JU SREDNJOŠKOLSKI CENTAR HADŽIĆI

Gimnazija- jezičko izborno područje

FINAL PAPER
English language

Theme: The Wars of the Roses

Student: Mentor:

Dalila Proha prof. Matić Stanislava

Hadžići, maj 2019. godine

JU SREDNJOŠKOLSKI CENTAR HADŽIĆI

GIMNAZIJA- JEZIČKO IZBORNO PODRUČJE

ENGLESKI JEZIK

DALILA PROHA

MATURSKI RAD

Na sjednici Nastavničkog vijeća, održanoj 14.12.2018 godine, utvrđena je

TEMA: THE WARS OF THE ROSES

TASKS

 Paragraph 1: Introduction: when the Wars started, how the whole event should have
been investigated.
 Paragraph 2: General summary: the most important things in three different phases of
the Wars, why are they so popular.
 Paragraph 3: Chronology: all of the most important dates (battles, deaths, coronations,
etc.)
 Paragraph 4: Names and symbols: explaining why were the wars named like Wars of the
roses, describing different symbols and titles.
 Paragraph 5: The four kings: the research about the four main kings during thirty years
period. The description of their reign, mental disabilities and corruption on their courts.
 Paragraph 6: Collapsing regimes: what was happening in country after the wars, how it
affected people and their tendencies to rabel.
 Paragraph 7: The effects of the wars: what people were doing after crisis and how they
continued with their lives?
 Paragraph 8: Part-timers, professionals and people: detailed description of different
groups of soldiers and civilians who were part of the wars.
 Paragraph 9: Portrait of a soldier Nicholas Harps field: one man who left the first
document about the wars, writing his own memoirs.
 Paragraph 10: Portrait of civilians, female victims: how the wars affected women and
what they had suffered.
 Paragraph 11: Conclusion and consequences: how the wars ended and what were the
consequences and changes afterwards.

Hadžići, decembar 2018. godine Mentor: Matić Stanislava, prof.

 CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1

2. GENERAL SUMMARY..........................................................................................................2
2.1. Chronology............................................................................................................................3
2.2. Names and symbols..............................................................................................................4

3. THE FOUR KINGS.................................................................................................................6

3.1. Henry VI................................................................................................................................6
3.2. Edward IV.............................................................................................................................8
3.3. Richard III.............................................................................................................................9
3.4. Henry Tudor/Henry VII.......................................................................................................11

4. COLLAPSING REGIMES.....................................................................................................12

5. THE EFFECTS OF THE WARS............................................................................................14

6. PORTRAIT OF A SOLDIER: NICHOLAS HARPSFIELD..................................................17

7. PORTRAIT OF CIVILIANS: FEMALE VICTIMS..............................................................18

8. CONCLUSION AND CONSEQUENCES............................................................................19

 PREFACE

I dedicate this final paper to my older brother, who has a master in history. I always loved
history, especially history of Great Britain. My brother is the person who is creditable for me
choosing this topic. He used to tell me stories about various wars that were happening in the
fifteenth century and I found that very interesting. I wanted to show him and everyone else that I
am capable of doing a research which connects two of my favorite things: English language and
history. I have chosen specifically these series of wars because there are many factors that I find
shocking and interesting but important for Great Britain and its society. Through this research I
managed to collect informations about different periods of wars, kings, queens, warriors, battles,
etc. As I was doing my paper, I realised that Wars of the Roses were complicated events that
were manipulated by very powerful but often corrupted people. They changed the course of those
wars, each one fighting for themselves and their selfish interests. But apart from those influential
people, there were others who were victims of this bloodshed. Those people were civilians,
women, children, mobilized soldiers. They have suffered and have lost the most. The Wars of the
Roses didn’t actually bring any good things to Great Britain and its people. However, those wars
have brought another dynasty to the throne: the Tudors. Also there were important shifts when it
comes to modern weaponry, the influence of women, divisions of the country and rise of totally
different reign.
 1. INTRODUCTION

The Wars of the Roses were the longest period of civil war in English history.
They followed immediately after the final English defeat in the Hundred Years’ War
(1337-1453) and commenced under the Lancastrian Henry VI (1422-61), a weak and
ineffective king, who was briefly mad. The Wars were fought for control of the throne of
England between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet 1.
First House was the House of Lancaster, associated with the red rose, and the second was
the House of York, associated with the white rose.2

