Wars of the Roses Voyage Tips and guide

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The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars in 15th century England.

The wars were an outcome of the Kingdom of France's victory against England in the Hundred Years War and heralded the Tudor Renaissance, and were as such the transition from medieval England to early modern England.

The Plantagenets were the royal dynasty that succeeded the Normans in England and Wales. Rival branches fell out and vied for the throne; the leading contenders were the Duke of York (symbolised by a white rose ) and the Duke of Lancaster . In Shakespeare's Henry VI Part I, rival barons pick white or red roses to show their allegiance. This is fiction, and the red rose for Lancaster was only invented after the conflict ended, but the term "Wars of the Roses" was popularised in the 19th century by Sir Walter Scott. It's since inspired endless novels, films, TV epics, and video games: the Muppets have yet to give it their inimitable treatment, though some of the war leaders displayed similar military genius. The conflict was always between rival dukes not cities or counties, but "Wars of the Roses" has become a lazy journalistic cliche for any Yorks-versus-Lancs sporting contest.

Preferably on horseback mounted on your destrier, with the aim of capturing the City of London.

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Map of Wars of the Roses

When Edward III died in 1377, his eldest son Edward “the Black Prince” had died the year before, so his grandson succeeded instead as Richard II, aged 10. Inevitably young Richard was in the hands of courtiers and advisers. His later rule was relatively stable but from 1397 he became an erratic tyrant, executing more of his opponents than was considered polite even by medieval standards.

Henry Bolingbroke was another grandson of Edward III via John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He’d been exiled to France but in 1399 returned in force, finding support from other barons and Richard conveniently absent in Ireland. By the time Richard returned it was too late and he was deposed without putting up a fight. Bolingbroke became Henry IV and imprisoned Richard, who soon died in Pontefract Castle. It was probably by starvation, but later writers had fun inventing lurid deaths for him.

Pontefract is a market town in Yorkshire whose motto “Post Mortem Patris Pro Filio” arose in the 17th century Civil Wars, when it stood out for the Royalists even after the beheading of Charles I. The victorious Cromwell made sure to smash the castle, but it’s still an impressive ruin.

The House of Lancaster was now top dog and the Yorkists mighty sore. There were to be three Henrys but Shakespeare spun out the saga to six: Henry IV Parts One and Two, Henry V, and Henry IV Parts One, Two and Three.

The future Henry IV was born in 1367 at Bolingbroke Castle in Spilsby in Lincolnshire, now a ruin that you visit. He faced incessant rebellions, overseas wars that eroded his territories in France, and rumours that the deposed Richard was about to emerge from hiding to reclaim the throne. Henry was often seriously ill, and he died aged 45 in 1413. His tomb is in Canterbury Cathedral.

His eldest son Henry, born 1386 in Monmouth Castle, turned out to be a brilliant military leader. As Henry V he renewed the war with France, with a string of victories culminating at Agincourt in 1415. The peace deal was that he got to marry the daughter of King Charles VI of France and would inherit the crown from that sad old madman, who surely couldn’t last long. But then Henry fell ill and died near Paris, aged only 35, while Charles outlived him by a couple of months.

His son Henry VI was only eight months old when he became king. He was placed in the care of regents, who intrigued and quarrelled mightily. He was also crowned King of France, as the French abided by the peace deal until it became obvious that neither the regents nor the growing Henry VI had remotely the same military prowess as his father. English power imploded, Joan of Arc routed them in France, and in 1454 Henry became a catatonic recluse. Parliament decided to recall his nearest senior relative Richard Duke of York from exile in Ireland, who began to sort out the mess, at which point Henry snapped out of his catatonia and rescinded Richard’s actions. But Richard had a bigger and better army, and believed himself the true heir to the throne. The two factions’ armies met at St Albans. Game on.

Both sides set out towards Leicester, where Henry IV planned to denounce Richard and impose a gruesome punishment. Henry rode out with the 2000-strong Lancastrian force, commanded by the Duke of Buckingham as their usual commander Duke of Somerset had overseen too many debacles. It was mainly Somerset that Richard Duke of York was gunning for, and a tame captive king would suit him better than regicide. As his own force of maybe 5000 approached St Albans, they found the Lancastrians already ensconced there.

22 May 1455 was the first outright battle of the War of the Roses, and a rare example of a battle fought in city streets, rather than open country where you could deploy cavalry. York attacked from the south, with the Lancastrians defending a line near the cathedral, but his first attack was beaten back. A second attack found an undefended quarter of town and caught the Lancastrians off guard, perhaps expecting the Yorkists to negotiate or slink away. So barely 30 minutes after battle began, Henry IV was taken prisoner and Somerset was hacked to pieces.

51.7504-0.33751 St Albans was the Roman town of Verulanium, and takes its present name from Alban the first British Christian martyr. Most of its heritage relates to that era and to the medieval period when it became a cathedral city. Castle Street was the battlefront.

Thus fell the House of Lancaster, and began the rule of York. Richard and his prisoners returned to London: his existing status was as “Lord Protector”, holding power whenever Henry was unable to rule. It wasn’t difficult to persuade Parliament to re-confirm that position, nor to persuade the wounded Henry that he was feeling a bit off-colour and not up to doing any ruling.

