Date 1455 1485 Place England Result Victory of the Lancastrians and their minions. Liquidation of the Middle Ages in England... Wikipedia

War of the Scarlet and White Roses- The War of the Scarlet and White Roses... Russian spelling dictionary

War of the Scarlet and White Roses- (in England, 1455–1485) ... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

War of the Scarlet and White Roses Date 1455 1485 Place England Result Victory of the Lancastrians and their minions. Liquidation of the Middle Ages in England... Wikipedia

A long (1455-85) internecine war of feudal cliques, which took the form of a struggle for the English throne between two lines of the royal Plantagenet dynasty (See Plantagenets): Lancaster (See Lancaster) (scarlet rose in the coat of arms) and York... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

War of the Scarlet and White Roses- (1455 1485) fight for English. the throne between two lateral lines of queens, the Plantagenet dynasty Lancaster (scarlet rose in the coat of arms) and York (white rose in the coat of arms). The confrontation between the Lancasters (the ruling dynasty) and the Yorks (the richest... ... Medieval world in terms, names and titles

1455 85 internecine war in England, for the throne between two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty, Lancaster (scarlet rose in the coat of arms) and York (white rose in the coat of arms). The death in the war of the main representatives of both dynasties and a significant part of the nobility made it easier... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Scarlet and White Roses, war- (Roses, Wars of the) (1455 85), an internecine feud, a war that resulted in a protracted struggle for the English throne, lasted, flaring up and then dying out, for 30 years. Its reason was the rivalry between two contenders for the English throne of Edmund Beaufort... ... The World History

WAR OF THE SCARLET AND WHITE ROSE 1455 85, internecine war for the English throne between the royal dynasties (Plantagenet branches) of Lancaster (scarlet rose in the coat of arms) and York (white rose in the coat of arms). During the war, the Lancastrians (1399 1461) ceded power... ... Modern encyclopedia

Books

• R L Stevenson The Black Arrow Tale of the Two Roses English with R L Stevenson The Black Arrow A Tale from the War of the Scarlet and White Roses In 2 parts, a set of 2 books
• War of the Roses Petrel, Iggulden K.. 1443. The Hundred Years' War is nearing its end. The forces of England are exhausted, and Henry VI sits on the throne - a pale shadow of his illustrious father, a weak-willed ruler, gradually sliding into...
• English with R. L. Stevenson. Black arrow. A story from the times of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses. Tutorial. In 2 parts. Part 1, Bessonov A.. Everything that Dick Shelton has in his early years, is a faithful horse, a sharp sword, a warm, brave heart and a couple of friends faithful to the memory of his father. It’s not so little to fight for what’s worthy...

Good day!

Ivan Nekrasov is with you. In this article we will continue the conversation about the section of general history for preparing for the Unified State Exam. Today we will analyze one of the stages of the medieval history of England - the War of the Scarlet and White Roses in a simple and understandable presentation

Chronological framework and background

So, the Lancastrian dynasty of English kings in the first half of the fifteenth century constantly expanded the rights of parliament. The latter also reciprocated - he invariably supported this dynasty. The second half of the fifteenth century somewhat shook the strong position of the English parliamentarians. Remember the chronological framework, they are needed to solve test tasks

The reason for this was significant - the discord between the aristocratic strata, which is called the War of the Scarlet and White Roses. Previous, so-called Hundred Years' War(an event found in the Unified State Examination) between the British and the French gave rise to many military units in the service of numerous representatives of the highest aristocracy. After the war, the aristocrats began to quarrel frequently. In addition, Duke Richard, who belonged to the influential Plantagenet family with the coat of arms of the White Rose, became in sharp opposition to King Henry VI

