About 600 years ago, England was torn apart. Through a series of bloody battles for the throne, which changed hands seven times and thousands of people were killed in just 30 years, it was one of the most turbulent and violent periods in British history, known as the "War of the Roses".
The bloody conflict began with a fierce power struggle between Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England, and Richard, Duke of York, one of the country's most powerful nobles, both vying for control of England. The weakest king, Henry VI, is depicted as a simple family feud between margaret and York for the ultimate spoils of war.
But this is not the case, and here we present a very different version of the history. In this version, the Wall of Roses begins not with hatred, but with a noble desire to do the right thing; in this version, the real villain is not the scheming House of York or the warlike House of Anjou of Lancaster, but a man so weak and empty that he allowed his country to heal only half a century later, and he was Henry VI, the mad king.
In May 1450, England was ruled by Henry VI, the weakest and most incompetent king ever, and for 20 years his right-hand man, the Duke of Suffolk, had been cleaning up the mess for him. However, when Suffolk was executed by the rebels, no one was able to maintain the unity of the country...
In the summer of June 1450, with Suffolk killed, no one could settle henry VI's troubles anymore. Six armed thugs stormed the gates of London, rampaged through the city, and reveled in violence, and what England needed now was a powerful king to control the situation and end the bloodshed. Unfortunately for England, Henry VI was clearly unable to shoulder this heavy responsibility. His father, Henry V, was famous for defeating the French at Agincourt, but this Henry had never even seen the battlefield, and his shallowness, piety, and stupidity were completely beyond his reach.
He was supposed to suppress the rebels, and instead he tried to appease them, and he handed over lord Seye, the minister of the exchequer, who everyone shouted and did nothing, which could only make the situation worse. The rebels set up an illegal court at the commercial center Town Hall, where they tried and executed Lord Sey and his son-in-law. Together with the Duke of Suffolk, all three of the country's great nobles died at the hands of an angry mob, and England fell into a state of no-overnment.
As the chaos intensified, Henry abandoned London and fled to Kenilworth Castle in the middle, leaving the Mayor of London to deal with the rebels, and the rebellion reached a bloody climax at London Bridge, where the Mayor and his troops forced the rebels back to the other side of the river and locked the gates, and the battle continued all night.
On the morning of July 9, the narrow bridge crossing was piled high with corpses, and hundreds more floated downstream of the Thames, and the mayor suppressed the rebels at a huge cost, but only temporarily. The king knew nothing.
Henry escaped, but rather surprisingly, one member of the royal family remained, his French wife, Margaret of Anjou. During the king's departure, Margaret quickly curbed the chaos, promising to pardon every rebel who was ready to surrender and return home. The royal family's promise seemed to have worked, and most of the rebels scattered, grateful to the queen for saving their lives.
But if anyone thinks that the queen is a fearful person, they will suffer. When Henry returned to London, the rebels, who had not yet accepted the queen's pardon, were summoned to the king, and this was the kind of decisiveness that the state demanded of the king, and the queen whispered beside the king: Everything is ready, Your Majesty! It wasn't Henry who killed the killer, it was Margaret!
For 20-year-old Margaret, it was a natural thing for women to come to power. Her mother, who was in charge of the Duchy of Anjou in France when her father was buried in an enemy camp, is now her turn to emerge. Imagine the situation of Margaret of Anjou, the daughter of an important French nobleman, married to King HuangMeiran at the age of 15, which sounds very good. However, when she found out in her second home that her new husband was an unsupportable Ah Dou, she regarded England as her duty, even an obligation, to protect the country and the royal family from being damaged by her husband's excessive weakness, which was a matter of dignity. The problem is that Margaret isn't the only one with this idea.
Richard, Duke of York, was a cousin of the king, and if Henry and Margaret were left without heirs, he would be the heir to the throne. As an experienced soldier who ruled Ireland for the King, he was well aware of his importance and was determined to return home to support the King and save the country from a deeper state of no-gornnment. But Queen Margaret is unlikely to grasp this.
