KING EDWARD III was born in Windsor Castle on 13th November 1312.
He was the son of EDWARD II and ascended to the throne in 1327 at the age of 14, reigning for 50 years. He married PHILIPPA in 1328 when he was 16 and she was only 14.

This was an arranged marriage, and she bore him thirteen children. Of these, five were sons who lived into adulthood, and their rivalry would eventually bring about the long-running civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses.

Even though he was married and the father of many children, Edward was always dominated by his mother ISABELLA (1296–1358).

She, and her lover Roger Mortimer, despised her husband and,were thought to be responsible for cruelly murdering his father Edward II at Berkeley Castle in 1327.

In October 1330 Mortimer was arrested at Nottingham and sentenced to death.
He was executed at Tyburn in London and Isabella was exiled from court.

On the death of his father, EDWARD III was quickly crowned king of England, although it would take a few years for him to gain complete control of his kingdom.
The hundred-year war with France, (in fact it lasted 116 years from 1337 until 1453), took up the largest part of Edward's reign. also the Black Death swept across England and northern Europe throughout 1348-1350, removing nearly half the population.

Edward's son, also Edward, won fame in battle as THE BLACK PRINCE. Some say he was called this because of the colour of his armour while others thought it was because of his bad temper.

Domestically, England saw many changes during Edward's reign. Parliament was divided into two Houses, the Lords and the Commons, and they met regularly to finance the war. Treason was defined by law for the first time (in 1352), the office of Justice of the Peace was created (in 1361) and English officially replaced French as the national language (in 1362). Philippa died in 1369 and in the last years of Edward's reign he was once again
dominated by a woman.
This time it was by his mistress, Alice Perrers. Alice preferred one of Edward's other sons, JOHN OF GAUNT over the Black Prince, which caused political conflicts in Edward's last years.

In 1374 (five years after Blanche's death), John ordered that effigies be made of himself and his late wife. Twenty-five years later, he and Blanche were buried side by side in St. Paul's Cathedral. This Duke of Lancaster would be related to 3 English Kings and the Red Rose would be their war cry.

EDMUND of LANGLEY was called "of Langley" because of his his birthplace at the Royal Palace of Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. He was the fifth son of King Edward III, and he too was a soldier who fought against the French.

In 1372, Edmund married the Princess Isabel of Castile, the youngest daughter of King Pedro "the Cruel".
In 1385 he was created Duke of York and when Richard II went to Ireland in 1394, the Duke was appointed guardian of the realm in his absence. When the House of Lancaster ruled the country he retired from court to his palace in Langley, where he died on the 1st August 1402.
This Duke of York would also be related to 3 English Kings and the White Rose would be their war cry.
Both brothers ended up on different sides, but it was to be the sudden death of King Edwards first born son that would split a family and start a war.

The king's health was failing and he was becoming senile. But, the year before he died in1377, the Black Prince passed away in 1376 at the age of 46, leaving his ten-year-old son RICHARD II as heir to the throne.

THE BLACK PRINCE had married JOAN THE FAIR MAID OF KENT (born 1328) in 1361 and Richard was their only child.

Richard was then taken to Pontefract Castle, where he was probably murdered, and Henry the Duke of Lancaster became KING HENRY IV
in 1399. Richards death was not officially announced, (due to the fact that some believed he was still alive), until February 1400. Then it was let known that the old king had died from starvation due to his hunger strike (his body was exhibited in London).
Because Richard left no heir to the throne a long struggle began for the crown by the descendants of EDWARD III

HENRY IV was born in Bolingbroke Castle in 1367,the son of JOHN OF GAUNT and BLANCHE OF LANCASTER. He married MARY BOHUN (in 1380), and she bore him seven children before her death in 1394.
Only one of them, HENRY of LANCASTER, (born 1387), would have any real bearing on the civil wars which followed. In 1402, Henry remarried, taking as his bride Joan of Navarre.

From Henry's reign in 1399 until the year 1410 rebellions were happening all over England. These he firmly put down and there were no other uprisings until 1455, which was the start of the War of the Roses.
He had ruled England for 14 years, until his death in Westminster Abbey in 1413 at the age of 46. The peace in the country was kept by his son Henry, the fifth king of England to have that name. When he came to the throne in 1413 he was 26.

