Short History Of... - The Wars of the Roses, Part 2 of 3

Episode Date: September 7, 2022

With his father Richard of York’s head now on a spike, Edward’s determination to snatch the crown from Henry VI is stronger than ever. But how will he build support for his cause and assert his rights? Can he outmanoeuvre the formidable Queen Margaret, who will stop at nothing to see her own son on the throne? And is there any way to heal England’s bitter rifts and create a lasting peace? This is part two of a special three-part Short History of the Wars of the Roses. Written by Danny Marshall. With thanks to Michael Hicks, historian and author of The Wars of the Roses; and Lauren Johnson, historian and author of The Shadow King – The Life and Death of Henry VI, and an upcoming book on Tudor matriarch Margaret Beaufort. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+, now available on Apple Podcasts. All shows are also available for free. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, press the ‘+’ icon to follow the show for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is early on the morning of the 1st of February 1461. Edward of York's breath hangs in the freezing air as he opens the flap of his tent. The canvas is stiff with frost. The sun is not fully risen as he peers out into the dim light across the drab tents and carts filling the open field near the bridge. But smoke is already visible from the fires where men cook breakfast, eager to be ready for the day. In the month since his father Richard's death at Wakefield in Yorkshire, Edward has been gathering support in the Welsh Marches, the border area between England and Wales. the border area between England and Wales. With an army of 5,000, he intends to pursue his father's ambition to claim the English throne for the House of York,

to whom he believes it truly belongs. Edward's messengers have told him a larger Lancastrian army is approaching rapidly and will be upon them by tomorrow. Thanks to the cold winter weather, Edward knows the route his enemy will take. He has chosen to intercept the Lancastrians close to the small village of Mortimer's Cross, eight miles south of his late father's stronghold at Ludlow Castle. Edward steps outside to where a servant already has his horse waiting. He mounts it and rides through his camp, casting encouraging words out to his men as he passes.

Even in the pre-dawn, there is activity everywhere. Men are sharpening weapons, polishing armor, readying equipment. As the sunlight creeps over the distant hill, he joins his commanders. They are already lining up soldiers along the river, calculating distances, angles, elevation, and the density of the ground. These are factors Edward and his key men will need to take into consideration for the coming battle. Further down the road, he squints into the distance, imagining the Lancastrian army approaching. Suddenly, there's a shout, joined by more.

Horrified cries ring out from all directions. Edward spins, seized with dread that, just like his father only a few short weeks ago at Sandal Castle, he has been outflanked and caught unawares by his enemy. But then he sees it. To the east, over the distant low hills, dawn is breaking. But today there are three suns rising, identical, shining brightly. Panic begins to grip Edward's army. Quickly, he identifies an opportunity and rides into the thick of the encampment. He shouts his pronouncement

that they are to take comfort and not worry. These three sons, he tells them, are a sign from God, a representation of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They have appeared as a good omen to foretell of their victory in battle. The shouts of horror turn to cheering. Edward pulls on his reins, looks back down the road, and smiles. He's not superstitious, but his army is. He knows now that they are ready and will fight hard in the coming battle. Though Edward couldn't have known it, the appearance of three suns in the sky is a rare phenomenon called a parhelion, in which sunlight reflects off ice crystals in the freezing air.

But as the son of Richard of York, Edward is a man who has grown up in the shadow of almost constant war, and he knows the value of propaganda in the battle to bolster morale. With his father's head now on a spike and derisively decorated with a paper crown atop Micklegate Bar in York, Edward's determination to snatch the true crown from Henry VI is stronger than ever. But how will he build support for his cause and assert his rights? Can he outmaneuver the formidable Queen Margaret, who will stop at nothing to see her own son on the throne?

And is there any way to heal England's bitter rifts and create a lasting peace? way to heal England's bitter rifts and create a lasting peace. I'm John Hopkins, and this is the second episode of a special three-part short history of the Wars of the Roses. The Battle of Wakefield was a critical moment of the Wars of the Roses. It resulted in the deaths of not only Richard of York, but also his stalwart ally, the Earl of Salisbury, who, according to legend, is beheaded by a furious mob. For now, Queen Margaret's forces are victorious. With their major enemy dead and Yorkist's forces smashed,

