New Unit: The Wars of the Roses Lesson One: What were the Wars of the Roses? 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 England. The House of York had a white rose as their symbol, and the House of Lancaster 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 House of York The House of Lancaster • Richard, Duke 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 London for many years until he in jail. He served as Lord died. Protector. • Margaret of Anjou - 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 Tower of London 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 Wakefield on December 30, 1460. Richard of York is killed. • 1461 - Richard of York's son, Edward IV, defeats the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. 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 House of Tudor, 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 May 22, 1455. At this battle Richard of York defeated the army of Henry VI. Richard put Henry VI in prison and became the "Lord Protector" 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 favourites 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 of Anjou. 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 Duke of York, 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 Duke of Somerset, 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