Edward IV died in April 1483 when his son and heir, Edward V, was only twelve. Inevitably rival factions immediately emerged – the boy king and the court controlled by the queen mother and her relations, and Edward's favorites Lord Hastings and Thomas Lord Stanley, opposed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, now the most powerful man in the kingdom, whom Edward IV had intended should be regent.
Richard acted swiftly. Moving south, he joined forces with Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and seized Edward V en route to London in the care of Lord Rivers, the queen mother's brother. Her son, Dorset, at once fled the country, while the queen mother sought sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Within a month of Edward IV's death, Richard was Protector of the Realm.
In June Hastings was suddenly arrested and executed. Two weeks later Richard informed Parliament that Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid due to an earlier marriage, and therefore Edward V was a bastard – which left Richard the rightful successor. Richard became Richard III, Lord Rivers was executed, and Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, were placed in the Tower.
That autumn there was a revolt in the West Country, led by Buckingham, apparently in conspiracy with the exiled Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and now head of the House of Lancaster. (Henry could claim the throne, in right of his mother, Margaret Beaufort, as surviving male representative of the House of Lancaster, the Beauforts being descended from John of Gaunt.) Buckingham was supported by the Woodvillcs and Courtenays. Richard quickly and efficiently crushed the revolt, and Buckingham was executed. Henry Tudor withdrew to France, but in 1485, with about 3,000 French mercenaries, he landed in Pembrokeshire, where his uncle Jasper was earl. He marched quickly through Wales and the Marches, picking up considerable support on the way, and confronted Richard in battle for the throne at Bosworth in Leicestershire on 22 August 1485.
The two main forces drew up facing each other but both Henry Tudor and Richard III looked anxiously for support from the forces of the two brothers Stanley: those of Sir Willaim Stanley were visible to the north-west of the battlefield, and those of Lord Stanley to the southeast.
The battle commenced without the Stanleys, the opposing forces both making a bid for Ambien Hill. Richard's troops reached the ridge first, and his 'vaward battle' deployed on it in a defensive position. The 'main battle' followed, while the 'rearward battle' was ordered to take position on the left of this line as soon as possible, and to face due south.
Henry advanced to engage in an archery duel at long range, and Richard looked in vain for his 'rearward battle': the Earl of Northumberland had decided to avoid action until the Stanleys showed their hands.
As the archers began to run out of arrows, the two armies advanced to melee, and only now did the Stanleys move – to attack both flanks of Richard's line, while Northumberland remained immobile. Richard mounted, collected his bodyguard around him, and rode into the center of the enemy, intent on killing Henry Tudor or dying like a king. Unhorsed in the marsh, Richard was soon overwhelmed by superior numbers and killed. The battle ceased when his death became known, and his army melted away with little or no pursuit. Lord Stanley took the circlet indicating Richard's rank from the dead king's helmet and, placing it on Henry Tudor's head, proclaimed him King Henry VII.
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In the early years of his reign Henry VII was in continual danger, and it is erroneous to regard Bosworth as the end of the Wars of the Roses. The first of the king's troubles was a rising in 1486 in the North Riding of Yorkshire, where Richard III had been very popular. It was led by Lord Lovel, Richard's chamberlain and admiral, but the rebels dispersed when Henry marched against them with a large force. Lovel fled to Flanders.
In May 1487 Lovel landed in Ireland with some 2,000 Swiss and 1,500 German mercenaries, supplied by Margaret of Burgundy and commanded by the Swiss captain Martin Schwarz, accompanied by John, Earl of Lincoln, and about 200 other exiled Yorkists. This revolt was in the name of Edward, Earl of Warwick, son of Clarence, but as he was a prisoner in the Tower a 'double' named Lambert Simnel played his part.
The invaders were welcomed by most of the Irish lords and 'Clarence' was crowned Edward VI at Dublin. Within a few weeks Lincoln had recruited some 4,000 – 5,000 Irish soldiers under Thomas Fitzgerald. These forces now sailed for England, landing in Lancashire. However, few Yorkists had joined the invaders by the time Henry VII brought them to battle at Stoke, near Newark, on 17 July 1487. Despite fierce resistance by the foreign mercenaries the rebels were routed, Lincoln and Fitzgerald killed, and Simnel captured. Lovel disappeared.
For the next four years Henry enjoyed a relatively peaceful reign, but then Yorkist conspiracies began once more to thicken. Ever since 1483 it had been rumored that one or both of Edward IV's sons had escaped from the Tower: Henry Tudor claimed they had been murdered by Richard HI, but no bodies had ever been found or displayed as proof of their death. One Perkin Warbeck, a citizen of Tournai, was chosen for his similarity of appearance to Edward IV, and declared to be Richard, Duke of York.