the Lancastrians march on London to free her husband Henry VI. But Edward of York, now the Duke and head of the House of York, is now next in line for the throne, as per the accord signed by his father and King Henry. He intends to secure that claim decisively before Queen Margaret can free the king and overturn the arrangement in favor of her son, the Prince of Wales. The pendulum is about to swing back towards the House of York. Michael Hicks is a historian and author of The Wars of the Roses. Hicks is a historian and author of The Wars of the Roses. I think there was a possibility of some sort of negotiated settlement,

accepting Henry VI and Queen Margaret. Edward could have reverted to being Duke of York and might have been permitted to do that. But he chose instead to go double and quick, you know, to double the odds. In February, Edward marches into battle at Herefordshire to prevent the Tudors gathering Lancastrian support on the borders. Whether or not those three sons really were a sign from God, Edward is victorious. Following the battle at Mortimer's Cross, he takes the symbol of the sun in splendor as one of his heraldic badges. Meanwhile, the redoubtable Queen Margaret marches her main army south.

The Earl of Warwick, with the prisoner King Henry in tow, moves north to meet her. In a reversal of previous events, he makes his stand at St. Aubin's. This time, he's the defender. He sets a huge force on the main road several miles out of town, but Queen Margaret has diverted, swerving sharply. She attacks from the lightly defended west, with Warwick's men miles away, in the wrong position. Bitter house-to-house fighting erupts throughout the town, and as the Yorkist forces disintegrate,

the king is easily recovered by the Lancastrians. They find him sitting under a tree, singing, attended by two elderly knights. When Queen Margaret and the young Prince of Wales arrive, she asks her eight-year-old son how the knights should die. The young prince replies that both should be beheaded. His wish is summarily carried out. The victorious Lancastrian army, made up of mercenaries, foreign soldiers, and Scottish raiders known as Border Reavers, continues its march to London to reinstall Henry to his throne.

But back in London, the Yorkist Earl of Warwick is busy spreading propaganda. Lauren Johnson is a historian and author of The Shadow King, The Life and Death of Henry VI, and an upcoming book on Margaret Beaufort. Warwick is effectively spinning things around London, putting out these stories that Margaret intends to bring her army south and to destroy the south. Like, it's literally that bold. She's come down here to kill the southerners, to get all their lands for the Northerners, which isn't true. According to some contemporaries, the Lancastrians are like a Viking horde,

murdering pregnant women in their beds and plundering churches as they roll south. It seems as if it is the end of days. This apocalyptic language is used about Margaret's army, when actually it doesn't seem like there was a lot of damage done. What's really interesting about that story is it's been described as one historian as almost like a race memory of a northern threat. This idea that an army coming from the north are like a Viking horde coming south and destroying. It isn't the only rumour Warwick is spreading

in order to turn people against the she-wolf at the head of the Lancastrian army. I kind of like Warwick throughout just for the bold-faced villainy that he displays. He's someone who, like, he's a master of spin. A lot of the rumours and the kind of black legend of Margaret of Anjou, I think, come from the Earl of Warwick. He's spreading rumours among the people of Kent and London about how her son is a bastard or a foundling or, you know, a cuckoo. I don't think that Margaret had an affair. I think that she and Henry VI were the parents of their son. I don't think she was sleeping with the young Duke of Somerset. I just think she was too clever to do anything like that. She knew it would be stupid. And again, it's a sort of socialised slander of women.

It's very easy. Call them a witch or say that they slept with someone. That gets rid of them politically. Margaret's army closes in on London, but is denied entry by the citizens. Warwick and Edward of York seize the initiative, whipping up support in the capital for the Yorkist claim to the citizens. Warwick and Edward of York seized the initiative, whipping up support in the capital for the Yorkist claim to the throne. Like his father, Edward of York is a striking figure. He's handsome, he's impulsive, he looks a king. He's a much taller man than most people at the

time and probably it's later that it becomes apparent that he is so good at mixing with people of different station and he's charming. I think Edward is pretty much everything that Henry VI is not in a positive way. So you meet him and you're completely starstruck by him. He's tall, he's handsome, he's charming. And maybe because he spent quite a lot of time

with the Earl of Warwick, he's learned some of that political astuteness that Warwick has. And whereas the Earl of Warwick is someone who's very interesting, but you wouldn't want to meet them. Edward, the resplendent military leader in shining armour,

