The Betrayal Of The Kingmaker | Britain's Bloody Crown | Timeline

Almost 600 years ago England was torn apart by a series of

bloody

battles for the throne in just 30 years the

crown

changed hands seven times tens of thousands were massacred it was one of the most turbulent and violent periods in British history known as the Wars of the Roses in 1461, six years after the Wars of the Roses broke out, the imbecile Henry VI, practically the weakest king England had ever known, was snatched away by the young and charismatic Edward IV, the man who put him there was One of England's most powerful barons, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the story goes that Warwick, the

kingmaker

, turned evil, throwing the country into panic and Edward had to destroy his mentor.

I'm going to show you that the truth is that the seeds of Warwick's destruction were sown from The day Edward became king, so it took Edward seven long years to learn the hardest lessons of kingship, but to save to his country, a good king must do bad things, and to be a great king, the

kingmaker

must die in the freezing fog of a Yorkshire field. The bloodiest battle ever fought on British soil is finally over. Edward Earl of March has bet that he can take the

crown

from the useless Henry VI and his scheming wife Margaret of Anjou, and in this battle he has been greatly successful.

The king's forces in Queens have been annihilated the incompetent king Henry VI is forced to flee to Scotland with his wife and son this is total victory for Edward this is the battlefield where Edward triumphs just outside the town of tauten south of York perhaps 60,000 men lined up on this field and contemporaries estimated that 28 thousand of them were massacred in just 10 hours, that is, approximately half of the troops who took the field that morning, the ground is saturated with their blood . Henry VI may still be alive, but the throne of England is now occupied by Edwards.

Next to him is the man who more than anyone made it all happen Richard Neville Earl of Warwick the kingmaker vigorous ambitious and only 18 years old let's thank God Edward The Earl of March is now Edward the fourth the twelfth Plantagenet King of England but Edwards inherited a country that has been torn apart by blood feuds it has been just three months since the same soldiers Edwards just defeated killed his father, the Duke of York, to secure his position as king Edward needs to end the cycle of violence , is a great challenge for any leader. the man who will help him achieve this is his closest ally Warwick England is a hotbed of unrest to stabilize it one of Edward's first jobs is to end the problems in the violent north and of course he goes to war voluntarily to do this this is Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland freezing rain devastated the northern power base of Sir Ralph Percy, troublemaker leader and staunch supporter of Henry VI and Queen Margaret, the dangerous Queen is exiled just over the Scottish border, just 20 miles from Percy Edward needs to make sure he wins.

She won't be welcome if she tries to get revenge on him, so on Christmas Eve 1462, after a siege that lasted less than a month, Warwick stormed this castle and took Percy prisoner while Edward fought for the throne. Percy decisively sided with Margaret and Henry the Sixth, that is now treason and Percy should die in his place, Edward offers him an extraordinary choice: he could cut off his head or, alternatively, he could go to the place of Edwards' cause and keep your castles, your lands and, of course, your life, beheading or a life of luxury. It's not the hardest decision he's ever made and this is Edward's grand plan to ensure his rule.

Turn his enemies into allies. Build a broad alliance to unite England's fractured politics. And it seems to work. For the first time in more than six years, the country is calm. and Edward fits the role of King, a man more than any other responsible for Edwards' success. Warwick has been the King's young mentor since long before Edwards' father died, he is the go-to person, the man who gets things done for the king and his nose. war, he really is Edwards' king-making right-hand man, and he wants to keep it that way after three years of his reign.

One more thing on his to-do list is finding a wife and it's not just about producing an heir to the throne. A well-chosen royal marriage could cement foreign alliances. Boost trade. Even increase military strength. The excellence of him. All with a little luck. three at a time as the king's right-hand man, Warwick, believes that there is only one man capable of choosing a winning bride for Edward, he, my pardon, your grace, may I take my leave, your grace, from the affairs of state of the what we talk? to find you Elsa please on March 14 64 with the blessing of Edwards Warwick meets with the envoy of King Louis V 11 of France to arrange the king's marriage to the French princess Bona of Savoy this union could end the endless conflicts with the England's deadliest enemy, France, so much duty but pray for a border that over the course of several weeks successfully broke as an agreement for the king to marry the French princess.

