Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Presenting...This is History: A Dynasty to Die For

Episode Date: June 11, 2026

This episode comes to you from the new series of This is History, the podcast which tells the story of the Plantagenet Dynasty. Historian Dan Jones takes you through 300 years of calamities, wars and rebellions that marked the end of the Middle Ages and the rise of the Tudor Dynasty. This is the first episode of the tenth series, where you'll meet 13-year-old Margaret Beaufort and her newborn, Henry Tudor.  Listen to This is History wherever you get your podcasts. If you are a member of our Cautionary Club, you can listen ad-free with a month's free membership to their Patreon. Look out for the gift link on our Patreon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting. Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than adds supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined.

Learn how podcasting can help your business. Call 844-844-I-Hart. It's Michael Lewis here with some exciting news. I have a new audio book coming out on October 6th called Blockers. It's among other things, an inside look at the early days of Trump's Department of government efficiency or doge, as it's referred to, as told by the public servants it entangled. But it's not just that. One kept Americans' most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands,

and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods. Another delivered the cured of cystic fibrosis, and there was also a security guard. You can pre-order your copy of the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. That's blockers.fm. Pre-order now and we'll also send you a code for 25% off of all Pushkin titles, including mine like Lyra's Poker in the Big Short, through the end of the year. Pushkin.

The Middle Ages were full of disasters, the sinking of a ship which caused a 20-year civil war, a plague which wiped out almost half of Europe's population, and the infamous Battle of Cressy, which of course we've covered here on cautionary towns. You can hear all about these catastrophes and how they've shaped the world we live in today on a podcast I think you'll love. It's called This Is History, a dynasty to die for. Across the series, host Dan Jones tells the story of the Plantagenets, Britain's bloodiest dynasty. If you haven't heard of them, they're the family who's infighting and warmongering inspired George R.R. Martin.

Think Richard the Lionheart, the Hundred Years' War, Thomas Beckett and Red Hot Pokers. They've just launched their 10th season, which tells the story of a brilliant young warrior king, undone by his heart, the Shakespearean icon Richard the 3rd, and the very unlikely rise of the mighty Tudor dynasty. If you want to listen ad-free, this is history, are offering our cautionary club members, a month's free trial of their Patreon. Look out for the gift link. Here is the first episode of the new season. Enjoy.

Pembroke Castle is a grey, forbidding fortress, which sits by the water on the southwest tip of Wales, whipped by the gales that blow in from the Atlantic Ocean. In late January 1457, it's as bleak as it gets. Not only is this the coldest time of the year, Today, the castle is also taught with the tension of a young woman giving birth. She's a very young woman. Margaret Beaufort is 13 and a half.

That's perilously young to be laboring a child in any age. And Margaret isn't just young. She's also physically tiny. The rooms she's lodged in at the castle have been comfortably set up for childbirth. The fires stoked and the windows and doors sealed to prevent dangerous, vapors from getting in. There's a full staff of female midwives and attendants on hand to help Margaret through her ordeal. But there's no ignoring the fact that her body and even her life are in real danger. Not that Margaret's panicking. She's a determined girl

and she's putting on a brave face. Others may worry about her safety but she's only concerned for one thing, her child. In nine months that she's been carrying this baby, Plague has been sweeping around southwest Wales. It killed her husband, Edmund Tudor, striking him down last November at the age of 26. If Plague gets into the birthing chamber, all Margaret's toil is going to be in vain. She can't let that happen. Why not? Well, as well as the fierce maternal instinct that's alive in young Margaret, this is a little.

This baby will have royal blood in its veins. Margaret is a granddaughter of John of Gaunt, legendary prince of the Plantagenet dynasty. That means she's a member of the Lancasterian clan, headed by the useless, shambling king, Henry VI. The child's late father, Edmund Tudor, was also part of the royal family. So the child about to be born will join the small inner circle of the Lancashire. Castrian royal house, which is good because right now that family could use a bit of freshening up. As the pangs of childbirth grip Margaret's little body, all thoughts of family trees are forgotten. The women of the chamber gather round to help her through a very long and difficult labour.

