War of the Roses

4. The Main Battles and the End of the Wars

      Queen Margaret hated Richard and supported his rival candidate to be king. This candidate was the Earl of Somerset who was also a descendant of Edward III but through that king's son John of Gaunt, father of Henry IV of England (r. 1399-1413 CE), the first ruler of the House of Lancaster (Carwigh, 2020). Conflicts started between the two groups in a battle at St. Albans on 22 May 1455 CE, which Richard won. It was considered as the first of the Wars of the Roses.
       Richard the Duke of York died at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460 CE against Henry VI army, it seemed the end of the Wars of the Roses. However, Edward, the Duke of York's son, backed by a very powerful and rich Nobel named Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (1428-71 CE), was promoted as a replacement to his father and to King Henry. When Edward won the bloody Battle of Towton in March 1461 CE, "the largest and longest battle in English history, this is indeed what transpired. Henry VI was deposed while Edward of York became Edward IV, the first Yorkist king" (Carwigh 2020).
     Edward IV's reign was briefly interrupted when his old ally the Earl of Warwick turned against him and, justifying his reputation as 'the kingmaker', reinstated Henry VI in 1470 CE. Edward won back his throne on the battlefield the next year and murdered Henry in the Tower of London. "The Earl of Warwick and Henry VI's only son were killed in battle, and Queen Margaret was imprisoned. It seemed the Yorkists had won the Wars of the Roses, and Edward consolidated his victory by purging any remaining powerful Lancastrians and anyone else who had been disloyal". The king assassinated his own brother, George, Duke of Clarence (l. 1449-1478 CE) accusing him of treason. The period of Edward's reign was mainly peaceful. He stopped the expensive campaigns in France which led to economic recovery.
     In August 1485 CE Henry Tudor landed with an army of French mercenaries at Milford Haven in South Wales and marched to fight Richard's army at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire on 22 August 1485 CE. Richard was killed in direct combat with Henry. The new king was crowned Henry VII of England (r. 1485-1509 CE) on 30 October 1485 CE. Henry Tudor became Henry VII of England (r. 1485-1509 CE) who then brought together the two conflicting houses by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV in 1486 CE, thus creating the new house of Tudor. According to Mark Cartwright (2020) "The mark of his success is that Henry's son Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) became king without any wrangling and that the Tudors went on to provide the next three monarchs after him in a period of English history seen as its Golden Age."