Warwick is clearly a man in charge to the point that a French dignitary later jokes that the English have two rulers, Warwick and another. whose name I have forgotten that sort of thing can go to a man's head borac is the power behind the throne that has become Edward King now that he has organized the future of the royal dynasty in September 14 64 Warwick gets to read Abbey with the other high-ranking nobles of England to confirm Edward's marriage arrangements and reach out to the speaker of the adulation of the great and good kingdoms, which could go wrong before Warwick, if any of the other Nobles had the chance to speak, Edward stands up to make an announcement of his own.

Gentlemen, I have good news for you, he is already married, in fact, he got married almost five months ago while Warwick was still negotiating with the French. My consort is a lady of great virtue, wit, and beauty, Lady Elizabeth Woodville, but rather a valuable foreign princess. has chosen one of his own subjects and has married before it is unheard of that the king has made a fool of Warwick and everyone knows it after the coronation ceremony Edward celebrates the necklaces at a spectacular banquet for his new queen Edouard may be pleased with his new bride, but in the eyes of Warwick and many of the other nobles, Queen Elizabeth's family is basically the enemy because her father, Sir Richard Woodville, fought against Edward in the Tauten War, He feels so betrayed that he doesn't even show up, but even if the Woodvilles were Whiter than White, most of the nobility would find it quite difficult to accept his elevation to the top of society.

Elizabeth may be extraordinarily beautiful, but she is a widow, already has two children, and comes from a large family of extremely ambitious and minor nobles, Edward I. The fourth king of England has basically married a chav. Isabel brings her entire family to celebrate, including two children, three brothers, six sisters, her mother, her father, and her extended family. This seems less like a celebration for Edward in his new queen, more like a camp invasion by The majority of Woodville's nobility are quite unhappy with what they see is a large group of low-ranking opportunists messing around with the well-established order, and they are right. to be concerned because Edwards is already planning to begin forcibly marrying the Woodvilles to the old aristocracy.

Elizabeth's 20-year-old brother John will end up married to the 65-year-old Countess of Oxford. It's all very unpleasant, so what was Edward thinking marrying Elizabeth? He knew he would anger Warwick, which is why he kept it a secret for so long. Rumors spread that Edwards fell for the oldest trick in the book that the beautiful Elizabeth simply made herself hard to get apparently marriage was the only way he could improve Elizabeth certainly the kind of person who would have played that card she is Intelligent, beautiful, ruthlessly loyal to his own family and extremely ambitious, incredibly it seems as if the headstrong Edward IV married for love or at least lust and it is quite easy for people to believe that Edward has a fabulously well-deserved reputation for being led. by its guts, but I think there is more.

Aside from the marriage fitting perfectly with Edwards' plan to get closer to his former enemies starting with the Woodvilles, he is prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt, as far as Edwards is concerned, they simply backed the wrong tauten horse and the July 14, 65 Three months after Elizabeth's coronation, Edward receives a belated wedding gift. Henry VI left exile in Scotland and was caught wandering in the north of England. Edward locked him here in the Tower of London, but instead of executing him, Edward keeps his policy. to approach his former enemies, so he orders that Henry be treated well, they housed him in the Royal Apartments, gave him good food and wine, and even allowed visitors.

Things seem to be going incredibly well for Edward, but he knows that he has snubbed Warwick and the King, in all his efforts to make it up to him, gives him Cockermouth Castle, the hereditary office of sheriff of Westmoreland, custody of all the royal forests to the north. of Trent, the profits of all the royal gold and silver mines in the same region, the guardianship of the lands of the rich Lord Louisville and the control of the most imposing castle in England, Dover, but Warrick already has money in lands, which What he wants, what he needs is to be Edward's indispensable right hand, just as he always has been, that's the only thing Edward can't give him. or he was the perfect ally to snatch the ruthless and bold crown but that was in the past what England needs now is stability not war and that is why from Edwards' point of view the Woodvilles of the future are an essential part of his influence expansion plan. royal in the rest of the nobility, but from Warwick's point of view, well, he is the only one who should be able to exert that kind of influence over the kingdom.