On 27 September 1450, he entered London with 5,000 men. York pushed open the door and entered the Palace of Westminster, where Parliament was being convened, and he was trying to solve the problem, but his posture seemed to be to make trouble. He demanded that the king dismiss all his old advisers and have Parliament appoint him York to take charge of the government. But parliament told him to get out of the way, because he had come too late, and the king had already given the work to someone else.
Just 16 days earlier Henry had put another cousin in charge of administering England for him, Lord Somerset. Somerset had just returned from a crushing defeat in a French campaign in which he had lost the important city of Rouen and committed the crime of abandoning the city and fleeing. York said angrily, Your Majesty, this man is not worthy of his title, let alone govern the kingdom! Somerset did not solve the chaos in England, and in York's view, Somerset was the culprit. One of the reasons for the subsequent war was the large number of bloodthirsty unemployed soldiers who returned from the defeated battle in Somerset, which was a serious accusation, but York believed that it was completely just.
This put him at odds with Margaret, who was the Queen's closest and most important ally. As a woman, Somerset could not directly control the government, she needed a high-ranking nobleman whose position she could use. Somerset's performance in France shows that he is not the material for the leader, but for Margaret, he is a perfect agent. So whether York knew it or not, attacking Somerset was tantamount to attacking the Queen. York was pretty sure it was up to him, and Margaret was pretty sure it was her. Although both sides are for the sake of the country, their kindness will only tear the country apart.
Rejected by Parliament, York angrily left London and began to gather troops near Dartford, downstream of the capital. If he wasn't murderous before, he's definitely now. He asked Somerset to stand trial. Henry agreed, on the condition that York disband his army. This is not a problem for York. He began to send the soldiers home, because now that he had won, he no longer needed the soldiers. York went to the king's tent to replace Somerset in charge of England. However, he found that Somerset was still at the king's side, which was a trap!
The Battle of the Protectors
As mentioned earlier, the Duke of York came to London hoping to become the protector of England, and he accused the queen's favorite minister Somerset of treason and asked to take over England, but he fell directly into Somerset's trap. Somerset retained the highest position at the King's side, but the situation was not good for York. York was forced to return on horseback from London, and he was caught among the captives, like a prisoner.
York was taken to the old St. Paul's Cathedral in the Middle Ages, forced to kneel before the king, swear allegiance in public, and was asked to promise punishment if there was any more rebellion. This is a great shame for the noble-born Duke of York! Worse still, he realized that it was all self-inflicted. As the Duke of York fell from power and his confidant Somerset ascended the throne, Queen Margaret was in power.
In the spring of 1453, after enduring 8 years of anxiety and ridicule, Margaret finally fulfilled her most basic duties as queen, and she became pregnant. If a baby boy is born, her position and power will be held unbreakable by her status as the mother of the heir to the throne. The bumpy Henry monarchy finally got the favor of fate.
However, the good times were short-lived, and new troubles were brewing 200 miles away from Henry. England had been at war with France for more than 100 years, and during Henry's reign, he lost Chambalney, Normandy, and Brittany. Today, the vast Plantagenet Empire has only one important region left – Gasconi.
Once Henry was at a hunting party when he received an update from France. The situation was not good, and his army was defeated at the Battle of Castillon. The fall of Gasconi meant that the 300-year-old empire had finally collapsed. This empire once controlled more French territory than the French, and the plantagenet dynasty's greatest legacy was taken away during Henry's reign!
Henry had an instant nervous breakdown and fell into a nervous coma. Nothing could have awakened him from unconscious sluggishness, not even the birth of his son, Prince Edward, two months later. Queen Margaret tried to hide the king's condition, desperately hoping that he would wake up. Margaret and Somerset could not make any decisions unless approved by the sane king. A power vacuum began to emerge at the heart of the government, and the queen needed to fill it as soon as possible.
Margaret took her first steps in October 1453. It was at Westminster Abbey that she designated Somerset as the godfather of the newborn prince. Now in the apparent absence of the king, this is a powerful statement, and if anyone still has doubts about Somerset being the queen's confidant, then certainly not now. But it doesn't just show her solidarity with her allies, it's Margaret's trick.