The wars did not end in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth, and they did not actually
cause the strong rule of the Tudors, although they may have made it easier to achieve.
The Tudor dynasty managed to keep the throne and endured for more than a century. The
last serious challenge was in 1497, with the defeat and capture of the pretender Perkin
Warbeck, but the potential threat supposedly posed by the White Rose of York continued
at least until 1525. The Wars should be treated as a group and they should be investigated
in detail. The contexts of particular battles should be considered as well as the impact of
the wars on English society as a whole and on particular individuals. It is not a single war
or campaign; it is a series of conflicts spread over thirty years. It should be considered
what wars have in common - the underlying causes and systems - and what is distinct
about each. The Wars of the Roses cannot be simply lumped together as a single conflict
with common objectives, sides and personnel. It has to be searched through the causes,
course and the results of each war.3

1
House of Plantagenet – was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. There were two cadet branches,
the houses of Lancaster and York. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when
Richard III died in a battle.
2
Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Bloodline, page 110.
3
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 9.
 2. GENERAL SUMMARY

The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars. There were three periods of
sustained conflict: 1459-61, 1469-71, 1483-87. The loss of English occupied France
made it difficult for Henry VI’s government to resist its critics. Calls for reform by
Richard Duke of York and the emergence of two sides, Lancaster and York, several times
overflowed into violence before sustained conflict began in 1459. Defeated and exiled,
the Yorkists under Warwick the Kingmaker returned triumphantly in 1460 to present
York’s claim to the Crown and thereby provoked the most violent phase, from which
there emerged York’s son Edward IV (1461-83) as the first Yorkist king at the deciding
battle of Towton. His regime took until 1468. He eliminated lingering Lancastrian
resistance in Northumberland, north-west Wales and Jersey. But the rebels allied later in
1470 with Lancastrian exiles and swept Edward away. Henry VI reigned again: his
Redemption (1470-71). With foreign support, Edward exploited divisions amongst his
enemies, defeating first Warwick at Barnet and then the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury
(1471); his triumph was complete. Edward IV was succeeded in 1483 by his eldest son
Edward V, aged 12, but 11 weeks later Edward IV’s youngest brother Richard III seized
the throne. He alienated many of the Yorkist establishment, who rebelled, apparently
initially on behalf of Edward V, who disappeared, and then Henry Tudor. Buckingham’s
Rebellion in 1483 failed, but the Bosworth campaign of 1485 did defeat and kill Richard.
There were further rebellions, invasions, and plots.4

The Wars of the Roses are surprisingly well-known. One reason is the abiding
influence of William Shakespeare and his fifteenth-century history plays – especially the
masterpieces Richard II, Henry V and Richard III. Also, people have been familiarized
with the events and personalities through the rise of interest in military history, especially
in war-gaming and by the modern fascination with Richard III.5

4
Alison Weir, Lancaster and York, page 36.
5
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 15.
2.1. Chronology

1399 – Deposition of Richard II; accession of Henry IV (1399-1413), first Lancastrian

king

1450 Oct – Richard Duke of York takes the leadership of reform

1452 Feb-Mar – York’s abortive Dart ford coup d’etat

1455 22 May – First battle of St Albans; Somerset killed York’s Second Protectorate

1458 25 Mar – The Loveday at St Pauls

1459 12-13 Oct – The rout at Ludford. The Yorkist leaders desert and flee to Ireland
(York) and Calais (Nevilles)

1460 26 June – The landing of the Yorkist earls from Calais and Sandwich

1460 10 July – The battle of Norhampton. Oct York lays claim to the throne in parliament
and is recognized as Lord Protector/heir to Henry VI in the Accord

1460 30 Dec – The battle of Wakefield; York and Salisbury killed

1461 17 Feb – The second battle of St Albans; Margaret defeats Warwick

1461 4 Mar – Edward IV’s reign (1461-83) commences

1461 29 Mar – Battle of Towton; decisive defeat of the Lancastrians

1461-64 – Mopping up operations against the northern Lancastrians culminating in

Yorkist victories at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham

1469 June – Rebellion of Robin of Redesdale, front-man of Warwick

1469 24 July – Battle of Edgecote; Edward IV is taken into custody

1469 Oct-Dec – Collapse of Warwick’s regime and reconciliation with Edward IV

1470 Apr – Warwick and Clarence flee into exile in France

 1470 22-25 July – Treaty of Angers between Warwick and Margaret of Anjou. Prince
Edward of Lancaster married Warwick’s daughter Anne Neville

