The Plantagenets: The Wars of the Roses Documentary

Stranger VI was born on December 6, 1421 during the time of the Hundred Years' War. His mother Catherine of Valwa was born in Paris on October 27, 1401, daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabella of Bavaria. She was his daughter and his younger sister. she of Charles VII she would marry Henry VI's father, King Henry V, at age 18, on June 2, 1420. Little of her early life is known as a younger princess. Henry V was crowned king on 9 April 1413, but at the time of his birth on 16 September 1386 he was not in the direct line of succession in 1399 his father Henry Bowling broke the king's cousin Richard II took the throne becoming Henry IV became the first Lancastrian king, as a result Henry V became in the line of succession and received the title Prince of Wales.

Her military career began at a young age and would continue throughout her life, culminating with the invasion of France in 1415 and the Battle of Agincourt, which broke the troops negotiated by Richard II to press his claim. the French throne through his descent from Edward III and reignited the Hundred Years' War. This French campaign would conclude in 1420 with the Treaty of Trois in which King Charles VI recognized Henry as heir to the French throne. Henry's war in France would now continue allied with the Burgundians against the Armagnacs. He returned to England in early 1421, where he progressed throughout the country and in March he would be joined by Catherine after her coronation after receiving news of her father's death. brother Thomas in March in Beauge.

Henry returned to France in June 1421. Several battles followed, including what was to be the last at the Siege of Mo. He would die of dysentery three months after the conclusion of the siege at Van Sen Castle on 31 August 1422. , without ever having met his son as Enrique's only son. V, Henry, nine months old, became King Henry VI after the death of his father; However, when he was a baby, there was clearly no way Henry could rule near death. Henry V had made provision in his will for the protection and education of his son Humphrey Duke. Gloucester's younger brother Henry, who earlier in 1422 had been appointed Guardian of the realm, was granted the protection and defense of the Young Prince, but the boy's governorship would pass to the Duke of Exeter Thomas Beaufort while he passed the Regency of France. to John Duke of Bedford, Henry's eldest younger brother until such time as young Henry was old enough to rule;

However, there would be bad feelings about some of the provisions of the will, namely that Humphrey was not seen as a good choice for regent of England. Despite his arguments in favor of himself, which continued throughout his life, he was appointed by Parliament to defend the kingdom and hold the position of chief advisor to the king, but without the powers of a regent, as the youngest of the two surviving brothers, these powers would be abandoned. For John, whenever he was present in England, a council was held until the king came of age. Among those who would sit on this council was Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, shortly after the death of his father, Charles VI of France, and by virtue of the Treaty of the Trois, Henry now succeeded to the throne of France with less one year old, however, this was not accepted throughout France, since Charles claimed the throne and was recognized by the Armagnacs who still dominated in the center and south.

France, the dofa, although disinherited by the Treaty of Tua, was proclaimed Charles VII on October 30, 1422. As was usual, Catherine, although involved in the education of her son and the choice of servants, was not his main Face, She was placed under the control of Isabel Raymond and cared for by a small team of nurses before being handed over to the care of a new governess, Alice Butler, she was to begin her teaching in polite discipline and other appropriate matters and was given provision to provide reasonable punishment without reprisals to the young king when necessary Henry would make his first appearance in public life shortly before his second birthday at the opening of parliament.

This ancient tradition of the Monarch being present at the opening of parliament is still maintained today, although in somewhat modernized form in June 1428. Beecham, the Earl of Warwick, was appointed Henry's tutor to continue his education in matters of royal piety and there are records of martial arts of two small suits of armor that were made for him when he was seven years old and that they gave him a long-bladed sword so that the king could learn to play in his tender age that such was the effectiveness of his education on the part of of Lady Alice already at this time that in March 1428 her ruling Council estimated that she would be able to take a more active part in the government in just a few years, however, this statement also alludes to the friction within the council caused by Gloucester's continued quest for power and offered him a form of resistance during this first decade of Henry's life.

The war in France against the Armagnacs continued under his uncle John, Duke of Bedford in August 1424 Bedford. and his English and Norman forces assembled on the Vernier plane in Normandy, greatly outnumbered by the combined force of French and Scots who were allied to the Armagnacs. This time the initial assault by the Lombard cavalry broke the English lines, but after a close battle. The battle of Bedford's forces prevailed marking the climax of the English campaign. It is estimated that almost half of the assembled French forces died on the field that day. The battles continued to push back the Armagnacs and at the end of 1428 the siege of Orleans began, however, its previous success.

There would be no repeat Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, who had been present at Bedford's side in France for many years, died early during the siege and, despite being replaced by a competent commander, the English were unable to assault the heavily fortified town. . Joan of Arc, first at the court of Charles VII in February 1429 and then at Olia in April, would signal her coming defeat. Joan and her entourage easily entered the city despite the English blockade and, after only four days of fighting, the English lifted the siege and withdrew. More battles would follow on May 8 where Joan was present with many supporting English cities capitulating to her advancing Force, including Cream in July.

Rheem had long been considered a sacred place as it was in the Cathedral of this city where the kings were consecrated with the Holy Oil and so, with his capitulation, Charles entered Reem on the 16th of July; His coronation and anointing took place the following day, July 17, 1429. Henry's advisors realized that a strong response was necessary after Charles's coronation and following defeats at the hands of Joan of Arc it was decided that Henry, despite his age, had to be crowned and so preparations began. His coronation would take place on November 6, 1429 in Westminster, but this alone would not be enough and so on.

On April 23, 1430, Henry left for France with the Earl of Warwick, accompanied by a retinue of more than 300 people and an army at his back. Henry remained first in Calais until the route to Raw was secured before setting out and arriving in the city at At the end of July it is noted that on his arrival at Royal he was greeted by a cheering crowd and the noise was such that Henry he asked to be stopped, perhaps giving an indication of his sensitive nature; He was to remain there until such time as he was safe to make the trip to Paris and to do so would be rough for more than a year at the beginning of his stay in France.

Joan of Arc was captured in May 1430 by the Burgundians during the siege of Pompeii and would later be sold to the English. for heresy and burned at the stake at Roa in May 1431, although Henry was in prison at the same time the trial took place, it is not clear if he was present at any of the proceedings, it was sometime around this time When Henry VI's mother Catherine secretly married her second husband, the Welshman Owen Tudor, their first son, Edmund, would be born shortly after their marriage, they would have two more sons, Jasper and Owen, and a daughter of whom little was known. knows.

Owen, as a Welshman, received citizenship letters from Owen. parliament in 1432 but the marriage was kept out of the public sphere Henry finally arrived in Paris in December 1431. His coronation took place on 16 December but by all accounts it was a hasty affair the ceremony was performed by the now Cardinal Beaufort in place of a French bishop and the party that followed the ceremony was said to be disappointing; However, it is likely that the coronation was somewhat overshadowed since only three days earlier Philip, Duke of Burgundy, had concluded a truce with Charles VII that would last the next six years.

Henry left France on January 29, 1432 and would never return during the next six years. years 1432-1436, the king was still in the minority, however Henry was clearly beginning to realize his position and in 1432 Warwick requested more power within his wardship of the boy to protect himself from challenge by Henry and any possible punishment resulting from their punishments; at the same time, he also requested that these men of questionable virtues be kept away from Henry to avoid influencing the impressionable young king. There was still friction among the council. At the time, much of this involved Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, who was moderated in part by Bedford, their differences had been clear throughout their time serving together, but now it was their views on the continuation of the war. in France those who would come to the fore.

Gloucester's views differed. Making peace with the Armagnacs had been often talked about since Beaufort for some years, but it was not until late 1435 that serious efforts were made to this end with the Congress of Addis in August. and September 1435, the Congress led by Beaufort failed to achieve peace and just a week after it ended, Bedford died on September 14, another week later, on September 21, a treaty was sealed between the Burgundians and the French declaring the desertion of the Burgundians to the side of the English the capture of Paris. Following in April 1436, Henry attended his first meeting of the council in October 1435 in response to the failure of Aras and began to take an active role in the government, although still guided by his councillors, but the roles played by Beaufort and Gloucester when trying to secure his influence over Enrique. more so because Bedford's death would serve to turn the king into someone who depended on others to tell him what to do rather than allowing him to become a man confident in his own decision.

Another prominent influence in his life. Warwick, his guardian for almost eight years, resigned. the position in May 1436 without replacement at the end of July 1436 Henry signed his first grant order to Beaufort a few days after Gloucester left for Calais Henry continued throughout 1436 and 1437 issuing orders still along with his Council rewarding and patronizing many Of those who have been in his household over the years with new roles within the government and prominent positions in the Kingdom, this included William de la Pole, the Earl of Suffolk, who had been steward of the household since 1433. Suffolk was appointed chief steward of the Duchy of Lancaster. and just as Beaufort and Gloucester would become a major influence in Henry's reign, in 1437 the council tentatively began to consult the king on matters of appointment, where it was said to defer to their advice in mid-1437.

Henry asserted his mercy in siding with Pope Eugene IV against it. At the Council of Bal, he also shared Beaufort's opinion that making peace in France would be preferable to continuing the conflict, giving Beaufort the opportunity to further exert his influence over the King. On 12 November 1437 a great council was convened and Henry announced his intention to fully assume his role as king while maintaining his council, but 1437 not only marked Henry's passage to rule. Catherine's mother had fallen ill in 1436 and she moved to Burmansi Abbey later that year, where she was cared for; she would die on January 3. his two eldest sons and Henry's half-brothers would be placed in the care of Suffolk's sister, Catherine de la Poe, abbess of a Barking Abbey, possibly at Suffolk's suggestion to the king, while Owen Tudor would be imprisoned for two years during Henry's minority in the Kingdom.

Finances were already under pressure due to the continuing war in France and expenses frequently exceeded income. Furthermore, the crown inherited debts not only from Henry V but also from Henry IV. On many occasions, the crown found itself in need of help and so borrowed money. To a large extent, Cardinal Beaufort was one of his main lenders, an enormously wealthy man who had already been lending to the crown under Henry V. No step towards his reign. Henry's generosity towards his expanding family in granting many patronages would further undermine attempts to balance the books. The first signs of The scant attention he paid to matters of government and suchPerhaps some lack of understanding of resources can be seen when he voluntarily signed a series of petitions that directly impoverished the crown and weakened local government in parts of the kingdom.

These concessions continued throughout his reign. The reign and, along with military spending and the worsening economy, would continue to negatively affect the kingdom's finances despite the council's attempts to curb Henry's generosity, the worsening financial situation would eventually contribute to the rebellion. , although he was very willing to grant concessions for offices that Henry lacked. knowledge of the finer diplomatic points of his actions and that of his reign in 1441, among the many grants he granted was the administration of the Duchy of Cornwall to the Earl of Devon, who had petitioned the king. Lord Bonville had been appointed Royal Steward and Cornwall for life in 1437, of which the Duchy of Cornwall was within the boundaries over which the two men were already feuding at the time, shortly after this appointment Henry was forced to write to Devon and ask him not to take over until further council discussions had taken place, a request which Devon rejected following violence between the parties later in the year, both men resigned the stewardships and, although The exact outcome of an arbitration is unknown.

In the following year, Devon still considered himself the rightful one. This situation was not uncommon and it has been suggested that in some cases Henry was unsure whether the concessions he granted could be implemented, as many of them included the caveat that they should only come into force if an identical patent had been obtained. In several cases, duplicate grants that were contested by the new party or those that were overly generous would have to be formally canceled by members of the government throughout the 1440s. Henry also frequently interfered with the justice that the court prosecuted. during this time.

It was complicated and for many it was a difficult and long process to obtain justice. Many cases were referred to the King's Council, where the lower courts were unable or unwilling to pass judgment during this period. Henry granted many pardons for a wide range of crimes, including attempted rapes and murders that further undermined the struggling justice system in the immediate years after his minority dedicated themselves to the pursuit of peace with France despite the ongoing military campaigns in which Henry showed little decisive leadership; in fact, it was noted that his interference in matters relating to France often proved to be an obstacle.

Unsuccessful attempts were made in 1438 before the OI Congress began in the summer of 1439, but they would conclude only with a truce with the Burgundians; However, there was still the possibility of further discussions as the talks had not been formally concluded and therefore In 1440, Henry reviewed the option of freeing the earlier duke, who had been a prisoner in England since the Battle of Agincourt. Gloucester was strongly opposed to this idea, but with his militaristic attitude his influence was waning and it was the arguments of Beaufort and Archbishop Kemp along with Suffolk council that influenced the king it has been said that Henry's decision to ultimately release Orlia lacked substance and was driven by his deep convictions of wanting peace given his lack of interest in military matters however the first part of Orleans Ransom was raised by the French and he was released that same year in early November, but quickly he would fail in his mission to negotiate a piece.

It seems that Henry's mind was partly elsewhere during the negotiations when in September 1440 and February 1441 he founded Eaton College and King's College Cambridge and became involved in the supervision of their building. Eaton was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and these acts of foundation acted both in the king's interest in education and in his piety, such was his interest in education more than anyone else's. King that there are records that Henry donated many of his own books to All Souls College, Oxford and Kings Hall, Cambridge in this promotion of education. He felt similar to Alfred the Great and such was his admiration for Alfred that he devoted much time and effort to canonizing him in 1442, although his efforts ultimately failed, it was in 1441 that Gloucester's influence over the king would finally come to an end when his second Wife, Eleanor Cobham, with ambitions to be queen, sought the advice of astrologers and necromancers who predicted that Henry succumbed to illness in the summer of 1441.

Rumors soon circulated about it and in July she was arrested, she was forcibly divorced from Gloucester and imprisoned for the rest of her life. Gloucester's reputation would never recover in 1443 after the failure of peace talks and further French victories. He made the decision to send another expedition to France. Both Normandy and the former Duchy of Gascony needed relief, but the treasury could not support two expeditions, so Gascony was eventually selected as a force led by the 1st Duke of Somerset, John Beaufort. It has been suggested that the decision to undertake the campaign fell to Cardinal Beaufort - in fact, Somerset was his nephew - but the campaign would end in failure.

Somerset would die shortly after his return to England and Beaufort would retire from his active duties as an advisor, although he would still continue. exert some influence and offer informal advice without the influences of Gloucester and Beaufort Suffolk now coming to the fore given the dangerous financial situation within England, further depleted by the ongoing war, a peace was needed and therefore before at Henry's insistence, but not without some reluctance Suffolk traveled to France in early 1444 to negotiate a marriage with Margaret of Anjou, the niece of Charles VII, before leaving; However, Suffolk made sure to protect himself and asked for a public declaration that neither he nor his colleagues would be held responsible should they fail, which Henry duly granted negotiations concluded on 22 May which resulted in Margaret's engagement to Henry on 24 and the limit of a two-year truce on the 28th.

Suffolk acted as proxy during the betrothal ceremony and on his return to England was richly rewarded. first with the

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hip of Margaret Beaufort, the daughter of the late Somerset and later that year she was raised to the rank of Marquis of Suffolk. He would return to France in late 1444 to continue negotiations and in early 1445 acted once again as Henry's proxy at his wedding to Margaret in Norse. Margaret arrived in England in April, where after recovering from a period of illness that had begun in France and worsened by the Sea Crossing, she traveled to Titchfield Abbey and married Henry on 22 April 1445.

Margaret would stay in one of Cardinal Beaufort's manners for a short time before heading to London, where she arrived on 28 May and was crowned two days later, however rumors were rife that during negotiations the king had ordered Suffolk to cede land to the French and although she would inform Parliament that this was not the case, her reputation suffered. Suffolk maintained his position and over the next few years his influence at court increased as many of his own men were appointed to prominent positions within the council. The marriage appears to have been a happy one and the King was generous to his wife, buying her jewels and horses and in 1448 he allowed her to found Queen's College, Cambridge.