Margaret planned to use the authority of the Little Prince to rule England. To achieve this, Margaret needed the support of the nobles, so she had Somerset convene a Great Council to recognize the little prince as heir to the throne, while the previous heir, the Duke of York, became a substitute. Unsurprisingly, York was not invited, but Margaret's plan was self-defeating...
York's allies in parliament insisted he attend, and when he arrived at the venue, he refused to discuss the status of the newborn prince, instead having one of his closest supporters again accuse Somerset of being a traitor. York knew very well that this time there was no weak king to shield Somerset. York's actions were unexpected, and with a clever blow, York brought down Somerset and Queen Margaret.
Somerset was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and Queen Margaret was suddenly excluded from power, vowing to regain power at all costs. But some of her practices are intolerable... Evidence is recorded in a precious 500-year-old document preserved in the British Library.
The Queen issued a bill with five clauses, which was recorded in this document at the time:
One was that she demanded full administration of the land, she demanded the appointment of a chancellor, the chancellor of the exchequer and all the officials of the state, she asked for a decision on the choice of bishop, and she demanded the arrangement of a good life for the king, the prince and herself. These demands were sensational and amounted to all the rights of the king. I have to admire her perseverance in doing things, and never give up halfway.
For Margaret, this made perfect sense, and she didn't find it strange that a woman was in power, after all, she had seen her mother in power for many years. But it was in the Duchy of France, where she was confronted with the whole country, and she had completely misjudged the reaction of the English nobility. Ruled by a woman, and worse still a Frenchman, far from what they could tolerate. Margaret's thoughts were swept out of the house, and given that the king was still delirious, there was only one option left to run the country!
On 27 March 1454, York finally got his wish and became the protector of the kingdom. At the beginning of his tenure, he made a beautiful punch to create the joint gainnment. He suppressed some of the long-lasting bloody aristocratic strife in the North, bringing much-needed stability to the country. Now all this proves that York is not vain, he has always been right, he is indeed the best person to govern the country. Constrained by her husband's unconscious state, Margaret was powerless. With the help of a close ally like the Earl of Warwick, York's power must have been a little complacent.
On Christmas Day 1454, York was hit head-on...
King Henry VI awoke a year after a nervous coma, and Queen Margaret's ally Somerset was immediately released from the Tower of London, a disaster for the Duke of York, who was once again stripped of all powers. Queen Margaret's ally Somerset returned to the primacy of the throne, and the queen returned to the pinnacle of power, which hit her heart.
York was furious, Somerset was a coward and a traitor to him, he was not qualified to run England, but York had more troublesome troubles. He had fallen out with the queen completely, and had imprisoned Somerset in the Tower of London, so he could expect them to return, so he had two choices, one was to retire quietly to a castle in the north, and pray while sulking and praying that Somerset and the queen would not come against him, or he could preemptively attack, and for a stubborn man like York, he naturally chose the latter. York's next move was quite close to the brink of treason, and he gathered an army south towards London. When the queen heard the news, she sent Somerset north to intercept and gather an army along the way.
On May 22, 1455, the two sides met in St Albans, York had about 3,000 soldiers, and his goal was clear and simple, to get rid of the queen's confidant Somerset and gain control of the king! Somerset, hiding in an outer town, hastily cobbled together an army of about 2,000 men, but he had the king by his side, not because Henry could contribute much to the battle, but because with the king on his side, he could claim to be fighting for the good of the kingdom.
They exchange information with York, apparently trying to get out of the predicament through dialogue, but there is no trust between the two sides, and the only way to stop York is for the king to hand over Somerset, but that is absolutely impossible. Negotiations are deadlocked. It was York's closest ally, Warwick, who took the initiative in the first battle, kicking off the "War of the Roses".