cuts a sharp contrast to the frail and mentally unwell King Henry VI. Thanks to the accord agreed between the late Richard of York and Henry VI, Edward is the rightful heir to the throne. The way the Yorkists see it, by joining his wife Queen Margaret after the Second Battle of St. Albans, Henry has broken this legally binding promise. In their eyes, he has lost his right to be King of England. Edward decides to go for the crown, and he is elected. Well, the people who are elected are pretty insignificant. They're just members of his own retinue. But it happens in London. It is presented as a legitimate accession with,

you know, crown wearing and going to Westminster Abbey and so on. So for now, both Henry and Edward go by the title of King. Queen Margaret's army regroups in Yorkshire, positioning itself near Tadcaster, just south of York. Edward's slightly smaller force marches north to meet the threat and deal with it once and for all. With the royal family safely in York, several miles away, Henry and Margaret's army marches out. Both sides have assembled the largest army in their respective histories. The stage is set for an epic showdown which will decide which of them will remain on the throne of England. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings.

Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. It is 10 a.m. on a cold, windy Palm Sunday, the 29th of March, 1461. The open fields outside Towton, Yorkshire, are swarming with fighters. On the low land to the south, King Edward sits astride his horse, ahead of his soldiers, as the first flakes of snow begin to fall. Over his shining armour he wears a crimson tunic, decorated with resplendent suns and the white roses of York.

The regal Lion of England adorns his helmet. Above him, atop a ridge, the Lancastrian troops are 30,000 strong. The higher ground gives them a natural advantage. But the weather is worsening, and soon a driving snowstorm is whipping ferociously up the hill towards the Lancastrian lines. The Earl of Warwick brings his horse alongside Edward. Though the much-needed reinforcements under the Duke of Norfolk have so far failed to materialize. Warwick insists the powerful contingent can surely be no more than a few miles away. Hold, he advises, and they will come.

Edward shakes his head. Like his father before him, waiting is not his strong suit. He orders the Yorkist army forward. Knights and men-at-arms advance on foot as one, shaking the ground as they move. The snow is being driven almost sideways now, directly into the faces of the Lancastrian soldiers. The archers are called forward, but though they obey, the men look at each other in confusion. Surely, at this range, firing would be wasted. Nevertheless, at the command, they draw their bows and let loose a shower of arrows up the hill. Propelled by the strong wind, they find their marks, slamming into the front wall of the enemy. Surprise and confusion turns to terror on the hilltop as a second wave of arrows pummels the Lancastrians. Finally, they respond, ordering their own archers forward to counterattack.

But blinded by the blizzard, as they draw their bows, they can't even get close as they fire into the wind. The Yorkists fire again, volley after volley, felling the Lancastrians where they stand. The enemy arrows continue to slap into the ground a full 40 yards short. When Edward's men find their quivers empty, they collect the wasted enemy arrows and fire them back up the hill. The Lancastrian commanders realize their best hope is to close the gap and use their numbers. They charge down the slope, straight into their enemy. The fighting is frenzied, brutal, terrifying. The swords of tens of thousands of half-blinded men swing, and soon the snow is stained a bright crimson.

The smaller Yorkist army is battered, driven back, their early advantage fading fast. Edward rides up and down his lines, shouting encouragement to his soldiers. The men are freezing and utterly exhausted, but suddenly shouts go up across the battlefield. The Duke of Norfolk has arrived with fresh troops, and the tide of the battle turns. The Duke of Norfolk has arrived with fresh troops, and the tide of the battle turns. Lancastrian soldiers begin slipping away towards Tadcaster, and soon the whole army is retreating. The Yorkists set off in pursuit, forcing terrified, defeated soldiers to break off and try to cross the river behind the field. Men are pushed under the icy water as those behind them scramble for safety.

Soon there is a bridge of wounded, drowning men weighed down by plate armour and sodden battle gear. Edward's archers form a line above the river and rain arrows into the retreating men. Hundreds die in the freezing waters. treating men. Hundreds die in the freezing waters. Those lucky few who do limp away to Tadcaster or York are hunted down and brutally slain in the streets. The rivers are said to have run red for days from the blood soaked into the fields of Towton. Contemporary accounts suggest that there are as many as 28,000 dead, most of them Lancastrians. It's the largest and bloodiest battle

ever fought on English soil. A lot of the people who were on the defeated side are simply executed. They have stepped up the mortality, the killing. And I think the Yorkists had found, and it's absolutely deplorable really, that the best way to defeat your enemies is to kill them. And they did. I think it was slaughter, basically.