Within two years of their marriage, in August 1422, HENRY V died, probably after becoming ill with dysentery.
He was just 35. Now it was the turn of his only son, HENRY VI of Lancaster, who became king of England and France, all at the age of nine months.

 KING HENRY VI was born at Windsor Castle in 1421, and was proclaimed king as an infant, in 1422. He ruled England until 1461, and again from 1470 to 1471. But he was not like his brave father. Because of his own weakness, and that of his government, it was not long before he lost France. Only Calais remained under the control of the English. He was pious and devoted to education, but lacked the governing and military skills to run a country.

In 1445, Henry married MARGARET of ANJOU, (born 1429) and in 1453 their only child, EDWARD, PRINCE of WALES, was born. In that same year, at the age of 32, the king suffered his first attack of mental illness. Control of the country was given to his cousin, RICHARD, DUKE of YORK.

Unfortunately for Somerset, he also had a private feud in the North with the NEVILLES, a very powerful family. When York became Protector, Somerset found himself thrown out of court and into the Tower of London.
In a reversal of fortunes, however, when the King regained his sanity in December 1454, Somerset was freed.
The birth of MARGARET’s son, EDWARD PRINCE of WALES also displaced York as heir and he was excluded from the royal council. This was the real starting point of the war of the roses.

The Yorkists gained popular support as a result of the failure of the English armies in the Hundred Years War and the corruption in Henry's court. Richard now knew that his only way to gain the throne was in battle against his family. In May 1455 the Queen MARGARET and Somerset called a meeting of the Council at Leicester, which
included none of York's supporters.

The Battle at Ludford Bridge was a disaster for the Yorkists, and the Lancastrians immediately took advantage of it.
Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was appointed as Captain of Calais, but Warwick was well liked by his men at the garrison and they did not want him to be replaced. Somerset sailed for Calais with a small force, but on arrival found the city gates closed to him. Queen Margaret organised an army to reinforce Somerset, and he launched daily attacks on Calais.

In March 1460, Warwick secretly left Calais for two months to meet with York in Ireland. During his absence, John, Lord Audley (son of James, Lord Audley, who was killed at Blore Heath), sailed to Calais with supplies for Somerset.
During his crossing, bad weather forced him into Calais harbour, where he was arrested. Although his father,was killed by the Yorkists Audry became good friends with The Duke of York's son,Edward which was to see him change sides and support the white rose.
In early June, after his return from Ireland, Warwick led a raid on Sandwich. He left a small Yorkists force there under the leadership of his uncle, Lord Fauconberg.

On June 26th 1460 Warwick, and his loyal friends, sailed to Sandwich with an army of about two thousand men. From here, they marched to London, gathering support as they went. King Henry and the Lancastrian army were in Coventry and there were not many prominent Lancastrians left in London. At the end of June the Mayor of London informed the Yorkist lords that they could enter the city as long as their soldiers behaved. The Yorkists were
welcomed into London on 2 July, and those Lancastrians that were in the town, hid in the Tower of London.
Warwick left Lord Salisbury to guard the Tower while he marched north to attack the Lancastrian army that were heading south from Coventry.

The Lancastrian army learned of the plans of the Yorkist forces, and stopped at the town of Northampton to build up a defensive position. When Warwick received news that the king's army, under the leadership of the Duke of Buckingham, had made camp in a meadow outside the city walls, he spent many hours trying to contact the King and negotiate a settlement. Henry refuses to listen. No doubt influenced by Buckingham, who wanted a battle with the Yorkists before they were joined by York, ( on his way from Ireland) and Salisbury. But it was the York force who attacked first.
When they reached the Lancastrian position, Lord Grey, a commander of the King's army, ordered his men to lay down their arms and allowed the Yorkists into the camp.

THE BATTLE OF NOTTINGHAM lasted only another half hour after that. The king was soon under Yorkist control,having been found sitting in his tent while others had run away. Warwick then returned to London and handed over the city to Richard when he arrived from
Ireland. But this was not popular with the nobles, as they could not depose of a king to whom they had sworn their loyalty. A compromise was reached, resulting in the Act of Accord. In this act Henry VI was to retain the throne, but York and his sons were designated his heirs.