The situation was unstable, as Henry was still the nominal king, and both sides had powerful supporters. Lancastrian support was organised by Henry’s consort Queen Margaret of Anjou. In Feb 1456 Henry declared he was feeling much better thank you, away you go York. York suspected that something worse than dismissal was imminent: he had 5000 troops at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire, and called them to join his main force at Ludlow Castle near the Welsh border. The Lancastrians marched north under Lord Audley to intercept, and on 23 Sep 1459 laid an ambush on Blore Heath two miles east of Market Drayton. Their 10,000 troops hid behind a hedge, but with the benefit of hindsight, it was maybe a mistake to leave their banners and pennants fluttering above the hedge for all the world to see.

The heath was open grazing land, the preferred terrain for cavalry, but a deep ditch ran across it. The outnumbered Yorkists (led by Lord Salisbury) reckoned that whoever attacked first would suffer serious losses. So they pretended to retreat, and the Lancastrians fell for it. Three attacks were launched to no gain and great cost, Lord Audley was slain, some 500 Lancastrians defected and laid about their own side, and the Yorkists won.

52.913611-2.4247222 Blore Heath has a plaque at the site but that’s all.

Another Yorkist ally now entered the arena: the Earl of Warwick, who'd distinguished himself on the continent and controlled the English Channel, where he was a brutal pirate looting even neutral ships. His army crossed from Calais, dodged the Lancastrians and joined York at Ludlow. But still the Yorkists were outnumbered two-to-one. They set off towards London but when they met the Lancastrians in strength they retreated to Worcester then Ludlow, where they had to make a stand.

52.368-2.7173 Ludlow is a charming market town in Shropshire. The highlight is the castle, which has a grand bailey: you could shelter a large army and the entire town population within if you had to. The old road from the south enters town through the hamlet of Ludford and the bridge across the River Teme, which was formerly the boundary with Herefordshire. The Yorkists barricaded the bridge and dug in for a fight.

But on 12 Oct 1459 here comes Henry himself in shining armour, looking every inch the noble warrior leader. The Yorkist spiel was that they were never fighting the king, just his wicked advisers and courtiers who were taking advantage of a pathetic idiot. But now? - now to fight was treason, especially if you lost, and the numbers said you'd lose, even before 600 of your side defected. The Yorkists lost heart. Along with Warwick, the Duke of York scarpered back to the castle, leaving his family to be captured and his troops to tamely surrender next morning. The so-called "Battle of Ludford Bridge" was a bloodless walkover.

The Duke of York retreated to his power base in Dublin and Warwick to his in Calais, where they rebuffed Lancastrian schemes to oust them. Against Calais the Lancastrians built an invasion fleet at Sandwich, but Warwick swooped in and stole the ships: sometimes it really pays to have a pirate on your side. The port was also captured by Yorkist land assault, so now they had a bridgehead whenever Warwick's forces returned.

Sandwich was one of the "Cinque Ports" responsible for England's maritime defence. The sea was retreating along the Kent coast, and the river changed its course, so Sandwich became literally a backwater. This means its medieval centre was preserved.

_{The Rose after the battle's date shows the winning side.}

52.2201-0.89321 Battle of Northampton (1460 ).  

53.68027-1.492222 Battle of Wakefield (1460 ).  

52.318-2.8693 Battle of Mortimer's Cross (1461 ) (west of Leominster).  

Second Battle of St Albans (1461 ).  

53.836-1.2744 Battle of Towton (1461 ) (south of Tadcaster).  

54.97-2.15 Battle of Hexham (1464 ).  

52.1144-1.247226 Battle of Edgcote (1469 ) (6 mi (9.7 km) north east of Banbury). A rebel victory, against a royal army handing power to the Earl of Warwick [who was not there].  

52.686107 Battle of Losecoat Field (1470 ) (near Stanford).  

Warwick entered London in triumph and freed Henry VI from the Tower on 6 October 1470.

51.662-0.28 Battle of Barnet (1471 ). Warwick died in the battle in the fog allowing Edward IV to march into the City of London  

51.987232-2.159169 Battle of Tewkesbury (1471 ).  

52.57682-1.44021310 Battle of Bosworth Field (1485 ) (13 mi (21 km) west of Leicester with its King Richard III Visitor Centre). where King Richard III of York 1483-1485 was slain. (updated Dec 2022)

51.5081-0.07621 Tower of London (1460 ) (outside the city's walls north of the [new] Tower Bridge), [email protected]. Besieged in 1460. The Lancastrian garrison were starved into surrender. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. £25.  

55.6086-1.70852 Bamburgh Castle (1464 ), North west of Seahouses. Besieged in 1464 and captured by the Duke of Warwick for the house of York.  

52.85996-4.109133 Harlech Castle (Welsh: Castell Harlech 1461-8 ), Harlech, LL46 2YH. Held by Lancastrian forces 1461-7. Jasper Tudor landed French reinforcements there. It was captured by the Yorkists 1468 .  

51.67709-4.920974 Pembroke Castle, Pembroke, SA71 4LE. The birthplace of King Henry VII . £10.00.  

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• Castles in Britain and Ireland
• Medieval Britain and Ireland