Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The War of the Roses

Starting point is 00:00:00 For 30 years between 1455 and 1485, England suffered its greatest civil war at that point. The war was ultimately over succession to the throne and who should be king. Two great houses fought for the crown, and each of those houses usurped the crown from each other. The period was filled with death and bloodshed, and when the dust settled, it left England to changed country and set the stage for its later ascension. Learn more about the War of the Roses, its cause and its resolution. on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong?

Starting point is 00:00:49 ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. The War of the Roses was one of the most important events in English history. and it produced some of its most important figures. And before I begin, I should note that things can get confusing,

Starting point is 00:01:24 because this story has multiple Henrys, Richards, and Edwards. But everything starts with King Edward III. Edward was a formidable king. His father, Edward II, was a disaster as a king, but Edward III turned England into a military power. He reigned for over 50 years and died in 1377, the age of 64. It was Edward III who began the period known as the Hundred Years' War with France because of his claim to the French throne. His son, the heir apparent to the throne, was Edward

Starting point is 00:01:59 the Black Prince, who died one year before his father in 1376 at the age of 45. When King Edward died, the crown then passed to his grandson, Richard, the son of Edward the Black Prince, who at the age of 10 became known as Richard, the second. Richard was not a popular king. His early reign was marked by dependence on unpopular advisors and financial crises stemming from the Hundred Years' War. As an adult, Richard's efforts to consolidate power included bypassing Parliament, confiscating lands from powerful nobles, and favoring a small circle of loyalists which bred resentment. His extravagant lifestyle and disregard for traditional governance norms further eroded his support. The final blow came in

Starting point is 00:02:46 1399 when his cousin, Henry Bollingbroke, capitalized on widespread discontent and Richard's absence in Ireland to raise up an army and usurp the throne. Richard's subsequent capture and forced abdication marked the end of his reign. He died in captivity under suspicious circumstances the next year in 1400. Henry Bollingbroke became King Henry IV. His claim to the throne came from the fact that his father was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who was the fourth son of Edward III and the third surviving son. Richard II had no children. This does get kind of confusing, so just to explain, when Richard abdicated the throne having no son, the line of succession would go back up the family tree. Edward the Black Prince had no other son, so then you have to go back to King Edward

Starting point is 00:03:40 the third. His surviving second son had no sons, and so it would then go to John of Gaunt, his third surviving son, and his first son, Henry. Or at least, that was Henry's argument. This line became known as the Lancasters, because John of Gaunt was the Duke of Lancaster. Henry the Force died in 1413, putting his son, Henry V on the throne. Henry V. Henry V had a short reign of only nine years, but it was marked by military brilliance and the height of English power during the Hundred Years' War. Henry V died in 1422, and his son, Henry VI, ascended to the throne.

Starting point is 00:04:23 Henry VI turned out to be a weak and ineffective king. He suffered from periodic bouts of mental illness and was unable to provide strong leadership or resolved disputes amongst his nobles. His incapacity left the government in the hands of his wife, Margaret of Annipe. Anjou and various other people creating instability. For much of his reign, he had no male heir, which made for controversy as to the line of succession. During this period, a senior nobleman with a strong claim himself to the throne, Richard the Duke of York, positioned himself as a protector of England during Henry VI in capacity.

Starting point is 00:05:00 Richard of York had his own claim to the throne based on two separate lines of succession. The first line was through Edward III's second. son, Lionel the Duke of Clarence, via his granddaughter, Anne Mortimer. Under this argument, the descendants of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the second son of Edward III, would have precedence over John of Gaunt, the father of Henry IV, the third son of Edward III. The second line was through Edward III's fourth son, Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, whose descendants had a strong male line claim, but ranked lower in seniority. Richard of York was a direct male descendant of Edward III by the shroud.

Starting point is 00:05:42 Moreover, the Yorks viewed the Lancaster's as usurpers because of how Henry the 4th forced the abdication of Richard II. Richard of York and his descendants are known as the Yorks because of his position as the Duke of York. Again, I know this can be confusing, so let me simplify. The Lancaster claim to the throne comes through a direct male descendant of Edward the 3rd's third son. The York claim comes via the female line of Edward III's second son and a direct male line

Starting point is 00:06:14 from his fourth son. Here I should note that the Lancaster's and the Yorks were branches of the same family, which history knows as the Plantagenin's. The name derives from Henry II's father, Joffrey Plantagenant, Count of Anjou, the husband of Empress Maude, whose story I covered in the episode on the Anarchy of the 12th century. As the reign of Henry VI fell apart, York's claim to the throne gained support from discontented nobles who resented the dominance of the Lancasterian

Starting point is 00:06:43 faction, especially Margaret of Anjou's allies. Things came to a head on May 22nd, 1455, at the Battle of St. Albans, which was the first major battle of the War of the Roses. And the War was called the War of the Roses because the crest of House Lancaster was a red rose, and that of House York was a white rose. fought in the streets of Hartfordshire Town, the Yorkist forces led by Richard Duke of York and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, decisively defeated the Lancasterians commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. The battle resulted in the death of Somerset and the capture of King Henry VI, who was found disorientated but unharmed. The Yorkists claim that they acted to protect the king from poor advisors, but their victory marked the beginning of a

Starting point is 00:07:30 violent struggle for control of the British throne. This small but pivotal battle shifted power temporarily to the Yorkists and escalated the dynastic feud. In 1460, the Duke of York formally asserted his claim to the throne, arguing that his lineage was superior to Henry the 6th. The resulting compromise passed by Parliament, known as the Act of Accord, disinherited Henry the 6th's son and declared that Richard and his heirs would succeed Henry the 6th. This argument was short-lived as Margaret of Anjou continued her fight for their son's claim, re-igniting the conflict. Richard Duke of York initially claimed the throne, but he was killed in the Battle of Wakefield in 1460.