1470 Sep-Oct – Warwick invades and Edward IV flees into exile in Burgundy.
Redemption (Second reign) of King Henry VI begins

1471 14 Mar – Edward IV lands at Ravenspur in Yorkshire

1471 14 Apr – Battle of Barnet; Edward defeats Warwick. Death of Warwick

1471 4 May – Battle of Tewkesbury; Edward defeats Margaret of Anjou and the
Lancastrians. Death of Prince Edward of Lancaster. Henry VI’s death followed on 21
May

1483 9-10 Apr – Death of Edward IV; succession and deposition of his eldest son as
Edward V (1483)

1483 26 June – Accession of his uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester as Richard III (1483-
85)

1483 Oct-Dec – Buckingham’s Rebellion

1485 7 Aug – Landing of Henry Tudor at Milford Haven

1485 22 Aug – Battle of Bosworth; Richard III killed; Henry Tudor succeeds as Henry
VII (1485-1509)

1491-99 – Conspiracies of Perkin Warbeck 6

2.2. Names and symbols

The name “Wars of the Roses” refers to the heraldic badges associated with two rival
branches of the same royal house, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.
The Yorkist faction used the symbol of the white rose from early in the conflict, but the
Lancastrian red rose was introduced only after the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of
Bosworth in 1485, when it was combined with the Yorkist white rose to form the Tudor

6
John Gillingham, The Wars of the Roses: Peace & Conflict in the 15th Century, page 245.
 rose, which symbolized the union of the two houses; the origins of the Rose as a
cognizance itself stem from Edward I’s use of a golden rose stalked proper.

Often, owing to nobles holding multiple titles, more than one badge was used:
Edward IV, for example, used both his sun in splendor as Earl of March, but also his
father’s falcon and fetterlock as Duke of York. Henry Tudor’s forces at Bosworth fought
under the banner of a red dragon while the Yorkist army used Richard III’s personal
device of a white boar. Although the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of
York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchy and dukedom had little to do with these
cities. The lands and offices attached to the Duchy of Lancaster were mainly in
Gloucestershire, North Wales, Cheshire, and in Yorkshire, while the estates and castles of
the Duke of York were spread throughout England and Wales, many in the Welsh
Marches.7

Symbols of three leading houses. Source: internet site: www.History.com

7
Alison Weir, Lancaster and York, page 54.
 3. THE FOUR KINGS

3.1. Henry VI

From early childhood, Henry VI was surrounded by councilors and advisors. His
Lord Protector sought to be his uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester but was opposed by
his half-uncle Cardinal Henry Beaufort. Henry’s weak personality made him prone to
being swayed and influenced by select courtiers. Under his reign, all the land in France
won by Henry V and even the provinces of Guienne and Gascony, which had been held
since the reign of Henry II three centuries previously, were lost. Because the courtiers
were doing the kings job instead the king himself, he was seen as weak and ineffectual. In
addition, he displayed several symptoms of mental illness that he may have inherited
from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France. By 1450 many considered Henry
incapable of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of a king. In 1450 there was a
violent popular revolt in Kent, Jack Cade’s Rebellion, which is often seen as the prelude
to the Wars of the Roses. The rebel manifesto accused the crown of extortion, perversion
of justice, and election fraud. 8

Two years later, Richard Duke of York marched on London to reform the
government. The growing civil discontent, the abundance of nobles with private armies,
and corruption in Henry VI’s court formed a political climate ripe for civil war. With the
king so easily manipulated, power rested with those closest to him at court, in other
words, Duke of Somerset and Lancastrian faction. Royal power and finances also started
to slip, as Henry was persuaded to grant many royal lands and estates to Lancastrians. In
1453, Henry suffered the first of several bouts of complete mental collapse, during which
he failed even to recognize his new-born son, Edward of Westminster. Richard was
named Lord Protector. Henry recovered in 1455 and once again fell under the influence
of those closest to him at court.9