York and Warwick's men and horses easily broke through the barricades, pouring into the narrow streets and slashing the king's soldiers, and the defenders were caught off guard. York's soldiers captured the king and imprisoned him in the church, and York now had only one target—Somerset. According to the medieval rules of war, somerset, a nobleman of noble birth, should be taken prisoner, but York did not care about this. Somerset was not the only great nobleman to die at the hands of York, Lord Clifford and Lord Northumberland were also killed.
York was victorious, Somerset was dead, York took control of Henry, imprisoned him in St Albans Church, but he crossed a big red line, he attacked the king's army, killed three high-ranking nobles of the country, and thus provoked a blood feud between his relatives, which lasted for 30 years!
It was a bloody twist
York's original plan was to bring peace and stability, but he did the opposite. No matter what York thinks, such a big killing is already salvageable! After the battle, York and his allies Warwick and Salisbury met the king at the church, and they knelt before the king to show their allegiance, and all they wanted in return was to serve as advisers to the king. Of course the king agreed, and he had no choice. Henry VI became a puppet, and was rumored to have taken control of the king and ruled England.
York was reappointed Protector, but his position was legally untenable. First of all, Henry was clearly not incapacitated at this point, and York had left all the best positions to his allies, which obviously created a narrow group rather than a unified gainnment, which would be a big reason for his downfall.
The first test came just 4 months later. Years of fruitless war against France left the king heavily indebted, surrounded by a protector, and York was tasked with the unpopular duty of raising more money. He had to get the nobles in the House to pass a decree that would be forced to sign off part of the land to the king. Even in the most favorable circumstances, this is an unpopular move. The killing of St Albans meant that York was increasingly isolated, and his decree was rejected by Parliament.
This made York feel extremely disappointed, he was the protector of the country and should rule the government, but without the support of the parliament, he was actually powerless, and York was forced to make a humiliating concession, resigned from the position of protector, and returned to the fiefdom north. All he had done in St Albans, all his bloody sacrifices, had been wasted. Strictly speaking, Henry regained complete control of the country, which is somewhat surprising based on his past performance.
In the Bodleian Library in Oxford, there is a book that clearly records the real situation at that time, which is the Brut Chronicle, one of the earliest printed books in British history. Published a few years after the end of The Mendheimer's reign, this is almost the same live eyewitness statement of the time. A passage in the book records the events of 1456, when York had left London only six months ago, giving a clear picture of what the English thought of their king at the time. It is mentioned in the book that the rule of the kingdom was mainly controlled by the queen and her council.
It is worth noting that all the nobles of England at that time did not dare to disobey the queen, because she ruled peacefully for the sake of the king. There is no doubt that Margaret is in charge of marriage, but more importantly, the same is true when it comes to governing the country. The fact that she did a pretty good job wasn't surprising, as York and Margaret's goal was the same – to stabilize England. But their mutual hatred was already too deep for the queen to control England, and she wanted York to disappear forever. She was more than happy to take matters into her own hands, and in the name of her husband and son, she gathered an army to eradicate York.
Margaret's troops marched north and caught up with him at York's castle in Ladlow on October 12, 1459. This time Margaret's men were twice as large as York's, and like everyone else, she traveled with the army and took the king with her to show her legitimacy. York sent a message to the king, claiming to be his loyal subjects, but it was really too late. An order in the name of the king demanding that York surrender his arms and surrender would obviously not be a good end for York. Not surprisingly he refused.
Seeing the king's flag flying on the field on a high castle is enough to prove that the king is a royal conscription. Confronting the king directly, and risking treason, it was too far for some of York's men in his ranks, and in the middle of the night a large number of York's soldiers defected.
On the night of October 12, realizing that the trend was over, York believed that caution was courage and that it was the best policy to go. But Margaret was not satisfied with the enemy fleeing into the wilderness, she wanted to be exterminated. So in November 1459, she persuaded Parliament to pass the Seizure of Public Power Act against York and his allies, which stripped them of their land and titles, and their families were permanently expelled from the aristocracy, which amounted to death, but one step away from victory. Because as long as York himself is alive, he will remain a rather dangerous figure. Margaret should have killed him...