The Yorkists were now in a position of power, but as Margaret and the Prince of Wales had avoided capture, they were not secure. Warwick sailed for and recaptured Calais and quickly returned to England.
With the Act of Accord King Henry VI’s own son, Edward Prince of Wales, was disinherited. Queen Margaret and the Lancastrians now had a powerful motive for continuing the civil war. Many thought of the Act as a violation of the rights of inheritance, and in a society based on landed wealth this was a serious issue.
When Margaret heard about the Act, she stepped up her recruitment campaign. By the time her army, under the command of Somerset, Northumberland and Devon, reached York, it numbered about 20,000. At York, Margaret publicly protested against the Act of Accord, and challenged Richard to settle the issue in battle.
All those nobles who had not agreed with the Act joined her and in late November her army started marching south.

In early December 1460 Richard and The Earl of Salisbury marched out of London with about 5,000 men. The Earl of Warwick was left to maintain control of the capital and guard the king. York headed for Wakefield, recruiting more troops on the way. When he arrived, he set his men to building trenches and positioning guns at his castle to be in a good defensive position if the Lancastrians attacked.
For some unknown reason and it is still not clear why, York, his son, Edmund, and his small force of men rode out of the relative safety of the castle, to a place called Wakefield Green. Here they attacked a Lancastrian force even though it was twice their size.

Richard held out for some time, but was eventually overwhelmed, pulled from his horse and killed just 500 yards from his castle. With this the Yorkist resistance broke down. Edmund and The Earl of Salisbury were captured and executed. The hatred between the two sides was now intense and the violence displayed at THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD set a precedent for the rest of the Wars.

After proclaiming himself king, Edward IV, with Warwick by his side, gathered the largest force a king had ever put together, and marched north toward the Lancastrian position behind the Aire River.
This was going to be a big battle, with perhaps up to 80,000 on the battle field. This would make it the largest battle ever fought on English soil.
On March 28th 1461 the two sides had a skirmish at Ferry bridge, which was followed by the larger battle of Towton. The Yorkist army was pushed back, and their leader, Lord Fitzwalter, was killed however more Yorkist forces arrived later on in the day and beat back the Lancastrians.

On March 29th 1461, the day after THE BATTLE OF FERRYBRIDGE, the Yorkist forces attacked the Lancastrians up a sloping hill between the villages of Towton and Saxton (about 12 miles from York) Using the snow and the wind direction to their advantage, Edwards archers were able to shoot farther than their enemies.
The Lancastrians believed their best strategy was to charge like the knights of old, and after many hours of intense fighting the Yorkist line showed signs of strain. Continuous hand to hand fighting with axes,swords and anything that could kill or maim were used, as both sides tried to break the others line.
Fortunately the Duke of Norfolk arrived with reinforcements, and Edward's army once more defeated the Lancastrians.
Many drowned in the river in their attempt to escape. King Henry VI, the Queen, and their son fled to Scotland.

The battle had started about 10'o clock in the morning and It would be the longest and largest of any battle of the Wars. The field in which the battle was fought would later be known as "Bloody Meadow". It is estimated that about 20,000 men died in the battle, some have put it as high as 36,000. However, this number includes only the dead on the battlefield. Many more were killed during the rout.
With their armies annihilated the Lancastrians would be unable to put an effective force in the field for several years. Two huge pits were dug, one at Saxton and another near the Cock Beck, and hundreds of bodies were buried there.
THE BATTLE OF TOWTON was won at a very high price. Perhaps the population was tired of
war, as there was peace in the country for the following three years. The Earl of March, Duke of York, heir to Richard Plantagenet was crowed King Edward IV in London on 28th June 1461. But the Lancastrians were plotting their comeback and peace would not last long.

