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Readeption of Henry VI

Towton Rout by Graham Turner

After the Battle of Towton in 1461, Edward IV had good reasons to feel relatively secure on his throne. Although his rival, Henry VI was not taken prisoner until 1465, Edward had strong support from the Earl of Warwick and his own optimism and charisma to buoy him. Any battles that took place in the decade following Towton were Yorkist victories, with the exception of Edgecote Moor in 1469. That battle, however, had only convinced Edward to take his enemies more seriously, not to doubt himself. That changed when Edward was forced to flee the country to escape the joint forces of Margaret of Anjou, Warwick, and his own brother, George of Clarence.

This set of unlikely allies made it possible for Henry VI to be returned to the position that had been his since before his first birthday. Margaret had clear motivations, she had been the most staunch supporter of her husband and her son's future right to inherit from the beginning. She had been forced to unite with the former Yorkists in order to gain a victory. Warwick, disappointed that Edward was making his own decisions instead of following his guidance, had decided to gamble on an improved position for himself as counselor to Margaret and father-in-law to George. Never content with what his brother gave him, George had married Warwick's oldest daughter and hoped to steal his brother's throne.

Henry VI

With Edward in exile accompanied by his greatest supporter, his youngest brother Richard of Gloucester, his three enemies reinstated the feeble minded Henry of Lancaster as king. Warwick and Clarence were content to rule in the king's name. Henry could hardly walk any distance without support and was now famous for lengthy stretches of non-responsive insanity. The victory did not last long.

Edward had fled in October 1470, leaving his wife forced to claim sanctuary where she gave birth to the couple's first son, Prince Edward. In March 1471, Edward returned to fight for his crown and the right to someday have it placed upon his son's head.

The Lancastrians may have underestimated the popularity of the York king. Though he landed with only a small force provided for him by the Duke of Burgundy, Edward soon had additional followers, including the brother that had betrayed him time and again, George of Clarence. Finally seeing that Warwick had no intention to press his claim, George determined that he may be better off with his brother in charge after all. With both of his brothers at his side, Edward defeated Warwick at the battle of Barnet.

Edward IV

With Warwick dead, Margaret once again took up her husband's fight. Against her wishes, her only son took the field at Tewkesbury where he was killed. With nothing left to fight for, Margaret was captured and taken to the Tower to join her husband. 

Henry VI, a man who had failed to bear arms in the bloody battles that had been fought in his name, died on May 21, 1471. The cause of death was given as melancholy at the news of his son's death, but he was likely put to death at Edward's orders. His readeption had lasted approximately six months and left countless more Englishmen dead. The Wars of the Roses would seem to be over until Edward's untimely death twelve years later.

Guest Post at Tudors Weekly

I am happy to be a guest blogger today at Tudors Weekly, discussing the relationship between Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor.

How Did Henry Tudor Become King?

Love him or hate him, one has to admit that Henry Tudor defied all odds when he claimed the kingdom of England as his own. When the crown was laid on his head on August 22, 1485, it likely surprised him as much as the rest of the country. Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, certainly had not expected to be defeated by the "Welsh milksop." How did it happen? What chain of events fell into place to turn a minor half Welsh nobleman into a king?

Henry's ascendancy cannot be credited to his bloodline. Though history enthusiasts argue to this day regarding the strength of his claim, Henry himself made little attempt to justify his grasp at power that way. He claimed his rich Welsh heritage through his grandfather, Owen Tudor. His mother, Margaret Beaufort, did have a bloodline that eventually reached back to Edward III through John of Gaunt's mistress, but this was hardly a fact that would place him near the throne.

Except that it did.

Henry may not have had much royal blood, but with noble cousins killing each other on battlefields for the last 30 years of the Wars of the Roses, few stronger options existed. Yes, there were other relations, but each remaining family line had some weakness in it before it reached back to a solid royal root. In the end, the fitness of his blood didn't matter, because Henry Tudor won the crown through conquest, just as his distant relative William of Normandy had.

Why was England in this state where distant royal bastard lines were considered for kingship? It all started with the many sons of Edward III. 

Edward III's heir gave all signs of being a medieval knight quite capable of following in his father's footsteps. Probably for his dark armor, or possibly because of acts committed in France, this younger Edward became known as the Black Prince. Unfortunately, the he died shortly before his father, leaving a young Richard II on the throne surrounded by uncles and cousins who coveted power.