They spent much time together in the royal palaces but despite this it would be eight years before a child was born. Their Wyatt union took as long to produce an heir as was unknown, but Henry was said to be of a prudish nature. The earl survived a visit to Bath in 1449, where he was said to have been shocked and embarrassed to see men and women bathing naked. Together, another similar event occurred at a Christmas parade involving women with bad breasts, to which the king is said to have stormed out of the place after his wedding. Henry actively sought peace with Charles VII.

Both rulers were said to be keen to reach an agreement, but extensions of the truce were only concluded when the first of the French envoys arrived in London in 1445. It is noted that Henry greeted them personally showing almost excessive friendship towards them, although much of the negotiations took place between envoys. Henry stated that he was happy to travel to France to speak with Charles in person; However, this meeting would never take place during the war, as long as peace was on the table, the English had been unwilling to give up land, but this was about to change in December 1445.

Henry wrote to Charles who was willing to cede Maine to the French in pursuit of peace between them, this act by Henry was in response to envoys from Charles and the Duke's father Renée Margaret and in return he would enact a 20-year truce. Henry, acting on his own initiative, personally authorized the document, although it was said somewhere that his wife influenced him to make this decision, Henry's move was deeply unpopular and English commanders in France resisted the original date of the session. to be April 30, 1446, but this day came and went without the land being delivered.

Opposition to current French policy in England was led, as expected, by Gloucester, who had always maintained a stance of not giving up any territory. A parliament originally scheduled to be held in Cambridge was rearranged to meet in berries. and Edmonds, a bastion of Suffolk influence, and Gloucester was summoned to attend as rumors that Gloucester was plotting against Henry had apparently spread and the king apparently believed them, for upon Gloucester's arrival on 18 February 1447 the king was denied access and told that Gloucester was arrested that same day on a dubious charge of treason, but would not face trial until five days later and on 23 February he was found dead.

There has been some suggestion that Suffolk, along with others, convinced the king of his uncle's intentions to raise the Welsh against him, as Gloucester had estates there, but it is likely that Suffolk's true intention was to silence opposition to the French policy he was now following, although without the intention of killing the duke to avoid rumors of foul play. In the following months, his body was displayed in the church. Several of those arrested alongside him were tried and sentenced to death by hanging, drawn and quartered, but in a show of mercy and compassion, Henry spared them while the executions took place and even allowed the return of their possessions and property. confiscated, but in years to come the myth of the good Duke Humphrey would lead many to believe that those in the king's service had conspired to bring about his death by damaging the king's reputation;

There would be another notable day of death for Henry in the same year that the 72-year-old Cardinal Beaufort died on April 11, 1447. Both Henry and his queen were remembered in Beaufort's will and were bequeathed a series of articles, as well as a provision for substantial donations to Eaton and King's. College, but there was still opposition from his commanders in France. Henry authorized his new King's Commissioners to use Force if necessary to take custody of the Holdings in Maine in preparation for the session in his fervent Search for Peace, finally after much coming and going and dragging the heels of those appointed by Henry to facilitate the session Maine was surrendered in March 1448, but not without a show of force by Charles, who briefly laid siege to Le Mans.

Ultimately, the extended truce granted by the session would be short-lived and for years to come. years Henry would lose control of both Normandy and Gascony following an English attack on the Breton town of Fujier in March 1449. This attack was launched under the pretext of freeing Zeel's pro-English brother from the Duke of Brittany and a large childhood. friend of Henry and was orchestrated by Suffolk and the 2nd Duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, the attack prompted a French declaration of war in July. Other monarchs, such as Henry's own father, would have taken the opportunity to lead a force to recover lost territory. the French, but this was not the case with Henry and there is no indication that such an idea was ever entertained at the time when the Hundred Years' War would come to an end with the French victory in 1453.

The mismanagement of funding by Henry over the years and his fiscal prioritization of domestic projects and patronage rather than the war effort and lack of military leadership may be partly blamed for the English defeat. It was during this tumultuous time that the fall of Suffolk and other prominent members of the council over the years occurred. Until 1450, Suffolk's influence at court was prominent as fewer councilors attended meetings and it has been suggested that he was attempting to strengthen his line by marrying his eldest son to Margaret Beaufort due to the situation in France and the loss of Rua in the October Parliament.he was recalled at the end of 1449 and soon they were looking for a scapegoat for this disastrous turn of events.

Dissatisfaction with the handling of France and anger at the loss of long-held territories were widespread throughout the country. The first victim of dissatisfaction was The Keeper of the Old Seal Bishop Adam Mullins, one of Suffolk's most ardent supporters, was murdered at Portsmouth on 9 January 1450 by a soldier preparing to embark for France to aid Normandy when Parliament reconvened after Christmas at the end of January 1450. Suffolk declared his allegiance to the crown, but four days later the House of Commons requested his arrest. He was indicted on February 7 with many trumped-up charges, including treason, brought against him on March 9.

Suffolk denied all charges before the King and Parliament. Being in a difficult position, Henry would deal with the matter himself and on 17 March the Lords of Parliament and Suffolk met in his personal chamber. Suffolk once again protested his innocence and Henry dismissed the treason charge but found him guilty of lesser charges and sentenced him to five years of banishment in an effort to protect him. Suffolk was expelled from London during the night of 19 March but, despite the secrecy, he was pursued part of the way to his Suffolk estate by a group of Londoners two days later.

He was mutinying in London because he would begin his exile on May 1, he took a ship from Ipswich heading to Calais where he would continue his journey to the lands of the Duke of Burgundy in the Netherlands where his ships were intercepted in the Strait of Dover. taken aboard a ship named Nicholas de la Torre where he was held for a short time before being beheaded on 2 May 1450. His body lay on a beach at Dover and his head was said to have been placed on a post next to it. Given the unrest, when Parliament resumed on 29 April after the Easter holidays, it was held in Leicester and the king would be present, the question of resumption had been raised in previous sessions of parliament, but Henry initially resisted. any major implementation and insisted that its previous grants must be maintained so that its credibility did not suffer further.

Now, in this last session, the issue was raised again by the Commons in an effort to recover some of the lost revenue, a bill was introduced which would revert hereditary grants into life grants, thus returning the land to the crown at Dying, this bill concerned all the grants made by Henry since the beginning of his reign, but with some exemptions, as patronage had always been part of a king's rule, it was not until 6 May, when news reached them from the death of Suffolk that the king had accepted the bill, but that in the following month nearly 200 exemptions would be granted to it, thus defeating its purpose, the question of resumption would be raised again in the session of the following year's parliament. 51 given the failings of the first, fewer exemptions would be made, but this time Eaton and King's College were not completely exempt as their grants represented a heavy burden on the crown.

Also within this bill, Parliament attempted to limit the king's future patronages by proposing that all future grants were to be scrutinized by the state's three principal officials and a minimum of six councilors who would have the power to authorize them; However, Henry refused to consent to this part of the law because he did not want his own initiatives to be restricted from obtaining further exemptions. They were added to the bill before it was finally approved by the king and proved to be somewhat more effective than the first bill in returning revenue to the crown; It was precisely the problem that the resumption was trying to solve that led in part to abandonment within the kingdom losses in France the financial situation a resentment towards those among Henry's advisors who were thought to be using their positions to benefit themselves or joining To the growing tensions criticism had not been directed at Henry, but the death of two of his closest advisors and feelings towards others highlighted how little control he had, this discontent was strongly felt in Kent, where a combination of French raids on the coast delayed the reward for soldiers passing through the county to and from France and the rumor that Kent was to be punished for Suffolk's death. all adding up to the beginning of a rebellion in late May 1450 led by Jack Cain also known as John Kate Kade would also go under the alias John Mortimer perhaps in an attempt to link up with the Duke of York.

News of the rebellion reached parliament. at Leicester on 6 June and shortly after Henry returned to London, but not before arrangements were made for two separate commissions of the Lords to quell the rising before forces could be mustered; However, the rebels traveled to Black Heath and arrived on June 11, where they initially made camp, the plan was to suppress them and Henry announced that he would accompany those charged with this duty to confront the rebels, but soon his advisors persuaded him to changing his mind after an assessment of his strength was made despite having sworn allegiance as part of his demands were to see the elimination of certain powerful men surrounding the king.

Instead, they were offered a pardon to return to their lands and therefore dismissed negotiations when Henry changed his mind again and decided to go heavily armed to Black Heath which they found upon his arrival. On 18 June, when the rebels had retreated to Kent, a small force of around 400 was sent in pursuit, but they were ambushed and many were killed near Tunbridge. Those who survived fled and were in turn pursued by a larger force that swept through Kent indiscriminately. which only served to strengthen the rebels' resolve, as a growing number of those loyal to the crown threatened to defect unless certain high-ranking members within the king's Circle, whom they considered traitors, were arrested.

Henry capitulated to his demands and ordered the arrest of Lord Say on 19 June, saying he was a long-standing member of the council and had been one of Suffolk's supporters. The next day, Henry would publicly encourage the arrest of others who were considered traitors. Henry returned to Westminster and secretly summoned Lord Say from the tower. It was probably an effort to offer his protection as he had done with Suffolk, but this order was rejected by the sheriff when the situation deteriorated and talks to repair the damage to Cade took place in which Henry was persuaded to join.

He retired from London, so on June 25 he left and headed to Kenilworth Castle. Henry requested that forces be reinforced at Kenilworth for his protection, but he made no effort to send troops to London 69 years earlier, in 1381, Richard II had confronted the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt. Now it seemed that Henry's mind had changed again and he had no further intention of doing so, choosing to flee, the defense of London was now in the hands of the mayor and the common council with the news of the king's departure, the rebels returned to London and they camped at Southwark, just to the south. of London Bridge who were initially unable to enter London, the king's abandonment of the city had a demoralizing effect on those left to defend it and when another uprising occurred in Essex, the number of rebels was soon reinforced, Kade would cross the bridge on July 3 and despite the king's previous peacekeeping pronouncements demonstrated by the beheading of one of his offending officers, he would engage in criminal acts as a conciliatory act to quell disaffection.

Henry on 1 July appointed a commission of Oya and ended to deal with those named as traitors Cage was present at these sessions at the Guild Hall, many of those who were brought to the sessions were condemned, including Lord Say, who was brought from the tower and was denied the right to be tried by his companions and William Cromer, Sheriff of Kent, and says. The son-in-law says that and Croma were condemned and executed and along with many others, their heads were placed on spikes and paraded through the city. He says that the lifeless body was dragged through the streets as they headed to Southwark tied to Cade's chair, but it seems that the Londoners had had enough and on the night of July 5th they fought against the rebels and prevented them from crossing the bridge back into the city.

Finally, they were able to close the door that prevented them from entering. The victory had been costly and many citizens lay dead afterwards. Fighting negotiations quickly followed and the queen offered a pardon to Cade after further negotiations and the receipt of petitions from the rebels. They were given letters of forgiveness. Many within the Rebel Force accepted the offer of pardon, but Cade rejected it and returned to Kent. He was proclaimed a traitor on 10 July with a reward of 1,000 marks on him and the loot he had taken was confiscated and sold to raise funds. He was captured at Heathfield Sussex on 12 July and died from his wounds. sustained in the apprehension of him, his naked body was taken back to Southwick and decapitated and his head displayed on London Bridge.

His body was dragged through the city before being courted. Henry returned to London towards the end of July. Unrest continued in the south-east and so another commission of Oya was held and ends were appointed to investigate those connected with the Kentish whistleblowers, many royal officials and landowners of Kent were brought before the judges, but the punishments for which Those who were declared guilty were light, in a similar way those who continued with the rebellion having avoided forgiveness were searched for. to make a demonstration that treason would not be tolerated, but despite this, trouble and dissension with royal officials continued well into 1451 and spread to other areas of the country amid turmoil in 1450.

Richard, Duke of York, the king's cousin, returned from Ireland, where he'd been lieutenant since December 1447 and opposed what he had previously retained in France after Bedford's death. Unduly disturbed by references to York during the Rebellion, the usher of Henry's chambers issued orders to delay York's landing and so when he attempted to disembark at Bomalis on Anglesey he was denied and would instead land further down the coast from Wales when he finally arrived in London on 27 September. He briefly met with Henry and would remain in town for two weeks during this time they communicated over a series of bills which York rejected. those with whom he had been associated during the rebellion and offered to take a leadership role in the government to quell the unrest.

Henry recognized York as his loyal subject and beloved cousin, but instead of accepting his proposal, Ozil declared that a new Council would be established that York was to be a part of. After just two weeks, York left London to tour his estates in the Midlands. before Parliament was opened in November, on 3 December 1450, to quell the riots that were rife in London. Henry and a large number of the Lords rode through the city. It seemed that this parade had the desired effect and tempers cooled. York was sent to punish the rebels still in Kent and Sussex later that month, in 1451, during the same session of parliament.

Enrique rejected the attacker against the deceased. Suffolk proposed to the Commons and would appoint York's rival, Somerset, as Captain of Calais in what was to be the last session of parliament. The question of succession was raised by Thomas Young, an ally of York, as the king had so far failed to produce an heir and with Bedford and Gloucester dead there was no clear successor for Henry, both Somerset and York had claims, but Thomas proposed to Parliament that York should be recognized as a presumptive aerial and the commons refused to continue any further business until York was created Henry.

York received a further blow in 1452 when the speaker of the previous session of Parliament and one of York's allies, William Old Hall, was forcibly removed by order of Somerset from the Shrine of Saint Martin, the great church, he was accused of plundering possessions from the Somerset estate during the Troubles of 1450, but also from the trumped-up charge of plotting against the king in the name of York. This only served to inflame the dispute that already existed between York and Somerset, who was now York, a prominent member of the government and firmly in favor of Henry, gathered a host and marched towards Dartford with the intention of overthrowing Somerset, who by his Part of him gathered a large number of the Lords and the King himself and set out to meet York, camping at Blackheath.

It was held in early March and York aired his grievances, most of which were against Somerset, but he failed to gain the support of the king and the manorial retinue. York was returned to London and two weeks later forced to take a humiliating oath of loyalty to the crown. in the Cathedral ofSt Paul's, after this Somerset's influence grew in Parliament, while York would lose the lieutenancy of Ireland to a man he had once considered an ally but who was now moving into Somerset's sphere of influence. The rest of 1452 was devoted to the continuing effort to put an end to the rebels still at large in Kent, for which many were executed and their heads displayed on London Bridge, although Henry would grant another general pardon to all of them except to the murderers of Bishops Mullins and Ascoff, would also embark on a judicial tour. of the lands held by York, making himself visible to the population and participated in the delivery of justice to those involved in the attempted uprising, as one of the commissioners of Oya and ends Henry accepted many petitions during this time, but some under Somerset management were forced. submit to the king.

While others were hanged in October, they would see some success in France when Bordeaux was retaken after being captured by the French the previous year, but although there was some discussion about Henry joining the campaign earlier in the year, this time once again. This did not happen in November. Henry elevated Edmund and Jasper Tudor to the earldoms of Richmond and Pembroke, seats that had once been held by their uncle's Bedford and Gloucester, and in early 1453 Parliament accepted a petition to formally recognize the boys as half-brothers of the king. . Margaret Beaufort's guardianship was given to the brothers and Edmund would marry her in November 1455.

