HIS1B - Introduction - The Wars of the Roses and Edward IV

The Wars of the Roses and Edward IV

Charlotte Jones

The Wars of the Roses

• Started at the Battle of St Albans in 1455.
• Between the House of York (descendants of Lionel, Duke of Clarence and Edmund, Duke of York) and the House of Lancaster (descendants of John of Gaunt)

Historians Views on the Wars of the Roses

• J.R Lander, The Wars of the Roses 1965
  • Argued that the violence of the civil wars reflected the incompetence of the King, Henry VI, to manage his nobility.
• Vivienne Sanders, Britain 1483-1529
  • Before 1471, the authority of the King was diminished by both Henry VI and Edward IV.

Edward IV

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