When the baby is eventually delivered, it seems like a miracle. Margaret has suffered so much that she'll never have another child, but she's alive, and so is her son. There's some debate about what to call him, that Margaret is in no doubt. This boy is going to be named Henry, Henry Tudor. And though the circumstances of his birth are not very promising, a teenage widow for a mum,

a remote Welsh coastal castle for a home, fate has decided that he, He's destined for a very big future indeed. Because outside these castle walls, the Plantagenets have entered the first spasms of a war that's going to burn the whole dynasty to the ground. Out of the ashes will rise a new family, the Tudors. And in this, the explosive final season of our Plantagenet saga, we're going to follow the astonishing story of their rise to power.

I'm Dan Jones, and from Sony Music Entertainment, this is history. Season 10 of a dynasty to die for. Episode 1, A New Hope. Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart. IAR Radio, Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits and must-have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists, like back-in-the-day pride.

Together, celebrate. Take pride with you. Anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHart Pride Canada. Stream us on your phone. Or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting, think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora.

And as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only IHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-I-Hart to get started. That's 844-844-I-Hart.

It's Michael Lewis here with some exciting news. I have a new audio book coming out on October 6th called Blockers. It's among other things, an inside look at the early days of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency or Doge, as it's referred to, as told by the public service. it entangled. But it's not just that. One kept Americans most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods. Another delivered the cured of cystic fibrosis, and there was also a security guard. You can pre-order your copy of the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. That's blockers.fm.

Pre-order now, and we'll also send you a code for 25% off of all Pushkin titles, including mine like Lyra's Poker in the Big Short, through the end of the year. Whether you've been following this podcast since the beginning, or you're just joining us for the first time today, I want to remind you of a golden rule of Plantagenet History. Anything can happen. In the three centuries we've covered, we've seen kings rise from total obscurity to, absolute power, and we've seen rulers who seemed untouchable come hurtling down to earth with a splat. It pays to remember one of my favourite medieval chroniclers quotes by good old Gerald of Wales. Back in the 12th century, Gerald wrote, A sensible man ought to consider that fortune's favour is variable, and her wheel is ever

returning. Although the merciful creator is long-suffering and patient, he is likewise severe in executing punishment and vengeance upon the stubborn and willful, and usually begins to exact that punishment here on earth. And yes, sure, I don't think we're going to squeeze that down to fit it on a slogan t-shirt, but it seems to capture beautifully the topsy-turviness of the Plantagenet cinematic universe. One minute, the world is eating out of your hand. The next, it's sinking its fangs into your glutei maximi. Which brings us to where we left our story last season.

In season nine, we heard how England went from the triumphs of Henry VIII's reign to the Nadir of Henry the Sixth's. After a promising start, the king went mad, the nobles, when mad, the nobles, when feral and eventually, after much tussling and some truly savage battles, an 18-year-old giant called Edward Earl of March slashed his way to the top. Edward destroyed his enemies at the monstrous battle of Tauton, crushing a massive Lancasterian army. Seemingly from nowhere, he then took the throne as Edward IV, becoming the first king of the House of York. If you're a newbie or want to recap, there's all that and more than 200 other episodes available in our archive.