Early in 1464 the Duke of Somerset, who had been pardoned by Edward, decided to join the remaining Lancastrian sympathisers. They managed to secure the castle of Norham.
In mid April 1464 Lord Montagu, (John Neville, Warwick's brother), was sent to the northern border to meet Scottish envoys and escort them through Lancastrian held territory to York. Throughout this journey, Yorkist sympathisers joined Montagu. By the time he left Newcastle, he had a following of about five thousand men. On 25th April 1464, they met up with the main Lancastrian force of similar number at Hedgeley Moor.

THE BATTLE OF HEDGELEY MOOR did not last long, and most of THE Lancastrians were either killed or ran away from the fight.
After his victory, Montagu continued to the border to meet with the Scottish envoys and escorted them to York. The Duke of Somerset led the remaining Lancastrian army south to Hexham.Whi le Montague was making his way south, Edward made plans to head north to deal with the Lancastrians.
Lord Montagu, hearing the Lancastrian army had reached Hexham, decided to go there to meet with the Lancastrians, without waiting for reinforcements.

On 15th May 1464 the Yorkists reached Hexham, taking the Lancastrians totally by surprise. Somerset had no chance to move his troops into an advantageous position. He was obliged to form a line at the base of a hill on which the Yorkists had already taken up position.
It was early morning when Montagu ordered his men to charge down the hill and engage in fierce hand-to-hand fighting with the Lancastrians. When the Lancastrians began to give way under the onslaught, they had their backs to a stretch of river called Devil's Water and could not retreat. Somerset tried in vain to reorganise his troops, but the front ranks were being pushed back.
Those in the rear were pushed into the water and many were drowned under the weight of their armour, while others were crushed to death.
Now the rest of the Yorkists advanced. Once again Lancastrian soldiers fled the battlefield, probably realising that all was lost.

THE BATTLE OF HEXHAM was over, and the captured Somerset was executed the next day. Over the next two months, more than two dozen Lancastrian sympathisers were captured and executed on Montagu's or his brother, Warwick's orders.
The Lancastrian resistance in the north was effectively finished.
Two weeks after his victory at Hexham, Montagu was rewarded for his services to Edward by being granted the Earldom of Northumberland.

After eight years of ruling the country, Edward IV began to drift apart from many of the nobles and his friends. This was MAINLY due to his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. Richard Neville, and his brothers had been among the strongest, most loyal, and most successful of the Yorkist supporters, but now that the fighting was over they found themselves being pushed out of government by the influence of King Edward’s wife.
In early 1469 Warwick was already preparing to rebel against Edward IV. He was secretly arranging for a Papal privilege WHICH WOULD make it legal to marry his eldest daughter to Edward's brother, GEORGE, DUKE of CLARENCE.

GEORGE was born on 21st October 1449 in Dublin. He was the third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York.
Following his father's death and the accession of his elder brother, Edward, to the throne, George was created Duke of Clarence in 1461.

Rebellion against the king was stirring in the north. With all the unrest Edward decided to act, and he left Windsor on 6th June 1469 to make his way slowly to the cause of the troubles.
While he was out of London, Warwick's agents spread rumours that Clarence was the true heir to the Duke of York.
Edward had refused to allow Warwick's daughters to marry into the royal family, and he was rapidly losing his political power. Warwick's only option was to get rid of Edward before the queen had a son. Then Clarence would become king and Warwick's daughter would share the throne. So he took drastic action on 6th July 1469 and set sail for Calais with his brother, his two daughters and Clarence.
Five days later, Clarence and Warwick's daughter Isabelle were married. Now Warwick was once more within reach of power through the King's gullible younger brother. The Duke of Clarence rose up against the king in the summer of 1469 on their return to England.

When Edward reached Newark, with a small army, he realised the threat from the Lancastrians was greater than he  thought. He turned south to Nottingham to recruit troops and await the arrival of reinforcements.
On 12th July 1469 Warwick and Clarence declared openly for the northern rebels, claiming they sought reformation of the government.
By the time they left Canterbury for London on 16th July, they were at the head of a sizable force. While Edward still waited in Nottingham for reinforcements, the Lancastrians continued south. They by- passed Nottingham, hoping to cut off the king from London and reinforcements and to meet up with Warwick’s army.
On 25th July 1469,the Yorkists decided to make camp for the night at Edgecote, but they had scattered their forces several miles apart. The Lancastrians had made camp on the other side of a small river. As night fell it became clear that both forces were closer than they thought, and too close to avoid a battle.