Edward can have Warwick or he can have the wood fillings, he cannot have both and the squaring of that circle will haunt the next five years of Edwards' reign in 1467. Edward sends Warwick to see his French allies. Both Warwick and French King Louis VIII xi believe they are negotiating a lucrative new trade deal between the two countries. They wouldn't help them. just once Warwick was out of the way. I pray you are well my lord, thank you because he is about to completely humiliate him with Warrick out of the way. Edward organizes a massive tournament at Smithfield, just outside the city walls of London, for one purpose: to ally England with the start. diems the wood fills the favorites unfortunately, they turn out to be mortal enemies of the Warwick powers, as the French place of honor goes to the queen's brother, Antony Woodville, he has been fighting against the guest of honor, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, in the tournament fight, putting a Bug and Ian fight in the show is the most public announcement possible that Eduardo doesn't give a damn about the French.

When the French discover that the English king is in bed with the hated Burgundians, they will know that Warwick has become completely irrelevant, my king. would solemnly accept these terms Edward has clearly made his choice he has chosen Woodville over Warwick Warwick is supposed to be King's right hand man Edward has made him look like a fool again no wonder Warwick is becoming paranoid because his influence on Edward en Walking away, Oryx is not the type of man to quietly fade into retirement, so he comes up with a plan to regain his influence with the king.

He is going to marry his daughter Elizabeth to the King's superficial and selfish younger brother, the Duke of Clarence. Until Elizabeth has a child, Clarence is heir to the crown, so Warwick clearly sees this as a way to skip the forest. His grace fills my daughter's union with Lord Clarence, he would clarify for us, we will not be Édouard flatly rejects Warwick's proposal prayer, we will discuss He no longer argues that Clarence has to marry for political gain with your cousin, who is quite rich considering the Eduardo's own history. Warwick's power and influence over the king has disappeared, it is an intolerable position for the kingmaker, since, by design, you have done it. my victory is so easy if there is any doubt about who he blames for the rift or expels him by refusing to attend a meeting of the Council of Kings in Coventry if the Queen's father, Lord Rivers, is present.

Warrick hates the Queen's Woodville family so passionately that he can't even stand to be in the same room as them, so what is he going to do about it? Warrick doesn't have to wait long for revenge just two years after tournament tax riots broke out across the North, fueled by rumors that the lumber fillers are siphoning off tax money for themselves the riots threatened to tear apart the fragile peace that Edward has built and one man is ready to fan the flames and set the Kingdom on fire Richard Neville Earl of Warwick before June 14 69 rumorscirculated there 60,000 men are gathering in Yorkshire under the banner of the mysterious rebel Robin of Redesdale.

The chroniclers described it as the great insurrection. Robin of Redesdale has to be stopped suddenly. The king needs Warwick back in the game on July 9. Edward writes to Warwick asking for his help, what he receives in return is a deafening silence, hurt and bitter at having been discarded by the king. Warwick turned to Edward's weak and venal younger brother, Clarence, there in Calais, where Warwick married Clarence to his daughter. This is Warwick intrigue. It's a direct. violation of royal orders and a very explicit challenge to royal authority. Edward writes to Warwick again almost immediately and says that he has heard that he is up to no good and demands that he meet the king in Nottingham to explain himself Warwick and Clarence are not coming, instead they publish an open letter, there is a copy from ago 500 years here at Oxford Library and this is it and it starts well, trustworthy and loved, we salute you well, that's medieval.