To get them ad-free, sign up at patreon.com forward slash this is history. The trouble is it isn't easy at the top. So that's where we're going to pick up our story. At the start of this episode, we were with Margaret Beaufort as she gave birth to Henry Tudor in 1456. Now I promise we're going to come back to Margaret and baby Henry as this season goes on, but right now we're going to fast forward four and a half years to join Edward IV in the summer of 1461. He's proven himself on the battlefield at Tauton, suggesting that God is down with his claim to kingship. In June he's been crowned in London, by battle and now by coroner.

nation, England has a new king. But if Edward wants to hang on to his crown, he's going to have an almighty struggle. So to get our story going, let's get to know Edward. He was born in April 1442, in Rouen, in Normandy, when his dad, Richard Duke of York, was in charge of what was then an English-ruled chunk of northern France. Richard fathered a big brood of children, and at the time of Edward's coronation, he has three sisters and two brothers, a lot more on them shortly. In person, Edward's mighty impressive. He stands well over six feet tall, and as well as being a handy warrior, he's a handsome, charming young man. He's got the characteristic long plantagenet nose, piercing eyes, and a small mouth that seems to have a smile

playing at its corners. He also has quite a fancy for the ladies. In fact, this guy sniffs out hot damsel like a wild hog rooting for acorns, a trait that'll cause him quite a lot of trouble as time goes by, but more of that in a moment. For now, Edward's charm is a positive virtue. A propaganda song composed in the aftermath of the Battle of Toughton hails Edward as the Rose of Ruon. That refers not only to his birthplace, and his incredible Riz, but also to his heraldic badge.

One of the symbols of Edward's Royal House of York is a white rose, and the song makes great play on this. It goes, That rose stands alone, the chief flower of this land. Blessed be the time that ever God spread that flower. Well, maybe that's laying it on a bit thick, but whichever way you look at it, Edward

the 4th is an upgrade on Henry 6th. In the aftermath of Tauton, the old king is in exile in Scotland, and many people would agree that England has traded up. Those who would agree most strongly with that assessment are the people who helped Edward win his crown. Chief among them is Edward's right-hand man. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. 33 years old in 1461,

Warwick has plenty of military experience and no shortage of ambition. He's been at Edward's side for several years, and he fancies himself, with some justification, as the power behind the throne. Yorkist propaganda, produced around the same time as the Rose of Réon, calls Warwick,

the flower of manhood. So clearly there's a general horticultural theme at play, but more important than flower power are the lands and titles that Warwick accrues as a result of betting long on the House of York. After Edward's coronation, Warwick is showered with rewards. He already holds four, yes, four noble titles. On top of that, he gets renewed in in his post as Captain of Calais, that's the English military garrison in northern France, which he made his stronghold during the wars in Henry VI reign. And on top of that, he pockets a whole portfolio of new officers.

Edward makes him constable of Dover Castle and warden of the sink ports, those are the most important trading towns on England's southeast coast. effectively this means Warwick owns the whole English Channel, the key military and trade seaway with Europe. And that's just the beginning. He also is appointed as Warden of the North, meaning he has oversight of the turbulent Scottish border.

He's put in charge of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of York. Those are the two huge private estates, owned by the crown. Then there's a massive tranche of land confiscated from nobles who sided with Henry VI that toutan, especially the Percy family, who are the long-term opponents of Warwick's Neville family in Northern England.

The financial value of all this makes Warwick the richest non-royal noble of all time. The political heft puts him virtually on a par with the king. Foreign diplomats describe him as, being the governor of all England. One French observer writes to the King of France that the English

have but two rulers, Monsieur Le Warrick, and another one who's never forgotten. Obviously that's a joke. The French can be amusing, sometimes. But like all good one-liners,

it's got a sharp sting of truth to it. Warwick is more than a decade older than Edward, and he's been around the block. He reckons with some justification that if it wasn't for him, there would be no house of York. So if the world wants to see him as a second king, that suits Warwick down to the ground.

But if Warwick is going to enjoy all the riches and the influence that being a kingmaker brings, then it's going to fall on him to make sure Edward stays secure in his crown. and it's not long before he has to do exactly that. Because within two years of Edward's coronation, there's a serious assault on the kingdom. Royal spies find out that a plot is being hatched between renegade Lancastrians in England and foreign enemies outside. Pulling the strings is a person who's nursed more hatred towards the haughts. House of York than anyone else. The old Queen of England, Margaret of Anjou.