When the Lancastrians attacked the next morning, the Yorkists had to face the attack alone, as there was not enough time for the other half of their army to arrive. Without many archers, the Yorkists were forced to retreat. It was not until the afternoon that both armies were able to join up. About the same time, some of Warwick's forces starting arriving to reinforce their companions. The Royal York army thought Warwick's entire forces had arrived, and it was their turn to break ranks and run away.
After the battle, as many as two thousand Yorkists, mainly welsh soldiers, lay dead. On 29th July 1469 Edward, who was unaware of the events at THE BATTLE OF EDGECOTE, left Nottingham, hoping to be united with many of those that had died. But he was too late and when news of the defeat reached him he was abandoned by all except the most loyal of his followers.
With little alternatives open to him, Edward was placed in the "protection" of Warwick.

Warwick soon found that it was easier to capture Edward than to govern through him. Edward refused to be a puppet king and when the news of his capture reached London, violence broke out. This spread throughout the country as the absence of royal authority resumed feuds between nobles. Added to this was the more serious threat of Lancastrian uprisings. Warwick, realising he was losing control, needed the king's authority to restore some order.
Once again, Edward was in control, and Warwick's plan to run the government had failed. Edward pardoned his brother George and Warwick for their actions. Early in 1470, there was an uprising by Lancastrians in the North. Edward raised an army and attacked the rebels, (who were backed by Warwick), at Empingham. After an initial barrage of cannon, Edward ordered his forces to charge and the rebels fled. The king's forces were victorious and the defeated rebels shed their coats to flee more quickly, (hence THE BATTLE OF LOSECOTE FIELD.)
Edward was furious and Warwick, with the king’s brother George, fled to France to make an alliance with Margaret of Anjou. Edward declared them both traitors.

The first stop in France for Clarence and Warwick was the court of King Louis XI. Here they would do a deal to restore Henry VI, (who was still in the Tower of London), to the throne. Within a few months he had a fleet of about sixty ships, most of which had been acquired through piracy. Now he had the support from Queen Margaret, die-hard Lancastrians, and his own powerful family.
In September 1470 Warwick arranged a revolt in Yorkshire. While Edward was in the north,
he landed at Dartmouth. Caught entirely by surprise, Edward could only run for his life. When he reached the coast at King’s Lynn on 28th September 1470, he had a mere eight hundred men. Waiting to take him away were only three ships, so some of the men had to be left behind. The ships sailed to Flanders, and for the time being the cause of York was lost.
Warwick marched into London and released a confused Henry VI from his residence in the Tower. He was crowned for a second time at St Paul’s Cathedral on 13th October 1470. KING HENRY VI was back on the throne, placed there by Warwick with of course, himself as the chief minister of government. Once more Warwick was going to be the king maker, this time on the side of Lancastrians.

Warwick had gone to Northumbria, the heart of the Neville strongholds, to raise men and was marching south. Edward left London on the 13th April 1471 and the two forces met on the outskirts of Barnet, with the King taking up his position during the night.
The next morning, 14th April, was Easter Sunday.

The ground was covered in morning fog. Hastings commanded the Yorkist left, Edward the centre, Gloucester, (the future RICHARD III), was on the right. The Lancastrians had Oxford on the right, Montagu in the centre, and Exeter on the left. Warwick himself commanded a reserve force behind the centre. As the Lancastrians had more men, he had the luxury of keeping a reserve. Because the two armies had formed up during the night, they did not oppose each other exactly.
Instead each army’s right wing flanked the other side. At the initial charge, Oxford broke the Yorkists under Hastings. At the other end Gloucester triumphed over the Lancastrians led by Exeter. In the centre, both sides engaged in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. Lord Oxford drove Hastings back so far that he began encountering his own forces in the centre.
Because Oxford’s colours were similar to Edward’s, Montagu’s men attacked them. Seeing this, Oxford’s men naturally thought themselves betrayed, (Montagu had already changed sides once), and cried treachery.
In the confusion, King Edward led a charge that crushed the Lancastrians. Montagu was killed in the fighting and Warwick was trapped in woods, where he was also killed. Oxford managed to escape and fled to Scotland.
THE BATTLE OF BARNET was a great victory for York, but not a final victory.