At age 13, she would give birth to their only son, Henry Tudor, on January 28, 1457. More good news reached court in 1453 when it was announced that Queen Margaret was pregnant with a long-awaited heir. Henry was generous in granting a reward to the messenger who brought him the news, but the modest recovery of Henry's government was short-lived when news of a terrible defeat in France arrived in July. Shortly afterwards, in early August 1453, Henry collapsed into a catatonic state while at the royal hunting lodge in Clarendon. Henry's precise illness has not been identified, but it has been termed a severe mental breakdown that left him completely incapacitated and in no way capable. to govern even in appearance it was said that he recognized that no one could speak, clean or feed.

His grandfather Charles VI of France had suffered attacks of madness during his life in which he became violent, among other symptoms, but there is no suggestion that Henry suffered in this way. Initially Henry's illness was kept secret but the state did not. was able to continue when he failed to recover after some weeks finally after the birth of Henry's only son Edward, on 13 October 1453, a great Council was convened and among the high Lords the Duke of York was invited to attend, although he was encouraged to put aside his differences with Somerset by attending the council. York took the opportunity to bring about his downfall when the Duke of Norfolk launched a verbal attack accusing Somerset of treason for the losses in France and demanding his imprisonment at York's request, the Lord consented capitulating to the aggressiveness of the attack York now came first. flat but would be challenged by Queen Margaret, who in January 1454 put forward her claim to the Regency, however this was flatly rejected by both houses of Parliament before making a concession and naming Edward Prince of Wales on 15 March.

On 27 March, York was appointed protector of the realm and chief councilor during his tenure as protector. York would appoint himself captain of Calais and claim his lieutenant of Ireland and appointed some of his own allies to the council, including Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, as chancellor. Henry finally recovered at Christmas 1454, although he did not remember the period of his illness and immediately ordered gifts of thanks to be delivered to the Canterbury Shrine. for his recovery Henry recognized his son ensuring the succession and would quickly undo much of what York had decreed as protector. Somerset was released from the tower and soon resumed his position within the government by claiming the titles of Captain of Calais and Constable of England from the Duke of York. of Exeter imprisoned by York for his part and ordered released from the violent dispute between the pursers and Neville and Salisbury was removed as Chancellor, the protectorate formally ended and with York and his allies as guide and fearing victimization they left London and began to raise a In the army, the initial intention of York and his allies was not to go to war just to eliminate the traitors surrounding the king, that is, Somerset and his allies.

News of the Force's arrival led Henry to send a small delegation to negotiate with York, but to no avail. and the court was due to travel to Leicester for a grand council on 21 May, but it was now decided to divert to St Albans to gather reinforcements before proceeding to Leicester. They were still a short distance from Saint Albans on the morning of 22 May, when news arrived that York was not far away with a Force greater than their own, with this news, Henry appointed Humphrey Duke of Buckingham as Constable of England, a conciliatory action in the hope that York would be willing to negotiate with someone other than Somerset.

The king's party continued, but York reached Saint Albans. The first negotiations began on the king's behalf with Bucking and Somerset, but Henry appears to have taken no part in them, in stark contrast to the way in which he set about making peace with France. It has been said that he appeared to show signs of confusion at the time, but after only an hour, the Earl of Warwick on the York side became impatient and launched an attack on the city's barricades. Initially, the defenders held out until they were outflanked by the men of Warwick, Somerset and Henry Percy.

They were killed and Henry still under his banner in the market was wounded in the neck but took no active part in the fighting. Henry headed and the house of Atana and was soon captured by York and taken to the Abbey. His captors did him no harm because York was fighting against the king with Somerset dead, York, accompanied by Salisbury and Warwick, took Henry to the Abbey Sanctuary where Henry, with little choice in the matter, swore to them that his lords , York, ordered an end to the fighting in the name of King Henry was returned to London the next day and on the 24th he paraded through the streets with York Salisbury and Warwick at his side.

On the 25th at St. Paul's Cathedral, York himself would give Henry his multitude. Enrique would grant forgiveness to almost everyone who had fought alongside him. York in the July session of parliament at which time York would briefly return to serve as protector of the kingdom beginning on 19 November, although this has not been definitively proven, there is some suggestion that Henry was suffering from poor health at the time and could not attend Parliament or govern in his own right, however, York resigned from office at the end of February 1456 given the lack of support he received for another Act of Resumption which was passed by Parliament and his authority would continue to decline throughout the year as same time as Queen Margaret. he would strengthen his position by replacing some of York's men with his own in statuary positions.

The court moved to Coventry with Henry in August, where he was joined by Margaret and her son in September, but he presented a somewhat weak image during this time. Her influence would grow not only with the King, but also within his appointments of men loyal to her within the government and on her son's Council. For now, an uneasy peace remained between Yorkists and royalists, and Henry would march at the center of London's Loving Day procession in March 1458, an act designed to reconcile the two sides, but when Warwick fled Returning to Calais after violence broke out between his men and the king's household after being summoned to council, the situation began to deteriorate once again throughout 1459.

Hostilities began again on September 23, 1459. 1459 with the Battle of Bloorheath, the first battle of the Rose Walls, where the Lancastrians were to intercept Salisbury's force. The Lancastrian forces were entrenched, but Salisbury's force was greatly depleted. When he met with York and Warwick, the Yorkists made a last stand. He appealed to Henry by letter to which he replied that he would offer York Warwick and his men a pardon excluding Salisbury, but only if they surrendered within six days. The two armies clashed once again on the battlefield of Ludford Bridge on 12 October and despite rumors spread by the orchestras that Henry was dead, he and Margaret accompanied their forces, the Yorkist artillery firing opening shots. , but the battle was not fought and later that night, a large number of men deserted to Henry after this and defeat was felt by York Salisbury and Warwick.

They fled, leaving their men where they were, not realizing that their commanders had abandoned them. York and his second son, Edmund, fled to Ireland, leaving behind his wife and two youngest children, while Salisbury Warwick and York's eldest son, Edward, headed for Calais the next morning leaderless, the Yorkist forces surrendered. With most of the pardons received, Queen Margaret now came to the fore in punishing the enemies of the Crown, smearing York and his associates and handing over some of her confiscated possessions to trusted men of the crown, including Owen Tudor and his surviving son Jasper, but all attempts to get rid of the leading Yorkists failed and on 26 June 1460 Warwick and his men landed at Sandwich and arrived in London on 2 July.

On July 10, with the king and queen present, the two sides clashed on the outskirts of Northampton, already lacking in strength. The king's force deserted and defected to the Yorkists, causing many of the remaining soldiers to desert. Orders were issued that the king should not come to harm and he was soon taken captive while many of his lords were killed. Henry returned to London as Warwick's prisoner and Margaret fled. first to Wales before heading to Scotland in October, York again claimed the crown by right of dissent. There was much debate in Parliament at which Henry was not present and it was finally agreed that York would be named heir to the crown. throne in place of Henry's son on 31 October 1460.

York and his son Edmund were murdered outside Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, on 30 December 1460, in pursuit of Queen Margaret, who was still Salisbury's son would also die in the battle, while Salisbury himself was captured and beheaded the next day. His heads were displayed at the gates of the city of York. Margaret joined the army in January 1461 and they began to advance south from Warwick, taking Henry with him he headed north with his force and once again the two armies met at Saint Albans on 17 February, The Lancastrians won the day and Henry was recovered from the Yorkists to reunite with his family.

He was overjoyed at his release and knighted his son Warwick. had fled the countryside and was met on the way by York's eldest son Edward, who was heading to London from his own victory against Jasper Tudor at Mortimer's Cross Heritage at the same time that the Lancaster court was also heading to London and would arrive first. Arrangements were made with the mayor for them to enter the city, but when they approached cripples on February 22, the citizens of London closed the doors to them, in contrast, Eduardo was received into the city on February 27, in a style much more striking and real. figure that Enrique in the following days Enrique was denounced as unfit to govern.

Edward IV assumed the crown on 4 March 1461. The Battle of Toten would follow at the end of March, but Henry Margaret and Edward were not present as they had traveled north to York then found refuge in Scotland, where plans were made to recover the kingdom. Henry still had followers and many would join him in Scotland, where they attacked the border several times. Margaret traveled to France to negotiate an agreement with the new king Louis XI. was struck in 1462 and returned to Scotland, but was countered by the sealing of a truce between England and France in mid-1463. A truce was then concluded with Scotland in December 1463 which ended their refuge in the country to which the Lancastrians were forced to return.

Northern England, where they held out and fought several battles, but were ultimately defeated at this point. Henry seemed to be little more than a figurehead and stayed away from the battles after the defeat, going on the run seeking refuge from his sympathizers. she but she was eventually captured by a group of men in Lancashire on 13 July 1465 and taken back to the Tower when Henry was captured. Margaret had been in France for two years with her son still seeking help for her cause. Warwick made his way to France in 1470 after a failed uprising againstEdward IV, relations between the two had broken down and now, with the help of Nui XI, Margaret and Warwick were reconciled.

Warwick agreed to marry his daughter to Henry's son, Prince Edward of Westminster, and they married in December 1470. By this time, Edward was already the opposite of his father with his martial nature. Warwick invaded England in the autumn of 1470 and Edward IV fled after being abandoned by many of his supporters on 3 October 1470. Henry was again proclaimed king, but took. He did not participate in the government and was said to have been extremely passive during the few months that he remained on the throne. Edward IV invaded England with a small army in March 1471 and gained support as he marched south with Margaret and her forces still in France.

He went to Warwick to reverse the invasion, a task in which he completely failed, preferring to wait within the walls of his castle at Coventry to be reinforced. Edward IV marched on London. Henry was paraded through the streets to encourage the people at the news of the invading Force, but it was said to have the opposite effect and Edward entered the city on April 11, 1471. Henry was immediately arrested and returned to the Tower Daisy flower. Prince Edward and his forces landed only three days later, on the 14th, but then Edward IV halted the northward advance at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May.

Prince Edward died during the battle and Margaret was taken prisoner. Henry, who was still in the tower, was murdered on 21 May 1471, probably on Edward's orders. IV, though not by his own hand, history has often regarded Henry VI as a madman, a fool, or an imbecile, a reluctant ruler who was unfit to hold the crown, but the powerful influences that acted upon him from his birth led him to a dependency in life that he would never have again. He left him and following the death of his father he had no real example to learn from and form the basis of his own government nor experience growing up at court in any position other than that of king.

Some historians have even suggested that Henry was simply a puppet through whom others ruled, there is no evidence that Henry was frail or naive nor that he suffered any unusual ill health in his youth and he was noted to have a calm and openly pious temperament. . He was of a generous nature, but that's how it was. his generosity that was detrimental to himself at a time when finances throughout the kingdom were affected by war and an economic crisis. This generosity also highlights the confusion he appears to have endured in government-related matters when he frequently doubled grants.

He had good intentions. and he took an interest in some aspects of his rule, but he appears not to have had the necessary political and diplomatic acumen that a king of the time required. It certainly cannot be said that Henry inherited the militaristic tendencies of his father and his grandfather, but he was merciful and compassionate to a fault. him issuing many pardons over the years, some of which were certainly undeserved and went against the advice of his attorney. His dependence on those around him, especially his wife, in the later years of his reign would intensify as he became increasingly withdrawn and possibly disillusioned with his role at this time.

He would lead to many conflicts over many years and highlights that despite his best intentions, his inattention and lack of interest in many matters made his rule largely ineffective. What do you think of King Henry VI? Was he an ineffective king who was unfit for office? role or was he a kind king and a victim of circumstance, let us know in the comments section and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching the birth of the man known to history as Edward Plantagenet, who would become King Edward IV of England . on 28 April 1442 at Rua Normandy, he was the third of twelve children, seven of whom survived to adulthood and the eldest surviving son and heir of the 3rd Duke and Duchess of York, Richard Plantagenet and Cecily Neville at the time of your birth.

Father of Edward Richard, Duke of York, he maintained command of the French campaign in Normandy on behalf of King Henry VI. Edward lived in his parents' luxurious establishment in Rua until the age of three with his older sister Anne, his younger brother Edmund and his younger sister Isabel, only three of the seven children that Duchess Cecily gave birth to between 1446 and 1455 survived. Her childhood Margaret and Edward's more famous younger brothers, George and Richard, less than a year after Elizabeth's birth in 1444, the family left Roy and returned to England and took up residence at Fathering Hay Castle in Northamptonshire.

Over the next few years, the family divided their time between their various estates, but probably lived most consistently at Fathering Hay and at Ludlow Castle in Wales, alongside the king himself. Richard Plantagenet was the largest landowner in England with estates in over 20 counties, as well as estates in Ireland. It is estimated that his annual income was about 7,000 pounds (equivalent to approximately 4.3 million pounds). Very few details about Edward's childhood are currently known in Early Childhood Education, but much can be known. It can be inferred on the basis of historical documents from his reign, the instructions Edward gave for the education of his own son, and on the basis of what is generally known about the child-rearing and educational practices of the English aristocracy. during the 15th century.

Duchess Cecilia may have taken aspects of her children's education. With early education taken care of by her personally, such as religious instruction and basic literacy, Cecily, however, was involved in the almost constant business of having children until her eldest children, including Edward, reached adolescence. Furthermore, she was the Duchess of York, the lady and chatelaine of great estates. and presumably she might have depended more on the nurses if she had not had time to attend to the daily needs of her children and her early education herself. This is quite likely, as Edward reportedly formed a strong bond with his childhood nurse in Normandy, Anne of Co, and often spoke warmly of his childhood under her care during the latter's reign. he.

She granted him an annual pension of £20. Edward and Edmund were sent to live at Ludlow Castle under the care of a male governor or tutor and began lessons with a private tutor residing in the surrounding area. By the ages of six or seven, all the York children studied Latin and French, showing impressive proficiency in both languages. Later in life, they also probably studied arithmetic, history and literature, as well as music, dance and social etiquette, which were important achievements for the courtly life they received. Extensive military training including swordsmanship and jousting, these martial skills would have had to be mastered with the boys fully armed adding another layer of skill required: strategy and military maneuvers could well have been part of their history lessons or training. military, as Edward later consistently demonstrated. success and talent for leadership on the battlefield, Edward probably also received training in property law and estate administration, which could demonstrate that the Duke of York had not yet begun to imagine himself or his eldest son taking the throne until the late 1450s. medieval kings when he was young.

Edward was noted for his charm, charisma, and sharp intelligence, but despite all his excellent education, Edward did not prove to be an academic or an intellectual. He enjoyed reading and ordering printed and exquisitely illuminated books. Bound in silk and velvet for his personal library, a large portion of which has survived and been preserved. His literary taste leaned largely toward the romances of Cheval Rick and the popular stories of great deeds and glorious battles of great men, written chiefly in French and English, which he read for his own pleasure; However, he possessed few texts in Latin, the language of European intellectualism, and showed little interest in the emerging philosophical currents of humanism or in any other particularly academic pursuits.

Edward naturally also possessed several religious texts, but does not appear to have been particularly devout. in their religious sensibilities. His mother Cecily Neville was known to have been a devoutly pious woman with a strong scholarly bent. However, interest in the writings of female Christian mystics such as Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena, Edward does not appear to have largely absorbed the intellectualism of the time or the supposedly notable piety of his mother and consistently demonstrated an interest in more pursuits. worldly people who were described by his contemporaries as eminently capable, cheerful, gallant and generous, with a good and serene temperament, Eduardo was highly appreciated for his friendly and attractive manners and his ability to feel comfortable in any company that was not typical of the young men raised to be kings, which, of course, Edward was not.

He was also exceptionally bold and confident, even to the point of vanity, both in regards to his abilities and the plantagenet good looks he had inherited. Multiple observers and chroniclers highlighted Eduardo's exceptional beauty. The best-known portrait of Edward IV on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London shows a rather tired middle-aged man with more than a few extra pounds on his body, dark brown hair and light brown eyes; However, this portrait was painted around 1540, almost 60 years after Edward's death. Documentary sources from Ed Woods's time suggest that he gained a lot of weight as he approached middle age thanks to his prodigious indulgence in good wine and food when Edward's Tomb was unveiled at Windsor in 1789, according to Visitors reportedly kept locks of her hair.