An ill and tired 60-year-old shuffles towards the chopping block. An expectant crowd gathers around. They've all made it to Tower Hill, the area immediately surrounding the Tower of London. It's London's top spot to go and see a lively show, assuming you're in to public executions. In late February 1462, it's John Devere's turn. The Earl of Oxford has been around the political scene in England for decades. But it's a wonder the guy hasn't already died from a bad case of splinters in the backside, given how much of his life he's spent sitting on the fence.

For most of the wars between the Lancasterians and the Yorkists, Oxford avoided committing to either side. Then, with incredibly bad timing, just before the Battle of Tauton, he did pick a team, and unfortunately it was the wrong one. He went for Queen Margaret and King Henry, and that decision has now come back to haunt him.

Oxford survived the accession of the new king, Edward VIII, but he forgot to update his seat. settings to political reality. Having chosen the Lancasterian side, he stuck with it and got himself caught up in a web of intrigue aimed at bringing down the new king. The plot that Oxford's got himself mixed up in has more moving parts than a swingers party. The schemers include a hotch-potch of exiled Lancasterian aristocrats. They're backed with varying degrees.

of seriousness by foreign royals, including the rulers of Scotland, France, Brittany, Aragon, Portugal and Denmark. Putting it all together is Queen Margaret of Anjou, who's been shuttling between Scotland and the courts of Europe, trying to whip up support for a comeback for her and old King Henry. Yorkist propaganda accuses Margaret of wanting to disarmes. destroy the realm, to pervert the royal succession and bring robbery and vengeance. She would say she's just trying to get back what's hers by right. Her plan is, or rather was, to launch a three-pronged invasion, with armies hitting the Yorkist regime from Wales, southern England and the north,

while insurgents within the realm rose up to create civil disturbance, overwhelming the new King's capacity to resist. Only, well, self-evidently, the whole thing has unravelled. Loose lips have sunk ships, and key figures in England, like Oxford, have been betrayed. Six days ago, Oxford's eldest son was divorced from his head on this very spot outside the Tower of London. Now it's the older man's turn. If anyone thinks there might be mercy,

given Oxford's obvious ill health, they're dead wrong. The old geyser is brought forward, offered any last words, then made to kneel down and... It's Sionara, sunshine. The Wars of the Roses have claimed their latest noble head. As the axe comes down on Oxford, the heat goes out of the wider plot he was party to. Smelling failure, the foreign backers mostly lose interest.

Mostly, but not totally. Queen Margaret, trying to salvage something from the mess, keeps on lobbying foreign rulers to help her out. In the autumn of 1462, she manages to scrape together enough donations and troops to take a few dozen ships and 800 mercenaries to northern England, where her men invade the coast of Northumbria and take control of a few castles.

This isn't enough to threaten to collapse Edward's rule completely, but it is still a bloody nuisance. So now is the moment that Edward's heavily rewarded right-hand man, the Earl of Warwick, has to step up and show his worth. Across the winter of 1462 to 63, he works his way around the castles, Margaret's men are holding, and kicks the rebels out of them. By March 1463, he seems to have got the job done. And although he can't lay his hands on Queen Margaret herself, or the feeble old Henry VI,

he manages to split them up. When it becomes clear that their plot has fizzled out, Margaret hightails it to France, taking with her her nine-year-old son. Will she ever see old Henry again? Does she ever want to? She's got to have mixed feelings about that one. Either way, this is very much round one to King Edward VIII and the Earl of Warwick.

And they follow up round one by taking round two and three. In the spring of 1464, there's another attempt by renegade Lancasterian notion, to incite rebellion in the north. The instigator this time is one of Queen Margaret's closest allies, Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. He gets around 5,000 men together and starts raising hell in Northern England.

