Another important factor that contributed to the eventual demise of the medieval order of things was the civil wars of the second half of the 15th century commonly known as the Wars of the Roses. The houses of Lancaster (the red rose) and York (the white rose) were both descended from Edward III and had equal claims to the throne of England. The last of the Lancaster kings, Henry VI, had a nervous breakdown in 1453, after which he became a pawn in the hands of whoever seized power, the victim of the rival parties who took sides in the conflict. These civil wars would never have happened if the character of Henry VI had been different. Law and justice in the political system created by William the Conqueror depended on the king making effective use of his nobles, because there was no army or police force. To make the system work the king had skillfully to choose the right allies among nobles and reward them with titles, lands and offices. His failure to do so meant that people now turned to the next best thing, the great lord whose power would protect them. So gradually the whole of England became divided up into groups loyal to this or that lord.
Warwick Castle, the residence of the Earl of Warwick
The only solution to the country’s problems was to get rid of the weak king, and this was finally achieved by Edward of York, Earl of March, descended from both the second and fourth son of Edward III. Supported by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, nicknamed the ‘kingmaker’ because of the decisive role he played in the conflict, Edward defeated the king’s forces and in 1461 was crowned with Warwick’s support. Then, however, Warwick changed sides and tried to bring back Henry, who was a prisoner in the Tower. Henry was restored in 1470, but in 1471 Edward killed Warwick in battle, and a few days later Henry died mysteriously. This signaled the real end of the Wars of the Roses.
Today the Wars of the Roses are often seen through Shakespeare’s plays. It was natural in the 16th century to depict the previous century as a turbulent one from which the Lancastrian Henry VII had rescued the country by defeating the tyrant Richard III and marrying the Yorkist princess Elizabeth. However, as some historians have shown, the reality of 15th century England was very different. In short, normal life went on. Towns tried to keep out of the war by avoiding taking sides. Trade continued as usual. Many of the officers of government stayed in their posts, most of the country saw no fighting at all; on one occasion only was there plunder and pillaging. There were 13 weeks of real fighting during 32 years. Numbers killed ran into hundreds and not thousands. The huge loss of life by the nobility was due to their role in battle, that of leading their knights. What really brought the Wars of the Roses to an end was everyone’s realization that a strong king was needed. The growth of that attitude was to ensure the success of the rule of first Edward IV and later that of Henry VII.
Edward IV ruled for 12 years as a tremendously successful and popular king blessed with nearly all the attributes men looked for in a monarch. When he died his 12-year-old son became Edward V. But before he could be crowned, he and his brother were shut up in the Tower by their uncle, who had himself crowned instead as Richard III. A month later the two boys were murdered, although there is no proof that Richard was responsible for this double murder. His enemies started looking for a leader. It wasn’t an easy task to find one, for all the most prominent members of both royal houses, as well as the most powerful noble families had been wiped out during the wars. Finally Henry Tudor, a powerful Welsh lord was found, whose mother was descended from Edward III. Henry accepted the offer, landed in Wales and defeated and killed Richard at the Battle of Bosworth, near Leicester. Richard’s death at Bosworth was to usher in the Tudor age, for the victor was quickly proclaimed Henry VII.