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Home , Battle of Towton, Battle of Wakefield, Edward V of England, Elizabeth Woodville, Henry VII of England, Wars of the Roses

New Unit: The Wars of the

Lesson One: What were the ? What we will find out: • The key events of the Wars of the Roses • The key people of the Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars between two families who both wanted to rule . The House of had a white as their symbol, and the had a red rose as their symbol. At the end of the wars, the symbol of the new king was a combination of a red and white rose.

Task One: Can you predict what may have happened? ______

Who’s Who?

Task Two: Study the table on the next page. Who do you think deserves to be the king? Why do you think this? ______The The House of Lancaster • Richard, of York - Father of • Henry VI - The king at the start Edward IV and Richard III, he of the war, Henry VI was mentally began the war by defeating the ill. He was housed in the Tower of Lancastrians and putting Henry VI for many years until he in jail. He served as Lord died. Protector. • Margaret of - Wife of • Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick - Henry VI, she took control of the See above. country and led the fight against • Edward IV - The first York to Henry's enemies. become king, Edward IV was king • Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick - for much of the war from 1461 to He began the war on the side of 1470 and 1471 to 1483. the Yorks. He later changed sides • Edward V - The son of Edward IV, when he didn't like the way he was twelve when his father Edward IV was leading the died. He was king for only a few country. months before he was sent to the • Henry Tudor – He did not have a and disappeared. very strong claim to the throne. • Richard III - Brother of Edward He marries the daughter of the IV, he took the throne from his heir to the House of York, joining nephew Edward V. He was king for the two together. just over two years before he was killed in battle.

Task Three: Add the events below in to the timeline on the next page in chronological order.

• 1483 - Edward IV dies and his twelve-year-old son, Edward V, becomes king. However, his uncle, Richard III, has him sent to the Tower of London where he disappears from public view. Richard III becomes king of England.

• 1460 - The Lancastrians win a major victory at the Battle of on December 30, 1460. Richard of York is killed.

• 1461 - Richard of York's son, Edward IV, defeats the Lancastrians at the Battle of . Edward IV is declared king of England. Queen Margaret flees to France. • 1470 - The Earl of Warwick and Queen Margaret forge an alliance. They return to England and restore Henry VI to the throne. • 1487 - The , Led by Henry VII, defeats the House of York at the Battle of Stoke Field. This brings the Wars of the Roses to an end. • 1455 - The Wars of the Roses begins with the Battle of First St. Albans on , 1455. At this battle Richard of York defeated the army of Henry VI. Richard put Henry VI in prison and became the "" of England. • 1471 - Edward IV gathers a new army and once again defeats the Lancastrians at the Battles of Tewksbury and Barnet. He sends Henry VI to the Tower of London where Henry VI dies in April of 1471. • 1485 - Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485. Richard III is killed and Henry is declared king. 1455

1487 Task Four: Imagine the skills and strengths you would need to rule a country during a period of war. Create the ideal monarch for the situation. You can draw them and annotate around them to explain their strengths. Lesson Two: Henry VI What we will find out: • Who was Henry VI?

• Why was he not a good ruler?

The Wars of the Roses were a series of battles that took place in England from 1455 to 1485. The fighting was between two families that claimed the right to the throne—the House of York and the House of Lancaster. They were called the Wars of the Roses because the symbol of each house was a rose. The House of York was represented by a white rose. The House of Lancaster was represented by a red rose.

Task One: Thinking back to last lesson, summarise what the Wars of the Roses were. ______

Think about what qualities a good ruler would need to run a country.

Not be controlled by other people

Make people want to follow Be fair to people. you. A good ruler needs to… Uphold the law Maintain good relationships with other countries Be strong enough to lead Task Two: Using your ideas, write a job description for being king. ______

Read through the information about Henry VI.

Henry VI was only nine months old at the time he became king, and as a result, the actual ruling of the country was done through councils where various factions fought for supremacy . Henry began to actually rule when he reached the age of sixteen but did not do a very good job, since he let his claim power within his council. In an effort to have peaceful relations with France, Henry VI agreed to marry the French king’s niece . Margaret exerted a lot of influence in the English court and would use her power to deal with any threats she saw. Henry VI became more and more unpopular with both the nobles and the common people as a result of the way the country was being governed and the country’s losses in the war with France. The country began to break into opposing groups and the , when he returned to England in 1452, formed an army in an attempt to get the king to deal with a number of demands and grievances. One of the demands included the arrest of one of the queen’s favourites, the 2nd , Edmund Beaufort. The king initially agreed to the arrest but the queen intervened and stopped it.

In 1453, Henry VI had a nervous breakdown upon hearing about a major defeat in France. He was unable to respond to anything around him for over a year and during this time, the House of York was able to gain considerable influence in the King’s Council. Parliament made Richard, the Duke of York, the protector of the realm. Margaret, the king’s wife was cut off from power and Edmund Beaufort was locked in the Tower of London.

Henry finally regained his senses a year later, in 1454. He immediately got rid of the noblemen who had gained power while he had been sick. In response, Richard of York gathered 3000 men and marched toward London. Henry marched his own force of 2000 men out in response and the two sides met at St. Albans on May 22, 1455. This was the first battle in the War of the Roses and it was a disaster for the Lancastrian forces.

The battle did not even last an hour but it resulted in Beaufort being killed and Henry VI being captured. As a result of the battle, Richard was once again made protector of the realm and Margaret was relegated to taking care of the king. Both sides tried to make peace but the question of succession remained a problem. Margaret wanted her son to be the heir but Richard wanted himself named heir.