Once again, Edward and Warwick have to respond. And they do. They're already working hard through diplomatic channels to persuade the French and Scots to stop backing their enemies. backing their enemies. And when it seems like diplomacy isn't getting the message through to the Lancastrians in England, they send an army out into the north. It's led by Warwick's brother, John, another old-school veteran of England's civil wars, which, by the looks of things, are still very much on. John Neville wastes no time. He runs the Lankastrian rebels to ground,

engaging them in two battles, known as the Battle of Hedgley Moore and the Battle of Hexham. At Hexham, in May 1464, John Neville scores a crushing victory. He puts the Lancastrian army to flight and kills its leader, the Duke of Somerset. With that, the last embers of Lancasterian rebellion in the north of England are finally snuffed out. Queen Margaret has no chance of rallying another insurgency any time soon. And though King Henry is still a free man, the old Duffer isn't much of a threat to anyone on his own. It's taken three years,

but by the summer of 1464, Edward and Warwick look like they've survived. The Lancastrian threat has been reduced to Margaret of Anjou, fuming with her son, somewhere on the same. continent, Henry the 6th, whose AWOL but not considered a very active threat, and some minor characters who don't seem very threatening to anyone. Like the seven-year-old Henry Tudor. But he and his mother, Margaret Beaufort, have been placed under genteel house arrest

with a loyal Yorkist family in South Wales, and honestly they don't seem like a big problem. So now Edward and Warwick can pour themselves a drink, take a deep breath, and start to think about plans for the rest of Edward's reign. When they do that, there seems to be one issue that matters above all others, securing the succession. They need to take a grip on the long-term future of the family. For that, Edwards needs to get married, make a sensible foreign alliance and get to work on producing some Yorkist princes and princesses. The last bit, at least, feels like a job he's up to. So Warwick adds a new job to his ever-lengthening resume as the King's right-hand man and puppet master.

He's now a matchmaker. It's time to find the Rose of Rouen, a hot piece of medieval marriage material, to make into the first ever Yorkist queen. and not thinking about podcasting, think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ads supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, IHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only IHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio.

Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-I-Hart to get started. That's 844-Ehart. It's Michael Lewis here with some exciting news. I have a new audiobook coming out on October 6th called Blockers. It's among other things, an inside look at the early days of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency or Doge, as it's referred to, as told by the public servants it entangled.

But it's not just that. One kept Americans' most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods. Another delivered the cured of cystic fibrosis, and there was also a security guard. You can pre-order your copy of the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. That's blockers.com. Pre-order now, and we'll also send you a code for 25% off of all Pushkin titles, including mine like Liar's Poker in the Big Short, through the end of the year.

The ambassadors from Castile have been hanging around in the chamber in Westminster Palace for some time. They've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Then England's charming young king Edward IV bursts into the room. He seems a little out of breath

and when he has time to sit and everyone has a drink in their hands he explains that he's just dashed 60 miles from Cambridge to meet them. This being the king business what a job you need to be everywhere all at once

but Edward's very glad the ambassadors waited because he's been told they have quite a proposal for him which is right the ambassadors explain they've been sent to England to make Edward the offer of a wife and not just any wife

the king of Castile is Enrique the 4th and he wants to suggest that Edward marries his sister, Isabella. That's not a bad offer. Castile is a major kingdom. Isabella is just approaching her 13th birthday, but, as Margaret Beaufort could have told them, the medieval marriage market takes a remarkably liberal view of that sort of thing. And she is, assuredly, a top-rank European princess.

Edward listens to the ambassador's proposal and then makes a big show of rewarding them for their generosity in even delivering this wonderful message. He gives them a free pass to bring some trading ships to England under his protection any time in the next year, to trade as much wine as they like in exchange for as much English produce as they can carry. It's a nice little sweetener.