And the archaeological remains that we have from it testify to that. You know, the fact that there's all of these blows to legs and to heads, and it's just like hacking at people, effectively, for hours and hours and hours, really makes it horrifying. King Henry VI, Queen Margaret, and their son, the Prince of Wales, flee York. They ride out of the city through Micklegate Bar, beneath the severed heads of Richard of York and the Earl of Salisbury, still rotting on spikes, knowing only too well that their own heads could be next.

As Henry and Margaret flee north to Scotland, Edward returns to London for his formal coronation. Three months after his victory at Towton on the 28th of June 1461, Edward Plantagenet fulfills his father's ambition when he is officially crowned King Edward IV of England. Though the coronation must follow a set pattern over several days of celebrations, it is an awe-inspiring event. We have descriptions of some element of it in the 15th and early 16th century. So we know that there would be incredible pageantry, that there were people described as literally sort of hanging from windows and from the roofs of buildings to look down on these scenes, that the king would be wearing incredibly rich and expensive robes, that he would be right at the heart of this huge pageant, effectively, of heralds, of knights, of lords, of people holding staffs, of monks and bishops sensing them, you know, literally swinging those sensors,

releasing beautiful perfumed vapour into the air. There's a huge amount of gold as well and gold work embroidery. And Edward IV is very fortunate in having the sun in splendour as his symbol. So you also have these incredibly vivid, bright suns like bursting out all over the place. In contrast to this overwhelming image of

vigour presented by Edward, the frail, deposed Henry is once more the victim of Yorkist spin. They paint him as a feeble, cold figure, sheltered by England's enemy, the Scots, with his French queen and bastard son. With resistance shattered, Edward hopes to consolidate his reign and his legacy. He sends Warwick, now the most powerful nobleman in the country, to defeat the final Lancastrians in Ireland and negotiate a truce with Scotland. In May 1464, three years after their bloody defeat, the beleaguered Henry and Margaret mount an operation to take the fight back to King Edward IV. But this last ditch attempt fails when they are defeated at Hexham in Northumberland. Henry, safely kept away from the battlefield after being captured in battle so many times previously, manages to escape south.

The village of Waddington, Yorkshire, on the 13th of July 1465. The ancient gables of Waddington Hall cast long shadows in the dying light. A gaunt, solemn man crosses the room to gaze out of the leaded windows, watching the sunset over the fields beyond. Henry VI has been known as merely Henry for over four years. Still dressed in fine clothes, still eating good food and drinking fine wine, provided by yet another in a chain of sympathizers, he nevertheless is still a prisoner here. He sighs, weary of being forced to skulk in shadows, a pawn in a game he never wanted to play. Henry turns and takes his place at the table as servants bring out the evening meal. Plates of spiced meat, jellies and fish are served as another dinner guest, a man named Tunstall, makes small talk.

Suddenly there's a scuffle outside the room. Henry jumps to his feet as his host, Richard Tempest, flies in, slamming the heavy wooden door behind him. He shouts at Henry to run, but is too late. Tempest is floored as a group of men charge the door and explode into the room. Led by Tempest's brother, John, they have discovered the king's hiding place. And unlike Richard Tempest, they are not loyal to the Lancastrian cause. Tunstall draws his sword and drags the former king through a secret door in the wood panelling, up a hidden stone staircase and into an upstairs room.

He slams the door as Henry dashes to the window. Throwing a pane open and forcing himself between the stone mullions, he's out onto the roof, gripping the lead and stone tiles as he clambers across to a ladder. He's down it and sprinting across the fields behind the house before the mob burst into the bedroom. Approaching the tree line, Henry risks a backward glance. The hall glows in the fading light. He can just make out the dim windows and shadows moving.

But there's no mistaking the angry shouts of his would-be captors. He keeps going, his legs carrying him ever faster as he descends the hill and reaches the shadow of the trees alone. Soon he is at the river. He bends double, panting, and scans the water desperately for the stepping stones he knows are here. The call of the mob is louder now. They're gaining on him. Locating the stones in the churning water, he wastes no time in charging across the river, over the border, into the county of Lancashire and seat of his ancestors. The blood is roaring in his ears as he stumbles up the other side into the dense woods. Breathless and dripping with sweat,

he hears men splashing through the water behind him. Without looking back, he presses on into the thick forest, but then he feels himself falling. They are on him now. He pitches to the dirt, rolling over and throwing his arms up to defend himself. Henry's long period of hiding is over. Once again he is the prisoner of his Yorkist enemies. The difference this time is that his enemy is the King of England. Yet again Henry's home is the Tower of London. By this stage, high-profile commanders on both sides are executed when captured.

