Some people say that the most widespread and far-reaching event in British history is not the Vikings who defiled the "noble" blood of the British, nor the medieval plague that took hundreds of millions of lives, but a seemingly warm but in fact vicious and violent war, a 30-year-long royal power struggle - the "War of the Roses".
The English Civil War, which began in 1455, inspired writers for an unprecedented period of time, from a series of historical plays by William Shakespeare to George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, all based on the historical facts of this war.
Remember the unusually brutal Seven Kingdoms strife on the continent of Westeros? The lords of various countries are entangled in inexplicable enmity and hatred, bloodthirsty courtiers are torn between various forces, and the air of the continent is forever filled with mysterious legends and ancient prophecies that make people shudder...
But compared with real history, the war scenes in "A Song of Ice and Fire" are really nothing - after all, no matter how big the brains are, the screenwriters can't guess the most subtle and darkest parts of human nature!
The "Wars of the Roses" get their name from the two sides of the war– the Lancastrian family with the red rose as the coat of arms and the York family with the white rose as the coat of arms. This war is arguably the craziest in English history, not one of them!
In 1460-1471 alone, 12 nobles were killed on the battlefield and 6 others were beheaded, which led to the demise of at least a third of the high-ranking nobles in England. By the end of the war, almost all the men of the two royal families had perished.
Many Europeans are proud of their so-called "chivalry", that is, the eight virtues of humility, honor, sacrifice, heroism, compassion, honesty, justice, and soul, and Finn McCool in The Legend of Fenia, Roland in Roland's Song, and King Arthur in The Legend of King Arthur are all the epitome of chivalry.
But the Wars of the Roses witnessed the complete decline and decline of chivalry in the Middle Ages, and with the end of this war, the traditional class of knights gradually withered away.
After the Wars of the Roses, England entered the Tudor era of extravagant and obscene, and the European aristocracy became increasingly extravagant and lascivious, completely abandoning the virtues they once believed in.
Therefore, we can say: "There are no knights after the roses, and no England after Tudor." ”
Veteran British writer Ed West chronicles the struggle for kingship in medieval England in his new book, Red and White Roses: The Struggle for Kingship Between two great families in England in the 15th Century and the Beginning of the Tudor Dynasty.
The book begins with the overthrow of Richard II, and the death of Richard III, the "hunchbacked tyrant", is the climax of the book.
In fact, to an outsider, the "Wars of the Roses" seems more puzzling than a soap opera of the worst, because almost every character involved in it is named Henry, Richard, or Edward, which is simply too bad to tell who is who.
To make matters worse, both sides of the war were descendants of the old King Edward III of England, and after several generations of marriage, the offspring that had been bred were so complex that almost all of them had at least two-fold kinship.
Therefore, we Chinese the joke "Grandpa's brother's nephew's uncle's uncle's brother's mother's uncle", a strange and complicated relationship that can be seen everywhere in the Wars of the Roses.
The root cause of the Wars of the Roses lies in the weakness of the Lord and the strength of the Subjects.
The man who laid the groundwork for this war was Henry V, who was hailed as "the greatest ruler of England ever seen.". The man who once declared that "war without artillery fire is like sausage without mustard" was shot in the eye by a crossbow arrow in a war.
Without any anesthetic, Henry V pulled the arrow out with pliers—this guy was simply a combination of Guan Yu and Xiahou Huan, a tough and iron-blooded war fanatic.
During the reign of Henry V, the Hundred Years' War with France was restarted, and under his rule, England reached the largest territory in history. However, as Chinese often said: "Since ancient times, famous people will be like beauties, and they will not be allowed to see white heads in the world." The belligerent king died of diarrhea due to a small dysentery, leaving his young son with a large number of equally fierce and warlike nobles.
When Henry V was alive, he was able to rule over these noble lords with thunderous means and make them obedient. But his son Henry VI did not inherit the father's toughness and cold-bloodedness, and it is said that he would shed tears when he saw a corpse on the side of the road. Such a weak king naturally could not control the old nobles who fought with Henry V.
If born in a stable era, the king may become a ming king, but being born in a troubled world is the misfortune of Henry VI and the misfortune of England.
The first to stand up against King Henry VI was the Duke of York, the head of the House of York, who, on 22 May 1454, openly attacked the King's army, and the Duke of Samsett, the lord of the House of Lancaster, swore to follow the King to death. The two families fought fiercely in the town of St Albans, which is also considered the beginning of the "War of the Roses".
Since then, the power of the English monarchy has fallen, the power has fallen into the hands of the nobles and soldiers, and the whole country has become a triad, and ordinary people have almost no protection from the law. The richest nobles commanded and led armies into battle, waving their own great flags—Mortimer's White Lion Flag, Earl Warwick's Bear Flag, Buckingham Duke's White Swan Flag, York Richard's Falcon Flag, and the King's son Edward's glorious Sun Flag.
Every time these people went to a place to drink, the owner placed a sign representing them at the entrance, which is said to be the origin of the names of English brasseries and taverns, as well as many of today's bars.
But why didn't such a scene happen in China? The reason is simple: China does not have a real sense of nobility.
We know that during the Western Zhou Dynasty, the aristocratic feudal system was implemented, and the nobles with the surname Ji spread out everywhere, and after a few generations, they opened the chaos of the Spring and Autumn Warring States princes competing for hegemony. In a sense, those big banners with the words "Qi", "Chu", "Yan" and "Zhao" can be regarded as the oldest "clan emblem" in China.
However, after the King of Qin unified the world, he said to his ministers: "The whole world has fought hard and ceaselessly, so that there will be a prince." The laizong temple was initially determined and the kingdom was restored. It is also a tree soldier, and it is not difficult to ask for its rest? Since then, the sub-feudal system has been completely abolished in China, and replaced by the county system, and the local governors are appointed by the central government.
Since there is no hereditary hereditary governor, the nobility certainly has no soil for survival. Famous surnames in Chinese history, such as the Runanyuan, Hongnong Yang, and Langya Zhuge clans of the Han Dynasty, and the Longxi Li clan, the Qinghe Cui clan, and the Taiyuan Wang clan of the Tang Dynasty, can only be regarded as "family magnates", not "nobles" in the traditional European sense.
Because of this, China has been divided and merged for thousands of years, but it has never fallen into a situation of fragmentation and disintegration like Europe, thanks to Qin Shi Huang.
The Red and White Roses provides a cross-section of the causes and consequences of the Wars of the Roses, as well as the history of England during this period, beginning with the death of Edward III of the Plantagenet Dynasty, the succession of Richard II, and the becoming regent of the Duke of Lancaster, "John of Gaunt", to the time when Henry VII of the Tudor family won the Battle of Bosworth and established the Tudor Dynasty, spanning nearly a hundred years.
The book also features some famous historical figures, including the mad king Henry VI, whose insanity and cowardice triggered the collapse of the king's power; Richard of York and his son Edward IV, and richard III the "wicked" who murdered his young nephew and inherited the throne; and of course, the "Kingmaker" Earl Warwick and The Duke of Buckingham, who were behind the battle for the throne.
Knowing the past and learning from the present, from the people to the self. This black history of the United Kingdom is also thought-provoking for us today. At the same time, understanding this history is also very helpful for straightening out the political, economic, and ideological aspects of European society.
The book is doing activities in the headline shop, the original price is 49.8 yuan, the discount price is only 23.9 yuan
If you are interested, click on the link below "Go and see" and place an order to buy it↓
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Wars of the Roses: The most chaotic in British history at ¥23.9 purchase