The course of events of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses

The latter had a Scarlet Rose in his family coat of arms. The struggle that arose between them for the English throne divided the country into two camps, which had been fighting each other for three decades since 1455. The Duke was killed, but his son defeated the king's troops, put him in prison, and himself seized the English throne. In 1461, the new king named himself Edward IV and ruled for twenty-two years. Supporters of the Scarlet Rose tried to take the throne from Edward, as a result of which Henry VI was killed by order of the ruler. After the death of Edward, the Duke of Gloucester, the relative and guardian of the young heirs of the deceased king, ordered them to be strangled. After this, he himself led the kingdom in 1483

The new king, Richard III, reigned for two years. However, he too was unsuccessful, as the throne was seized by Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian. The latter, who called himself Henry VII, was assisted by parliament in the struggle for the throne. The new king decided to stop the mutual destruction of the two branches of government by marrying the daughter of the former king Edward IV. Henry VII reigned for twenty-six years

Results

The Tudors dominated England for one hundred and twenty years. The war greatly weakened both parties. After her, power passed from the class of the highest aristocracy to the small and middle classes of nobles, who constituted the majority in the House of Commons. However, the people, tired of the long war, were more inclined to the usual royal power than to the power of parliament, which formally confirmed the decisions of the winning party. Therefore, at the same time, there was a further weakening of parliament, and royal power, on the contrary, strengthened. The king did not dare to dissolve parliament, although the latter began to meet much less frequently than under Edward IV. I think I presented the topic very clearly

What to study for the Unified State Exam?

Meet in the exam historical figures and a series of dates, I attach them below. Well, the full course on general history will be freely available from March 29. That's all) See you in the next posts)

You can’t help but be amazed at the time frame during which they were carried out. Just think about it - ! Sieges of castles and cities lasted for years, and sometimes decades! So the war, called very romantically, the War of the Scarlet and White Roses, lasted for three whole decades.

In fact, of course, there was nothing romantic in this war. Like any other war, it was bloody and dirty, driven by the ambitions of a few that resulted in the death and suffering of thousands upon thousands of innocents. This war was caused by the struggle for the English throne between two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty - the Lancasters, whose coat of arms was decorated with a scarlet rose, and the Yorks, on whose coat of arms, respectively, there was a white rose.

The Hundred Years' War between England and France ended, and thousands of disappointed people began to return to Foggy Albion. England lost the war! Henry the Sixth of Lancaster, King of England, not only suffered from bouts of madness, but also, in moments of rare enlightenment, was not particularly eager to rule the country. He preferred a quiet, secluded life, rather than the routine of government affairs, and even more so, war. So, in fact, England was ruled by the king's wife, Margaret of France (Valois) and her many entourage. But disappointment and awareness of the bitterness of defeat in the war with France somehow did not add to the queen’s people’s love.

Richard of York was the first to declare that royal power in the hands of a woman is an absolutely unacceptable matter. And the fact that this woman was also French made the queen the first enemy of the state. Richard of York demanded guardianship, that is, regency over the incompetent king, and after his death, the English crown. And Richard had every reason for such high demands. King Henry the Sixth was the great-grandson of King Edward the Third's third son, John of Gaunt, and Richard York himself was the great-grandson of Edward's second son, Lionel, although on the female side. On the male side, Richard of York was the grandson of the fourth son of Edward the Third, Edmund. Well, and on top of that, the fact that Henry the Sixth’s grandfather, Henry the Fourth Lancaster, forced him to abdicate the throne, seizing power in 1399, cast doubt on the legitimacy, in general, of the entire royal Lancaster dynasty.

Richard York found support from many families of the English aristocracy. The second half of the nobility sided with the Lancasters. And so a bloody civil strife ensued, dividing the country into two irreconcilable warring camps for thirty years. (The war lasted from 1455 to 1485.) In this war, the Yorks periodically won, the Lancasters periodically won, and their supporters often forgot their vassal oaths and ran from camp to camp. In a word, in this war all the knightly ideals of that time were forgotten and trampled upon. The word “loyalty” lost all meaning for many nobles; they easily changed their political convictions as soon as one of the parties to this great confrontation lured them with a more generous reward. This war was also distinguished by rare cruelty even for that time. In 1455, Richard of York defeated the Lancastrian army, took King Henry the Sixth himself prisoner and forced the Upper House of Parliament to recognize himself as regent and heir to the throne. Queen Margaret, of course, did not agree with this decision.

