Wars of the Roses

• • Henry IV had seized the throne from his cousin Richard II in 1399– changing the line of succession
• • Henry VI became King in 1422 – aged only 1 (Henry V had been a very successful monarch, had huge successes in France e.g. Agincourt)
• • Treaty of Tours 1444 – negotiated by Suffolk and Somerset – gave up Maine, and a marriage was arranged between Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou *Maine only surrendered in 1448
• • 1447 York was removed from France and made Lieutenant of Ireland
• • English attacked Fougeres 1449 – restarting the fighting. Lost Rouen October 1449
• • Somerset surrendered Caen – paid 300 000 ecus for his freedom and gave up all of the English siege and field artillery
• • 1453 the Battle of Castillon saw England lose all territory in Normandy – all that was left was Calais
• • Suffolk was exiled to France but he was intercepted by pirates and executed. His headless corpse was left on a Kent beach.
• • 1450 Cade’s Revolt: Fearing reprisals for Suffolk’s death and angry at the levels of corruption and poverty which the loss of France and the cloth trade had caused, 46 000 people from Kent marched against the King
• Lord Saye was arrested but he and William Crowmer were executed by the rebels who had entered London
• • Royal army deserted the King at Sevenoaks, and Henry VI fled to Kenilworth
• Margaret remained behind at Greenwich and offered a pardon to the rebels. The majority of whom return to Kent.
• Cade was caught and executed
• • After the Revolt, York came to London with 3000 retainers to present 2 bills to the King
• • Dartford 1452: York had the support of the Earl of Devon and Lord Cobham (most remained loyal to the King including Warwick)
• • Birth of Edward – 1453, York loses heir presumptive position
• 1453-54 York’s First protectorate
• • 1453 – Warwick’s lordship of Glamorgan was given to Somerset
• • Battle of Heworth Moor: August 1453, members of the Neville family were travelling to Sheriff Hutton Castle near York, for the Wedding of Thomas Neville and Maud Stanhope.  But had been ambushed on the way by Lord Egremont, the brother of Henry Percy (Earl of Northumberland), and a group of retainers and thugs from York
• • October 1454 Lord Egremont and his brother, Sir Richard Percy, with their followers were stopped by Sir Thomas and Sir John Neville at Stamford Bridge. The Percy brothers were captured, tried and condemned for trespass
• • 1455 First Battle of St Albans – Somerset, Clifford and Northumberland killed (York’s 2nd protectorate started)
  • April 1456 Warwick appointed as Captain of Calais
• • August 1456 – Margaret convinces the King to call parliament in the Midlands – while law and order deteriorated, nobles had turned to paying pirates to plunder foreign shipping
• • August 1457 the French had launched a raid on Sandwich, Kent – Margaret had been negotiating with them
• • 1458 – Peace Conference at Westminster – sons of Clifford, Somerset and Northumberland interrupted demanding compensation.  March saw Loveday – a display of ‘solidarity’
• • October 1458 – Margaret tries to take down Warwick, calling him to face charges on piracy but while in London 2 attempts were made on his life
• • 1459: June Lancastrians call a council at Coventry – York is accused of Treason.  He calls his own meeting at Ludlow
• • September 1459: Blore Heath – Salisbury is intercepted by a Lancastrian force, Lancastrian leader Lord Audley was killed – Yorkists won
• • October 1459 – Yorkists were offered a pardon, that they refused leading to the battle at Ludford Bridge – Yorkists lost and fled 
• • November 1459 – Parliament of Devils – 27 Acts of Attainders passed and they also disinherited the Yorkist heirs
• • June 1460 – Invasion of Sandwich by Warwick and March – Warwick was admitted into Canterbury and blessed by the Archbishop.  The mayor of London was persuaded, by popular feeling, to open the gates to Warwick and his army, now numbering 40,000.
• • July 1460 – Battle of Northampton – lasted half an hour, 300 soldiers out of 50 000 were killed. Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham was killed along with Shrewsbury, Egremont and Beaumont; all died guarding the king’s tent. Yorkists gained control of Henry
• • September 1459 York returned to England – passed the Act of Accord in October
• • 1455 First Battle of St Albans – Somerset, Clifford and Northumberland killed (York’s 2nd protectorate started)
• • Edmund Tudor (Earl of Richmond) was at war in Wales
  • Margaret may have instructed him to take control
  • He took possession of Carmarthen Castle without a grant from York
  • York was unhappy and took matters into his own hands
  • 10th August - William Herbert and Walter Devereux raised 2000 men and took Edmund Tudor prisoner
  • 3rd November 1456- he died
  • January 1457- Herbert declared a rebel but he turned himself in
  • 3rd February 1458 - Devereux’s charges dropped after being acquitted
• • Margaret’s negotiations with France led to an attack on the Channel Islands in 1461
• • Battle of Hedgeley Moor, April 1464.  John Neville, Lord Montagu (a Yorkist - The Earl of Warwick’s brother) was confronted by Somerset, and the Lancastrian armies in the North, on his way to Scotland for peace talks. Montagu attacked head on and killed Ralph Percy, scattering his army.
• • Battle of Hexham, May 1464.  Somerset again moved against Montagu, but Montagu took him by surprise and inflicted a serious defeat. The leaders did not escape and Somerset, Hungerford and Roos were all beheaded. It is unclear whether Henry VI was present
• • Gloucester was given lands to the value of £3660 annually and offices with a combined annual salary of £650.
• • John, Lord Montagu, was given the Earldom of Northumberland. George was appointed archbishop of York. Richard Neville was awarded lands and money which dwarfed any other bestowment. He was given unparalleled power in the North acting as the king’s viceroy
• • 1468 most forms of retaining were made illegal