But to King Edward, Henry is worth more alive than dead. The weak, ineffectual Lancastrian leader is a walking advert for Yorkist supremacy, and executing him would only make him a martyr and radicalize his son. Instead, Edward sees a chance to build bridges and heal the country. He reconciles with his enemies to win hearts and minds, allowing rival nobles to retain land, property, and titles. This policy seems to work, and with his enemies defeated and the crown secure with the House of York, King Edward now pursues his domestic and foreign agenda. He commences negotiations for an alliance with the Duchy of Burgundy and a resumption of war with France. Edward's long-standing ally Warwick also has other ideas.

He has a good relationship with the King of France and sets about negotiating a lasting truce. At these talks, he agrees that Edward will be favorable to marrying the French king's daughter or sister, cementing an alliance between the powers. To Warwick's embarrassment, he soon finds out that can never happen. Edward has gone behind his back and married a woman of his own choosing, Elizabeth Woodville, in secret. Worse, the woman he has married is a commoner and the widow of a Lancastrian knight killed at the Second Battle of St. Albans. Though said to be the most beautiful woman on the

island of Britain, she is nonetheless part of the infamous Woodville clan. Wealthy landed gentry, rather than nobility, and staunch enemies of Warwick's family. The Woodvilles have got this slightly mythic status now. Basically, they are the product of this slightly suspect union between a relatively lowly gentleman and his way higher status wife, who is a princess of Luxembourg. She then sort of marries down. They have basically a million children together, one of whom is Elizabeth Woodville. And of these children that we know about,

there seems within the families who really have been a sense of unity, of collective interest. Clearly they're a well-educated family. And again, similar to Edward IV, they're a family who have something quite compelling about them. They're good looking, they're clever.

They're, a number of them, you know, pious as well. You know, they're covering all bases within this massive clan. Elizabeth Woodville really shouldn't actually be that important in our history. She's one of the very many women of this period of history about whom almost nothing is known of their early life. She somehow meets Edward IV, possibly because she is trying to gain control of some of her late husband's lands. He has a bit of a habit by this point, it seems, of saying he will marry someone, having sex with them, and then not marrying them. Except the Woodvilles are clever enough that he does this. He says, yes, I'll marry you, Elizabeth. He sleeps with her,

and then they hold him to it in such a way that he cannot get out of it. Warwick is incensed. Not only has the king embarrassed him in his negotiations with France, but as his enemies, the Woodvilles are entirely outside his span of control and influence. The royal marriage propels other members of the Woodville family, considered nouveau riche upstarts, into Edward's court. Members of the new queen's family are promoted into positions of power. Once they get into those upper echelons of power,

they are just skimming the cream off the milk of the state, basically, which makes them very unpopular with some of the older blood of the realm and the people who have been longer term Yorkists. The marriage is a signal to everyone in the country that not only will Edward pursue his agenda as he sees fit, but also that Warwick is no longer the dominating force in English politics. It drives a wedge between the king and his once greatest ally. If you believe in this policy of reform, you don't want to endow the king's favorites. You expect the king to rule of his own. You expect him to provide a magnificent style of kingship, and you want law and order. And, you know,

Warwick is quite right that Edward IV failed to carry any of these out. And so when Warwick says, hey, Edward IV has failed to fulfill the reforming program, it's obviously true. When Edward removes Warwick's brother from the office of Lord Chancellor, It's obviously true. When Edward removes Warwick's brother from the office of Lord Chancellor, Warwick knows his influence is in steep decline. Refusing to let this stand, he searches for allies and finds one in Edward's younger brother, the Duke of Clarence. George, Duke of Clarence, to me, is sort of classic middle child.