Richard II was forced to abdicate by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, who was the son of John of Gaunt - another of Edward III's sons. When he became king in 1399, Henry IV set the stage for the Wars of the Roses that would clear the way for the Tudor dynasty. Considered the Lancastrian branch of the Plantagenet royal family due to John of Gaunt's title as Duke of Lancaster, Henry's reign almost immediately came under fire from the Mortimer family, which had ties to Edward III's second son, George, and fourth son, Edmund. Henry proved capable of quelling those rebellions, and the country rallied behind his son when he became Henry V.

Henry V was considered everything that a medieval king should be. He pressed to reclaim lands in France that had previously been in English hands under Henry II, the original Plantagenet king. No one felt a need to point out that his father had been a usurper. Things might have gone on swimmingly had Henry V not died too young, leaving a 9 month old Henry VI as king.

Henry VI was raised and advised by his uncles, and never seemed capable of shaking his need for their instruction - or at least someone's instruction. His mother was Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France who was quite insane when he died. Both Catherine and Henry would eventually demonstrate signs that they suffered the same malady.

The young widow Catherine made a scandalous second marriage to a servant of her household. His name was Owen Tudor. This connection gives Henry Tudor one link to the royal family, but not his strongest one. It did, however, give him his Tudor name that would go down in history.

Henry VI proved completely incapable of ruling, becoming victim to those who would manipulate and mislead him before falling into long trances of madness. Soon the Duke of York was pressing his claim as heir presumptive, and calling Henry unfit for duty. Were it not for the strength, or some would say stubbornness of Henry's queen Margaret of Anjou, that may have been an end of things. Richard of York may have been king as agreed by Henry when he made him his heir, disinheriting his own young son.

Margaret took the fight to the York supporters, and many noblemen answered her call in defense of their anointed king. Over the course of three decades, generations of earls and dukes, many of whom could trace their family tree back to reach Edward III, were left dead on fields of battle. By the time Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at Bosworth, there truly were few left who had a better blood claim, and none had struck down the last king in battle.

Before we reach that moment though, we must give attention to England's York kings. Richard Duke of York who had originally taken up the fight was killed in the battle of Wakefield in 1460. Instead of giving them victory, the Lancastrians now were faced with a vengeful Edward Earl of March, now Duke of York. The 17 year old heir of York was the epitome of a soldier, standing tall and golden above the men around him and looking every bit the Plantagenet king that Henry VI was not.

When he became king in 1461, he continued to battle the supporters of Henry VI for over a decade. The fighting did not come to an end until 1471, when the Lancastrian prince was killed in battle and Henry VI was disposed of in the Tower. With nobody to threaten him, Edward IV could have enjoyed a long and peaceful reign. Like his predecessor, Henry V, Edward made the mistake of dying too young and leaving the future vague and turbulent.

His heir was 12 year old Edward, who was immediately proclaimed Edward V with his uncle Richard of Gloucester as protector. Without debating whether Richard was the one who murdered Edward and his brother, we will simply say that it was Richard who was crowned while the young sons of Edward IV disappeared. Their fate as the Princes in the Tower is one of history's greatest mysteries, and was another key slipping into place opening the way for Henry Tudor.

Whether Richard III had done away with the boys or not, enough people questioned his innocence and his motivation in taking his nephew's crown. He faced rebellion from the Duke of Buckingham, who also had a fair share of royal blood, and the constant threat of the followers of Henry Tudor from exile. When Henry landed in Wales, Richard likely saw it as a chance to rid himself of an annoyance. Since Richard's wife and son had both recently died, he had nobody to follow him if he died in battle besides the sons of his sisters and young Edward of Warwick, son of Richard's brother George.

One of those men did challenge Henry VII after he was made the first Tudor king. John de la Pole led forces at Stoke in 1487, supposedly in favor of the imprisoned Edward of Warwick though it is just as likely that de la Pole was fighting for his own rights as Richard III's heir. He was killed, and Henry Tudor cemented his place in history as the father of the Tudor dynasty, a phenomenon that none of his forefathers could have predicted.

Henry also took the step of strengthening his claim through the blood of his wife. He married Elizabeth or York, the oldest child of Edward IV. She was a peaceful and uniting presence, bearing Henry sons to carry on the Tudor name. After more than three centuries, the Plantagenet dynasty was no more, and the Tudors would go on to become one of the most famous dynasties that ever reigned in England.