8
Captivating History, The English civil wars that brought down the Plantagenet dynasty, page 111.
9
Ibidem, page 115.
 Directed by Henry’s queen, the powerful and aggressive Margaret of Anjou, who
emerged as the de facto leader of the Lancastrians, Richard was forced out of court.
Margaret built up an alliance against Richard and conspired with other nobles to reduce
his influence. Richard, who feared arrest for treason, finally resorted to armed hostilities
in 1455. His forces met Henry’s at St Albans and it was the first poet conflict of civil war.
The result was Lancastrian defeat. Margaret refused to accept any solution that would
disinherit her son, and it became clear that she would only tolerate the situation for as
long as the Duke of York and his allies retained the military ascendancy. Disorder in the
capital and the north of England and piracy by French fleets on the south coast were
growing, but the king and queen remained intent on protecting their own positions.
Meanwhile, York’s ally, Warwick (later dubbed “the Kingmaker”), was growing in
popularity in London as the champion of the merchants and Captain of Calais. There
were many outbreaks led by him later. When the Lancastrians were back in total control,
Warwick fled to Calais with York’s eldest son, Edward, Earl of March. The ensuing battle
of Wakefield was a complete Lancastrian victory. Richard of York was slain in the battle,
and both Salisbury and York’s 17-year-old second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were
captured and executed. 10

Henry VI. Source: internet site:

www.dulwichpicturegallery.org

3.2. Edward IV

The Act of Accord and other events left

the 18-year-old Edward, York’s eldest son, as
Duke of York and heir to his claim to the throne. He defeated Lancastrian army at the
battle of Mortimer’s Cross. He inspired his men with a “vision” of three suns at dawn (a
phenomenon known as “parhelion”), telling them that it was a portent of victory and

10
Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Trinity, page 66.
 represented the three surviving York sons; himself, George and Richard. The official
coronation of Edward IV took place in June 1461 in London, where he received a
rapturous welcome from his supporters. There were Lancastrian revolts in the north of
England in 1464. The revolt was put down by Warwick’s brother, John Neville.11

King Henry was taken to London and held prisoner at the Tower of London, where
he was reasonably well treated. Margaret was forced to sail to France, where she and her
son maintained in exile for several years. The last remaining Lancastrian stronghold was
Harlech Castle in Wales, which surrendered in 1468 after a seven-year-long siege. The
powerful Earl of Warwick (“the Kingmaker”) had meanwhile become the greatest
landowner in England. He was convinced of the need for an alliance with France and had
been negotiating a match between Edward and a French bride. However, Edward had
married Elizabeth Woodville, the widow of a Lancastrian knight, in secret in 1464. That
marriage was an embarrassment. This embarrassment turned to bitterness when the
Woodvilles came to be favored over the Nevilles at court. Edward chose an alliance with
Burgundy rather than France and allowed his brothers George and Richard to marry
Warwick’s daughters Isabel and Anne.12

By 1469, Warwick had formed an alliance with Edward’s jealous and treacherous
brother George. They raised an army that defeated the king’s forces at the Battle of
Edgecote Moor. Edward was captured and imprisoned and his queen’s father and brother
were executed. After the king was released from prison, George and Warwick were
forced to flee to France. There they have made an alliance with Margaret of Anjou but
both were undoubtedly hoping for different outcomes: Warwick for a puppet king in the
form of Henry VI or his young son; Margaret to be able to reclaim her family’s realm.
Warwick’s success was short-lived, however. Edward’s brother George turned traitor
again and abandoned Warwick. Warwick’s army met Edward’s at the Battle of Barnet.
The battle was fought in thick fog, and some of Warwick’s men attacked each other by
mistake. Warwick was cut down trying to reach his horse. Margaret’s son, Prince Edward,
the Lancastrian heir to the throne, was killed. With no heirs to succeed him, Henry VI

11
David Santiuste, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses, page 90.
12
Ibidem, page 98.
 was murdered shortly afterwards, on 21 May 1471, to strengthen the Yorkist holds on the
throne.13