Hello in English, but then he goes straight to the point and says that certain seditious people have been practicing a de siiva loved to rule over the king, who are those people? Well, their names here are Lord Rivers and the Duchess of Bedford, that's Queen Elizabeth. Woodville's mother and father mention Lord Scales as their brother Anthony, Sir John Woodville and his brothers and others of their mischievous opinion of the government and, in other words, they sent any of the Woodville clan that we might have forgotten to mention and the accuses of enriching himself. at the expense of the country, but what is really surprising is the last line of this letter which says that anyone who shares this opinion should be in Canterbury next Sunday, that is an open invitation to rebellion, so far from taking the side king's side Warwick and Clarence are supporting the rebels or if If you want to put it another way, they turned rebels on July 16, 1469.

Warrick lands in Kent with his new son-in-law, Edward's younger brother Clarence. Two days later, they head north from London at the vanguard of an army. Warwick tells him publicly. anyone who has heard that he is on Edwards side and is just trying to save his friend from Woodford, how selfless of him actually with the king in Nottingham with a small warrix army cunningly creating a pincer movement the king is caught between Warwick approaching from the south and the theft of reeds Dale's men in the north Warwick goes to war with the king the confrontation of July 26 is less a battle and more a defeat Warwick's forces annihilate the royalists and Warwick brings Edward as a prisoner here to Midland Castle Horrocks' success may seem like an opportunistic gamble profiting from the theft of the reeds of Dale's rebellion and that is certainly what Warwick wants everyone to believe, but we now know that the figure Grim of Reid's Dale is almost certainly Sir John Conyers, a loyal servant of the kingmaker, the entire rebellion was organized and led by Warwick, so Warwick has the King beaten.

The question is what's the endgame for him because if you're going to imprison a king, you better be prepared to replace him and kill him with some Oryx. The best bet might be to have Edward declare him a bastard and replace him with the vain and malleable Clarence, but that will never work as long as Edward is still alive and Warwick isn't ready to take the final step, so maybe he's trying to keep his options open. , but he has the king locked up. I don't think he really thought about this. Warwick has refused to kill the king.

Instead, he takes out his frustration and hatred in a killing spree designed to take out as many wood fillers as possible. The most high-profile victim is Eduardo's father. -law Lord Rivers on August 12, 1469 was executed at Kenilworth Castle without a trial without a king at large the fragile peace that Edward built between his warring nobles now collapses into violence with shock and unrest that Warwick engineered during the Reed's Dale rice backfires on him, leaving the rest of the country desperate to end the violence. Warwick asks other nobles for help to stabilize the country, but they get nothing out of it by helping Warwick, so they just laugh at him, after all, he is the one who arrested the King and triggered all the trouble in the first place, this is exactly why Warwick is such a poor ally in peacetime and exactly why Edward was sidelining him.

Warwick is excellent at fast action, the pincer movement he used to capture Edward, well, that's right up his street. what he cannot understand are the politics and compromises necessary to actually govern a country. Warwick's decision to seize Edward without a coherent plan to replace or kill him has blown up in his face and England has been descending into anarchy for just over a month. After locking up Edward, Borac is forced into a catastrophic descent. The word awkward probably doesn't do justice to the first meeting between Warwick and the King, so everything that was done was for the good of the kingdom.

Edwards was surprisingly back in control of England. He sticks to his policy of appeasing his enemies, forgiving Warwick and Clarence, it is recorded that Edward even calls them his best friends, but Warwick clearly remains a dangerous man and England remains dangerously unstable. In March 1470 a rebellion breaks out in Lincolnshire and Edward sends in troops. They meet the rebels at the MPM village near Peterborough. Edwards' men disperse the rebels and, as they run, tear off any clothing that could identify them, which is why the site of the battle is known as Field of Loose Coats, but when Edwards' men run towards the rebel leader.

Sir Robert Wells has 5 letters hidden inside his helmet that implicate Warwick and Clarence in the rebellion in the face of irrefutable evidence. Edouard will never be able to trust them again. This is Warwick's second act of

betrayal

. He is stubborn, but he is not stupid. He knows the king will come. for him and this time there will be no hugs or best friends. Warwick, the powerful kingmaker, completely disgraced is reduced to running for the safety of France, taking Clarence with him. Warwick now has only two options: he can live his life in exile or he can. go big and try to eliminate Edward permanently, but to achieve this he needs a powerful ally, someone who, if possible, hates Edward even more than he hates Margaret of Anjou, wife of the previous king Henry VI, my lord, the Duke of Clarence since her Since the capture of her husband almost 10 years ago, she has been living in frustrated and helpless exile in her native France by the Queen.