Several samples and locks of brown hair purporting to be Herbin Edwards have been sold. at auctions in recent years, however, it is now known that some of Edward's siblings were blonde and blue-eyed and he himself reportedly had several blonde or red-haired children, therefore it is possible that Edward was born with blonde or strawberry blonde hair that turned darker. As he aged and may have had lighter colored eyes than his portraits show, we know for sure that Edward was at least six feet three inches or 191 centimeters tall, which was quite exceptional for medieval Europe, where the average adult male was usually no taller than about five and a half feet, just over 160 centimeters, Sir Thomas Moore later described Edward as a strong, clean or well-proportioned maiden with broad shoulders in his youth, the tall, Handsome, charming and vigorous Edward must have cut quite an impressive figure on horseback, as might be expected, not the least notable of Edward's qualities was his love of the company of women, something which his conduct throughout his romantic life, even as a married man, makes it clear.

If given to himself, Edward would almost certainly have lived a predictable life as the 4th Duke of York willingly serving the king who inherited most of his father's estates, married, had children and probably supported a score of lovers and their illegitimate children until his death, as he was the firstborn of a family with a legitimate claim to the English throne in a country where the royal succession was dangerously murky, what made the situation more unstable was the perceived weakness of the reigning King Henry VI, whose poor health and reluctance to rule in the traditional manner of medieval warrior kings forced the nobles around him to exercise power in his name. of the few ministers favored by the king encouraged competition and enmity among other prominent members of the English nobility as a result of these conditions, almost from the beginning Edward's life and duty were devoted to the advancement and, indeed, to the survival of his family through his mother Ricardo.

Duke of York was the legitimate great-grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of the last undisputed king of England, Edward III, through his father, Richard was also descended from Edward III's fourth surviving son, Edmund, First Duke of York. The eldest son, also called Edward and known as the Black Prince, had only one male heir, Richard II, who subsequently had no children of his own. The Yorks later claimed that the closest male heir to the throne after Richard II's death was actually the only one. Roger Mortimer, a one-year-old grandson of Lionel and grandfather of Richard, Duke of York, the Duke would come to strongly emphasize this lineage in 1460, when the crown was within his reach;

Until then, Richard Plantagenet had been content to emphasize his lineage only from To the first Duke of York,this was probably due to two factors: first, Richard was descended from the Mortimers not through his father but through his mother, which weakened inheritance rights in a society that favored sons; Furthermore, Lionel, the Duke of Clarence, had had no sons, but only a daughter, Philippa, while John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of Edward III, had given birth to a legitimate son, Henry Bowling Brook, interestingly, While primagenety remained overwhelmingly prevalent for centuries within English inheritance laws, Edward IV was not the first king of England to claim ownership. throne based on inheritance from a female ancestor and would not be the last either, however, Richard, Duke of York, apparently came to believe that his line had as good or better a claim to the English throne than the reigning King Henry VI of the ruling house . of Lancaster, whose grandfather Henry Bolingbroke had usurped the throne from his cousin Richard II, as we can see, a big part of the problem was that Edward III and his queen Philippa of Henoldt had had so many children, especially five children who survived to adulthood in medieval times.

The kings were lucky to have an heir and a replacement during the lifetime of Edward III and those of his many children; There was little sign of the turmoil in which his increasingly numerous descendants would become involved, coinciding with the Hundred Years' War with France in this period of about A century of great competition for the throne of England has been called the War of the Roses after the badgers worn by opposing branches of the royal family, the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster, tensions between the ruling House of Lancaster and the House of York during the late 1440s and 1450, Edward's father, Richard, was frequently sidelined in favor of the Lancaster dukes of Suffolk and Somerset, who not only attracted the king's attention but also received offices and performance that were not extended to the Duke of York in 1446. , the Duke of York's Command Post and Roar were instead given to Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, which some historians see as the beginning of bad blood between York and Lancaster.

What made this situation more problematic was that in the 1450s the crown was deeply in debt to the Duke of York to the tune of almost £100,000, around 20 per cent of this debt comprised loans the duke had made to the crown. which remained unpaid, but the majority represented unpaid salaries for the duke, several years of service in France meanwhile the Lancastrian king's ministers regularly received repayment of loans made to the crown, including interest. The increasingly precarious state of England's economy in the early 1450s sparked a rebellion in Kent and southeast England. The rebels led by the Irishman Jack Cade demanded the dismissal of the king's evil, greedy and wasteful advisors.

In favor of a broader representation of those men of good and noble birth, the dukes of York, Exeter, Norfolk and Buckingham were the names most prominently proposed by the rebels, naturally, the Lancastrians suspected that York was fermenting the rebellion to facilitate their own advancement, especially since Jack Cade. he took the name John Mortimer during the Rebellion to associate himself with the Duke's perceived legitimacy as a blood prince; However, studies of the Kentish Rebellion indicate that rebels viewed local political and judicial corruption as manifestations of similar corruption in King Henry's time. court and the tendency to demand the dismissal of evil councilors in favor of others was quite typical in past rebellions until the birth of King Henry's son, Edward of Westminster, the Duke of York was technically the closest claimant to the throne and, therefore, Thus the most prominent man of Good and Noble Birth in England next to the King himself, this should not suggest, however, that the English people would support Henry's dismissal in favor of the Duke, which Richard Plantagenet would eventually discover to his own detriment. .

King Henry was just a baby when he later became king. His lack of interest in government and his delegation of responsibility for his French territories to his Lancastrian favorites eventually resulted in the loss of all French lands, one to his father Henry V, except for collard greens, which which contributed to the massive resentment of the Lancastrian king's advisors and the The king himself looked bitterly at the many decades, enormous sums of money and countless lives that seemed to have been wasted in the conquest of France only to lose almost everything. which they had gained due to the ineptitude of the king and his closest ministers when Henry VI began Suffering from mental health crises during the 1450s, the Duke of York was twice declared Lord Protector during the kings in the capacity of Parliament and many of York's contemporaries were wary of the notion of a Regency controlled by Queen Margaret of King Henry's ongju.

The queens of England often perceived such weariness on the part of the English because they were frequently foreigners, foreign members of the court were always suspected of being spies, and queens who attempted to exercise power were invariably accused of unfairly usurping royal prerogatives, in fact , any move Queen Margaret made to help secure her husband's throne or her son's inheritance. she would be viewed with hostility by the great men of the kingdom. Margaret watched the growth of the Yorkist cause with alarm and determination to defeat the man who seemed hell-bent on taking her own son's place as heir to the throne.

Noble families equally dissatisfied with the influence. of Queen Margaret and the king's Lancastrian ministers at court joined the Yorkist cause, particularly Duchess Cecily's clan, the powerful Northern Neville family represented by her brother Richard Earl of Salisbury and his charismatic son, also called Richard Earl of Warwick, as the Yorkist faction mainly cultivated support. in London and southeast England and secured foreign forts in France and Ireland as effective springboards for invasion. Queen Margaret strove to rally support in the Lancastrian strongholds in the Midlands. The first battle of Saint Albans in May 1455 was little more than a skirmish, but it set the English people on the path to a series of internal conflicts that would cause the crown to change hands no less than six times in the next 30 years. .

The beginning of the Civil War in England, which raged for approximately a decade and a half, spanned virtually all of Edward's childhood. He was probably at Ludlow Castle. In 1452, she watched the Duke of Somerset preside over the trials of those who had served Edward's father and who participated in an attempted coup d'état after which the Duke of York had fled to Ireland at the age of 11. Edward accompanied his father to London in his role as Lord Protector to open Parliament where Edward was formally recognized for the first time as Earl of March and his father's heir.

At the age of 12, he supposedly led a force of ten thousand men from Ludlow on a march towards London to free his father from prison. The Yorkist advance was quickly reported and the duke was released before his arrival as the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions moved towards open war. Edward and his younger brother Edmund were increasingly involved in politics and military mobilization and were already expected to take on leadership roles at a charter. writing in June 1454 of the two boys to their father he assured the duke that Edward and Edmund were being obedient in their studies and their military training we trusted in God the boys wrote that his gentle lordship and good fatherhood will be pleased after the first battle of At Saint Albans in 1455, the recovered Henry VI, who wanted peace above all else, attempted to reconcile the great men of England and end factional fighting, but the next four years were plagued by open hostility in the court and the recruitment of armed retainers from Evermore by both the Lancastrians and the Yorkists In June 1459 there was a meeting of the great council at Coventry to which no member of the York faction was invited.

Lancastrian assistants emerged with legal accusations for the Duke of York and his cohorts, who immediately organized to march in force on the capital, their intention was to attempt a peaceful agreement with the king who desired the same, but the Lancastrian forces of The Queen intercepted the Earl of Salisbury's forces at Ludford Bridge. After this fight, the Yorks were accused of treason, which basically forced them into open rebellion. After the road to Ludford in October 1459, Edward's family and supporters were separated as each fled the country, the Duke of York fleeing to Ireland with his son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, while Duchess Cecilia and her children minors were taken into the custody of King Henry and were exempted.

However, from the attacker and treated with kindness and generosity, Edward meanwhile took refuge with his uncle Salisbury and his cousin Warwick in Devon, later heading covertly to Cali. Warwick had been appointed captain of Calais during the Duke of York's second term as protector and thanks to Warx's charisma and his diplomatic skills in public relations, this last English stronghold in France was well reinforced with Yorkist supporters and sympathizers. Duke Richard also cultivated support for the Yorkist cause among the Irish earls and within six months the Yorkist faction was able to mount a successful invasion of England from both Ireland and France.

Before the invasion, the Earl of Warwick led a wide-ranging campaign of relations to clarify the rebels' motives. He wrote dozens of letters and sent them to every region of England. He also drafted a Manifesto to which Edward and his respective fathers, the Dukes of Salisbury and York, all signed their names, the manifesto assured the people of England that the York faction was only interested in banishing corruption and restoring order and good government in the kingdom, they swore loyalty to King Henry and their commitment to serve. He who protested that his evil advisors had passed the sentence of assistant against the Yorks to profit from their loss and death, Edward and Warwick landed at Sandwich at the end of June 1460, accompanied by two thousand men, they began their march towards the partisans of the London Assembly as When they went, they knew that King Henry was gathering his troops and strengthening his position at Northampton and that even now Queen Margaret's forces were advancing towards London.

Margaret's army, however, had earned a fearsome reputation among the merchant class and the common people. and the burning of towns along its route to London terrified the people of the capital and the city decided to keep its gates closed against the Lancastrian army. This course of action proved preferable when it was learned that the Earls of March and Warwick would arrive in London at any moment, Queen Margaret was betrayed by the English people, many of whom hated and feared her and were unwilling to make their way. towards the capital and retreated north once again on 2 July.

Edward and Warwick were warmly welcomed into the city by the mayor of London, the Archbishop of Canterbury. and other dignitaries and spectators gathered as the cautious and indignant Lancastrian garrison retreated to the tower, it seems highly unlikely that deposing King Henry and taking the throne for himself was the aim of any of the Yorks at this time; It certainly does not seem to have been so that Edward and Warwick were again explained that they wished, above all, to meet the king and affirm their loyalty to him, who they were sure would lift their sentences of assistance and restore their titles, fortunes and inheritances that had been revoked by charges of treason, they then promised to help restore good government to the kingdom under King Henry, but if the king's advisors persisted in pitting him against the House of York, his loyal subjects would have no choice but to fight. .

A corporate loan of one thousand pounds was granted to Edward and Warwick from London merchants to pay the soldiers who would fight in the coming battle. This relatively modest sum is somewhat telling; suggests that the people of the capital trusted Edward more than Queen Margaret, but probably not much more. It illustrates that the people of London believed Edward and Warwick when they insisted that they had no plans to depose the king, because why would they finance such an undertaking? And if they were willing and wanted us to depose Henry, why wouldn't they have given the Yorks a more generous offer? loaned two days after his arrival, Edward led his army out of London and arrived at Northampton on 9 July.

Warwick was sent to negotiate with the Duke of Buckingham, who was unwilling to allow Warwick to see the king. It seemed there was no other way than to fight Edward Warwick and Warwick's uncle William Neville Lord Falkenberg each led one of the three columns of York troops.They appear to be facing an uphill battle at Northampton They were outnumbered at least two to one The king's forces occupied a reinforced position and had the use of several Large cannon: The Battle of Northampton was in fact the first military engagement in history of England in which field artillery was actually present on the battlefield.

Unfortunately for the Lancastrians, 10 July 1460 was an excessively rainy day which rendered their cannon useless apart from the Vanguard commanded by Lord. Edmund Gray defected to the Yorkist side at the beginning of the battle. Quickly shifting the momentum in York's favor with these rather fortunate advantages, the fighting lasted just over half an hour, no number of casualties on the York side was reported, which could suggest that when a minimum of 300 men fell on the York side. of Lancaster, including the Duke of Buckingham and all the other senior Royalist captains, Edward and Warwick found King Henry in his tent after he had been captured and detained by a Yorkist archer, greeted him respectfully and informed him that they had come to escorting him back to London, although he was still King Henry, he was now effectively Edward and Warwick's prisoner.

The Yorks entered London once more on 16 July in Triumph after the Lancastrian garrison in the tower surrendered. The Yorks issued the Ritz summoning Parliament. for 7 October, where they planned to reverse those attending the treason imposed on them by the Coventry meeting of June 1459, this was in fact the First Act of the parliament that met in October 1460. Edward Warwick and the rest of York's supporters seemed content with the state of affairs and it seems doubtful whether any of them would have considered that deposing the king would be a good idea. King Henry was their greatest political asset and, as long as they could keep the most powerful and troublesome Lancastrians out of court and sufficiently intimidated, their influence and prosperity was assured.

Richard Duke of York, however, recently seemed to have developed much loftier ambitions than simply reclaiming his former titles and estates or contenting himself with the position of the second most powerful man in England. Documentary sources confirm that as early as the 19th century On 8 September 1460, just three weeks after the rich summons to Parliament was issued, the Duke of York had removed King Henry's year of reign from all his correspondence dating back to all his communications, instead of using this year of Grace, which was very unusual when he arrived in London. to parliament in October he rode like a king at the head of his servants, his sword drawn and held erect before him in unmistakably royal style, his banners proudly displaying the royal arms of England as he confidently entered Parliament, he put his hands on the throne and declared himself king by virtue of his descent from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, elder brother of King Henry VI's great-grandfather John of Gaunt, was greeted with stunned and uncomfortable silence.

Duke Richards claims the games were apparently a step too far. What is noteworthy about the reaction to these proceedings is that Parliament and its assistants were overwhelmingly pro-York, but clearly still had no desire to review the instability of a usurpation nor were they prepared to repudiate the solemn oaths of loyalty that all had sworn to King Henry Edward. present in this historic Parliament and one can only imagine what he thought of his father's actions at the time, but if the reactions of York's relations with Neville are any indication, it is possible that he was as embarrassed and bewildered as they were in case Whether or not they knew of the duke's intentions, neither Salisbury nor Warik said a word or made any gesture in support of the duke's claim, the commons refused to deliberate on academic questions of succession, leaving it to the Lords to decide on the greater part of the power.