She fled north and soon returned to England with an army of thousands. She won the battle by ordering the head of the already dead Richard, who died in this battle, to be cut off. The head was decorated with a paper crown, painted gold, and it hung over the gates of the city of York for a long time. Queen Margaret also violated the knightly custom of leaving life to all the vanquished. She ordered the execution of all supporters of Richard York who surrendered. The son of the murdered Richard of York, Edward, in 1461, with the support of the Earl of Warwick, gathered an army and defeated the Lancastrians, forcing Margaret to flee to Scotland again. Henry the Sixth, who by that time hardly understood what was happening in the country, was deposed, and Edward was crowned at Westminster as the new English monarch under the name of Edward the Fourth. The new king decided to follow Margaret's example and ordered the heads of all noble supporters of the Lancastrians to be cut off. But the war did not end there either. The weak-minded King Henry was imprisoned in the Tower, and Edward's fanatical desire to strengthen his power, while weakening the power of his barons, only led to the fact that his former supporters sided with Henry the Sixth.

As a result, King Edward was forced to flee England. The unfortunate King Henry was again seated on the English throne in 1470. A year later, Edward returned with an army and again won the crown for himself. Now, just in case, he decided to kill the king, whom he immediately imprisoned again in the Tower, announcing to everyone that he had died of some strange disease. Queen Margaret was redeemed from captivity by the French king a few years later. After Edward's death, the throne was to be inherited by his eldest son, Edward the Fifth, but he was removed from power by Richard of Gloucester, the younger brother of the late king. He declared himself protector, and later heir to the throne, subsequently ordering Edward and his younger brother to be imprisoned in the Tower, where they were killed.

Richard the Third tried to pursue a wise policy, trying to restore the country after thirty years of military devastation. His actions were not to the liking of many feudal lords, and former supporters of the Lancasters and Yorks began to unite around a new contender for the throne, a distant relative of the Lancasters, who lived in France in exile. In 1485, Henry's troops landed on the English coast. Richard the Third hurried with his army to meet them. At the Battle of Bosworth, at the most crucial moment, supporters of Richard III betrayed him, going over to the enemy’s side. But the king refused to run, even when someone brought him a horse. He decided to die as a king. A fatal blow to the head with a battle ax caused the crown to fly off the helmet. She was immediately lifted from the bloody slurry and placed on the head of Henry Tudor. Thus ended the three-decade war between Lancaster and York. Henry Tudor combined Scarlet and White roses, taking as his wife the daughter of Edward the Fourth, Elizabeth.

War of the Scarlet and White Roses (1455-85), an internecine war in England, for the throne between two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty - Lancaster (scarlet rose in the coat of arms) and York (white rose in the coat of arms). The death in the war of the main representatives of both dynasties and a significant part of the nobles facilitated the establishment of Tudor absolutism.

The causes of the war were the difficult economic situation of England (the crisis of the large patrimonial economy and the fall in its profitability), the defeat of England in the Hundred Years' War (1453), which deprived the feudal lords of the opportunity to plunder the lands of France; suppression of Jack Cad's rebellion in 1451 and with it the forces opposing feudal anarchy. The Lancasters relied mainly on the barons of the backward north, Wales and Ireland, the Yorks - on the feudal lords of the economically more developed south-east of England. The middle nobility, merchants and wealthy townspeople, interested in the free development of trade and crafts, the elimination of feudal anarchy and the establishment of firm power, supported the Yorks.