Edward IV. Source: internet site:

www.royal.uk

3.3. Richard III

When Edward died suddenly in 1483, political and dynastic turmoil erupted again.
His heir, Edward V, was only 12 years old and had been brought up under the stewardship
of Earl Rivers at Ludlow Castle. On his deathbed, Edward had named his brother Richard
of Gloucester as Protector of England. He overtook earl Rivers and executed him
claiming that they planned a conspiracy against his life. Edward entered London in the
custody of Richard on 4 May, and was lodged in the Tower of London. Elizabeth
Woodville had already gone hastily into sanctuary at Westminster with her remaining
children, although preparations were being made for Edward V to be crowned on 22
June, at which point Richard’s authority as Protector would end. Thomas Bourchier, the
Archbishop, then persuaded Elizabeth to allow her younger son, 9-year-old Richard,
Duke of York, to join Edward in the Tower. Having secured the boys, Robert Stillington,
Bishop of Bath and Wells then alleged the Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville
had been illegal and that the two boys were therefore illegitimate. Richard then claimed
the crown as King Richard III. The two imprisoned boys, known as the “Princes in the
Tower”, disappeared and are assumed to have been murdered. Having been crowned in a

13
Tony Riches, Warwick: The man behind the Wars of the Roses, page 43.
 lavish ceremony on 6 July, Richard then proceeded on a tour of the Midlands and the
north of England, dispensing generous bounties and charters and naming his own son as
the Prince of Wales. Opposition to Richard’s rule had begun when the Duke of
Buckingham led a revolt aimed at installing the Lancastrian Henry Tudor. Many of
Buckingham’s supporters fled to join Henry Tudor in exile.14

Richard III. Source: www.thoughtco.com

3.4. Henry Tudor/Henry VII

Henry was a Lancastrian heir to the

throne. His father was Edmund Tudor who
was a half-brother of Henry VI, but Henry’s
claim to royalty was through his mother,
Margaret Beaufort. She was descended from
John Beaufort, whose grandfather was Edward III. Henry had spent much of his
childhood under siege in Harlech Castle or in exile in Brittany. His mother, who had been
twice remarried, continually promoted her son’s rights. Henry set sail from Harfleur on 1
August 1485 with a force of exiles and French mercenaries. He gathered supporters on
his march through Wales and defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field.15

Henry, having been acclaimed King Henry VII, strengthened his position by
marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and the best surviving Yorkist
claimant, reuniting the two royal houses. Henry merged the rival symbols of the red rose
of Lancaster and the white rose of York into the new emblem of the red and white Tudor
Rose. Many historians consider the accession of Henry VII to mark the end of the Wars
of the Roses. Others argue that they continued to the end of the fifteenth century, as there
were several plots to overthrow Henry and restore Yorkist claimants. Henry’s throne was
14
John Gillingham, The Wars of the Roses: Peace and conflict in the 15th century, page 313.
15
Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Ravenspur, rise of the Tudors, page 28.
 challenged again in 1491, with the appearance of the pretender Perkin Warbeck, who
claimed he was Richard, Duke of York (the younger of the two princes it the Tower).
Warbeck made several attempts to incite revolts, but he was captured and killed in 1499.
The male-line of the House of York, even the whole Plantagenet dynasty was extinct.16

4. COLLAPSING REGIMES

After the Hundred Years’ War ended abruptly with English defeat the government
was powerless to remedy these disasters. War had plunged the government deep into dept
and the depression had slashed its income – but the ineffectiveness of Henry VI himself,
a king incapable and unwilling to reign, also contributed. People blamed the government
for the state of the economy. They blamed King Henry on the corruption because of the
bankruptcy and loss of Normandy. Ministers and commanders were blamed for treason
because they were widely believed to have been plundering the king’s mythical
resources. Parliaments and people refused financial help to the government. They
demanded reform and kept repeating the same message.17