Task Three: Having read about Henry VI, do you think that he fits the criteria of being a good leader?

Is there anything he could have done to make his reign more successful? ______Task Four: Imagine you are a time traveller. Go back in time to when Henry VI was young. Write him a letter explaining including:

• What his mistakes were

• How he can avoid making them

• How he can be a good king ______Lesson Three: Edward IV What we will find out: • Who was Edward IV?

• Was he a better king than Henry VI?

Task One: What qualities should a good king have? ______

Task Two: Use the information on the next page to answer the questions: 1) Why was Richard made heir to the throne? ______2) How were Edward and Richard related? ______3) Why were Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou angry that Richard was made heir to the throne? ______4) Who supported Edward and helped him to win the throne? ______5) Why did Edward not marry a foreign princess? ______6) Why did Edward kill the Earl of Warwick? ______7) What happened to Edward’s sons? ______Who was Edward IV?

To avoid further war, Richard Duke of York was named as heir to the throne. This meant that when Henry VI died, Richard would take his place. When Richard died in battle, however, his son Edward took his place as heir. Edward was a Yorkist. Henry VI and his wife were very unhappy about this, as they thought their son (also called Edward) should be the heir instead.

Edward was supported by the Earl of Warwick, who was so powerful that he was nicknamed the . He fought lots of battles against Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, and at the in 1461, Edward defeated King Henry VI and became king himself.

The Earl of Warwick thought that he should be able to continue controlling Edward. He tried to arrange for him to marry a foreign princess, but Edward had other ideas and married an English woman, , who he fell in love with instead. This made Warwick angry, and he launched an attack against Edward, and tried to make Edward’s younger brother, George , king instead. They even had help from Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou! Edward ran away to the Netherlands, but when he returned he defeated his enemies and Warwick and Henry VI were killed.

The rest or Edward’s reign was peaceful and prosperous, however when he died his sons were still children. This caused a big problem, as they were not old enough to rule England alone. Edward’s youngest brother, Richard, who was the boys’ uncle, imprisoned them in the tower and made himself king! The boys were never seen again!

Task Three: Complete the table about who was the better king. Add evidence to each side to support each king. Henry VI Edward IV

Task Four: In your opinion, who was the best king, Henry VI or Edward IV? Use the writing frame to help if you need to.

Henry VI/Edward IV was the best king.

One example to support this is…

Therefore this proves that they were the best king because… ______Task Five: Complete the task below.

Lesson Four:

What we will find out: • Who was the White Queen?

• Why was she important?

Task One: This is Elizabeth Woodville. She was married to Edward IV and has been called the White Queen. Why do you think she has this nickname? ______Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville was the wife of King Edward IV of England. She was the mother of King . She was also the mother of , the queen consort of King Henry VII of England.

Elizabeth was born some time around the year 1437, at , . Her parents were Sir Richard Woodville and his wife, , a foreign noblewoman who had first been married to the . After her first husband died, Jacquetta fell in love with Sir Richard, who was not very rich or important even though he was a . Jacquetta's friends and family felt that it was an unsuitable marriage and that he was not good enough for her. They had fourteen children altogether.

When Elizabeth first met Edward, she was a widow. Elizabeth and her first husband, Lord Grey, had two sons, Thomas and Richard. Then Lord Grey was killed in battle, fighting on the opposite side to King Edward. Because she was a widow who already had children, and because her family had supported King Edward's enemies, she was thought to be an unsuitable wife for the king. Elizabeth and Edward were married in secret, because the king did not want to quarrel with his great friend the Earl of Warwick, who wanted Edward to marry a princess. At the time of their marriage, Edward was 22 and Elizabeth a few years older.

When the Earl of Warwick discovered that the young king had married Elizabeth without his permission, he was furious. Although he was forced to accept the marriage, he became angry at the way Elizabeth's family grew powerful as a result of her becoming queen. A few years later, he turned against Edward and tried to put his rival, King Henry VI of England, back on the throne. While Edward was fighting to get his throne back, Elizabeth went to Abbey to find ; this meant that, because the abbey was a holy place, she could not be captured by her enemies as long as she remained there. While there, she gave birth to her first son, who was named Edward after his father. After a while, her husband returned and rescued her and her children, defeating the Earl of Warwick in battle and killing him.

Elizabeth and Edward had ten children altogether. Their eldest son, Edward, should have become king when his father died. However, King Edward died suddenly, and his own younger brother, Richard, Duke of , snatched the throne. Richard hated the Woodville family, and killed Elizabeth's brother Anthony, who had been the guardian of her son Edward. Both Edward and Elizabeth's younger son, Richard, were placed in the Tower of London (which was then a royal palace). After a few months, they disappeared, and it was thought that King Richard had killed them. This rumour made the new king unpopular with many of his people, and two years later, Henry Tudor took the throne from him in battle and became King Henry VII of England. Henry VII married Elizabeth's eldest daughter, who was also called Elizabeth. Elizabeth Woodville herself died a few years later at Abbey. Task Two: Read through the fact-file about Elizabeth Woodville on the previous page. Use this information to help you write a diary entry. Include:

Success Criteria: Key Words:

Describe how her life changed when • Knight she married Edward • Widow Explain how she felt about being queen and why • Defeat

Judge how far you think she enjoyed • Sanctuary her life

______