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War of the Roses...The Beginning of the Tudor Era
The years before the Tudors were ones of much conflict and bloodshed.
The war of the roses between the houses of Lancaster and York , so called because of the emblems used by them: the red rose of Lancaster and the White of Yorkshire,had been waging since 1455 and had seen many bloody battles between the 2 houses.
One of local interest to those in Staffordshire is the Battle of Bloor heath which took place in 1459 at Loggerheads near Market Drayton. The battle was fought between Lord Audley of Lancaster and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury leading the Yorkists.
There are records which say that Margaret, Queen of Lancaster was also present and had her horses shoes reversed to make it appear she had escaped in the opposite direction to her actual route after the battle. The site of the blacksmith of William Skelhorn who reversed the horse shoes is marked today by a plaque and a battle recreation is staged anually on the battlesite.
For days after the battle, which was won by the heavily outnumbered Yorkists, the stream is said to have run red for days with the blood of the Lancastrians.
The war would rise from many issues. Both the houses of lancaster and York had decended from King Edward III the black prince (so called due to his black suit of armour)and so both had claim to the crown which was worn in 1455 by the Lancastrian king Henry VI who was fairly unpopular with his people due to his unlikable cabinet. In 1461 he was deposed with help from the schemeing Earl of Warwick and replaced with Edward, the duke of York who became king Edward VI. However, despite his bravery in battle Edward would suffer the same fate as his predecessor by being betrayed by Warwick after he gathered an army led by Queen Margaret of Anjou (Henry's wife) to capture Edward. He was replaced with the previous king Henry. Warwick reputedly didn't like Edward's marriage to a commoner in Elizabeth Woodville. This marriage was to cause alot of trouble in the long run.
The King Henry was very unpopular with the people as he had effectively been forced onto the throne after a pervious deposition. This led him to be deposed once more after a terrible defeat at the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, this time he was imprisoned and murdered. His son also died in the battle leaving him with no clear successor.
Edward IV regained his throne and led a prosperous and largely peaceful few years as king, he passed away in 1483 and was replaced by his son Edward V. This is where the scheming brother of Edward, Richard of York got involved and where the marriage between King and commoner (Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville) would come back to haunt Edward's successors.
Richard claimed that due to the law at the time the marriage between Edward and Elizabeth was illegitimate making Edward V an illigitamate child. He therefore should not have been King as he has no claim to the throne.
Richard himself replaced the 12 year old Edward as king becoming Richard III. Edward and his brother were imprisoned in the Tower of London where they were seen playing until July of 1483 when they mysteriously vanished. It is said that their ghosts can still be heard playing in the tower to this day.
Richard's reign as king was a brutal and unpopular one...shrouded by the belief that he had his nephews killed so he could be king. It was a reign doomed from the start as the war of the Roses came back into swing under a new Lancastrian leader Henry Tudor.
The war of the roses and Richard's reign was coming to an end.
On the field of Bosworth near Leicester on the 22nd of August 1485 the army of Richard faced off against the army of Henry Tudor. Richard went into battle hugely confident, they had a good record against the Lancastrians usually when outnumbered. this time the Yorkists outnumbered the Lancastrians by over 4000 men. Richard was however a feeble ruler of men and before the battle and during his army gradually retreated and surrendered of it's own accord negating the advantage.
Eventually Richard of York was slain by Henry's men and Henry Tudor became the new king of England to lead the country into an era of peace.
To ensure this he married Margaret of York to unite the warring houses and bring unity to the land.
Henry would prove to have much more success...
Initially his reign was rocky with a rebel army of Yorkists enforced by some Irish and german soldiers after being in exile launched an attack against Henry in 1487. Henry was wise to the attack however and intercepted the army at East Stoke and routed them quite easily. The "Yorkist" leader was captured into slavery and the Yorkists were no more.
Henry now led England into peace...
The war of the roses between the houses of Lancaster and York , so called because of the emblems used by them: the red rose of Lancaster and the White of Yorkshire,had been waging since 1455 and had seen many bloody battles between the 2 houses.
One of local interest to those in Staffordshire is the Battle of Bloor heath which took place in 1459 at Loggerheads near Market Drayton. The battle was fought between Lord Audley of Lancaster and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury leading the Yorkists.
There are records which say that Margaret, Queen of Lancaster was also present and had her horses shoes reversed to make it appear she had escaped in the opposite direction to her actual route after the battle. The site of the blacksmith of William Skelhorn who reversed the horse shoes is marked today by a plaque and a battle recreation is staged anually on the battlesite.