Under the weak-minded King Henry 6th Lancaster (1422-61), the country was ruled by a clique of several large feudal lords, which aroused discontent among the rest of the population. Taking advantage of this discontent, Richard, Duke of York, gathered his vassals around him and went with them to London. At the Battle of St. Albans on May 22, 1455, he defeated the supporters of the Scarlet Rose. Soon removed from power, he again rebelled and declared his claims to the English throne. With an army of his followers, he won victories over the enemy at Bloor Heath (September 23, 1459) and North Hampton (July 10, 1460); during the latter, he captured the king, after which he forced the upper house to recognize himself as protector of the state and heir to the throne. But Queen Margaret, wife of Henry the 6th, and her followers unexpectedly attacked him at Wakefield (December 30, 1460). Henry was completely defeated and fell in this battle. His enemies cut off his head and displayed it on the wall of York wearing a paper crown. His son Edward, with the support of the Earl of Warwick, defeated the supporters of the Lancastrian dynasty at Mortimers Cross (February 2, 1461) and Towton (March 29, 1461). Henry 6th was deposed, he and Margaret fled to Scotland. The winner became King Edward 4th.

Secret meeting of kings and dukes in the garden.

However, the war continued. In 1464, Henry IV defeated Lancastrian supporters in the north of England. Henry 6th was captured and imprisoned in the Tower. The desire of Edward 4th to strengthen his power and limit the freedoms of the feudal nobility led to an uprising of his former supporters, led by Warwick (1470). Edward fled England, Henry 6th was restored to the throne in October 1470. In 1471, Edward 4th at Barnet (April 14th) and Tewkesbury (May 4th) defeated the army of Warwick and the army of Henry 6th's wife Margaret, who landed in England with the support of the French king Louis 11th. Warwick was killed, Henry 6th was again deposed in April 1471 and died (presumably killed) in the Tower on May 21, 1471. War is over...

After the victory, in order to strengthen his power, Edward 4th began brutal reprisals against both representatives of the Lancastrian dynasty and the rebellious Yorks and their supporters. After the death of Edward the 4th April 9, 1483, the throne passed to his young son Edward the 5th, but power was seized by the younger brother of Edward the 4th, the future king Richard the 3rd, who first declared himself the protector of the young king, and then deposed him and ordered him to be strangled in the Tower along with his younger brother Richard. Attempts by Richard 3rd to strengthen his power were met by uprisings of feudal magnates. Executions and confiscations of property turned supporters of both groups against him. Both dynasties, Lancaster and York, united around Henry Tudor, a distant relative of the Lancasters, who lived in France at the court of King Charles the 8th. On the 7th or 8th August 1485, Henry landed at Milford Haven, marched unopposed through Wales and joined forces with his followers. From their united army, Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485; he himself was killed. Henry 7th, founder of the Tudor dynasty, became king. Having married the daughter of Edward 4th Elizabeth, the heiress of York, he combined scarlet and white roses in his coat of arms.

Family tree of the kings of England:

The War of the Scarlet and White Roses was the last rampant of feudal anarchy before the establishment of absolutism in England. It was carried out with terrible cruelty and was accompanied by numerous murders and executions. Both dynasties were exhausted and died in the struggle. For the population of England, the war brought strife, oppression of taxes, theft of the treasury, the lawlessness of large feudal lords, a decline in trade, outright robberies and requisitions. During the wars, a significant part of the feudal aristocracy was exterminated, numerous confiscations of land holdings undermined its power. At the same time, land holdings increased and the influence of the new nobility and merchant merchant class, which became the support of Tudor absolutism, increased. In honor of this war, gardeners developed a new variety of rose, which has white and red flowers growing on one bush.

In the second half of the 15th century, Great Britain was shaken by a terrible Civil War between supporters of the two branches of the ruling Plantagenet dynasty - Lancaster and York. Since, going into battle, Lancastrian supporters attached to their armor scarlet rose, and the symbol of York was a white flower, behind the bloody events of 1455-85 with light hand Walter Scott stuck poetic title"War of the Scarlet and White Roses"

Background and causes of the conflict

Henry V Lancaster ruled Great Britain from 1413-22. He was one of greatest commanders of his time and a talented ruler. Like his predecessors, Henry V fought the French on the fields of the Hundred Years' War. In this matter, Henry V achieved great success. He not only included part of the French possessions in his state and married the French princess Catherine of Valois, but also insisted that in the future his and Catherine’s son would become the king of both powers.

