nymph.” He responds to the anguish of his condition with an outcast's credo:“I am determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures of thesedays.” With little attempt at chronological accuracy (which he professes todespise), Richard plots to have his brother Clarence, who stands before him inthe line of succession, conducted to the Tower of London as a suspectedassassin; having bribed a soothsayer to confuse the suspicious king.
Richardnext ingratiates himself with “the Lady Anne” – Anne Neville, widow of theLancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. Richard confides to theaudience, “I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter. What though I kill'd herhusband and her father?” Despite her prejudice against him, Anne is won over byhis pleas and agrees to marry him.
Theatmosphere at court is poisonous: the established nobles are at odds with theupwardly-mobile relatives of Queen Elizabeth, a hostility fueled by Richard'smachinations. Queen Margaret, Henry VI's widow, returns in defiance of her banishmentand warns the squabbling nobles about Richard. The nobles, Yorkists all,reflexively unite against this last Lancastrian, and the warning falls on deafears.
EdwardIV, weakened by a reign dominated by physical excess, soon dies, leaving asProtector his brother Richard, who sets about removing the final obstacles tohis ascension. He meets his nephew, the young Edward V, who is en route toLondon for his coronation accompanied by relatives of Edward's widow. TheseRichard arrests and (eventually) beheads, and the young prince and his brotherare coaxed into an extended stay at the Tower of London.
Assistedby his cousin Buckingham (Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham),Richard mounts a PR campaign to present himself as a preferable candidate tothe throne, appearing as a modest, devout man with no pretensions to greatness.Lord Hastings, who objects to Richard's ascension, is arrested and executed ona trumped-up charge. The other lords are cajoled into accepting Richard asking, in spite of the continued survival of his nephews (the Princes in theTower).
Hisnew status leaves Richard sufficiently confident to dispose of his nephews.Buckingham conditions his consent for the princes’ deaths on receiving a landgrant, which Richard rejects, leaving Buckingham fearful for his life. As thebody count rises, the increasingly paranoid Richard loses what popularity hehad; he soon faces rebellions led first by Buckingham and subsequently by theinvading Earl of Richmond (Henry VII of England). Both sides arrive for a finalbattle at Bosworth Field. Prior to the battle, Richard is visited by the ghostsof those whose deaths he has caused, all of whom tell him to: “Despair anddie!” He awakes screaming for “Jesu” (Jesus) to help him, slowly realizing thathe is all alone in the world and that even he hates himself. Richard's languageand undertones of self-remorse seem to indicate that, in the final hour, he isrepentant for his evil deeds, however, it is too late.
Asthe battle commences, Richard gives arguably the least motivational pep-talk inEnglish literature (“Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls; Conscienceis but a word that cowards use… March on, join bravely, let us to't pellmell; If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell....”). Lord Stanley (whohappens to be Richmond's step-father) and his followers desert, leaving Richardat a disadvantage. Richard is soon unhorsed on the field at the climax of thebattle, and utters the often-quoted line: “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!”He is defeated in the final “hunting of the boar”, so to speak, and Richmondsucceeds as Henry VII, even going so far as to marry a York, effectively endingthe War of the Roses (to the evident relief of everyone involved).
Indramatic terms, perhaps the most important (and, arguably, the mostentertaining) feature of the play is the sudden alteration in Richard'scharacter. For the first 'half' of the play, we see him as something of an anti-hero,causing mayhem and enjoying himself hugely in the process:
I do mistakemy person all this while;
Upon my life,she finds, although I cannot,
Myself to be amarvellous proper man.
I'll be atcharges for a looking-glass;
Almostimmediately after he is crowned, however, his personality and actions take adarker turn. He turns against loyal Buckingham (“I am not in the giving vein”),he falls prey to self-doubt (“I am in so far in blood, that sin will pluck onsin;”); now he sees shadows where none exist and visions of his doom to come(“Despair and die”).
Depictionof Richard
Shakespeare'sdepiction of Richard and his “reign of terror” is unflattering, and modernhistorians find it a distortion of historical truth. Shakespeare's “history” playswere not, of course, intended to be historically accurate, but were designedfor entertainment. As with “Macbeth”, Richard's supposed villainy is depictedas extreme in order to achieve maximum dramatic effect. In addition, manyprevious writers had depicted Richard as a villain, and Shakespeare was thusfollowing tradition.
Nevertheless,it is important to question why this particular king became a symbol ofvillainy during the Elizabeth’s period. Critics have argued that this darkdepiction of Richard developed because the ruling monarch of Shakespeare'stime, Elizabeth I, was the granddaughter of Henry VII of England, theLancastrian Earl of Richmond, who had defeated the last Yorkist king andstarted the Tudor dynasty, and Shakespeare's play thus presents the version ofRichard that the ruling family would have wanted to see.