The year 1450 commenced with the murder of William Duke of Suffolk, the
king’s principal councilor. That was followed by the murder of two ministers and two
bishops and with the massive rebellion of Jack Cade in the south-east, and ended with the
government on the defensive against another parliament bent on reform. People lacked
the leader until October, when Richard Duke of York, the richest nobleman, and a prince
16
Captivating History, Tudor history, page 44.
17
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 68.
 of the blood – returned from Ireland where he took up the leadership of reform. Richard
focused his attacks particularly against Edmund Duke of Somerset, the defeated
commander and the most effective of Henry’s favorites. Henry held Somerset blameless
and made him his principal adviser, but York wanted him executed for treason. Henry VI
resisted the challenge. He refused to give away to an apparently irresistible alliance. With
Somerset’s help, he rebuilt the effectiveness of his government. First Yorks attempt to
seize control of the government with an army recruited from his Welsh estates ended in
1452 at Dartford in humiliating capitulation. He was then obliged to promise in St Paul’s
Cathedral that he would not resort to force again. His opportunity came when the king
went mad in 1453 and York was majority candidate to head the government as Lord
Protector. His allies were two Richard Nevilles, father and son, Earl of Salisbury and Earl
of Warwick. Somerset was eliminated in the first battle of St Albans (22 April 1455). The
peace was made by Henry VI in February 1458 (the Loveday at St Paul’s), but it did not
last. The first stage of the wars proper opened in 1459 with another loyal rebellion. York
always claimed to be acting on public’s behalf and in the king’s best interests. The later
outbreaks of violence, in 1469-71 and from 1483, had shorter term causes, resulting from
divisions, ambitions and struggles for power. Every one of the rebels carried earlier
rivalries, resentments and principles from conflict to conflict. Although there were rebels
such as Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke who was almost alone in participating in all
stages of conflict, and Henry Tudor who was a completely fresh face in 1483.18

18
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 72.
 Henry Tudor. Source: internet site: www.dkfindout.com

5. THE EFFECTS OF THE WARS

People in all walks of life were feeling the pinch, looked back nostalgically to
better times and blamed the government. The wars themselves were short lived and the
actual fighting was brief, so that there was no calculated wasting of the countryside, few
armies lived off the land and there was little storming of towns. Northumberland, for
example, and north-west Wales in the 1460s suffered from repeated campaigns and
sieges. More serious may have been the effects of large-scale mobilization of civilians,
both on sea and land. Campaigns were brief, unsustained and geographically restricted,
so that the challenge of feeding, accommodating and paying large numbers of troops for
long periods never had to be faced.
Normal life continued apparently undisturbed for most of these 30 years and the
campaigns directly affected few people, either as fighters or victims. Kings were prepared
repeatedly to pardon rebels and traitors on condition that they accepted them as kings and
their authority. The conflicts happened in each case because the aggressors - always the
rebels - refused to give way. This is surprising because they had so much to lose - their
property, their lives and their families’ futures. Their motives were a mixture of
 pragmatism, self-interest and principle, with mistrust being an important element:
disbelief that forgiveness could be genuine. There was dynastic principle: they all saw the
Crown as the main objective.19
It was not that the dynastic struggle caused the Wars of the Roses, but that the
wars created the dynastic struggle and that dynasticism became the principal issue. Since
the drown could not be divided, it made compromise impossible and conflict inevitable.
None of the reigning kings was prepared in practice to surrender his crown for peace -
death on the battlefield was to be preferred. Risks that had seemed acceptable early in the
wars, when so many rebellions succeeded, became too stark once most leaders perished.
Later plots failed or never really started because supporters declined to commit
themselves, at which point, when too few were willing to rebel, the wars ended.20
5.1. Part-timers, professionals and people