He gained some support in Ireland, and was recognized as York by Margaret of Burgundy and Maximilian of Austria. For two years Warbeck followed the Imperial court while his patrons intrigued with English malcontents; but in the winter of 1494-5 Henry's spies infiltrated the conspiracy and large numbers of the conspirators were arrested, including Lord Fitz Walter and Sir William Stanley. The latter was beheaded, as were several others, while the remainder were hanged or imprisoned.
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Nevertheless, in July 1495 Warbeck sailed from Flanders with 2,000 exiles and German mercenaries. He attempted to land at Deal, but his vanguard was destroyed by Kentish levies and he drew off and made for Ireland. Henry had anticipated such a move, and had already sent to Ireland Sir Edward Poynings, who had suppressed the Irish supporters of Warbeck.
Warbeck landed at Munster, but only the Earl of Desmond came to his support. Unable to face Poynings' forces, Warbeck sailed to Scotland. With James IV he raided Northumberland in 1496, but a pretender backed by Scottish spears was not acceptable to the English borderers, and not one man rallied to the Yorkist banner.
However, discontent over the taxes imposed to pay for the war with Scotland did lead to rioting in the south-east counties, and in Cornwall open rebellion broke out. A rebel army marched on Eondon, sweeping over five counties unopposed and collecting recruits en route, and was only stopped by a hard fight at Blackheath.
Warbeck, hearing of the rising, landed in Devon in August. Gathering together 8,000 rebels, he marched on Exeter. The city closed its gates against him and, after an attempt to besiege the city, Warbeck had to march away to confront a royal army dispatched to relieve Exeter. When he reached Taunton Warbeck found his followers so dispirited that disaster was inevitable. He took sanctuary on the abbey of Beaulieu, and later confessed his fraud in exchange for his life. In 1498 Warbeck escaped from the Tower but was recaptured and thereafter confined in a dungeon. The next year he planned another escape, together with the unfortunate Edward of Clarence, but spies in the Tower betrayed this. Henry allowed the plot to proceed almost to completion, then had both Edward and Warbeck executed for planning rebellion.
The last real fighting of the Wars of the Roses had taken place at Blackheath and the siege of Exeter, but Clarence had been a true male heir of the House of Plantagenet and all the time he lived he was a threat to the House of Tudor. His death truly marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, and thereafter Henry VII’s reign was peaceful apart from a few minor and futile plots by the exiled Edmund, Earl of Suffolk, younger brother of John, Earl of Lincoln, and the last possible Yorkist claimant to the throne of England.
Appendix 1 Armies
In 1341 Edward III had revolutionized the structure of European armies by instituting in England a system of written indentured contracts between the Crown and prominent military leaders. Under this system the military leaders, or 'captains' and 'lieutenants', contracted with the king to provide an agreed number of men for military service, promising to bring them to a place of assembly by a certain date. The indenture set out precisely how long the men would have to serve, their rate of pay, obligations and privileges. The captains were responsible for paying these men, the king giving securities to repay the money at a later date.
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These captains raised their companies by making a series of similar contracts with knights and man-at-arms, again stipulating the terms of service and the types of soldiers they would be expected to contribute. The captains usually sought these 'sub-contractors' amongst their friends, kinsmen, tenants and neighbors.
These companies, composed entirely of volunteers, created in effect a royal standing army; for the men were professional soldiers who, although raised, led and paid by their captains, regarded themselves firstly as English soldiers, owing allegiance to their king and fighting only his enemies.
Inevitably, many of the most powerful captains were of the nobility, for they had the position at court, the wealth, and the connections to raise large contingents. In order to be able to satisfy at once any request by the king for a company, such lords frequently maintained a permanent force, contracting their sub-contractors for life with annuities. These men often held offices (such as chamberlain or steward) in the magnate's household or on his estates, and probably provided in their turn the key contingents in his company.
This system was introduced to deal with the demand for expeditionary forces to invade France during the Hundred Years' War, and the need to maintain permanent royal garrisons in the castles and towns across the channel. But it had the effect of creating large forces commanded by the great barons, and during the course of the Hundred Years' War these magnates became virtually petty kings within their own domains: the great northern families of Percy and Neville, for example, fought each other in the Wars of the Roses as much for supremacy in the North as for who should control the government of all England.
The three greatest landowners of the second half of Henry VI's reign were the Earl of Warwick and the Dukes of Buckingham and York. Humphrey Stafford (died 1460), 1st Duke of Buckingham, had a personal retinue often knights and 27 esquires, many of whom were drawn from the Staffordshire gentry. These men were paid annuities to retain their loyalty (hence 'retainers'), the best-paid in Buckingham's retinue being Sir Edward Grey (died 1457) who was retained for life in 1440 at £40 per annum. Two knights (Sir Richard Vernon and Sir John Constable) received annuities of £20 p.e., but £10 was the customary annuity for a knight, with esquires paid from £10 to £40 marks per annum.