Starting point is 00:08:14 His son Edward of York continued the campaign and decisively defeated the Lancasterians at the Battle of Tauton in 1461, thus becoming Edward IV and forcing Henry VI into hiding. Edward IV reigned for nine years. for the first time. Henry the 6th was briefly restored to power in 1470 during a period known as the re-adaption, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker, formerly supporter of Edward the 4th, switched allegiance. Warwick allied with the wife of Henry 6th, Margaret of Anjou, and together they invaded

Starting point is 00:08:51 England, compelling Edward IV to flee to France. Henry the 6th, a passive figurehead by this time, was reinstated as king, but his reign lasted less than a year. Edward V. Fourth returned to England with an army, defeating Warwick at the Battle of Barnett in 1471, and then defeating the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, where Henry the 6's son, Edward of Westminster, was killed. Henry the 6 was captured and likely murdered in the Tower of London, ending his reign and solidifying Yorkist control under Edward the 4th. Edward the 4th's second reign lasted from 1471 to 1783. A pot of his death, the crown passed to his youngest son, Edward V.

Starting point is 00:09:35 Edward V. Edward V was too young to rule in his own right, and while he was declared king, he was never crowned. He and his brother, who was next in line to the throne, were taken to the Tower of London, where they disappeared. Their uncle, Richard the Duke of Gloucester, seized the throne and became Richard III, the new king of the House of York. claimed the throne was that Edward V was actually illegitimate. In June of 1483, Parliament issued the Titulus Regius, which formalized these claims and affirm Richard's right to the throne

Starting point is 00:10:07 as the legitimate heir of the Yorkist line. In a previous episode, I covered this story, known as the Princes in the Tower. Richard III was not a popular king, and rumors circulated that he killed his nephew the king and usurp the throne. By this point, the Lancastrian line was almost extinguished during the Wars of the Roses. After Henry the Sixth Sun, Edward of Westminster was defeated and died in 1471, the de facto Lancasterian heir became a man named Henry Tudor. Henry Tudor's claim to the throne was tenuous as it was traced through an illegitimate line descending from John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster.

Starting point is 00:10:46 However, he was the last man standing on the Lancaster side by this point. Following years in exile in Brittany and France, Henry Tudor capitalized, on the growing discontent with Richard the Third's rule, including the suspicions surrounding the disappearance of the princes in the tower. With support from Lancasterian loyalists, disaffected Yorkists, and French assistance, Henry launched an invasion of England in 1485. This culminated on August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field near the town of Leicestershire. Henry Tudor's forces, numbering around 5,000 men, faced Richard III's Royal Army, estimated at 10 to 12,000.

Starting point is 00:11:25 men. Key to the battle's outcome was the defection of Sir William Stanley and his forces who sided with Henry during the conflict. Despite initial success, Richard III's decision to lead a direct charge at Henry personally ended up proving fatal. He was unseated from his horse and killed in the melee, making him the last English king to die in battle. With Richard's death, Henry's forces emerged victorious. Henry Tudor's victory at Bosworth marked the end of of the War of the Roses. As Henry the 7th, he consolidated power by marrying Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, thus uniting the warring houses of Lancaster and York. This marriage of the two factions was symbolized by the creation of the Tudor Rose,

Starting point is 00:12:13 which is a combination of the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York. Henry the 7th reign ushered in a new era of political stability ending decades of civil strife. Through careful governance, strategic marriages, and suppression of rebellions, Henry established the Tudor dynasty, which ruled England until 1603, transforming the monarchy into a more centralized and powerful institution. The War of the Roses wasn't just a seminal event in the history of England and its development as a modern country. It also had a profound cultural impact. Shakespeare wrote more plays about this period of history and the lead up to it,

Starting point is 00:12:51 nine, than he did for any other. Richard the 2nd, Henry the 4th, parts 1 and 2, Henry 5th, Henry the 6th parts 1, 2, and 3rd, and of course, there was the anonymous play that's often attributed to him, Edward the 3rd. A great miniseries released by the BBC in 2012 and 2016 called The Hollow Crown is a big-budget production of all of these plays except for Edward the 3rd. The cast is a massive who's who of British actors, and I highly recommend the series as it put Shakespeare in a context that makes more sense than just seeing it on stage. I highly recommend it if you can find it. The War of the Roses was a pivotal conflict in English history, marking the end of the medieval era and laying the groundwork for the rise of the Tudor dynasty. It was significant for resolving the dynastic struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York, ultimately leading to the establishment of a more centralized monarchy under Henry the 7th and the House of Tudor.

Starting point is 00:13:53 This unification brought political stability after decades of civil war, weaken the power of the feudal nobility, and set the stage for the Renaissance and the Reformation of England. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single.

Starting point is 00:14:22 single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters. If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group or Discord server. Links to everything are in the show notes.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The War of the Roses

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