Margaret was distrusted and disliked by the brokers present and had clearly believed convenient rumors that her son Edward of Westminster was not King Henry's son and was therefore illegitimate with the Act of Agreement. Parliament eventually recognized the duke as the rightful heir to the throne upon Henry's death, but did not accept the deposit. The position of the king, Parliament and the Yorks had not counted on Queen Margaret; However, whose suspicions that the Duke of York sought to dethrone her husband and behead her son were now fully confirmed, she began to gather her forces in the north of England and Lancastrian loyalists came in mass.

Joining her army in Hull, the most problematic thing for the Yorkist cause was that her main possessions and properties were in the north and many of them were being attacked and looted by the Lancastrians. In early December the Duke of York set out north at the head. of his army along with his son Edmund and his brother-in-law Salisbury, meanwhile Edward was sent to Wales to raise troops and Warwick was left to defend London; Then, upon news of his father's death at the Battle of Wakefield, Edward prepared to leave for London, but changed his plans to face the advance of Jasper Tudor's forces at Mortimer's Cross, after Edward's victory, He learned of the unfortunate losses suffered by Warwick and his men at the Second Battle of Saint Albans.

Warwick had been wounded and King Henry had been recaptured by the Lancastrians, but the city of London had shown its Yorkist colors once more and closed its doors to Margaret of Anjou now that her father had died, Edward, aged 18, he was the heir to the house of York, they had secured the capital and still had support. of many in Parliament, but they had lost King Henry, who had been the lynchpin around which Yorkist authority had coalesced, it can be convincingly argued that Edward believed the only option now was to assume the throne himself; he had not been the one who had established his family. on this path, but apparently must remain on it or be destroyed, Edward almost certainly understood, as did the rest of his family and his followers, that if the throne was returned to King Henry, none of them would likely survive the wrath of Margaret of Anju or other loyal Lancastrians, he had no intention of assuming the throne, but the fact that he acted quickly and decisively when he deemed it necessary attests to his confidence, given popular discontent with the regime of King Henry VI, as well as the popular dislike towards their queen.

Perhaps Edward believed he could only do better, the fact that Edward was essentially thrust onto the throne by his father's actions and the vagaries of circumstance should not suggest, however, that he found becoming king distasteful or that he somehow would hesitate to hold office. The powers and prerogatives of a king when the opportunity arose. Edward's entry into London on 26 February 1461 and the events of the following nine days were carefully choreographed. Both he and Warwick were warmly received by the people. A chronicler reported that a verse was sung in Eduardo's song. praise among the Londoners and the days following his arrival let us walk in a new vineyard, let us make a cheerful garden in the month of March with this beautiful white rose and grass, the lineage of the Earl of March Edwards and his superiority over theThe lineage of the usurps of Lancaster was emphasized in public speeches on 3 March.

The newly assembled Great Council quickly met and agreed to accept Edward as king. On the morning of 4 March he attended mass at St Paul's before proceeding to the Great Hall at Westminster, where the Archbishop of Canterbury swore to Edward that he was Drake, dressed in royal robes and crowned with the cap of a state, and took his seat on the king's bench with scepter in hand after this rather rapid coronation, the more formal incarnation of which was to come. A few months later Edward IV was proclaimed king throughout the capital. Only two days later, dozens of proclamations, writings and letters were sent to help consolidate the New York regime.

The English people were invited to swear allegiance to the new king, all those who had served in The Lancastrian cause against the Yorkists were promised a full pardon and the retention of their property on condition that they submit to the new monarchy, except for a short list of about two dozen high-ranking Lancastrians and anyone with a income of more than 100 marks per year. As it was practically all of the nobility and nobility using this strategy, Edward put much more pressure on the English elite to support his right to rule even more. It was decreed that anyone who killed or captured and handed over a high-ranking Lancastrian enemy to King Edward received a reward of 100 pounds.

These measures were effective to a point, but there was still much more to be done to bring England under the control of Eduardo. The Yorkists controlled London and the south-east and steadily cultivated greater support in the south, except in Wales and the north of England. it remained a patchwork of Lancastrian regional and Yorkist loyalties that would require more time and effort to subdue and stabilize. Furthermore, the general instability caused by the Civil War in England had emboldened the Scots to begin hostile attacks and raids on the northern border. Eduardo was less than three weeks old. In London to plan his next move before setting out again on campaign on 13 March he left London at the head of an army heading for Yorkshire.

The Battle of Totem, fought on 29 March 1461, was the bloodiest of the entire civil war, probably with the highest casualty estimates of any battle ever fought on English soil at Totem ranging from 9,000 to 28,000. . Approximately 75 percent of the English nobility had at least one family member present at the battle and, depending on the number of each of their retainers, were able to field an estimated maximum of 50,000 men engaged at the height of the battle. of the battle, it is not far-fetched. Edward's forces were significantly outnumbered, but his typical approach of bold, brave offensive and conscientious use of every advantage eventually defeated the main ones.

The Lancastrian forces, the Lancastrian armies occupied the higher ground, but the Yorkist archers took advantage of the strong bitter winds and snow blowing into the faces of their enemies, unleashing a volley of arrows into the Lancastrian ranks, meanwhile the Strong winds and reduced visibility made the Lancastrian archers almost useless. Outraged, they charged down the hill towards the enemy and Edward's army rushed out to meet them. The battle lasted all day, but despite their numerical superiority, the Lancastrians were eventually defeated and the survivors were routed by nightfall. The flight to Scotland of Henry VI Margaret of Anjou and her son Edward of Westminster had driven a wedge between the English nobility and paralyzed their ability to resist the New York regime.

He had loosened Lancastrian control over northern England by eliminating the royalists in the north. The earls left the region open to greater control by the Yorkists, some Lancastrian loyalists had escaped, but many had fled the country with the royal family, finally Tauton had allowed Edward to cover himself in glory and legitimize his right to the throne. not only by right of birth but also by right of conquest, Edward's reign lasted approximately two decades and is unique in English history. He is the only king of England to have ever won the throne, lost it, and then gained the throne a second time, so his reign is typically organized historically into two periods, his first reign and his second reign, Edward's rule being strengthened after his victory at Toton and Lancastrian resistance remained a pressing issue for the next three years.

The regions of Northumberland and Wales proved to be particularly strong Lancastrian supporters and difficult to subdue. Edward largely delegated the quelling of these ongoing regional rebellions to his lieutenants, particularly during his first year as King, when he was busy taking the reins of the governance and management of the Kingdom's legal and financial infrastructure. Edward presided over his first parliament in November 1461, in which his legitimate claim to the crown was proclaimed, the Lancastrian line was characterized as one of usurpation, and the increasing degeneration of the kingdom was noted in regards to the conditions surrounding the local economic and judicial affairs in England.

Edward was not exaggerating under Henry VI. Real incomes had fallen to less than a quarter of what they had been at the end of the previous century. The constant

wars

with France and the instability of English politics had taken their toll on the economy of 15th century England, where justice was just as unequal. inefficient and as tainted by corruption as it had been during the Kentish rebellion a decade before Edward promised to take firm action on this largely disastrous situation. Eduardo strove to fulfill these promises; his repeated attendance at courtfrom the king's bench was notable enough behavior for a king to be discussed among contemporary London commentators.

He exhorted the great men whom he generously endowed with dukedoms and earldoms to oversee the equitable and ethical administration of justice, but in reality local control was almost complete and the king's control over individual regions was almost total. Flimsy held together only by the force of Edward's personality and the loyalty he strove to cultivate through generosity and magnanimity. Edward was also the first king to introduce privatization methods into the management of royal lands and finances, although the Tudors, beginning with Henry VII, tend to get most of the credit for this type of innovation, the fact that Edward IV was never raised or prepared to be king explains much about his approach to royal revenues, which he managed as if they were private property rather than continuing the medieval practice of collecting. fixed rents from tenant farmers who were normally allowed to keep the profits, Edward hired stewards and trustees to whom he paid salaries to collect all the profits.

Additionally, royal revenues were now paid to the king's personal household account rather than the royal treasury. He was the first king to invest his own money in various businesses and financial enterprises in the same way as any merchant. In this way he reduced the likelihood that he would have to rely on parliamentary taxes for his financing and, by the middle of his second reign, he had managed to reduce most of England's debts, unfortunately, he had also accumulated some of his own. Edward understood that he was expected to fit the image of the splendid medieval warrior king; he had shown impressive bravery and skill on the battlefield and now he was determined.

To outshine Henry VI in every other respect as well, Edward spent constantly and lavishly on fine clothing, rich jewellery, exquisite tapestries, dishes and fine furniture for his palaces. He managed to create an immensely impressive figure, especially compared to the notably frail, confused and ragged King Henry, when his power was at its last ebb for Edward it was crucial that both his subjects and foreign dignitaries saw him as the ideal king. He understood that the image of prosperity would make loans much more accessible to the crown and that the valuable assets he was accumulating could serve as financial collateral and as a means of impressing visitors.

The expense required to ensure such magnificence meant that at the time of his death, Edward left the treasury only marginally better off than it was. Edward was just 19 years old when he assumed the throne and, when he was young, he was sometimes more likely to pursue pleasure than to immerse himself in the day-to-day nitty-gritty of ruling. Eduardo liked horseback riding, hunting, jousting, feasting and drinking with his friends, fortunately he loved her. The table position did not negatively affect him when he was young, as he was very active and athletic. Edward also had quite a few lovers during his reign, although only a few are known by his name.

Lady Elizabeth Lucy was Edward's mistress for many years, both before and after. His marriage had two illegitimate children with her whom he recognized, Arthur and Elizabeth. Other known lovers of Edwards include the married lady, the buckler Eleanor Talbot and Elizabeth Shaw, known more popularly as Jane Shaw in the early years of Edward's first reign, when he seemed to want to play more than work. He was in the habit of delegating many political duties to the highest-ranking and most trusted great men in the Yorkist faction, primarily Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Warwick was very intelligent, capable and had been so crucial to the army. and propaganda campaigns and the Yorkist cause, Edward had been extremely generous to his entire family and his followers, and this was no less true in the case of Warwick.

He had rewarded his most senior lieutenant with the administration of the Duchy of Lancaster and the position of Lord High Admiral. of England and many other officers, and the performance during the early years of Edward's reign was largely accessible only through Warwick, contributing to the conviction of many contemporary observers and almost certainly Warwick himself that he, and not Edward, was the true ruler of England. his active involvement in the success of the orchestra's cause and his execution of Edward's policies and administration during the early years had earned him the label of kingmaker. There is no doubt that warik had been instrumental in Edward's accession to the throne and in the consolidation of Yorkist power during Edward's first reign.

Reign, but perhaps these events caused Warwick, as well as some of Edward's biographers and historians, to forget the reality that Edward was not his puppet but very much his own man with a mind and will of his own. . Warwick had a prestigious royal marriage to a French princess in mind for Edward and also favored a pro-French trade policy which he worked assiduously to cultivate. When Edward refused to follow Warwick's advice in these matters, he drove a wedge between them that steadily worsened Edward. In the late 1460s the first blow came in the summer of 1464 to prevent any arrangement of a royal marriage.

Edward abruptly announced that he had married Elizabeth Woodville, the widowed Lady Gray secretly at her family home some weeks earlier. Not only did this inconvenience and embarrass Warwick, who had been negotiating for a French princess on behalf of the king, but it proved that the still young 22-year-old Edward was far less docile than had been believed, making the king's adage controversial. for most of his court. Not only was Elizabeth a widow with two young children, but her late husband had died fighting for the Lancastrians. Her father, Sir Richard Rivers, was not a nobleman but an ordinary gentleman who had married the noble widow of the Duke of Bedford, Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

Critics said he didn't fit in tastefully. Consort of a king, what most worried Warwick and other high-ranking Yorkists was the large family that the new queen brought with her, her numerous brothers and later her numerous children, soon became engaged in the most prestigious marriages that the English nobility could. offer, stimulating much jealousy. Resentful and concerned that there would be far fewer advantageous marriages for the children of Yorkist nobility, Elizabeth and Edward, however, showed every sign of their happiness and obvious love for each other despite the Ferrari they had forged in the court and around the world. country with its unconventional and socially unequal marriage, Edward reportedly immediately fell in love with Isabel.

In portraits and illustrations of her, she appeared to have had golden or reddish blonde hair and one chronicler described her as the most beautiful woman on the island of Great Britain with beautiful heavy-lidded eyes. The most famous portrait of Elizabeth Woodville displayed at Queen's College, Cambridge shows a face of her with very fine features and what appear to be warm light brown eyes. The painting is believed to be a copy of one painted in Life in 1471, but again the details of its appearance. such as those in Edward's portrait may not be entirely accurate. Edward, a notorious libertine with women at the best of times, was said to have propositioned Elizabeth very soon after their first meeting, when she had requested the return of her husband's property after his marriage. her death.

He says that Isabel had initially refused to submit to Edward's wishes, defending her honor literally with a knife. Obsessed and unable to forget her, the young king then offered her marriage. What is remarkable about this particular royal marriage is the ease with which Edward could have Bedardo and discard Isabel, he could easily have denied or repudiated a secretly celebrated marriage if he had wanted to, especially one so disadvantageous and with the guarantee that almost everyone would oppose it. The most reasonable explanation for the fact that he didn't do it was that he loved Isabel and had no desire. marry anyone else His marriage was prolific and produced 10 children in 14 years, eight of whom survived infancy and five survived into adolescence;

However, Edward continued to take lovers regularly even after his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, which undoubtedly strained their relationship, but this did not seem to unduly disrupt the close and happy family life that both Edward and Elizabeth worked to cultivate. Edward's marriage had alienated and inconvenienced Warwick, but he was perhaps even more angered by the king's decision in 1467 to pursue a Burgundian trade policy. Instead of a Frenchwoman, much to Warwick's dismay, Edward cemented his new alliance with Duke Charles of Burgundy by giving Warwick Cruz his sister Margaret in marriage. Sullen and resentful in the following years, he began to regard Edward's younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence, as just another man. promising replacement for the king he could not control in 1469 Warwick and Clarence began circulating a rumor on the continent that Edward was illegitimate to plant the seeds of doubt that could clear George's path to the throne against the strict denials of Eduardo.

Warwick and Clarence escaped to Calais, where Warwick married his daughter Elizabeth to George Torch; rebellions subsequently broke out in northern England which some historians consider to have been fermented by Warwick and Clarence, but which could also have been the result of continuing economic difficulties and local corruption which the conspirators exploited for their own purposes when attempting to deal with the northern rebels. Edward's forces were intercepted by Warwicks at Edgecot Moore, where they suffered a terrible defeat. Edward subsequently fell into Warwick's hands and in the following months, Warwick attempted to force his abdication or, failing that, he, who wielded power on Edward's behalf, did not have enough support to reinforce even his own authority. nor Clarence's;

However, he was soon forced to free his outraged king and his cousin. Reportedly, Eduardo was deeply shocked and hurt by the betrayal of his brother and his cousin, two people. he loved and trusted implicitly. The years 1469-1470 must have been a time of enormous stress and dejection for Edward, who had to face the mistakes he had made as king, the duplicity of his family, and the pain and anger of his wife, whose father and brother Warwick had been executed after the battle at Edgecut. Edward demonstrated his constructive spirit and magnanimity by forgiving Warwick and Clarence, arranging a public reconciliation in Parliament, and returning the favor, but by 1470 it was clear that Warwick and Clarence had not abandoned their plans to disturb Edward's peace.

Reign when both were involved in facilitating a rebellion in Lincolnshire to prevent Edward Roth, the two fled once again to Calais, which closed its doors to Warwick at this point. Warwick and Clarence were short on options and supporters and had no choice but to join together. his luck with the exiled Lancastrians the king of France helped organize a reconciliation between Warwick and Margaret of all the Jews together planned an invasion of England and arranged a marriage between Warwick and Neville's daughter and Margaret's son Edward of Westminster unfortunately Edward He was in Yorkshire dealing with Another Rebellion when Warwick invaded the capital.