Shakespeare'smain source for his play was the chronicle of Raphael Holinshed but it alsoseems likely that he drew on the work of Sir Thomas More, author of theunfinished “History of King Richard III” published by John Rastell after More'sdeath. Rastell, More's brother-in-law, compiled the text from twowork-in-progress manuscripts, one in English and one in Latin in differentstages of composition. More's work is not a history in the modern sense. It isa highly coloured and literary account which contains accurate and inventeddetails in (arguably) roughly equal portions. More had many sources availablefor his account (most of whom, like his patron Cardinal John Morton, wereextremely hostile to the old regime) but like Shakespeare his main source ishis own imagination: over a third of the text consists of invented speeches.
RichardIII is theculmination of the cycle of “Wars of Roses” plays. In “Henry VI”, part II andpart III, Shakespeare had already begun the process of building Richard'scharacter into that of a ruthless villain, even though Richard could notpossibly have been involved in some of the events depicted. He participates inbattles in which historically he would still have been a boy. From an overviewof the cycle, it can be seen that Shakespeare's inaccuracy works both ways. Historical context
Shakespeareis not famous for his historical accuracy; this play is representative of hiswork in that respect. Queen Margaret did not in fact survive to see Richard'saccession to the throne; her inclusion in the play is purely dramatic,providing first a warning to the other characters about Richard's true nature(which they of course ignore to their cost) and then a chorus-like commentaryon how the various tragedies affecting the House of York reflect justice forthe wrongs the Yorkists performed against the Lancastrians (“I had an Edward,till a Richard killed him; I had a Henry, till a Richard kill'd him. Thou hadstan Edward, till a Richard kill'd him; Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richardkill'd him...”).
Itis perhaps strange that in presenting the cycle of vengeance Shakespeareomitted the fact that the real-life Richard himself had a son who diedprematurely, which some contemporary historians viewed as divine retributionfor the fate of Edward's sons — which of course Margaret would claim asretribution for the fate of her son. Shakespeare's Tudor patrons might havewelcomed this additional demonstration of Richard's wickedness. Comedic elements
Despitethe high violence of the play and the villainous nature of the title character,Shakespeare manages to infuse this play with a surprising amount of comicmaterial. Much of the humor rises from the dichotomy between what we knowRichard's character to be and how Richard tries to appear. The prime example isperhaps the portion of Act III, Scene 1, where Richard is forced to “play nice”with the young and mocking Duke of York. Other examples appear in Richard’s attemptsat acting, first in the matter of justifying Hastings’s death and later in hiscoy response to being offered the crown.
Richardhimself also provides some dry remarks in evaluating the situation, as when hisplan to marry the Queen Elizabeth's daughter: “Murder her brothers, then marryher; Uncertain way of gain....”
Otherexamples of humor in this play include Clarence’s ham-fisted and half-heartedmurderers, and the Duke of Buckingham's report on his attempt to persuade theLondoners to accept Richard (“...I bid them that did love their country’s goodcry, God save Richard, England's royal king!” Richard: “And did they so?”Buckingham: “No, so God help me, they spake not a word....”)
Puns,a Shakespearean staple, are especially well-represented in the scene whereRichard tries to persuade Queen Elizabeth to woo her daughter on his behalf. Film versions
Themost famous player of the part in recent times was Laurence Olivier in his 1955film version. His inimitable rendition has been satirized by many comediansincluding Peter Cook and Peter Sellers (who had aspirations to do the rolestraight). Sellers' version of “A Hard Day’s Night” was delivered in the styleof Olivier as Richard III. The first series of the BBC television comedyBlackadder in part parodies the Olivier film, visually (as in the crown motif),Peter Cook's performance as a Richard who is a jolly, loving monarch butnevertheless oddly reminiscent of Olivier's rendition, and by manglingShakespearean text (“Now is the summer of our sweet content made o'ercastwinter by these Tudor clouds...”)
Morerecently, Richard III has been brought to the screen by Sir Ian McKellen (1995)in an abbreviated version set in a 1930s fascist England, and by Al Pacino inthe 1996 documentary “Looking for Richard”. In the 1976 film “ The GoodbyeGirl”, Richard Dreyfuss’s character, an actor, gives a memorable performance asa homosexual Richard in a gay stage production of the play.

Conclusion
 
Thewar of the Roses (also called the war of the two Roses) is a very importantperiod for the British culture and history. It has been a turning point in thehistory of the United Kingdom : a very large part of the aristocracy waskilled (some noble families even disappeared) and the royal dynasty changed. Ithas also been a vast source of inspiration for English authors, such asShakespeare.