For days after the battle, which was won by the heavily outnumbered Yorkists, the stream is said to have run red for days with the blood of the Lancastrians.
The war would rise from many issues. Both the houses of lancaster and York had decended from King Edward III the black prince (so called due to his black suit of armour)and so both had claim to the crown which was worn in 1455 by the Lancastrian king Henry VI who was fairly unpopular with his people due to his unlikable cabinet. In 1461 he was deposed with help from the schemeing Earl of Warwick and replaced with Edward, the duke of York who became king Edward VI. However, despite his bravery in battle Edward would suffer the same fate as his predecessor by being betrayed by Warwick after he gathered an army led by Queen Margaret of Anjou (Henry's wife) to capture Edward. He was replaced with the previous king Henry. Warwick reputedly didn't like Edward's marriage to a commoner in Elizabeth Woodville. This marriage was to cause alot of trouble in the long run.
The King Henry was very unpopular with the people as he had effectively been forced onto the throne after a pervious deposition. This led him to be deposed once more after a terrible defeat at the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, this time he was imprisoned and murdered. His son also died in the battle leaving him with no clear successor.
Edward IV regained his throne and led a prosperous and largely peaceful few years as king, he passed away in 1483 and was replaced by his son Edward V. This is where the scheming brother of Edward, Richard of York got involved and where the marriage between King and commoner (Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville) would come back to haunt Edward's successors.
Richard claimed that due to the law at the time the marriage between Edward and Elizabeth was illegitimate making Edward V an illigitamate child. He therefore should not have been King as he has no claim to the throne.
Richard himself replaced the 12 year old Edward as king becoming Richard III. Edward and his brother were imprisoned in the Tower of London where they were seen playing until July of 1483 when they mysteriously vanished. It is said that their ghosts can still be heard playing in the tower to this day.
Richard's reign as king was a brutal and unpopular one...shrouded by the belief that he had his nephews killed so he could be king. It was a reign doomed from the start as the war of the Roses came back into swing under a new Lancastrian leader Henry Tudor.
The war of the roses and Richard's reign was coming to an end.
On the field of Bosworth near Leicester on the 22nd of August 1485 the army of Richard faced off against the army of Henry Tudor. Richard went into battle hugely confident, they had a good record against the Lancastrians usually when outnumbered. this time the Yorkists outnumbered the Lancastrians by over 4000 men. Richard was however a feeble ruler of men and before the battle and during his army gradually retreated and surrendered of it's own accord negating the advantage.
Eventually Richard of York was slain by Henry's men and Henry Tudor became the new king of England to lead the country into an era of peace.
To ensure this he married Margaret of York to unite the warring houses and bring unity to the land.
Henry would prove to have much more success...
Initially his reign was rocky with a rebel army of Yorkists enforced by some Irish and german soldiers after being in exile launched an attack against Henry in 1487. Henry was wise to the attack however and intercepted the army at East Stoke and routed them quite easily. The "Yorkist" leader was captured into slavery and the Yorkists were no more.
Henry now led England into peace...
The Establishment of the Tudor Dynasty: The Reign of Henry Tudor
The new king Henry
Tudor was crowned after the battle of Bosworth field in 1485. His first
action in 1486 was to marry Margaret of York, the daughter of Edward IV
to unite the quarreling houses of York and Lancaster.
In an attempt to solve the dispute between the houses he gave his royal line the name "Tudor" after his own surname instead of the Lancastrians as to suggest he was neutral.
This didn't completely solve the problem however and the trouble contined between the houses a few years into his reign. Lambert Simnel, a man who put together a plan to pass himself off as the nephew of the late boy king Edward V who had vanished from the tower of London after imprisonment.
The invasion force put together by Simnel was defeated at Stoke in 1487 and the 12 year old Simnel, who had previously been crowned Edward VI in Ireland was made into a kitchen hand by Henry. His partner in crime Perkin Warbeck was far less easily subdued. He contined causeing trouble for Henry up to 1497 when he was arrested. Even as a prisoner he would not stop and was executed in 1499.
This bought peace to the land after over 40 years.
Henry was not the most imposing or even likable of characters and therefore had trouble imposing his rule on people. Traditionally the Lancastrians only had power and respect in the north and it showed. It took until 1494 to gain support and establish himself in Ireland and a similar amount of time to win over the Welsh, he stressed his ancestory to the Welsh people and even added the Welsh dragon to his banner and emblem. This was a feat that at least won over the majority of the Welsh.
Henry was not well respected with the nobles of Britain either...he was always cautious and rarely trusted anyone he didn't know personally or been aquainted with in length.