Queen Elizabeth and her three young daughters, Elizabeth Mary and Cecilia, fled to the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey and Henry VI was freed from the tower where he had been imprisoned since his capture in 1465 and was reinstated as king in the second reign. Henry VI's reign was brief and turbulent, the terribly rebellious mix of Lancastrians and Yorkists made the Imperial Center weak and inefficient. In less than a year in exile in Holland and Flanders respectively, Edward had mustered enough forces to retake England once further Edward arrived in London in early April 1471, where he reconciled with his brother George, he had been alienated by the plan to reinstate Henry VI, probably because he saw no benefit to it, his mother and sisters had assured him in communications Secrets that if he surrendered to Edward's Mercy, he would be welcomed back into the family fold, Edward then marched his men out of London to confront Warwick and Margaret Evonjour on Easter Sunday morning under a nearly impenetrable fog which he took full advantage of. .

Edward's 4 forces defeated Warwicks at the Battle of Barnet. Warwick died on the battlefield and a few days later, Edward's armies faced Margaret Evonjour's at Tewkesbury, where despite his numerical superiority, Edward prevailed once again. Margaret's son, Edward of Westminster, was killed in battle while the Lancastrian queen herself was taken prisoner. Eduardo re-entered London. in Triumph on 21 May 1471. He went immediately to Westminster to join his wife and children. There he discovered that during his stay at the sanctuary, Queen Elizabeth had given birth to her first child, Prince Edward.The king's happiness was described in a contemporary. poem The King comforted the queen her sweet baby with great tenderness HE KISSED the Young Prince who she gazed upon and in his arms he undressed thus his bond turned him into Bliss after pain Joy the course of the world is the sight of her baby released part of his Alas, thus, the will of God in all that was done, Edward had survived his deposition, fought the final battles of his military career, regained the throne and fortunately his family had remained safe, but the ugliness necessary to preserving his power was not yet complete that same night.

King Henry. VI was murdered in the tower, most historians agree that it was most likely done on Edward's orders by a sharp and swift blow to the back of the head, while Henry's son, Edward of Westminster, was still alive, there was no point in killing Henry, an action that would eliminate an imprisoned heir and create a new one who was already free now that his son was dead. Henry could be eliminated for sure. Some historians believe that this dark deed was carried out by Edward's intelligent, ambitious and supposedly ruthless younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Richard had remained steadfastly loyal to Edward in the first place, making his later alleged crimes against his nephews, remembered as the Princes in the Tower, even more heinous and baffling now that Edward IV was, in fact, king.

His second reign, which lasted the remaining 12 years of his life, was somewhat more placid as the first and greater internal peace allowed him to focus more intensely on the reforms he had not fully achieved during his first decade on the throne. Edward continued his work to improve the rule of law and set out to accompany officials to oversee the reform and administration of justice, particularly in regions where unrest and rebellion had penetrated, while perhaps no medieval king would have managed to completely banish the rule. phenomenon of local corruption. England under Edward IV had achieved at least greater institutional stability and efficiency than ever before.

Under Henry VI, Edward also continued to work to make the crown financially solvent again, in addition to his innovative strategy of privatizing royal lands and finances to increase profits. Sometimes Eduardo's methods of raising revenue were not so honest. The confiscation of Lancastrian lands and assets went hand in hand with any regime change and these generated a large amount of revenue, but the king often had to grant it to his brothers and supporters to keep them happy. Edward frequently made use of benevolences that were payments to the king to avoid military service. Furthermore, Edward made sure that when English coins were revalued during his reign, he increased the minting rates for gold and silver coins, which gave him a handsome Prophet.

The King also did not hesitate to request funds from Parliament to go to war, but then quickly made peace with his supposed enemies and appropriated the Parliamentary Grant to swell the royal coffers, this is precisely what he did in 1475 5 when he undertook an invasion of France, however, does not seem that this was its intention from the beginning. Edward was a military man and a great general and was undoubtedly attracted by the idea of ​​victory and martial glory in France that would ensure his fame and immortality alongside Henry V and Edward III. He spent years cultivating military alliances with Burgundy and Brittany against the French king and went to great lengths.

To foster peaceful relations with the Scots so that they would not invade England in favor of France, when Edward finally arrived in France accompanied by all his nobility and his servants, his allies had abandoned him, his subsequent decision to sue for peace was a pragmatic decision. and intelligent decision which ensured the best possible outcome that Edward would have desired under the circumstances, no money was wasted in any prolonged campaign and King Louis XI had been so anxious for the English to leave that he accepted a generous tribute of fifteen thousand pounds and An additional 10,000 pounds a year and a marriage between the dofa and Edward's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who would receive a joint chair of sixty thousand pounds and something absurd and unprecedented for a royal marriage.

Edward's captains and the English people, however, saw it very differently. Alienated by Edward's decision not to fight the French and seeing his peace strategy as a sign of cowardice and a source of shame, the nobility were soon mollified by the economic advantages of the peace from which they benefited, but the popularity Edward's wider society suffered a significant decline after 1475 and began to gain a reputation for avarice and avarice. Still, the results of the French campaign ensured that Edward would never have to ask Parliament for funds again and ensured that when the king died he would not leave his heir with a mountain of debt, though, thank you.

To his own profligate spending, the royal treasury only had around £1,200 in cash after Edward's death, worse still, Edward's relationship with his brother George deteriorated significantly in the following years, Edward refusing to allow his brother to marry the Burgundian heiress because he still feared that given the power and opportunity that his brother could still challenge him for the throne, the resentful George sought to revive not only the old rumors that Edward was the bastard son of a common archer , but he had also been secretly married before his marriage and therefore all his children were bastards and he was also said to have paid a seer to predict the king's death, far from forgiving this time, Edward presided himself the treason trial in Georgia and the Duke of Clarence was executed in the tower on February 18, 1478.

A discussion of Edward's legitimacy is warranted here, as it has been a major source of contention among historians in the last two decades. In 2002, historian Michael K Jones discovered evidence which he believed provided conclusive evidence that Edward IV was, in fact, illegitimate in the parish. Roar Cathedral records indicate that approximately nine months before Edward's birth in April 1442, during a crucial five-week period in which Edward was likely to have been conceived, Richard, Duke of York, was on campaign in Pontwas; However, this evidence is also based on several assumptions, none of which can be verified with certainty. First, Jones assumes that Duchess Cecily remained at Royal throughout the period or that Duke Richard did not return at any time during the campaign.

Pontois, none of which can be confirmed. Plus, we know that Duchess Cecily had just lost her. second child, a son named Henry, who lived only a few days. Cecily and Richard had left England shortly after the boy's death, the Duke and Duchess had grown up together in the same house and, although their marriage had been arranged since they were children, their relationship was so close to a marriage by love as an arranged marriage might have been in the medieval period, the notion that Cecily would have had an affair, betraying the husband she apparently loved while still grieving for her dead son strains credulity, something even more unlikely is the possibility that the Duchess , who would have been constantly surrounded by servants in her daily life, could have done something as scandalous as having an affair with a common archer without anyone finding out, while the mistaken cathedral record is compelling historical evidence, it is far from conclusively and most historians still continue to accept that Edward IV was of legitimate birth after all the rumors about Edward's illegitimacy first appeared in 1469, when Warwick was trying to place George on the throne instead of Edward in the spring of 1483.

Edward made observers seriously ill and Chroniclers differ over the cause of his illness, one claimed that he had caught a cold while fishing in the River Thames, which later turned into a fever, others claimed that he had been poisoned and another claimed that the king had suffered a stroke or apoplexy. Considering Edward's lifestyle and weight gain in later years, this is probably the most likely scenario: the king lived only 10 more days after the start of his mysterious illness, but it was enough time to review his will and organize government and stability during his son's minority. Brother Richard Duke of Gloucester was to be appointed Lord Protector until the 12-year-old Prince Edward came of age, when he was only 40.

Edward was fortunate enough to die in his bed with his family and dearest friends. next to his bed, safe and comforted. that his son would succeed him, these were luxuries afforded to few medieval warrior kings. Some historians claim that Edward's legacy is not as celebrated as he deserves; He was undoubtedly one of the greatest generals to ever sit on the English throne and never lost a battle in which he had been present, but his name is almost never mentioned alongside England's greatest warrior kings, such as Henry. V or Edward III. The most likely reason for this is that all of Edward's victories were against his own countrymen rather than foreigners, and many historians probably found it difficult to celebrate the abilities of a man whose military genius resulted in the spilling of so much English blood and destruction. from the flower of English chivalry in the mid to late 15th century, plus Edward's legal power and financial reforms laid the foundation for the later Tudor regime, which allowed for greater ease of centralization, making England's voyage easier to eventually become Great Britain.

Edward was much loved by the English people during much of his reign, which is evident in the public and national outpouring of grief. During the mourning that followed his death, he was in many ways a much more approachable king than the English people had ever had. He was warm, friendly, nice, forgiving, brave and confident. He was also probably the most English king the kingdom had had since the Norman Conquest. that the English who distrusted most foreigners certainly liked Edward's parents, the grandparents and great-grandparents were all born and raised English, plus Edward married an English woman rather than a foreign princess, which was almost never the case for English royals, some historians consider Edward IV to have failed as king due to the chaos, violence and turmoil that followed his death with the imprisonment of his sons, the usurpation by his brother Richard and his subsequent war with Henry Tudor for the throne;

However, this perspective does not take into account that if Edward had lived his children would have dominated Europe's royal marriage market by marrying into the royal families of France, Spain, Scotland and Denmark and quite possibly other royal houses as well. . Furthermore, if Edward IV had lived longer, his son would have succeeded to the throne and the Tudor dynasty could have dominated Europe's royal marriage market. have never appeared yet thanks to Elizabeth Woodville's clever and skillful negotiations with Henry Tudor's mother, Margaret Beaufort, Edward IV's eldest daughter, in fact, succeeded to the throne when Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor and was crowned Queen of England. progenitor of her father's legacy, a long line of kings and queens of England, what do you think of Edward IV?

Let us know in the comments below, and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching The Man Known to History as King Richard III of England. He was born on October 2, 1452 at Hay Castle in the county of Northamptonshire. His mother Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, was the great-granddaughter of King Edward III and was also the mother of two Yorkist kings of England, King Edward IV and King Richard III. Richard's own father, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, was one of the most renowned and powerful nobles of his time and was the protector of the kingdom on several occasions during the reign of the Lancastrian king Henry VI and was also responsible for instigating The Rose Wars Richard was the youngest of Cecily and York's four surviving children, which meant he was unlikely to ever inherit his father's title let alone claim the throne, but after years of Civil War and A series of important events, he was finally crowned and would leave.

To become one of the most infamous rulers in English history, young Richard grew up during one of the most famous and bloody conflicts of the medieval era, the Wars of the Roses, which was instigated by his father when he was only two years. Although the root cause of the conflict dates back much earlier, during the Plantagenet dynasty, England, during the reign of King Edward III, emerged as one of Europe's medieval superpowers, having defeated the armies of France in several battles, like Loca's. and Poitier, so that at the time of Edward III's death the island nation dominated its continental rival;

However, Edward III's son and heir, Edward, the Black Prince,who was one of the most renowned and capable commanders of medieval Europe, never had the opportunity to reign as king of England, as he died of dysentery a year before his father in 1976, which meant that the throne passed to the young son of the Black Prince, Richard II, despite showing promise early in his reign. Richard II took much closer to his great-grandfather Edward II. than his father and grandfather, as he was a weak, tyrannical and cruel king who eventually alienated his nobles to the point of rebellion, consequently, Richard was overthrown by them, imprisoned and starved to death by one of his cousins, Henry of Bolingbrook, who was himself the son of John of Gaunt, Earl of Lancaster, the third son of Edward III, whose earldom was represented by the red rose of Lancaster, this act of regicide would eventually cause a rift within the family.

Plantagenet and would lead to the Wars of the Roses, since bowling was not common. Next in line to the throne after Richard II and by killing an anointed monarch, Bowling had set a dangerous precedent for the future and this would eventually put his descendants at odds with the other branches of the Plantagenet family. These rival branches descended from the second. Edward III's surviving son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, as well as Edward III's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, who represented the House of York under the famous symbol of the white rose after the death of King Richard II.

Henry Bowling Break was crowned King Henry IV of England in 1399 and the House of Lancaster controlled the country for the next 62 years, which also included the reigns of King Henry V and his son King Henry VI, but Lancaster's control over England relied heavily on the strength of the reigning monarch and this grip on power evaporated during the reign of Bolingbrook's grandson, King Henry VI, who unlike his father Henry V had no talent for war and was much more interested in war. The fragile position of Henry VI was further aggravated when he suffered his first mental breakdown in 1453, possibly as a result of his army's final defeat against the French in the War of the Kings.

One Hundred Years, resulting in a year later Richard III's father, Richard III, Duke of York, being appointed protector of the kingdom while the king recovered. York was the grandson of Edmund de Langley, the first Duke of York, but her mother, Anne Mortimer, was a great-granddaughter of Edward III's second son, the Duke of Clarence, since her grandfather Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, had married. The power and influence of Clarence's only daughter, Philippa York, increased tenfold when she inherited the right to the throne of the Duke of Clarence through her mother Anne when her brother Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, died without heirs in 1425, which effectively made him one of the richest in the country. landowners, this maternal line formed the backbone of Richard Duke of York's claim to the English throne and is the reason why the Wars of the Roses took place, for although he was a descendant of the fourth son of King Edward III, he was now also heir to his second son, Lionel of Antwerp, the Duke of Clarence, who had technically been next in line to the throne after Richard II's death, York sought to take advantage of Henry VI's weakness by demanding that he be recognized as the rightful heir to the throne, but inevitably faced opposition. of the Lancastrian king's supporters, particularly his wife Queen Margaret of Bonjour, who wanted her infant son with Henry Edward of Westminster to succeed him as king, outraged by York's actions, Margaret formed a powerful coalition against him and with the support of other Lancastrian nobles, as Henry VI recovered from his illness in December 1454 and relieved York of his position, after which Richard gathered his supporters and marched towards London in the hope of a Reckoning. final with Henry's Lancastrian advisors, the two factions met on 22 May 1455 in what is considered the opening confrontation of the Wars of the Roses, the first battle of Saint Albans in which the Yorks defeated the Lancaster and the Duke of Somerset died. and Henry VI was taken prisoner after York was once again appointed protector of the kingdom, but King Henry, after recovering from another of his stress-related crises, removed him from his position once again, largely at the expense of At the Queen's behest, which then led York to flee the country to Ireland, as he now feared for his life while York was in Ireland, his ally Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick and Sheriff of Calais, used his base of power in mainland France to launch raids against commercial shipping in the English Channel, but after failing to bind Joined York in England in 1459, returned a year later captured London and defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, after which Queen Margaret and her son Edward of Westminster fled to Scotland, while King Henry was again taken prisoner, this time York.

He made it clear that he wanted nothing less than to usurp Henry and become king himself, but he was unable to obtain parliamentary support for such a move and instead a compromise was reached in October 1460, which is known today as the Act of Agreement which stated that Henry VI would retain the throne until his death, when it would then pass to York and his heirs while the queen was in Scotland rallying support for the Lancastrian nobles, including the new Duke of Somerset, who was eager to avenge the death of his father in the first battle. of Saint Albans gathered his forces in the north, eventually numbering around 15,000 men-at-arms, and marched south with the aim of defeating York and reinstating Henry VI to the throne.