Thehistory of the war of the two Roses is really propitious to literarynarration : you have a Queen with a strong personality (Marguerite), a madKing, traitors, multiple reversal of situation,… But the myth is differentfrom the reality : what is disappointing is that the version ofShakespeare is a bit far from the reality whereas it needed not to be thrilling.For instance, Richard III was not the ‘‘nice’’ King of Shakespeare’s play.However we must not forget that he could not question the foundation of theTudor dynasty ands its legitimity !
Thisperiod will remain one of the most epic in the English history, even if itconcerned principally the aristocracy (the armies were small and one implicitrule was to kill the nobles, not the simple peasants).

References:
1. E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century(1961);
2. P. M. Kendall, The Yorkist Age (1962,repr. 1965);
3. S. B. Chrimes, Lancastrians, Yorkists,and Henry VII (1964);
4. J. R. Lander, The Wars of the Roses(1965);
5. C. D. Ross, Wars of the Roses: A ConciseHistory (1976);
6. E. Hallam, Wars of the Roses andChronicles of the Wars of the Roses (1988);
7. J A.J.Pollard. Richard III and the Princes in the Tower
8. AlisonWeir. The Princes in the Tower.
9. AnneSutton, Livia Visser-Fuchs. Richard III's Books.
10. AnneSutton, Peter Hammond. The Coronation of Richard III.
11. BertramFields. Royal Blood.
12. CharlesRoss. Richard III. Methuen, 1981
13. CharlesWood. Joan of Arc and Richard III.
14. Desmond Seward. RichardIII: England's Black Legend.
15. JeremyPotter. Good King Richard?
16. KeithDockray. Richard III: A Reader in History, Sutton, 1988
17. MichaelHicks. Richard the Third, Tempus, 2001.
18. PaulMurray Kendall. Richard III: The Great Debate.
19. PaulMurray Kendall. Richard the Third.
20. PeterHammond and Anne Sutton. Richard III: The Road to Bosworth Field.
21. RichardDrewett & Mark Redhead. The Trial of Richard III.
22. RosemaryHorrox. Richard III: A Study in Service.
23. RosemaryHorrox. Richard III and the North.
24. V.B.Lamb. The Betrayal of Richard III.
25. Winston Churchill.History of the English Speaking Peoples. The Birth of Britain, Vol. 1.
26.  Pollard, Wars of the Roses (1995); A.Weir, Wars of the Roses (1995).

Appendix 1
 
King HenryVI (1421-1471)
He ruled England from 1422-1461 and then again from1470-1471. Henry may fairly be said to have been a very good man, but a verybad king. He was pious and devoted to education, but lacked either thegoverning or the military skills to run 15th Century Britain. In 1445, Henrymarried Margaret of Anjou. Her favorites, such as Somerset and Buckingham ruledthe court in all but name. In 1453, however, a mental breakdown by Henryallowed Richard, Duke of York, to step in as «Protector». When Henryregained his sanity, he was urged by his wife and her favorites to throw Yorkand his allies out of the Government. On May 22nd of that year, York and hisallies began to take that Government back. (Trivia: Henry VI was the first Kingof England to never personally command an Army against a foreign foe.)
King EdwardIV (1442-1483)
He ruled England from 1461-1470 and again from1471-1483. Upon the death of his father, the Duke of York, in the battle ofWakefield on December 31, 1460, Edward took up both the position and thequarrel of his sire. In 1461, He was taken to Parliament by «TheKingmaker», Richard Neville, and crowned king. The two of them then headednorth and engaged with the Lancastrian army in the battle of Towton; a Yorkistvictory. This spelled the beginning of the end for the Lancastrians. Edwardruled for the next 9 years and it would take the influence of the Kingmaker tobring the Lancastrians to power again. (Trivia: The battle of Towton was thelargest battle ever fought on English soil. Contemporary sources reported thenumbers of men in the hundreds of thousands, though they were prone to spice upamounts (the big fish syndrome) and the actual number was probably nearer to40,000 individuals.)
QueenMargaret of Anjou (1429-1482)
Margaret wasmarried to Henry VI in 1445. Despite the King's inate shyness and fear ofwomen, they appear to have had a good marriage. With Henry's mental failings,however, it was left to Margaret and her favorites to try and hold the kingdom.Until the death of her son (at Tewkesbury in 1471), she was truly the backboneof the Lancastrian cause. At Tewkesbury in 1471, her son was defeated andkilled and she was imprisoned. She was eventually ransomed by Louis of Francein exchange for her French lands.
King EdwardV (1470-1483Duke Somerset
EdmundBeaufort (Somerset) supported Henry and the Queen during the King's breakdown.Unfortunately for him, he also had a private feud in the north with theNevilles. When York became Protector, Somerset found himself thrown out ofcourt and into the Tower of London. In a reversal of fortunes, however, theKing regained his sanity and Somerset was freed. This too was shortlived,however, as the Yorkists returned with an army that met with the Lancastriansat St Albans in the first battle of the Wars. The Yorkists were victorious (ingreat part due to the efforts of the Kingmaker who would begin to gain hispersonal fame at this time) and Somerset was hacked to death in front of theCastle Inn; May 22, 1455.