However, fate played with the English king cruel joke. At the age of 35, he died of illness, and his heir, Henry VI, who received the throne at the age of one, became an adult and found himself not only deprived of his father’s talents, but also mentally ill.

Henry VI was rapidly losing control of the French lands where troops under the leadership of Joan of Arc were operating. In 1453, the Hundred Years' War ended with the loss of all English possessions on the continent, with the exception of the city of Calais. However, the internal affairs of the mad king were not much better. After defeat in the Hundred Years' War, the nobles decided that Henry VI, whose mental health was in last years has seriously deteriorated and is in need of a regent. It was decided to make the king’s cousin, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, such. This proposal greatly frightened the queen, Margaret of Anjou, who believed that Richard would push her and Henry’s son, Edward, away from the throne. During periods of her husband's madness, the country was ruled by Margarita herself - an educated and powerful woman, however, she was not very popular among the British. Therefore, Margaret’s protests did not meet with support from the nobles (by that time a powerful party of large feudal lords had formed around the Duke of York) and Richard Plantagenet received the title of protector.

By 1455, Henry VI's condition had improved significantly and he decided to return to independent rule. Margaret insisted that the York party be expelled from the Great Royal Council. The Duke of York was not ready to give up his high title, so, having enlisted the support of the powerful Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, he gathered an army to regain the throne by force.

Thus, the causes of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses were:

• the results of the Hundred Years' War, which not only led to economic collapse, but also greatly affected the authority of the royal power;
• peasant uprisings 1450-51;
• the attitude of the British towards the Frenchwoman Margaret of Anjou;
• political instability associated with the health of the English king;
• the crisis of patrimonial land ownership caused by outdated feudal orders;
• the presence of different branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fighting for power.

In a broader sense, the War of the Roses was not just a clash between different representatives royal family, but rather between two ways of life and economic systems. The ruling king and his wife were supported by the northern barons - staunch conservatives, whose possessions were located in the most economically backward region of the country, and residents of the economically developed southeast of England - merchants, artisans and the most progressive nobles - spoke for York.

Course of events

The first military clash between the Yorks and the Lancastrians took place in May 1455 at St. Albans. The army of Henry VI turned out to be smaller and weaker, so the victory remained with the White Rose. Many high-ranking Lancastrian supporters fell in this battle. The victory allowed the head of the White Rose to declare himself Lord High Constable of England and heir to Henry VI. Minor skirmishes between the two parties continued until 1460, when the Yorks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Lancastrians at Northampton. The king was captured by the Yorks, so Richard York was able to enter London unhindered. However, the fight was continued by Margaret of Anjou, who escaped captivity. Through her efforts, the Lancastrian supporters managed to defeat the Yorks at Wakefield that same year. In this battle, Richard York died without receiving the coveted English crown.

After the death of the Duke of York, his eldest son, Edward, became the head of the White Rose. In 1461, the new king inflicted several defeats on the Lancastrians. The largest was the Battle of Towton, as a result of which Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower, and Margaret of Anjou and her son were forced to flee the country. After the victory, Edward York was crowned in London under the name of Edward IV, bypassing the legal heir to the throne. By decree of the new king, the Lancasters themselves and their supporters were declared traitors.

However, Edward IV could not find mutual language about your subjects. The king was distinguished by a tough character, which led to the fact that many of his supporters chose to go to the Lancastrian camp. Among the defectors were the king’s younger brother, the Duke of Clarence, and the experienced intriguer Earl of Warwick, whom his contemporaries gave him the nickname “kingmaker.”