York then marched north along with his second son, Edmund, to confront the Lancastrians. He greatly underestimated the strength of his enemy's forces, as his Yorkist army only consisted of around 8,000 men. The two armies met at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, in which the Lancastrians were victorious and York and his son were killed. After the victory over York, Queen Margaret returned to England and, together With his Lancastrian allies, he defeated the Earl of Warwick at the Second Battle of Saint Albans on 17 February 1461 and, following the engagement, Henry VI was released from captivity after being found singing under a fence.

After her victory, the Lancastrians advanced towards London, but were banned from entering the city by the population supporting them, causing Margaret to make the fatal mistake of retreating north to consolidate her support base. . The withdrawal of the Lancastrians allowed the eldest son of the late York, Edward the new Duke of York, who at 19 was already an experienced commander, would return to London in the following weeks where, with the support of the Earl of Warwick, the church and The city's population proclaimed themselves King Edward IV of England on March 4. 1461. This escalated the conflict to a whole new level as there were now two kings in England and with the country now more divided than ever, further hostilities were inevitable and as a result both sides now prepared for a final showdown, the The young king rallied his supporters on a march towards his family's town of York, which was now being occupied by the Lancastrians and the two armies met on 29 March 1461 about 10 miles south-west of York in the largest battle. bloody scene of English history.

Tauton, the two armies which consisted of about thirty thousand men on both sides engaged in battle in the middle of a snow storm and unprecedented carnage occurred; However, the orchestras aided by the brilliant leadership of King Edward ultimately triumphed and after the slaughter was over, the field was littered with the bodies of some 28,000 men as the Civil War raged in England. King Edward's younger brothers, George and Richard, had stayed in the relative safety of the Netherlands, but after their brother's symbolic victory they returned to the country and participated in Edward's coronation, after which George was awarded the title. of Duke of Clarence and Richard Duke of Gloucester after the Yorkist takeover.

Clarence, aged 12, and Richard, aged 9, were placed in the care of the Earl of Warwick at his power base in the Yorkshire Dales, where in the following years both brothers were educated and instructed in the art of craftsmanship. war until they came of age. In fact, growing up during the Wars of the Roses helped shape Richard into the man he would eventually become and she spent most of her adolescence under his tutelage. One of the ablest commanders of his time, Warwick, is no surprise, but by the time he reached maturity he had become a respectable leader in his own right.

At the age of 16, Richard began attending court and began to take responsibility for his estates, however both he and his brother George's loyalty to King Edward would soon be tested as they began to form divisions within the House of York and its support base, the reason for this was that Edward's handling of the government had begun. ignore Warwick's advice and this division between them was widened to the breaking point when it was discovered that King Edward had married a common girl called Elizabeth Woodville in May 1464. This clandestine marriage ruined Warwick's plans to marry Edward with Anne, the eldest daughter of Louis Edward's reign had thus far been relatively secure, but his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville elevated both her and her low-born family to dominant positions within the king's court and then, over the next few years, they worked against the Earl of Warwick and weakened his position.

Warwick retired from court to his Yorkshire estates in 1467, where he rallied his supporters against the king, including Edward and Richard's brother George, Duke of Clarence, who joined Warwick because Edward had not allowed him to marry the earl's daughter and furthermore, as King Edward had no heirs, Clarence hoped to claim the throne for himself as he was next in line. Warwick and Clarence's rebellion began at Earnest. two years later, in 1469, when Warwick's rebel army defeated a loyalist army at the Battle of Edge War on 26 July, after which King Edward was detained in Buckinghamshire as the earl's prisoner, but Warwick's control over the country did not last long as he was unable to gain the support of the nobility to replace Edward, causing him to be released soon after and fear reprisals.

The rebel leaders fled to the continent in the spring of 1470, while in exile Warwick and Clarence formed an alliance with the deposed Queen Margaret of Anjou and then launched a combined invasion of England in September 1470 with the support of the French king, leading which meant that Edward IV and his brother Richard were forced to flee the country and seek protection in Flanders, Warwick then re-established Henry VI as king of England in what became known as the Rehabilitation which later earned him the nickname the Maker of kings for their role in restoring the Lancastrians to power, a title reserved for few men in the annals of history.

Edward VI, who was now under the protection of his brother-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy, then returned to England along with the 18-year-old Richard. He landed at Yorkist supporting East Anglia on 14 March 1471 with 1200 men, after which they marched towards York which opened its gates to welcome both Edward and Richard, then advancing the South Gathering supporters as they advanced, one of whom was his brother George Duke. of Clarence, who had been alienated by Warwick after he restored the Lancastrians to power, the orchestra's army then engaged the Earl of Warnick at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471, in which Richard, Duke of Gloucester, would come of age in the battle that was.

Engulfed in Mist, the Lancastrians initially took the lead after their right flank led by John Devere, Earl of Oxford, defeated the Yorkist left under William Lord Hastings, but even though Edward had lost a considerable part of his army, Both he and his brother Richard did not allow it to crumble and after Richard led his own attack to Warwick's left, the line stabilized and then, in a moment of confusion, the Oxford men who had returned to The Fray lost their They walked into the fog and charged towards their own lines led by Warwick's brother, John Neville, who in turn, mistook them for Edward's Yorkist reserves and ordered his men to fire a volley of arrows at the approaching cavalry. .

In the hail of arrows, Oxford's men fled the field shouting treason, after which Edward deployed his reserves toattack Lancaster's left, finishing off his remaining ranks. being decimated and Warwick, the kingmaker, unable to defend himself from an attack, was cut down and killed. Richard had played a major role in York's victory at Barnet, but almost immediately he was presented with another opportunity to show his commanding talents against another Lancastrian army less than a month later, at the Battle of Tewksbury, on the 4th. May 1471, in the run-up to the battle, King Edward intercepted Margaret of Anjou, who had gathered her remaining support in the west of the country and was traveling towards Wales to join forces with the Welsh.

The nobleman Jasper Tudor, brother of Edmund Tudor, Henry Tudor's father, during the battle. Edward's and Clarence's formations were overwhelmed by an attack by Edmund, Duke of Somerset, but were relieved with the support of cavalry who defeated the Lancastrians, after which Richard launched an attack on central Lancastrian and forced the enemy to retreat until their lines were broken and a route was opened. The victory at Tewkesbury proved to be the decisive battle in securing the crown for Edward IV, as it virtually eliminated the leading contenders for the Lancastrian throne, including Henry VI, son of Edward of Westminster, the Prince. of Wales, who was killed and is the only heir apparent to have ever died in a battle on English soil after the battle.

Queen Margaret was taken prisoner by the House of York and Richard, along with John Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, is said to have taken the remaining Lancastrian nobles. to death although they took refuge in Tewkesbury Abbey, this act of apparent murder was later used by his detractors in the following centuries to portray Richard as a lawless character, but it has since been questioned whether the monastery had Sanctuary rights at that time after Tewkesbury, a Lancastrian uprising. was led by the late King Maker's cousin, Thomas Neville, who was defeated and then King Henry VI was assassinated in the Tower of London on the eve of the Ascension between 21 and 22 May 1471, eliminating the last king From the Lancastrian era, Richard has traditionally been implicated in Henry's death and some say he even authorized his death, but this remains another matter of controversy as there is no way to objectively clarify who ordered his murder;

However, it is most likely that the late king died under Edward IV. As after all, he was the head of state and only he had the authority to sanction the assassination of an anointed monarch. At this stage, the House of York emerged victorious as they had annihilated their rivals and effectively ended the conflict, after which a period of peace followed. although eventually the storm clouds of betrayal and war would descend upon England once more and eventually lead to the downfall of the Yorkist kings following the restoration of Edward IV in June 1461. Richard married Anne Neville, the daughter youngest of the late Warwick, the kingmaker who was also the widow of Edward VI, son of Edward of Westminster, who had died at the Battle of Tewkesbury, this union would see Richard enter into a bitter land dispute with his brother Clarence, who he married Warwick's eldest daughter, Isabel, as it is possible that they were both trying to win. control of his late father's lands to increase his own wealth and power;

However, it is also possible that both marriages were born of love, as both men had known the Neville sisters since their time under their father's tutelage in his power base in Yorkshire during their teenage years, Anne would be crowned queen consort after the Richard's rise to power and she would give birth to their only child together, Edward of Midleum, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester and Salisbury and the future Prince of Wales. It was claimed that towards the end of Anne's life as she lay dying of tuberculosis in March 1485, that Richard poisoned her because he intended to marry Elizabeth of York, the daughter of his brother Edward IV, but again the accuracy This statement is questioned in May as is the case with many events.

Part of Richard's life had been twisted by political motives as well as inheriting lands in Wales and the north of England as a result of his marriage to Anne Richard was also responsible for the administrative body of the Northern Council and during his tenure he suppressed conflicts in the region and brought the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland under his influence, this eventually led to Richard becoming popular with the northern nobility and its population, as he was responsible, along with his brother, King Edward IV, for bring prosperity and economic opportunities to the region. to do after becoming King by placing his Northern Lords in positions of power which proved unpopular with some, as he was accused of using them to reinforce his position despite Richard's chivalric activities in the north of the country, which They are stories that describe his character. as malicious and insensitive, especially surrounding the trial and execution of his brother Clarence.

Elizabeth's wife had died under mysterious circumstances in December 1476, probably from consumption, so Clarence maintained that she had been poisoned by one of his ladies at Waiting, whom he had executed shortly afterwards. This Clarence attempted to marry the daughter of Mary Duchess of Burgundy, but was rejected by his brother, King Edward, causing Clarence to leave the king's court in protest, igniting suspicion against him and soon after several of his servants. They were arrested, tried and executed. a former Lancastrian supporter, Dr. John Goddard, to protest the death of his servants in Parliament, which in turn resulted in Edward arresting Clarence and putting him on trial during which his brother was not allowed to defend himself and, after being found guilty, Clarence was executed in the Tower of London. on 18 February 1478.

Richard was portrayed after his own death greeting his brother's judgment with approval, as both he and his wife were named as the principal beneficiaries of Clarence's estate, but there is no concrete evidence linking to Richard with Clarence's trial or death. and once again the responsibility must surely rest with the head of state Edward IV. It is also claimed that Clarence died at the instruction or influence of Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth Woodville, and her family, whose main objective was to ensure that her son, the future Edward V, succeeded him. His father, like Clarence, had shown in the past that he posed a threat to the crown and could have become a potential threat to the Prince of Wales in the future.

The true story behind Clarence's death may be forever lost to history, but what is known is that at her mother's request, Cecily Clarence did not face a traditional execution, as evidence from her exhumed remains suggests that was not beheaded and popular myth claims that he was instead drowned in a vat of wine in the late 1470s, a confrontation was brewing with England's ancient enemy to the north, the kingdom of Scotland, and after War was declared in November 1480, Richard as Warden of the Western March led a successful campaign in the border region and eventually captured the town of Beric upon Tweed in August 1482, which was the last time the town changed hands between the two rival kingdoms during this campaign, Richard also occupied Edinburgh for a short period, but was unable to lead the Scottish king James III into battle after he was kidnapped by his own nobles to avoid any possible encounter with the invaders and after the English were forced to return to Beric, it is no exaggeration to say that Richard's exploits in Scotland greatly impressed his brother, as well as the English nobility, and he was rewarded with more lands and titles, such as High Sheriff of Cumberland, and he was also allowed to retain many of the lands he appropriated during his Scottish campaign, but then came the event that would change Richard's life, as well as the entire course of English history, for around Easter 1483 , Edward IV began to become ill within a matter of weeks.

It was clear that the king was dying during his last days. The king declared his 12-year-old son Edward as his successor, but also appointed his brother Richard as Lord Protector until the young king came of age when King Edward IV died. at the age of. aged 40, on 9 April 1483, his remains were buried in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, two days after his brother's death, Richard took an oath of allegiance to his nephew Edward V, but after Upon the death of King Edward, Richard faced opposition among the nobility such as the Woodvilles, who had become a powerful political force during the late king's reign, the Woodvilles still maintained great influence at the time of Edward's death and were now working to remove Richard from the governing process, but as The lowborn family was hated among the established nobility, many of them for their support of the Lord Protector, including loyal Yorkist nobles such as William Hastings, the 1st Baron Hastings, who was The old King Richard's Lord Chamberlain saw this withdrawal of Woodville support as a sign of disrespect and responded by taking responsibility for the young Edward V by seeking to place him under his protection as he was responsible for Edward's safety as Lord Protector.

It should also be noted that Richard was not alone in this act nor was he the instigating party, as stated in the Chronicle of Croyland written by the Benedictine monk Ingolf, that Richard acted on the instructions of Lord Hastings, who informed him and his ally Henry Stafford, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, that the Woodvilles were planning to take control of the town. Richard then traveled to Northampton on 29 April 1483 and intercepted Elizabeth Woodville's brother Anthony Woodville, the 2nd Earl of Rivers, who was escorting the young king to London for his coronation along with a heavily armed bodyguard of 2,000 men.

However, the young king was not present. When Richard arrived, having been sent south of Northampton, to the small town of Stoney Stafford, prior to the Lord Protector's arrival and after dining with Rivers and his entourage, Richard had them arrested, accused him of treason and He then traveled to intercept the young king. before escorting him for his own safety to Bishop Kemp's palace in London, after which he was transferred to the Royal Apartments in the Tower of London, where kings traditionally resided before being crowned. After his return, the King's Council officially proclaimed Richard as regent of his nephew and it was also decided that the coronation should be postponed for seven weeks and then for three months.

Following this, on 13 June 1483, Richard, along with the Duke of Buckingham, turned on his former ally, Baron Hastings, during a council meeting at the Tower of London and accused him of plotting against his life with The Woodvilles. It is unclear what happened next, but some accounts claim that Hastings along with several of his companions were dragged from the tower and summarily executed moments later even though he had been a loyal supporter of Richard in the past, during this period. , Richard also attempted to try Earl Rivers for treason, but was prohibited from doing so by the King's Council, but Rivers was eventually executed at Richard's fortress at Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, one day before being proclaimed king on the 25th of June 1483.

Upon hearing of her brother's arrest, the late King Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth Woodville, had sought refuge in Westminster Abbey along with her children, including the nine-year-old Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, but then he gave up his son. to the Archbishop of Canterbury thinking he would be safe assuming that the coronation of his eldest son was imminent after this, a clergyman thought it had been the Bishop of Bath and it is believed that Wells informed Richard that the marriage of his brother Edward IV to Elizabeth Woodville it was not valid as the late king had made it before their union entered into a legal agreement. pre-contract to marry the daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Lady Eleanor Talbot, then, on 22 June 1483, a sermon was held outside Old St Paul's Cathedral in which it was stated that both Edward V like the Duke of York were illegitimate like their parents.

The marriage was invalid and a petition signed by both nobles and commoners was then drawn up asking Richard to assume the throne, which he subsequently agreed to on 26 June, although the marriage between Edward and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate by Richard and his supporters. If the sources are accurate, Lady Talbot died in June 1468 and Edward V was born on 2 November 1470, meaning he was not born during Lady Tolbert's lifetime and even if Edward IV's pre-contract claims are true and valid , he was a widower two years before the birth of his heir, on the other hand, Richard and his supporters would argue that because Edward and Elizabeth had married four years before Lady Talbot's death, any children they had together would have been illegitimate;

In fact, the validity of Richard's promotionhas always been disputed as the parliament of 1483 had not yet officially met, although based on a precedent set by Edward in 4 1461, an informal meeting of officials met the legal requirements to declare him King Richard Duke of Gloucester was later crowned King Richard III of England at Westminster Abbey on 6 July 1483 and his ascendancy was subsequently ratified by an actor called titulus regius by Parliament in 1484, who considered him the rightful king. This ratification of Richard as king has led some to argue that the label placed on him as a usurper is unjustified, but as the law was repealed and destroyed when King Henry VII assumed power, the historical narrative about motivations and legitimacy of Ricardo's actions is clouded, ambiguous and open to different interpretations.