He's very jealous of his older brother. He wants what he has. The Earl of Warwick is so incensed at the Woodville behaviour and their control over the king, and particularly their control over foreign policy, because they seem to be very much counter to Warwick's idea of foreign policy, that he persuades Edward's younger brother, George, to marry his daughter and for the two of them to launch a rebellion against Edward. In April 1469, further rebellion breaks out in Yorkshire. Warwick and Clarence travel north to gather troops, ostensibly to suppress the revolt. They announce their intention to destroy the

rebellion and remove evil influences at court, by which they really mean the Woodville family. Warwick's endgame is the replacement of Edward with his brother, and with Warwick's own daughter as queen, he would truly wield the power behind the throne. When King Edward's royal army meet the Lancastrian rebels, they manage at first to repel the attack. But when Warwick's troops arrive to bolster the Lancastrian side, the scales tip. In the aftermath of the Lancastrian victory, the Yorkist leaders are executed by Warwick. Edward's father-in-law, Richard Woodville, escapes the battlefield, but is taken prisoner shortly afterwards. He and his son, Sir John Woodville, Queen Elizabeth's brother, are summarily murdered by Warwick, beheaded with

their heads placed on spikes on the gates of Coventry. Yet again, we find Warwick's solution to his problem is basically political assassination. So he gets rid of a number of the leading Woodvilles he gets rid of by behead after battle, one of Edward's closest friends and longest-term supporters. Basically, Warwick is being as brutal as he had been several years earlier. King Edward himself is captured by Warwick and taken to Middleham Castle in Yorkshire. Warwick and taken to Middleham Castle in Yorkshire. What's in it for Warwick by that point is ultimate power rather than limited power. So he wants to take control of government and basically to do what he had done previously with Henry VI, which is to have a puppet leader through whom he rules the country. And this time it will be ultimate

authority, which he just can't have with Edward IV because Edward IV has his own mind and has people that he obviously prefers to Warwick by this point. But it soon becomes clear that Warwick and Edward's brother, the Duke of Clarence, do not enjoy the popular support they'd hoped for. They have no opportunity to get Clarence onto the throne, and so, in the face of intense hostility, King Edward is released. Upon returning to London, Edward distances his brother, the Duke of Clarence, further from power. After the rebellion in 1469, Edward reconstructs his regime and part of it involves recognising that his heir is Elizabeth of York, his eldest daughter, who is going to marry Warwick's nephew, John Neville, and he receives seniority above Clarence. Clarence is pushed down the list and obviously Clarence. Clarence, he's pushed down the list. And obviously, Clarence up till this point

has thought he's heir to the throne. And now he's not. Throughout this whole period, Henry VI is still held prisoner in the Tower of London. His wife, Margaret, is bringing up their son in exile in France. Now the cunning ex-queen sees an opportunity to return to England and get back into power. She exploits the instability in the English court and meets with her old enemy Warwick in secret.

The two hatch a plot to their mutual benefit. Warwick is concerned about his legacy and the marriages of his daughters and who would be his heirs. An agreement is reached. Another of Warwick's daughters will marry Margaret's son, the ex-Prince of Wales and heir to the Lancastrian claim to the throne. To the scheming Warwick, who will ally himself with anyone to retain his influence and get one over on the Woodvilles, is a win-win scenario. Warwick and the Duke of Clarence land with their army in Devon in September 1470. King Edward rushes to meet them in battle, but his army is quickly surrounded. Out of options, he flees the country, along with his youngest and intensely loyal brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. They are sheltered by their allies in Burgundy. Edward is not present to see his first son and heir born at Westminster Abbey,

where his wife, Queen Elizabeth, has sought sanctuary from Warwick. Once again, King Henry VI is restored to the throne, the difference this time being Warwick, as well as Queen Margaret, is now the power behind it. The Duke of Clarence is rewarded for his treachery against his brother Edward by receiving the deposed king's former title. The new Duke of York is now a close ally of the Lancastrian King Henry VI. The old factions of York and Lancaster are now becoming increasingly blurred. The bitter power struggle drags on, with rival factions and families vying for influence and power, each side filled with members from both houses.

Despite their renewed grasp on power, King Henry VI and Warwick find themselves isolated, their position precarious. Warwick has made far too many enemies among Yorkists and Lancastrians, murdering and executing his way to victory in countless battles. Their widowed wives and sons have long memories, and Warwick is despised by many. Edward returns from Burgundy several months later, landing in Yorkshire. Thanks to his youngest brother Richard of Gloucester's sizeable power base in the north, he quickly builds a large army. As they march south, they are joined by more loyal troops. Edward's brother George, the new Duke of York, can see which way the wind is blowing. As the army approaches London,