In 1470, the Lancastrians, having secured the support of new allies, opposed Edward IV. The young king was driven to Burgundy. Meanwhile, Warwick managed to free Henry VI and return him to his former place. The Lancastrian king, whose mental state was completely shaken by that time, did not participate in any way in government affairs, the powerful Earl of Warwick had real power at court. The “Kingmaker” planned in the future to replace the mad king from the Lancaster family with his younger brother, George. To achieve this, Earl Warwick carried out yet another intrigue: having provoked the Lancastrian opponents into yet another action, he convinced Henry VI to set out on an obviously failed punitive campaign. The king fell into a trap and the cunning count took him to one of his castles, supposedly for protection. In fact, to take prisoner. Henry VI realized too late that his former ally had betrayed him, but there was nothing he could do.

Meanwhile, Edward IV raised a new army, made peace with the Duke of Clarence and renewed the fight for the throne. In 1471, he managed to inflict several serious defeats on the Lancastrians. In one of them the Earl of Warwick was killed. But the real disaster awaited the Lancasters near Tewkesbury. After the battle, this place was called the “bloody meadow.” In this battle, not only almost all Lancastrian supporters were destroyed, but also the only heir of Henry VI - Prince Edward. Margaret of Anjou and the young widow of the prince who died on the battlefield were captured by Edward IV. Henry VI outlived his son by only a few days. Shortly after the York victory in the “bloody meadow,” it was announced that Henry VI Lancaster had died of grief upon learning of the death of his son. Both historians and contemporaries of those events had every reason not to believe in the version that explained the death of the former king by natural causes. It is likely that Edward IV decided to get rid of the last legitimate contender for the English crown.

For some time, relative calm reigned in England. But in 1483 Edward IV of York died. By law, the throne was inherited by his young son under the name of Edward V of York. However, this decision was opposed by the boy’s uncle, Richard Gloucester, one of the younger brothers of the deceased king. He declared his brother's sons illegitimate and ordered that the boys be sent to the Tower. Historians know nothing more about their further fate. Apparently the princes were killed and secretly buried on the orders of their uncle. So Richard III of Gloucester became the new English king. The new king set about establishing internal order, however, he had to face strong opposition in the form of the Yorks and the seemingly completely broken Lancasters.

The strength to resist returned to the Scarlet Rose camp after it was led by Henry Tudor, the grandson of Catherine of Valois and nephew of Henry VI. After the death of Henry V, Catherine Valois remained a young woman, so she soon began a secret affair with a Welsh nobleman, Owen Tudor. From this relationship the couple had six children, including the father of Henry Tudor.

In August 1485, Henry Tudor, who lived almost his entire life in France, set off with his army across the English Channel and landed on the English coast. Richard III met him on Bosworth Field. During the battle, many nobles left the camp of Richard III, running over to his enemy. The king himself was killed and Henry VII Tudor was proclaimed the new ruler of England. In 1487, one of Richard's nephews of Gloucester attempted to overthrow Henry VII from the throne, but the attempt failed. Thus, the civil war in England ended with the nominal victory of the Scarlet Rose, but in fact with the suppression of the Plantagenet dynasty.

Results of the War of the Roses in England

Henry VII managed to establish peace in the country. He married the daughter of Edward IV, as if uniting the Scarlet and White Roses together. However, the war ended, rather, due to the fact that the country was completely drained of blood, and from the huge noble clans only their most insignificant representatives remained, incapable of a serious struggle for power. The thirty-year conflict led to a number of varied consequences:

• establishment of Tudor power;
• complete extermination of the oldest and most distinguished English noble families. Although the Scarlet and White Roses were represented by compatriots, many of whom were related, the clashes between the two sides were marked by great bloodshed. Noble clans were slaughtered completely, including women, old people and children. No one was taken prisoner, the enemy was destroyed in the bud;
• England's complete renunciation of claims to French lands;
• the strengthening of the merchant class, which replaced the nobility and became the main social support of the Tudors.

The tragic events of the 15th century, replete with almost detective plot twists, became a source of inspiration for many authors: William Shakespeare with his plays “Henry VI” and “Richard III”, Walter Scott and George Martin.

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