But then again, it needs to be, because actually for all Edward's enthusiastic demeanour, he's already decided that he isn't going to take them up on this marriage offer. There are a few reasons. One is that there's something of a stain hanging over Isabella's family. Her brother, King Enrique, who's making the offer, is nicknamed And Enrique the impotent. That's a direct reference to his own first marriage, which Enrique found himself unable to consummate

despite years of trying. Enrique claims that someone had, hard to know how to phrase this politely, laid a curse on his royal weener. This was a special sort of curse that only affected his ability to get it on with his wife and not with any number of mistresses and sex workers, several of whom were called to give evidence to that effect

in a court case to annul his marriage. Anyway, the ins and outs, or not, of that episode, don't need to concern us here. The fact is that marrying the sister of Enrique the impotent doesn't fill Edward with much confidence. And, more to the point, he has other irons in the fire, or rather his conciliere, the Earl of Warwick does. For the past three years, Warwick's been putting feelers out around Europe,

for potential wives for Edward, and there are a number of plausible candidates. The Duke of Burgundy has a sister, she's one possibility. Then there's Mary of Gelder's, the widow of James II of Scotland, who's been sheltering Queen Margaret of Honour. Jean-Ju and Henry the Sixth. Mary of Gilders is older than Edward, and although there are many rumours about her exciting love life since she's been widowed,

a Scottish alliance might not be the worst idea in the world, especially given Mary's current Lancastrian inclinations. Then there's France. Warwick has put a word in with the recently crowned French king, Louis the Eleanor. wondering if he has any daughters who might make a suitable English queen. Since Louis's daughter is only three, he's nixed that idea. But he's offered up another option, his sister-in-law, Boner of Savoy. On the grounds of her name alone, old Boner, is the opposite of Enrique the impotence sister,

and a French alliance has been a reliable route in international marriage diplomacy for generations, stretching all the way back to Edward I stay. For more on Edward I, listen back to season four of A Dynasty to Die for. I'd start with episode four, A New Arthur. The point is Warwick has plenty of options, and if anything, the problem is choosing which of these eligible young European princesses is going to be the match most fitting for King Edward and the House of York,

now that their problems with the Lancasterians are starting to recede. By the end of summer 1464, Warwick is leaning towards a French match and he's about to send a diplomatic delegation to the town of Saint-Omer south of Calais to get serious about thrashing out details. It looks like Warwick's first big coup on the international stage is about to materialise and all he needs is for Edward to sign off on it. The House of York will be properly up and running as a royal dynasty. A meeting is fixed for September 1464.

There, Edward and Warwick can do the big reveal and tell the rest of the English nobility just which lucky lady is going to be England's new queen. But as the date for the public announcement approaches, Warwick starts to get a funny feeling that not everything is as it should be. For the first time, there seems to be a distance between what he's thinking and what the king is doing.

Edwards not exactly leaving Warwick on red, but he's not responding with the same gusto he used to. Is Warwick imagining it? Or could the king really be getting cold feet? Either way, Warwick is right to be worried. What he doesn't know is that his protégé, Edward, has indeed been up to something. It's a plan utterly of his own devising and so audacious that when he reveals what it is, it's worthy of its own reality TV show.

What he's done is, well, I'll save that for next time. To find out just what Edwards got on his mind and what Warwick has now got on his political plate, Stick around and listen to our next action-packed episode of This Is History. That was episode one of the latest season of This Is History, A Dynasty to Die for, with Dan Jones. You can follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're part of the Cautionary Club, you can check out their Patreon and get episodes ad-free with a month's free trial. Look out for the gift link on Patreon. It's Michael Lewis here with some exciting news.

I have a new audio book coming out on October 6th called Blockers. It's among other things, an inside look at the early days of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency or Doge, as it's referred to, as told by the public servants it entangled. But it's not just that. One kept Americans' most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods. Another delivered the cured of cystic fibroids.

and there was also a security guard. You can pre-order your copy of the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. That's blockers.fm. Pre-order now and we'll also send you a code for 25% off of all Pushkin titles, including mine like Liar's Poker in the Big Short, through the end of the year. This is an I-Heart podcast, guaranteed human.