He tried to express his loyalty to English heretage by naming his first son Arthur after the fabled King Arthur.
Henry set about immediately to restoring the faultering economy of England and exploited the power of the exchequer in order to generate a profit. He was however criticised for reverting to Yorkist banking methods which directly contradicted his ancestory.
He achieved a moderately stable economy and generated extra money as well as reduced the crime rate by making police departments sign binding contracts to say they will enforce the law at the risk of having money taken to compensate if they didn't. It was very efficient and effective.
Henry also contributed to the courts of law by setting up the "court of the star-chamber" named after the stars painted on the ceiling of the building. This court of justice was a momento to the fair and strong character of Henry as a king.
As a ruler Henry was a very strong and able king with a keen eye for a profit and produced a stable economy out of a nation dogged by years of civil war. As a person he lacked charisma and often had to try really hard to be accepted by his peers but his persistence and desire to do good was often a quality which won them over.
Henry was increasing worried about his dynasty and the direction of the rulers who would follow him. He had his daughter Margaret marry into Scottish royalty in the form of King James VI. He had his son Arthur marry into French royalty and also reserved the French princess Cathrine of Aragon as a future wife of his son Henry (later Henry VIII).
Henry's foriegn policy was primarily peaceful and a unity with France, a long time enemy of the British was high on the aganda. He maintained ties by arranging these marriages and at the time of his death in 1509 he felt the future of the Tudors was relatively secure.
He left a momento after his death of his distrusting and worried nature by giving execution orders on some of his top cabinet advisors after stating that they owed money. They were carried out as one of the first actions of the new king, Henry Tudor's second son Henry VIII...
In an attempt to solve the dispute between the houses he gave his royal line the name "Tudor" after his own surname instead of the Lancastrians as to suggest he was neutral.
This didn't completely solve the problem however and the trouble contined between the houses a few years into his reign. Lambert Simnel, a man who put together a plan to pass himself off as the nephew of the late boy king Edward V who had vanished from the tower of London after imprisonment.
The invasion force put together by Simnel was defeated at Stoke in 1487 and the 12 year old Simnel, who had previously been crowned Edward VI in Ireland was made into a kitchen hand by Henry. His partner in crime Perkin Warbeck was far less easily subdued. He contined causeing trouble for Henry up to 1497 when he was arrested. Even as a prisoner he would not stop and was executed in 1499.
This bought peace to the land after over 40 years.
Henry was not the most imposing or even likable of characters and therefore had trouble imposing his rule on people. Traditionally the Lancastrians only had power and respect in the north and it showed. It took until 1494 to gain support and establish himself in Ireland and a similar amount of time to win over the Welsh, he stressed his ancestory to the Welsh people and even added the Welsh dragon to his banner and emblem. This was a feat that at least won over the majority of the Welsh.
Henry was not well respected with the nobles of Britain either...he was always cautious and rarely trusted anyone he didn't know personally or been aquainted with in length.
He tried to express his loyalty to English heretage by naming his first son Arthur after the fabled King Arthur.
Henry set about immediately to restoring the faultering economy of England and exploited the power of the exchequer in order to generate a profit. He was however criticised for reverting to Yorkist banking methods which directly contradicted his ancestory.
He achieved a moderately stable economy and generated extra money as well as reduced the crime rate by making police departments sign binding contracts to say they will enforce the law at the risk of having money taken to compensate if they didn't. It was very efficient and effective.
Henry also contributed to the courts of law by setting up the "court of the star-chamber" named after the stars painted on the ceiling of the building. This court of justice was a momento to the fair and strong character of Henry as a king.
As a ruler Henry was a very strong and able king with a keen eye for a profit and produced a stable economy out of a nation dogged by years of civil war. As a person he lacked charisma and often had to try really hard to be accepted by his peers but his persistence and desire to do good was often a quality which won them over.
Henry was increasing worried about his dynasty and the direction of the rulers who would follow him. He had his daughter Margaret marry into Scottish royalty in the form of King James VI. He had his son Arthur marry into French royalty and also reserved the French princess Cathrine of Aragon as a future wife of his son Henry (later Henry VIII).
Henry's foriegn policy was primarily peaceful and a unity with France, a long time enemy of the British was high on the aganda. He maintained ties by arranging these marriages and at the time of his death in 1509 he felt the future of the Tudors was relatively secure.
He left a momento after his death of his distrusting and worried nature by giving execution orders on some of his top cabinet advisors after stating that they owed money. They were carried out as one of the first actions of the new king, Henry Tudor's second son Henry VIII...
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