On the same day as The Battle of Barnet, and unaware of the Lancastrian defeat, Queen Margaret and her son Edward landed with her French forces at Weymouth. Learning of the disaster, she quickly began to raise more troops.
The Countess of Warwick, who had also made the trip, went into sanctuary at Beaulieu Abbey. When they arrived in Exeter, the Queen's small force was joined by many of her supporters, with Somerset in command.

On 19th April 1471, Edward left London, marching west, while Margaret's army pressed on to Gloucester.
The town refused them entry.
They couldn't  take the time to besiege it so, with no other alternative, the Lancastrians headed towards the river crossing at Tewkesbury arriving on the evening of Friday 3rd May 1471. Presuming the Yorkists could not arrive before morning, it was decided it was too late to cross.
Margaret and the other Lancastrian ladies spent the night in a nearby religious house, but Edward's forces were closing in. That same evening of May 3rd, the exhausted Royal army made camp 3 miles short of Tewkesbury.
On the morning of May 4th 1471 Edward's troops marched towards Tewkesbury. On approaching the Lancastrian position, Edward noticed an area of woodland to the right. He thought it might be hiding Lancastrian soldiers, so he sent a few of his men to investigate. They found the woods empty, but stayed there, awaiting further instructions.
The Lancastrians were waiting for the Yorkists, with the young Prince of Wales waiting for his first taste of battle.

Edward opened the fight with a barrage of artillery and archery fire, and Somerset ordered his men to advance.
There was face-to-face fighting, in which the Yorkists gained the upper hand and were soon pushing the Lancastrians up the hill. Then the soldiers Edward had left in the woods came up behind the Lancastrians. This caused panic for Somerset’s men. They broke ranks and fled towards the River Severn, pursued by Gloucester's men.
So many were killed near the river, that the area is still called "Bloody Meadow". Somerset escaped the battlefield, but he was captured with many other Lancastrians, taken into the marketplace and beheaded. The young Prince Edward died in his first battle and Margaret was captured hiding in the local religious house.
She was taken to the Tower of London, where she stayed until she was removed to Wallingford Castle.

In 1475 Louis XI paid a ransom for her release and she returned to France to die in obscurity a few years later.
Immediately following King Edward's return to London on 21st May 1471, King Henry himself was executed, thus bringing to an end the direct line of the House of Lancaster. The Wars of the Roses again seemed to be over.

One last spark remained to flare up, however. A group of Yorkist loyalists made up a plan in a last attempt to regain the crown. Richard Simons, a priest, and others instructed a commoner by the name of Lambert Simnel to impersonate the Earl of Warwick, grandson of the late Warwick the Kingmaker.
Lambert claimed he escaped from the Tower of London where the real Warwick was imprisoned.
He was“crowned” king in Dublin Ireland on May 24th 1487. This new Yorkist group landed in England on June 4th 1487, and begin to collect an army of English soldiers and German and Irish mercenaries.

By 15th August, the Yorkists, who now numbered about ten thousand men, made camp in a meadow, west of a small village called East Stoke. But Henry was closing in on them with a large army. In the morning, the Yorkists moved into a defensive position on a hill known as Burham Furlong.
With their army in place, they waited for the king's forces to arrive.
But the king's forces did not know where the rebels were, or whether they had even crossed the Trent.
Oxford was the first to discover where the York army was and he decided to advance his forces into battle line.
The Yorkists attacked downhill, and Oxford found his forces were being pushed back. It was only the timely arrival of the king's main army that saved Oxford's men from defeat. As more and more fresh troops kept arriving, the Yorkists began to be pushed back up the hill, until they broke and fled.

The Yorkists were pursued for several days, thousand being killed and hundreds being captured including, Simnel who was later put to work in the royal kitchens.

Henry VII crushed the Yorkists at THE BATTLE OF STOKE on June 16th 1487 and many people consider this battle as the final conflict in the Wars of the Roses.

So ended the Plantagenet line and a new Tudor dynasty was to begin.