Among those invited to Richard's coronation were several former Lancastrian supporters, including his mother. of Henry Tudor Margaret in Beaufort and her fourth husband, Lord Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, who would eventually play leading roles in Richard's fall during the summer of 1483. Richard secured London and suppressed the fall with the help of his troops, during which time his men supposedly prevented an attempt to free the princes from the tower and shortly afterwards Richard left London and embarked on a tour of England. At this time rumors began to circulate that Princes Edward and Richard had disappeared from the Tower of London and in late summer Until 1483 there were widespread suspicions that the children were missing or dead.

The only concrete fact about their disappearance is that they were no longer seen after the summer of 1483 and the stories surrounding what happened to them remain a mystery, although alternative narratives have been suggested. As to who may have killed the princes or even if they were murdered, it is said that until his death, Richard did not attempt to defend himself about the children's whereabouts and remained silent about their fate for the rest of his life, which some believe. Pained and still seen as an admission of his guilt, one of the few accounts of the prince's disappearance comes from an Italian knight named Dominic Mancini who visited England during the summer of 1483.

In his report, Mancini insisted that Richard was responsible. of the prince's death. His account has since been disputed, as it was based on the testimony of a royal physician named Juan Argentino, who was a loyal supporter of Edward IV and later Henry VII. Furthermore, Sir Thomas Moore, a Tudor historian, also claimed that Richard had ordered the princes killed and stated that one of his most trusted knights, James Tyrell, confessed to the murder and claimed that the princess was suffocated in her beds by two of Tyrell's men at Miles Forest and John Dighton, in contrast to this, others have named Richard's ally Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham as the man behind the murders, as he himself had a claim to the crown. as a descendant of John of Gaunt and it is proposed that he may have intended to take the crown for himself and was not acting under Richard's authority.

Other theories about the prince's disappearance claim that Henry VII himself ordered his murder after coming to power, although there is no evidence of this, since if he had done so, Henry could have presented the bodies as proof that Richard had been the one. responsible. Later historical events also raised new doubts about the fate of the princes and The Tower when Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the young Prince Richard, Duke of York, staged a coup against Henry VII in the 1490s but was eventually imprisoned. , admitted to being an impostor and then, after several escape attempts, was hanged in 1499.

Once again the truth behind the boy's death is lost in The Mist of Time, but a possible clue to his fate was discovered during the excavations around the Tower of London in 1674, which revealed a small wooden box containing the skeletons of two children; however, these remains have never been formally examined. using modern technology as forensic investigations have not yet been authorized to determine whether the bones are from the period in question or share any DNA with Richard III. The recently discovered bird remains What is certain is that the mother of the princes in the tower Elizabeth Woodville had just had Richard and his supporters blamed for the disappearance of her children, since, after all, her late husband Edward IV had charged him with ensuring their safety, whether innocent of their deaths or not, he failed to resolve this matter which remains one of the most notorious events in the history of the English monarchy inevitably forced Elizabeth Woodville into a clandestine alliance with Lady Margaret Beaufort, who was the godmother of one of Elizabeth's daughters and whose stepson, George Stanley, heir to Lord Thomas Stanley, was married to Elizabeth's sister, the daughter of Jacquetta, the Stanlers.

He had originally been an early supporter of the first Lancastrian king, Henry Bolingbroke, but Thomas, who had since inherited his father's lands and titles in 1459, showed an incredible talent for choosing the winning side in battles, as he he had previously refused to commit his troops to battle. Battle of Blar Heath in September 1459, although he had been ordered to do so by the late Henry VI's wife, Queen Margaret of Wong Zhu, this pragmatism or disloyal guilt ultimately resulted in Stanley becoming one of the most noble nobles. rich and powerful of the land as it became. a supporter of Edward IV during the middle stages of the Wars of the Roses and his position was greatly strengthened by his marriage to the thrice-widowed Lady Margaret Beaufort, who had inherited the lands of her late father, the Duke of Somerset, as well as hers.

Previous husbands before Lady Margaret had married Thomas Stanley, by her second marriage she had been the wife of the Lancastrian supporter Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, whose father Owen Tudor had married King Henry VI. Mother Catherine of Valois after the death of her first husband, King Henry. V Edmund Tudor himself had been taken prisoner by the House of York in the early stages of the Wars of the Roses, but died of the plague while imprisoned, leaving a pregnant Margaret widowed at the tender age of 13, in November 1456 and two months later. She then gave birth to her only son, Henry Tudor, the future nemesis of Richard III at Pembroke Castle in Wales.

Margaret then began to position her son as a candidate to lead the opposition to Richard III and, although Henry was not a strong candidate in terms of his ancestry, there were few Lancastrian candidates left alive and, like his mother's husband , Lord Stanley was one of the most powerful nobles in England and the Woodvilles were eager to get revenge on Richard, Henry was the right man in the right place at the right time. The right to the English throne derived from her mother, as Lady Margaret was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, third son of Edward III, who had fathered four illegitimate children with his mistress and later wife, Catherine Swinford, one of which was Margaret's grandfather, John Beaufort.

Henry had spent most of his life outside England, in exile in Brittany, having fled the country after King Edward IV's final victory over the House of Lancaster, but even though he was now the most prominent claimant to Lancaster after the death of Henry VI and his son. Neither Edward IV nor Richard III took his claim seriously enough to remove him, which would prove to be a fatal mistake. Lady Margaret and Elizabeth devised a brilliant plan that would make Henry Tudor, Mary Elizabeth Woodville's eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, and the ancient Union between the houses. of Lancaster and York that would potentially attract supporters of both competing factions who were unhappy with the rule of Richard III, this agreement attracted many of the more Yorkist supporters of the old King Edward IV who, to say the least, were also unhappy with the accession of Richard III to the throne. as The Disappearance of the Princes and shortly after the New King's coronation in the late summer of 1483, a plot was afoot to depose him, culminating in Richard III's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, as well as John Morton and Reginald Bray, raising an army in support of Henry, but after a great storm engulfed the English Channel, Tudor was stranded off the south coast, leading to Buckingham's Rebellion, as it is now known. , failed, after which Buckingham himself was captured and executed in November 1483.

After Buckingham's failed rebellion Richard sought an agreement with the Duke of Britain's officials to deliver Henry into his custody, but after Tudor received news of these plans, escaped to France, where he gained the support of his hosts, and at Renin Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry officially declared his intention to marry Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville. after which he intensified his plans for a second invasion, although Richard III's reign is possibly the most famous of any Plantagenet king, he only sat on the English throne for just over two years and during this time he held his only parliament in 1484 in which he negotiated the raising of funds in exchange for abolishing the Levy of Benevolence which kings had used in the past to raise money without the consent of parliament and also agreed to protect the trade of English merchants from their foreign competitors during this time .

He also expanded power to justices of the peace by granting officials the authority to implement bail measures for detainees and also introduced legal protection for accused citizens that prevented illegal seizures of property while awaiting trial. Additionally, the king introduced a system of legal representation called a tribunal. of petitions for those who could not afford legal costs in which the poorest citizens could petition the crown over disputes and Richard also oversaw a process by which the country's laws were translated from the usual Latin or French into English to that the commoners would be better informed. of his rights, it could be said that many of these reforms go against the image that has been transmitted to us of Richard, since he seems to have genuinely cared about the lives of his subjects, however, the king never I would have the opportunity.

To demonstrate what kind of king he really was, as the final battle of the Wars of the Roses was fast approaching, Richard had confiscated after Buckingham's failed rebellion the lands of Elizabeth Woodville, who was still living in England at the time, along with with those belonging to Henry Tudor's mother, Margaret, as punishment for her participation, but gave the latter's lands to her husband, Lord Stanley, perhaps fearing that he would officially join his wife against Richard, as his support base was now far from secure in many ways. Lord Stanley was Richard's elder. problem since his position had been greatly weakened by his alleged participation in The Disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, which had partly caused the defection of many of his Yorkist supporters during the Buckingham Rebellion, so he could not afford the Meanwhile, having no luxury of losing the support of any more nobles, let alone one as powerful as Stanley, Henry Tudor's plans to launch a second invasion of England were gaining pace, as he had now gained the backing of the French court, who supported their invasion to prevent Richard from interfering with his government.

His own planned invasion of the Duchy of Brittany Tudor was forced to act quickly and hasten his departure after news reached him that Richard III and Neville's wife had died in March 1485 and that the king now planned to marry the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York. The fragile alliance that Enrique had with his former Yorkist supporters. Richard III's position had also been greatly weakened by April 1484 when his son and heir Edward of Midland, the Prince of Wales, died of unknown causes, which many considered divine. In retaliation for his apparent involvement in The Disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, Henry Tudor quickly raised an army in France with the support of the French King Charles VII, numbering 5,000 professional mercenaries and possibly a small contingent of Scottish troops later. who sailed from our Fleur on 1 August 1485 and landed on the Welsh coast at Milford Haven on 7 August, not far from his birthplace at Pembroke Castle, after Henry's army had advanced south and mid Wales, gathering supporters as they went. until he finally crossed the English border near Shrewsbury, after which Henry held several secret meetings with his stepfather, Lord Stanley, who had gathered his own forces in the area and after this the two separate armies continued their march towards London.

Richard had heardspeak of Henry Tudor's landing in Wales on August 11 and had since been rallying his followers across the country at his meeting point in the city of Leicester after he moved west to cut off Judah's advance on London. . Richard then learned that Henry Tudor himself was marching towards Leicester, as he had supporters in the area who he hoped would join him, so the Yorkist army, which consisted of between seven thousand five hundred and twelve thousand men took a defensive position on a hill approximately 15 miles west of Leicester and awaited the arrival of their enemies, although for centuries the field of the Battle of Bosworth has been thought to have taken place just south of Market Bosworth, the actual site of the battle It has recently been the subject of debate as the first reference to the engagement that took place at Bosworth was written 25 years after the event and historians now believe that the actual sighting of the battle occurred almost two miles south-west of the traditional site , what is known is that on the morning of 22 August 1485, Richard took up a defensive position on a hill to the east of the battlefield, facing Henry's army, which now numbered between 5,000 and 8,000 men, while that Lord Stanley took a separate position to the south of both.

Henry and Richard's forces, although the exact details of the day are debated, one version of events is that the initial clash occurred between the men of Richard's second-in-command, John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk on the Yorkist right, and Henry's commander, John David, 13th Earl of Oxford. who commanded the main body of the Lancastrian army, these two contingents after a brief artillery bombardment engaged each other while Henry looked to the rear and after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, the Lancastrians began to gain the upper hand to counter Richard . He ordered the commander of his left flank, Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, to attack the Lancastrians, but Percy stood his ground because perhaps he feared that his men would be trapped in the marshy terrain in front of his position or possibly he also feared be attacked from the rear by Lord.

Stanley's forces headed south. Richard, rapidly running out of options, made a decision that would change the course of English and world history. He saw that Henry and his bodyguard riding him were exposed in front of him and on the spur of the moment. He ordered a masked cavalry charge hoping to kill the Tudor king and his men then ran down the hill and crashed headlong into Henry's bodyguard. In the attack, his standard bearer died and Ricardo came within a few meters of his rival, but the charge was soon lost. his momentum and Lord Stanley, who had been watching the fighting in the south, ordered his brother William Stanley to attack Richard's flank and soon after the King's Men were falling around him, it is perhaps no surprise that Stanley came to Richard's defense. his stepson Henry, after all, was married to his mother and as Richard had held his son George hostage during the battle and had even threatened to execute him if he did not receive support, it is possible that Stanley took the opportunity to kill Richard in an act of revenge.

The king, who by this time had already been felled, gathered his dwindling troops around him and supposedly, after being forced to retreat, shouted: God forbid I take one step back. I will either win the battle as a king or die as one. Ricardo's men were killed one by one. one around him until he was practically the last man standing when he was finally dealt a blow to the head that knocked him down and then he was surrounded and killed by Enrique's men. Subsequent examination of King Richard's remains confirmed that he received nine wounds to the head and no doubt countless more to the soft tissues of his body and it is a testament to his bravery that after the battle, Henry Tudor's official historian , Polydor Virgil, said of his death, only King Richard died fighting bravely in the densest pressure of his enemies. declared King on the battlefield by Lord Stanley and then Richard's corpse was carried to Leicester naked on horseback to prove that he was indeed dead and that Henry Tudor triumphed.

King Richard III was the last king of England to die on the battlefield when he was assassinated by the forces of Henry Tudor, who soon established himself as supreme ruler of the country and reigned as King Henry VII for just under a quarter of a century. in 1486. ​​Henry VII kept his promise and married Elizabeth of York, a marriage which was intended to end the royal blood feud between the competing houses, as it united the red rose of Lancaster and the rose York white that Henry would later merge to form the famous Tudor Rose. For over 500 years the location of Richard III's body was thought to have been lost until in September 2012 archaeologists announced that the foundations of Greyfriars Church in Leicester had been located and on 12 September the remains of Richard III were found. an adult man with a curved spine under the choir of the old church and after DNA tests were carried out.

With the help of descendants of Richard III's sister Anne of York, it was confirmed on 4 February 2013 that the body was actually that of the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and finally, on 26 March 2015, Richard III was delivered. A burial fit for a king of England in Leicester Cathedral. Richard III is today regarded as one of the most famous and notorious kings in the history of England and, although he ruled for a relatively short period of time, there were also dramatic events surrounding his rise to power. he. As his downfall has ensured that his name remains a household word to this day, in many ways his life and death exemplified the cruel and unpredictable nature of the power politics of the late Medieval Era and his disappearance marked the end of What many consider the most turbulent and bloody conflict in English history, although Richard has largely been characterized as a villain in the centuries since his death, mainly by his Tudor enemies and their descendants, in recent years there have been efforts to try and determine what the truth about his life and character really is and it is fair to say that he was certainly not the pantomime villain he was portrayed as.

Recent events have also confirmed that he was not the sinister hunchbacked monarch of Shakespeare's play, but rather suffered from the fairly common ailment of scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, which in the medieval period many may have seen as a sign of evil or malice, however, malevolence was something attributed to Richard after his death and is primarily illustrated in a contemporary painting by an unknown artist that was altered some time after his passing to portray him as appearing sinister and more deformed. than he actually was, it is certainly true that Richard was an able ruler and was particularly popular in the north of England, where he is said to have been a just and honorable Lord, so one could say that he was neither a tyrant nor oppressive in his rule unlike some of his ancestors, but as his reign was so short, there is no certainty what kind of king he would have become had he lived, on the other hand, Richard has been accused of many crimes. and injustices during his life, in particular the disappearance of the princes in the tower and, although there are many theories about this episode, the most accepted version states that they were murdered by order of Richard or those under his command, although as mentioned above there is no concrete evidence. confirm that he was responsible and it is probably a topic that will always be open to debate perhaps a fair assessment would be that Richard was a man of his time who grew up during one of the most destructive and brutal conflicts in English history, where cruelty was essential to survival, and as both sides inflicted injustice on each other during the Wars of the Roses, it is perhaps unfair and unwise to regard anyone involved as completely good or completely evil, but what is certain is that the details of The Life of the King Richard III will always be the subject of heated debate among academics and the general public, as we will probably never know who he really was or what really happened during the penultimate years of the Two Wars.

What do you think of Richard III? Sinister villain or victim of Tudor propaganda, let us know in the comments section and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.