The leadership during the wars was the rival kings and the high nobility - earls,
dukes, and lords, who were also the social and political elite, and whose activities are
well recorded. Them apart, we know the identity of very few of the combatants. There
were no comprehensive lists of casualties. But there were reports that the Tudor army
must have been several sizes larger than we believe it to have been. How the armies were
comprised, therefore, is speculative. We know the components but not the numbers
contained within each, not the proportions, which must surely have varied by campaign
and battle.21
The nucleus of every army was, of course, the king and other great nobility. The
core was the noble household, aristocrats and menials who were generally young and
may have been tall men selected with military potential in mind, all committed to their
lords. Second come the estate officers, stewards and receivers, all aristocratic. Third were
the extraordinary retainers with annual salaries. And finally, there was the populace. They
turned out in such numbers against the king that no semi-professional army could stand
against them. All Englishmen aged from 16 to 60 had an obligation of home defense
against invasions and rebellions. They were responsible for their own armaments, training
and practice in archery.22
19
Alison Weir, Lancaster and York, page 134.
20
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 85.
21
John Gillingham, The Wars of the Roses: Peace and conflict in the 15th century, page 331.
22
Ibidem, page 334.
 The protection of society against its enemies justified the privileges of the officer
class, the aristocracy, who therefore had a chivalric style of education. Wartime
experience was needed, however, to make generals out of aristocrats and to convert
disparate individuals into disciplined and effective fighting forces. But that experience
was lacking. Even the forces of the great lords, though physically fit, well equipped and
well exercised, lacked practical military experience. War experience came from four
principal sources: 1. At sea from professional mariners, most probably from West
Country pirates. 2. From the Calais garrison, about 1,000 strong, the only truly
professional force maintained to contemporary European standards by the Crown. 3.
From the borderers of the northern marchers. 4. Foreign contingents. Those were
professional and experienced French and Scottish forces hired by Henry VII.23
Many individuals fought in more than one stage of the Wars of the Roses, which
were however too brief and sporadic for much expertise to be developed. Edward IV was
most successful general of the Wars of the Roses, deriving his experience entirely from
domestic conflict. The combatants came from all over the country. Particular groups
mattered at different times. The Calais garrison and men of Kent were the foundation of
Warwick’s three invasions. Supporters of Lancastrian northerners supplied most of Queen
Margaret’s armies. Yet, we know little of the origins of most combatants.24

Battle of Bosworth. Source:

internet site:
www.richardiii.net

23
Tony Riches, Warwick, The man behind the Wars of the Roses, page 67.
24
David Santiuste, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses, 153.
 6. PORTRAIT OF A SOLDIER: NICHOLAS HARPSFIELD

It is the leaders who principally interested the chroniclers of the Wars of the
Roses; heroic individual exploits are almost entirely lacking. Like most of the
combatants, Nicholas Harps field was not a professional soldier, but a civilian, who
became embroiled in the conflict. He was with York in Ireland in 1460 and thereafter
became a career civil servant in the king’s own secretariat, an educated man fluent both in
Latin and French, and a married man with children. In October 1470 Harps field was with
King Edward when the Lancastrians invaded and the king himself was almost captured.
In March 1471 he shared Edward’s victories.25

The brief Memoire was found. That was a short factual account in French of the
Barnet and Tewkesbury campaign that Harps field had almost certainly penned himself.
Many copies were made and there were two sets of pictures, commonly used to illustrate
the Wars of the Roses. The Memoire is also the core of a much longer English history,
The Arrival of Edward IV, probably also by Harps field. The Arrival is a precise day-to-
day account of events between 2 March and 16 May 1471, which sets out how Edward
had overcome almost overwhelming odds and which looks forward to future peace.
Historians have found it hard to covert his narrative into concrete accounts either of the
two battlefields or the course of the two battles. It is the version of a layman, a combatant
in an inferior role, who tells us nothing about his own exploits, yet witnessed those of the
king at first hand and knew little of what else happened on the battlefield. He launders the
story in the Yorkist interest. He suffered brief imprisonment, disgrace and dismissal. But
he was forgiven, returning as chancellor and lived out his last years, till about 1489, in
secure employment and relative prosperity surrounded by a growing family. Harpsfield’s
legacy is the most complete and vivid account of any of the Wars of the Roses.26

25
Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Trinity, page 130.
26
Ibidem, page 144.
 7. PORTRAIT OF CIVILIANS: FEMALE VICTIMS

Aristocratic ladies are the best documented. Although none actually suffered
violent deaths in the wars themselves, Isabel Duchess of Clarence, who lost her first baby
at the sea off Calais, is unlikely to have been the only one to miscarry. Many of them,
such as the three Neville sisters: Cecily, Anne and Eleanor, were war widows; others
suffered more than once. The husbands of 44 peeresses and an unknown number of
gentry were slain. We cannot know about most of the younger sons who perished. Only
three ladies were attained of treason in person: Alice Countess of Salisbury, Henry VI’s
consort Queen Margaret of Anjou, and Henry Tudor’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort,
Countess of Richmond and Derby. Others took sanctuary - Edward IV’s queen, Elizabeth,
did so twice when she gave birth to Edward V in Westminster Abbey. Anne Countess of
Warwick took sanctuary after her husband’s death. Widows of traitors normally lost their
dowers, but were allowed their own inheritances. Worst placed of all were those ladies
whose menfolk had not actually been killed, but who were carrying on resistance to the
current regime. They were regarded as a potential fifth column, suspected of offering
financial and other aid to the recalcitrant husbands, sons and grandsons. Ladies such as
Anne Neville, Elizabeth Howard, Margaret Lady Hungerford and many others remind us
how often fifteenth-century women, though nominally subordinate to their menfolk,
proved capable survivors, managers and even politicians.27