he joins them, receiving a pardon and reverting to his old title, the Duke of Clarence. The people who really bring Clarence back to Edward's side are his female relatives, his sister Anne and his mother Cecily, and his other sister Margaret, who's the Duchess of Burgundy by this point. They seem to work together and they have a lady dispatched to Calais to meet with him, to sort of act as an agent, undercover agent, to sort of lure him back and to reconcile him with Edward, which ultimately happens. Edward's return is welcomed by the city. Henry finds himself in familiar surroundings once more

when he is imprisoned yet again in the Tower of London. This time, he will never leave. Warwick's troops finally confront Edward's army at Barnet, just north of London, on Easter Sunday, April 1471. Edward is joined on either side by his two younger brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester. A thick fog descends on the battlefield, and in the ensuing confusion, Warwick's men attack their own army. Between the weather and three Yorkist brothers, Warwick's army is utterly destroyed. He flees. Warwick's army is utterly destroyed.

He flees. Edward sends his personal guards to bring him back alive. But unfortunately for Warwick, other Yorkist troops get to him first. He has become quite well known for having horses prepared for him in advance of battle so that he can ride off and escape, basically. Having his escape route planned before the battle starts. And particularly for riding in battle, which has become quite unusual by this point. The English are well known for fighting on foot rather than on horseback, which is more of a French thing. And he is kind of

forced at the Battle of Barnet to fight on foot, and that sort of undoes him, really. The Earl of Warwick is dragged back to the battle by a group of Yorkist soldiers. He is pinned down while a soldier prizes open his helmet's visor so he can look him in the eye. His attacker then draws a knife, leans in, and pushes the blade deep into the Earl of Warwick's neck. His corpse is stripped and mutilated before being carted back to London. It is displayed in St. Paul's Cathedral to quell all rumors of his survival. There can be no doubt that Warwick the Kingmaker is dead. Queen Margaret and her French reinforcements have landed on the south coast to support Warwick,

but they're far too late. Despite being joined by Welsh soldiers headed up by her allies the Tudors, the last remnants of rebellion are wiped out three weeks later at Tewkesbury. During the battle, the erstwhile Prince of Wales, Henry and Margaret's 17-year-old son, is killed. Again, Edward's loyal brother, Richard of Gloucester, is in the thick of the fighting. After the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, condemns Lancastrians who've been dragged out of sanctuary. So, I mean, really, arguably against the law, he condemns them to be executed in quite large

number. With the Lancastrian leaders dead or exiled, King Edward is victorious and unchallenged. And with the Prince of Wales legitimately killed in battle, the Lancastrian line of succession has been severed. The tireless maneuvering of the formidable Queen Margaret to secure the throne for her son has ended in heartbreak. Alone, she flees to France, where she will spend the rest of her days. Two weeks after the battle at Tewkesbury, with both the Lancastrian heir and Warwick in the ground, King Edward enters London. Accompanied by his youngest brother and war hero, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, it's a triumphant return.

The question remains of what to do with Henry, who is still held prisoner in the Tower of London. But late, in the very same day, the former King of England dies mysteriously. The former King of England dies mysteriously. Then there is no longer any point to keep Henry VI alive. He's just potentially a nuisance and a figurehead. The official line is that he dies of a broken heart upon hearing of the death of his son.

Rumours persist of his murder at the hands of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. When Henry's body is dug up, centuries later, in 1910, to be examined, his skull is discovered in pieces. Some of the remaining dark hair is matted with 350-year-old blood, so it seems Henry probably met a violent end after all. King Edward now attempts to reign over a peaceful England, although he does still pursue military ambitions abroad. He invades France, with Richard of Gloucester leading the largest contingent. But when Edward later signs a treaty, his younger brother is incensed.

What's interesting with Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is yes, he is capable, he is evidently utterly loyal to Edward in a way that Clarence is not. But there is, again, something in him from quite early on that makes him associated with some of the darker chapters of the Wars of the Roses. He opposes Edward's military campaigning in France because he thinks it doesn't go far enough. It's like Warwick's influence. He grows up with Warwick. So he has that mentality to him

that previous to this, he hasn't shown any signs of. Like, I don't buy that he killed Henry VI. I don't buy that, you know, he's solely responsible for other things that happen. I do think, however, he has a sort of kernel of ice that he is capable of unleashing at times. King Edward's own son and heir, also called Edward and now styled the Prince of Wales as heir apparent, is placed under the supervision of the Queen's brother, Anthony Woodville. At Ludlow Castle, where King Edward has spent his own childhood,