He reignedfrom 1483 until his death in 1485. One of the most controversial rulers in thehistory of the British Isles, Richard remains something of an enigma tohistorians. Histories surrounding him range from Sir Thomas More andShakespeare portraying him as evil incarnate, to some modern revisionists whowould clear him of all possible guilt and proclaim him to be the greatest ofthe English monarchs. As with all things the truth is probably somewhere inbetween. Opposing views on the subject are readily available even on the Web(see my intro page) and so I will refrain from pursuing the debate to anydegree. Richard came to power in 1483 probably fearing for his power andperhaps his life under a Woodville Monarchy. He seems to have been contentunder his brother's rule (Edward IV), but when Edward died and Edward V was tooyoung to rule for himself, Richard became Protector. He seems to have been asuccessful administrator, but his rule was wracked with as much controversythen as it is today and many in power mistrusted him. In 1485, at the battle ofBosworth Field, Richard was defeated and killed by the army of Henry Tudor(King Henry VII). (Trivia: Richard III was the last English Monarch topersonally battle beside his troops in war.)
RichardNeville (Earl of Warwick)(1428-1471)
Also known asthe Kingmaker, this figure has been called the last of the English Barons. Hewas central to the Wars and could even be considered to be the third party inthem (ie. Lancastrians, Yorkists, and Nevilles). (Trivia: Richard Neville onceheld two Kings of England captive at the same time. Henry VI and Edward IV bothfeel under his control in 1469. For those of you who are vampire buffs, youmight be interested in learning that the Kingmaker was born in the same year asVlad Dracula; 1428.(There are others, including Rand McNally who put theImpaler's birth at 1431 which would make this trivia pointless, but I thoughtI'd mention it in order to be fair.)
HenryStafford, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1454-1483)
Stafford became duke in 1460 with thedeath of his father. When Edward IV died, Buckingham supported Richard III'sclaim to the throne and was rewarded with the high constableship of England. Inthe same year, however, he led a rebellion against Richard and was captured andexecuted for treason.
RichardPlantagenet, Duke of York (1411-1460)
Father ofEdward IV and Richard III, Richard was the namesake of the Yorkist side of theWars. His claim to the throne was considered strong enough so that he was heirto Henry VI, until Henry produced a son. After the Battle of St Albans, Richardwas again made heir to Henry disinheriting Edward of Lancaster. Queen Margaretwould have none of that and by 1459 the two sides were in outright war with oneanother. In 1461 in Wakefield, York was tricked into leaving his castle and hisforces were slaughtered by the Lancastrians. He, his son, and Salisbury werekilled.
Henry Tudor(1457-1509)
The first ofthe Tudor kings, Henry VII defeated Richard III at Bosworth Fields on 22 August1485. Henry was born to Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort, though his fatherwas killed before his birth and his mother was only 13. He spent 14 years inWales and then another 14 in exile in France before making his bid for thethrone. Early in 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter andostensibly united the two houses of York and Lancaster. His reign lasted from1485 to 1509 when the crown passed to his more famous son, Henry VIII. (Trivia:Henry VII was something of a Mama's boy. His mother, Margaret Beaufort, hadtremendous political influence during his reign as well as controlling thehousehold. She even went to France to order them to pay up on War debts.)
RichardNeville (Earl of Salisbury)(Abt 1400 — 1460)
Father of Richard Neville, Earl ofWarwick, Salisbury was the oldest of the Yorkists. He was a capable warleaderand often seems to have been the voice of reason. Successful in the early partof the war, he was captured and beheaded just after the battle of Wakefield.
Louis XI
The King ofFrance from 1461 until his death in 1483. Known as the «Spider King»,Louis ran a game of serious international intrigue in order to rebuild hiscountry which had been plagued with a century of war. In his 22 year reign, heshowed a great understanding of changing politics and reclaimed the duchies ofBurgundy and Brittany.
Charles theBold (1433-1477)
The Duke of Burgundy. When his father, Philip theGood, died in 1467, Charles began his dream of expanding his Dukedom. In 1468 hemarried Margaret of York, the sister of Edward IV, and formed an alliance withEngland. He fought intermittant battles with France before being defeated andkilled by Switzerland at the battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. (Trivia:Fantastically wealthy, lavish, ambitious and tenacious, Charles had anabominable war record. In his war with Switzerland, his forces were defeatedsoundly at Grandson and later even more soundly at Morat. Despite the fact thathe was a losing agressor, he nevertheless ignored peace attempts and laid siegeto Nancy.)