These knights and esquires were the subcontractors, and each would have provided a contingent of archers and men-at-arms. When their contingents were amalgamated, considerable armies could be gathered. For example, in January 1454, 2,000 badges of the Stafford knot were produced for distribution to Buckingham's men; in 1469 the Duke of Norfolk fielded 3,000 men and some cannon; while a great soldier and statesman of the ability and ambition of Warwick would have been able to count on thousands of men scattered over no fewer than 20 shires.
Note the predominance of archers. The contemporary Paston letters give a good idea of the value of the longbowman during the Wars of the Roses. When Sir John Paston was about to depart for Calais, he asked his brother to try to recruit four archers for him: 'Likely men and fair conditioned and good archers and they shall have 4 marks by year and my livery', (i.e. they were to be permanent retainers, on annuities).
These were ordinary archers, as opposed to an elite or 'de maison' archer who would serve permanently in the household troop of a great lord. Warwick considered such men to be worth two ordinary soldiers – even English ones! In 1467 Sir John Howard hired such an archer, offering him £10 a year – the annuity paid to knights – plus two gowns and a house for his wife. As an extra inducement he gave the man 2s. 8d., two doublets worth 10s. and a new gown (a term often applied to the livery coat). When Sir John bought himself a new bow, for which he paid 2s., he bought for this elite archer four bows costing 5s. 11.5d. each, a new case, a shooting glove, bowstrings, and a sheaf of arrows which cost 5s.: at that price they were probably the best target arrows available.
Edward IV's leading captains for his 1475 expedition to France had the following retinues:
| Duke of Clarence | 10 knights 1,000 archers |
| Duke of Gloucester | 10 knights 1,000 archers |
| Duke of Norfolk | 2 knights 300 archers |
| Duke of Suffolk | 2 knights 300 archers |
| Duke of Buckingham | 4 knights 400 archers |
This contract system still existed in the mid-15th century, and the end of the Hundred Years' War in 1453 flooded England with large numbers of men who had no trade other than that of soldier. Returning to England, these men now assumed the aspect of mercenaries, unemployed and troublesome. Bored and hungry, they eagerly sought employment with the great barons. Such large private armies were extremely dangerous to the king. Lacking a standing army of his own, he could now only control unruly or even disloyal barons by using the private armies of those barons who remained loyal. Of course, loyal barons were rewarded with valuable offices and vast estates – which enabled them to hire even larger armies until, as with Warwick, they became powerful enough to attempt the overthrow of their benefactor.
This weakness in the royal authority led to corruption in high offices, and especially in the judiciary system. Whenever the interests of a landowner were involved in a legal case, rival bodies of armed men, wearing the liveries and badges of the lords who maintained them, would ride into the county town and bribe or intimidate judge and jury.
During the regency of Henry VI's reign the legal system finally collapsed, and the barons began to resolve their quarrels over land and inheritances by making war against each other: might was right, and it became commonplace for heiresses to be abducted, minor lords to be imprisoned or even murdered, and for 'evidence' to be procured by bribery or threat.
Since justice was no longer obtainable by fair means, many of the yeoman farmers and smaller landowners of the lesser gentry now turned to the barons for their personal protection and for the protection of their lands and rights. This led to the polarization, which is such a feature of the Wars of the Roses.
The yeomen and lesser gentry entered into another form of contract, known as 'livery and maintenance', whereby they undertook to wear the baron's livery – i.e. a tunic in his colors and bearing his household badge – and to fight for him in times of need. In return they received his protection whenever they needed it.
From the above can be seen that an 'army' of the Wars of the Roses might consist of a magnate's personal or household troops (or bodyguard – usually of knights, sergeants and archers), plus his tenants, together with paid mercenaries or contract troops – both English and foreign specialists such as gunners and hand gunners – and 'livery and maintenance' men who were unpaid but who had a personal stake in the fighting.
The only forces under the king's personal command were his bodyguard of knights and sergeants and the large, professional body of men who formed the royal garrison at Calais. Edward IV also had a permanent bodyguard of archers, and one of Henry VII's first actions on seizing the throne was to found the Yeomen of the Guard, a body of some 2,000 archers under a captain. These first saw active service in 1486, when they were used in the suppression of northern rebels.
Finally, in times of great need, the king might also use Commissions of Array to call out the local militia. In theory the king's officials chose the best-armed men from each village and town to serve the king for up to 40 days, the men's provisions being provided by their community. In practice, the king's authority was frequently misused, and great landowners often sent letters to the lesser landowners and councils of towns where they had influence, reminding those in authority of past favors and hinting at benefits yet to come.