the young prince has a liberal education. King Edward wants his son to grow into a wise and educated ruler. Edward also has a second son, Richard, to whom he confers the title Duke of York. It seems Edward VI has secured his dynasty and vanquished his enemies. But experience has hardened him, and thanks to his previous failure to reconcile the feuding families, his second reign will be more ruthless than the first. But the peace will not last. Turmoil is brewing again, this time from within his close family. On one hand is Edward's brother, Richard the Duke of Gloucester, a military hero who, despite dark rumors,

has demonstrated considerable bravery and prowess on the battlefield. He is known for his absolute loyalty to Edward and is now the wealthiest man in the country besides his brother the King. He is also the dominant power in the north of England and de facto ruler of the north. On the other hand is Edward's traitorous brother George, Duke of Clarence, who had selfishly allied himself with Warwick before switching allegiances when it suited him. Clarence is not as astute as his brothers. He clearly has a higher opinion of his own abilities than is entirely warranted.

He is a very important lord, but there is also, evidently as time goes on, something a bit unstable about him. Clarence and Gloucester are both married to daughters of the late Earl of Warwick from the Neville family. This gives both dukes a claim to the Neville fortunes and to become wealthy in their own right, independent of the king. Richard of Gloucester takes steps to assert himself with his older brother. Their bitter rivalry now threatens to destabilize the court. Now with Warwick dead, King Edward is forced to intervene to divide the Neville estates and titles between the brothers. The Duke of Clarence is not placated and shows further signs of antagonism towards his brothers. I think by this point he's starting starting to spread rumours that Edward may not be legitimate.

There's a lot of rumours that's kind of come up in 1469 and then again by the late 1470s, which are probably from the Duke of Clarence about how Edward is the son of an archer in Normandy. Then, in December 1476, the Duke of Clarence's wife dies suddenly. The way I see it is maybe she was a bit of a calming influence on him, and that when she goes, he just absolutely goes off the rails. And he says that there's witchcraft and poisoning, and he basically takes the law into his own hands in a way that directly contravenes royal authority. He has a woman

condemned as a witch, he has a number of his servants killed. He does not have the authority to dole out such justice. Soon, King Edward, Richard of Gloucester, and the rest of the royal court are growing wary of Clarence's power. Clarence continues to fall from favor until in 1478 he is found guilty of plotting against his brother, once again making a bid for the crown. This time there will be no mercy. The Duke of Clarence is found guilty of treason and executed, as legend has it, by drowning in sweet, mumsy wine. There's a very odd thing that seems to happen in 15th century justice, where when people die, and it's not quite clear what's happened, either it's reported that they were squashed between

feather mattresses, that they were stabbed in the bottom or that they were drowned in wine. Those are the three ways that they say people are killed, presumably because all three don't leave a mark. I'm not really sure. But yeah, very quickly there is a rumour that Clarence has been drowned in a butt of malmsy wine. So weirdly, it's one of those things that sounds made up, but might actually be true. Unfortunately, King Edward is not far behind his brother. By 1483, at just 40 years old, his health is failing. His excessive drinking may play a part, but his physicians blame the emetics he takes. These substances induce vomiting during feasts, allowing him to continue to gorge himself. Edward is this very, like, clearly

militarily capable, but sort of charming and increasingly sort of pleasure-seeking individual who just gets fatter and drunker and more lecherous as his life goes on. The king falls fatally ill and knows death is near. He adds a codicil to his will, a legal amendment, which contains important information on his final wishes. Upon his death, he is adamant his trusted brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, should be protector during the early reign of his 12-year-old son, who will become Edward V. He's the natural person to be protector because he is the late king's brother and this king's uncle. Protector has fairly limited powers. It's a bit like being a chairman. A few days after amending his will, on the 9th of April, 1483, King Edward dies.

King Edward dies. He leaves behind his wife, Queen Elizabeth, his two young heirs, and his youngest brother, the ruthless but extremely capable Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Maybe now, the country will be able to enjoy a peaceful transition of power to the young King Edward V, under the watchful eye of his uncle. But King Edward IV's death is the spark to a powder keg which has sat unnoticed for a long time. There is one more chapter to the War of the Roses,

and this will be the darkest yet. And as the hostilities reignite once more, this time the battle gives way to cloak and dagger intrigue, betrayal, murder, and a 500-year-old mystery.