From this meeting between the enraged Warwick and the furious Queen The old king currently locked up in the tower is after all more extinct oh, didn't he do it for Edward? Surely You Can by Henry Warwick lands on the Devonshire coast with a small, fast-moving army and is heading north to Edwards, near Doncaster, when he is awakened in the middle of the night and warned that enemy troops are only a stone's throw away. a mile away. Edward's troops are completely outnumbered. He may resist and fight, but the odds don't look good or he may flee. Edward flees to Flanders and, as if that were so. was not enough Edward has been forced to abandon the woman who precipitated all his problems Elizabeth Woodville now pregnant again has sought refuge here in Westminster Abbey in October after ten years in captivity Warwick frees Henry VI from the Tower of live the king this is the man Warwick depends on to save England from itself must be angry.

Henry was always a disaster as a king and nothing has changed, but it is the only card Warwick has left, so for the second time in his life Henry VI is king of England with thousands of men behind him Abe would head south of London to avoid facing Edward Warwick hiding in Coventry. He sends a desperate message to London to try to rally support behind Henry VI. The result is truly desperate on Holy Thursday 14 71 in a chaotic piece. of the political theater Henry paraded through the streets of London but the only thing the small crowd that came saw was a weak, half-senile man.

All Warwick is doing is pointing out as directly as possible all of the King's failings on the very day Henry paraded. through the streets, Edward enters London at the head of an army, the contrast with a weak and feeble old king could not be more extreme. Edwards, a burly and energetic young man, the perfect example of royalty and while Henry's parade was greeted with ridicule, Edwards received with universal acclaim and the first thing that came here was not Paul to give thanks for his safe arrival, then It all comes down to business. Edward crosses the river to Lambeth Palace, where Henry VI is waiting.

Everything will be fine. Edward may sound reassuring, but. Ominously, he immediately has Henry return to the tower and then Edward returns across the Thames as quickly as possible. He comes here, to Westminster Abbey, to meet with his wife Elizabeth, who has been sheltering from Henry's men under the laws of sanctuary while he has been away. She has given birth to a beautiful baby, Edward has regained his throne, his wife has returned and has a son and heir. He is king of England again, but he has learned the lessons of kingship the hard way, as much as Edward wants to avoid bloodshed and recriminations. has its limits and sometimes the only way to keep the throne is to implement the ultimate sanction of death, so Edward heads north with his homage to hunt Warwick in April 40/40 71.

Warrick and Edward go into battle for the last time at Barneys, just as a tauten Edward and Warwick are in the thick of it, both must know that only one of them can leave the field Warwick throws 15,000 men into the fight Edward 12,000 the odds favor Warwick but confused by The dense fog his army accidentally attacks itself in the chaos. Edward's Army Overwhelms Warwick's Men Warwick flees the battlefield but Edwards' troops pursue him like a dog. The kingmaker is dead. Edward has Warwick's body brought to London, naked except for a cloth covering the genitals, and displayed for all to see. the old medieval cathedral here innocent pause Edward sending his message very simple, very clear to the whole country the new king has learned the old lessons there will be no more forgiveness make sure it is done on May 21, 1471 just a month after the victory by Edward on Warwick Henry dies, the official cause of his death is pure disgust and melancholy, but few people believe that his corpse is reported to be found with blood frozen in his hair, whether he was hugged to death or not, no There is no doubt that Edward had him killed.

He came to the throne determined to break the cycle of violence that has been consuming England, but it just couldn't be done, I mean look at the last 11 weeks he invaded England, raised an army, fought a brutal battle, killed his friend and murdered a rival king. and that is the reality of medieval royalty in the end there was only one way edward was going to win his crown in blood next time the most infamous story of the entire blood soaked era which of the third takes the throne from him the only obstacles are his own nephews the princes in the tower