An example is given in the contemporary Stonor letters and papers for the Oxfordshire half-hundred of Ewelme, which provided from its 17 villages a total of 85 soldiers, 17 of whom were archers. Eweime itself produced six men: 'Richard Slythurst, a harness [i.e. armored] and able to do the king service with his bow. Thomas Staunton [the constable], John Hoime, whole harness and both able to do the king service with a bill. John Tanner, a harness and able to do the king service with a bill. John Pallying, a harness and not able to wear it [presumably it did not fit him]. Roger Smith, no harness, an able man and a good archer'. Other men without harness are described as 'able with a staff.
Muster rolls are another source of such information. The muster on 4 September 1457 before the king's officials at Bridport, Dorset, shows that the standard equipment expected was a sallet, jack, sword, buckler and dagger. In addition, about two-thirds of the men had bows and a sheaf or half a sheaf of arrows. There was a sprinkling of other weapons – poleaxes, glaives, bills, spears, axes and staves; and some odd pieces of armour – hauberks, gauntlets, and leg harness. Two men also had pavises, and the officials recommended more pavises be made available.
In May 1455 the mayor of Coventry was ordered by royal signet letter to supply a retinue for the king. The town council decided to supply a hundred men with bows, jacks and sallets, and a captain was elected to lead them.
The retinues supplied for Edward IV's expedition to France are divided into 'lances' in the Continental manner, but it is most unlikely that the forces engaged in the Wars of the Roses were ever formally divided in this manner. Rather they were grouped by weapon and armour, by companies and under the banners of their captains, and grouped into 'vaward', 'main' and 'rearward battles' under the standard of a major figure. The army as a whole would often be commanded by the leading political figure, assisted by military advisers. In the case of the king's armies the commander-in-chief would be the lieutenant or captain of the region: officers such as the Warden of the Marches, Lieutenant of Ireland, or Lieutenant of the North, the latter post being granted to Fauconberg in 1461 and to Warwick in 1462.
Many of the commanders, particularly at company level, were not knights but experienced soldiers, though many of them were subsequently knighted on the field of battle. Lovelace was only an esquire, but rose to be Captain of Kent through his military skills. Trollope was another soldier who rose to high command, and was rewarded for his services by a knighthood at Second St. Albans. Men such as Trollope were frequently the military brains or 'staff officers' behind the magnates who led the 'battles'. On the other hand, constables of towns played a key role in recruiting contingents, and they may often have commanded companies, as may sheriffs. Such men may not have had any military skill.
Although the wars started with small armies of experienced soldiers, as time went on the proportion of veterans diminished and, generally speaking, the armies had insufficient cohesion for elaborate tactics: most battles began with an archery duel, which tended to cancel out the value of the longbow, followed by a vast and contused melee on foot. The commander of an army could do little once the melee commenced, though he might hold back a small mounted reserve under his personal command, or detach a formation prior to the battle to use in an outflanking maneuver.
Large numbers of the troops were mounted – not just the knights and esquires, but many of the men-at-arms. Some of these 'mounted infantry' were used as mounted scouts, flank guards and the like, but apart from an occasional mounted reserve of only 100 men or so, the armies dismounted to do battle, all horses being sent to the rear with the baggage. Primarily this was because of the weapons used and the facts that few mounted men were sufficiently experienced to fight effectively on horseback. However, the fact that many men of all arms were mounted did tend to lead to the formation of special vanguards of all-mounted troops, who were used to spearhead movement prior to a battle.
Because of the fear of treachery, it was essential that the major commanders fight on foot to indicate their willingness to stand and die with their men. It was for this reason that so many of the nobles were so easily killed or captured once their army was defeated. The mounted reserves therefore tended to be composed of lesser knights or bodyguards, and were led by minor commanders, such as Sir John Grey of Codnor, an experienced soldier but a knight of low rank and position, who led the Lancastrian cavalry reserve at Second St. Albans.
Appendix 2 Characters.
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Years lived: 1387 - 1422 Years ruled: 1413 - 1422 Son of: Henry IV and Mary de Bohun Married to: Catherine de Valois Children: Henry VI
| Richard III, King of England 1483 - 1485 | |
Years lived: 1452 - 1485 Years ruled: 1483 - 1485 Son of: Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville Married to: Anne Beauchamp Neville (1472)  Children: Edward, Prince of Wales
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| Richard III, the younger brother of Edward IV, was made duke of Gloucester at age nine. He fough for Edward at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury in 1471. When Edward died in 1483 he took control of Edwards heirs, Edward V and his brother Richard. The young brothers were held in the Tower of London and murdered in June 1483. Richard III was crowned king that year. He was killed by Henry VII at the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. |
Appendix 3 Genealogies
House of Lancaster
The Lancastarian claim to the throne was via Edward III's third son John of Gaunt. In October 1460, an Act of Accord designated that the royal succession would move to the house of York after Henry VI's death. The houses of Lancaster and York were united when Henry VII married the Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.
Sons of Edward III (1312-1377)