27
Alicia Carter, The Women of the Wars of the Roses, page 24.
 8. CONCLUSION AND CONSEQUENCES

The Wars of the Roses had no perceptible effect on the population or labor force.
If the population of England and Wales at this time was no more than two million, the
proportion of combatants even in 1461 was a mere fraction of one per cent. At the largest
and most closely contested battle of Towton 28 000 people were slain. Casualties were
likely to have been around 50 per cent overall, for Yorkist and Lancastrians most of their
leaders were slain. The standards by which the wars were judged were those of the
international code of chivalry and those of the English law of treason. The chivalric code
allowed those who resisted to be put to the sword, massacres after battles therefore being
permitted. There could be no legal remedy against kings or others too powerful to be
brought to trial. The Wars demonstrated England’s weakness against foreign attack for
although the sea and contrary winds were useful shields, the Channel was easily and
quickly crossed with little preparation and expense. It was possible to land almost
anywhere. Once ashore, invading armies could march freely wherever they chose, with
little account for physical barriers such as rivers and hills, and often with domestic
support. The forces that could be raised against foreign invaders were unlikely to be equal
in numbers of equipment, and governments could be toppled militarily eighth
extraordinary ease. The Wars of the Roses revealed how weak England was to external
and internal threats.28
The first strategic lesson therefore, which the Tudors took to heart, was that
invasions must be prevented at all costs. Secondly, internal and external foes must be
divided. Thirdly, English military commanders at Calais, in Ireland, and on the northern
marches must be prevented from turning royal resources against the government. And
fourthly, domestic dissent must be prevented from escalating, so that Englishmen learnt
to regard resistance and rebellion as wrong. 29 Politically the Wars of the Roses were civil
disagreements within England. Even if France and Burgundy participated in the wars, it
didn’t have effects on the main contest. Burgundians helped Yorkists in a small way,

28
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 91.
29
Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Ravenspur, rise of the Tudors, page 55.
 Frenchmen and Scots made major contributions to the unsuccessful Lancastrian
resistance. 30
The Wars of the Roses had no permanent impact on England’s foreign relations
abroad. Also, they had no significant impact on the distribution of power within England.
Each of the wars ended with the clear-cut victory that destroyed both the leadership of the
losing side and deprived the survivors of the resources to continue. What made it so easy
to displace kings, dynasties and governments during the Wars of the Roses was the
financial and military weakness of the Crown, the full participation of the commons in
violent politics, and the intervention of foreign powers. 31

It used to be argued that the Wars of the Roses had a finite end, the battle of
Bosworth in 1485, and that later conspiracies were different. That is what the Tudors
wanted, but it is not like that today. Actually the conspiracies petered out. Plots became
progressively less dangerous and were more effectively countered, until new divisions,
arising from the Reformation, supplanted them on the national and international agenda.
If Richard de la Pole died at Pavia in 1525, the White Rose of York had ceased to pose a
genuine threat a decade or more before. Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I
had to contend with other kinds of insurrections and rivals.32

30
Alison Weir, Lancaster and York, page 182.
31
Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses, page 97.
32
Captivating History, Tudor history, page 63.
 REFERENCES

Main sources:
 Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Trinity.
 Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Ravenspur, rise of the Tudors.
 Conn Iggulden, The Wars of the Roses: Stormbird.
 Michael Hicks, Essential Histories: Wars of the Roses.
 Alison Weir, Lancaster and York.
 John Gillingham, The Wars of the Roses: Peace and conflict in the 15 th
century.
 David Santiuste, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses.
 Captivating History, The English civil wars that brought down the
Plantagenet dynasty.
 Tony Riches, Warwick: the man behind the Wars of the Roses.
 Captivating History, Tudor history.
 Alicia Carter, The women of the Wars of the Roses.

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