Richard, Duke of York, fled England
Less than a year later, York's greatest ally, Warwick, attacked the royal army stationed in Northampton, and Queen Margaret escaped, but the king was captured and all the nobles around him were slaughtered. The king was brought back to London under the supervision of York's ally Warwick. Queen Margaret went into hiding, and now it was safe for York to return to England, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before Margaret would eventually return to seize control of her husband and the kingdom. York tried both political and military tactics, neither of which worked, and to stop the queen, he needed to take radical measures.
York marched to London, leading not the York family's own army, but the army of England, and only one person had this power, and that was the king. York was determined that he would seize the throne.
On 10 October 1460, York stormed the halls of the Palace of Westminster, drew his sword and demanded that the councillors depose Henry and make him king, to the horror of his closest allies. But in fact York did have real qualifications, and Henry VI was able to take the throne because his grandfather stole the throne from the legitimate king. York said: "Henry's grandfather usurped the throne, the inheritance and property of the kings of England and France, belonged to Richard, Duke of York, and I will take it back!" ”
Indeed, if it had not been for this, York would have enjoyed the same succession to the throne as Henry, since they were both descendants of Edward III. Parliament was in chaos, and if they supported Henry, York's heavily armed army was stationed outside the gates; if they supported York, they risked a civil war for the deposed anointed king.
It took the Council two weeks to decide that York would not be able to take the throne directly, but that he would be able to get the sub-optimal solution, and that he would become a protector for the third time. Given henry's captivity, it was in effect that he was in charge of the country, and when Henry died, York or his son would inherit the throne. The deal wasn't bad for York, but it was a chaotic compromise for everyone else. Basically, what this agreement can guarantee is that the bloodshed will not stop.
This was intolerable for Margaret, whose son, Prince Edward, was effectively stripped of his inheritance. Margaret had been hiding in Scotland since York's return, but now that she had written to her allies in England asking for support, she knew that York would come against her and her son, since Edward was the only remaining obstacle to York's succession, and she was York's disorganized enemy. York took control of the whole situation, and he once again became the heir to the throne, took control of the king and became the protector. Now that he only had to get rid of Margaret, he could rest easy, so York raced against time to go north to capture the queen himself.
Sandal Castle was York's fortress near Wakefield, and when York arrived on 21 December 1460, he had just won the victory in London and was overjoyed, but he was too arrogant and set out to hunt down Margaret too hastily, taking only 6,000 soldiers with him, apparently grossly underestimating Margaret's support. In fact, by the time he approached the castle gates, a huge army was assembling against him, and York's men were less than half of them. Outnumbered and undersupplied, York was momentarily trapped in a domestic and external trap, almost besieged in Sundar, and all he could do was wait for reinforcements to arrive.
On 30 December, York gave confidence the upper hand for the last time. One of his grain and grass teams had been attacked, and he should have waited for reinforcements to arrive before counterattacking, but he had lost patience. York chased the attacker down the Manny Gates Trail, but unexpectedly fell into the other side's encirclement, and the result can be imagined. If he had been a little less conceited and more cautious, York might have actually been on the throne. Margaret's men captured him in less than an hour, mocked him with a bloody paper crown, and then took revenge on the queen with a knife in their hands...
His head was hung from a pole and he was paraded in Mickel Gates, where Margaret's eventual victory was supposed to end the violence, but it backfired. The feud between the York family and Margaret had torn a deep rift in England, and the fire of hatred burned for decades.
So who is the real villain? Was it Margaret of Anjou, a woman desperate to prevent her husband's rule from falling apart and to save her son's legal status? Or Richard, Duke of York, a man whose noble intentions took as his starting point to save England? Neither of them was, both of them were trying to protect England from the culprit, the incompetent henry VI, and it was his weakness and incompetence that forced those around him to hold the kingdom apart for him, to fend off each other, and to provoke decades of bloody conflict.
Today's colored turmoil is called the "War of the Roses"!