Henry IV may well have had no intention other than taking his rightful inheritance, that being the lands of Lancaster, coming to him through his mother's side of the family. But once Henry returned to England with an army, defeating Richard II, the crown was his for the taking with Richard abdicating, though some doubt that he would have done this so readily.Henry IV coming to the throne left a long-running resentment, and unlike France, England had not defined the laws of succession in bypassing the line from female claimants.
Although Philippa, the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, was named heir apparent, the nobility were no more ready for female rule than when Henry I attempted to make his daughter England's monarch. To the factions, Edmund Mortimer was the rightful heir, and with the claim of decendency from Lionel of Antwerp, they would fight for their rightful place, even though it continued to come through female line.
With Edmund dying there was his older sister, Anne, and her son Richard, the 3rd Duke of York. Richard put forward his claim to Parliament who agreed, and even King Henry concurred. And so a proposal was made that Richard, Duke of York would be next in line to the throne. Unfortunately Henry's wife and queen consort did not see the justice and having a son Edward, who was invested Prince of Wales, she would do everything in her power to see him succeed his father.
Henry was weak-willed and even had a mental breakdown under the strains of a kingship that he possibly saw as not being his right. Margaret soon took control and so began a Civil War with battles that saw both an end to the Lancastrian and Yorkist dynasties. With the Lancaster emblem being a Red Rose and the York division having a White Rose, this became known as Wars of the Roses.
Richard even took the name Plantagenet to give him a more distinct claim, and with Margaret being a foreign interloper, she lost much of the king’s support.
Richard died in battle in 1460, leaving a son, Edward to continue the fight for the crown. A year later, with Henry VI confined, Parliament proclaimed Edward as the new king, at the same time declaring Henry VI a usurper and traitor.
Edward soon made enemies with his marriage to a commoner, Elizabeth Woodville, her family creating a new nobility that did not sit well with the old barons. Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, who had been a strong supporter of the Yorkists found himself coming in conflict with Edward to the point that he and Edwards brother, George, Duke of Clarence changed sides. Forming an alliance with Margaret of Anjou, with an army, Edward was ousted and releasing Henry VI, he was once again set up as king.
Edward sought exile in Holland where he gathered support and returning with an army the battles at Barnet, where Richard Neville was killed, and Tewkesbury, where Margaret and Henry's son, Edward was slain, was decisive in establishing a York monarchy.
Edward IV once again took his place as king, reigning for a further 12 years.
Having his younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence, oppose him more than once, Edward couldn’t trust him and with sibling rivalry between him and his brother Richard, Edward finally had George imprisoned at the Tower of London where we was privately executed. The story goes that he drowned in a barrel of malmsey wine. With his wife, Isabel, already having passed away it left two orphaned children, Edward and Margaret, who would both later suffer at the hands of the Tudors.
Edward was consumed by a number of illnesses before dying just short of his 41st year. There have been conjectures from pneumonia to poison being used, but however Edward IV died it left Richard in a very strong position.
Knowing his end was near, Edward added codicils to his will, including that Richard should be Lord Protector during his 13-year-old son's minority.
Edward’s mistress, Jane Shore, her real name being Elizabeth Lambert, is said to haunt Eton College as the ‘Grey Lady’, especially around the area of Lupton's Tower. She helped save Eton which was founded by Henry VI, as when Edward IV came to the throne he wanted to tear the school down, but she intervened. She was later a resident at the Tower of London, placed there by Richard III on charges of sorcery but after doing penance was released. It is thought that Jane lived at the school for a short period up to her death in 1526.
As the King’s Uncle and Lord Protector, Richard could be seen as doing his duty when he met the entourage bringing the boy king to London. It killed two birds with one stone as he arrested the entourage along with the King’s uncle, Anthony Woodville who was taken to Pembroke Castle and executed two days later. Edward was installed at the Tower of London which would not be so unusual as this was also a royal residence. Edward was later joined by his brother Richard for companionship, and then the coronation, set for May, was postponed. This gave Richard time to wield his power and Parliament obliged by having Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville made illegal on the grounds that he had married in secret one Eleanor Talbot. By this time Eleanor had passed away and evidence was given by a bishop stating that he had conducted such a marriage ceremony. This in turn made the children of Edward IV and Elizabeth illegitimate and no longer entitled to the throne.
Edward and his brother often played within the confines of the tower, but were later shut away only to be seen peering out of windows until they were seen no more. By the autumn of 1483 rumours were rife that the two boys had been murdered. The uncrowned King Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York are now said to haunt the Tower of London, two frightened children going hand in hand.It wasn't until 1674, when construction work was being undertaken that a box was discovered beneath the flagstones. Containing the remains of what look like two children, it was accepted that it was Edward and Richard and they were interred at Westminster Abbey.
In 1933 the bones were examined and medical science, though knowledge was limited by today's standards, determined that the remains were those of two children along with animal bones which could have been the boys pet dog. However, cause of death could not be determined. With major breakthroughs in forensic science further requests have been made to examine the remains but so far have been denied.
Richard III came to the throne ridding himself of any opposition, having cut out his older brothers children, Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick and Margaret Pole, later becoming Duchess of Salisbury. He had also married Anne Neville, the daughter of Richard Neville who had been significant in attaining the crown for Edward IV before changing his allegiance to Henry VI. Neville married one of his daughters, Isabel to George, the Duke of Clarence, and Anne to Henry VI’s son, Edward. When Edward was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury, George made his sister-in-law his ward as she and his wife had a lucrative inheritance, but Richard sought the girl out and taking her into his protection, married her.Anne gave birth to a son Edward, known as Edward of Middleham, who was 7-years-old when Richard became king and his son invested Prince of Wales, but a year later the boy was dead, leaving a gap in the succession. Possibly to please Anne, Richard named his brother, George’s son heir apparent, Edward, also being Anne's nephew. It was certainly a strange thing to do as Richard had bypassed them in succession claiming they could not rule because their father was a proven traitor. When Anne died in March of 1485 Richard named another nephew as successor, that of his sister Elizabeth, which would be rightfully so if the female line was being included.
Once Richard had deposed his brother's offspring and usurping the throne for himself, he began a purge of anyone who might attempt to take it away, especially looking to the Woodville family and their supporters. When the Duke of Buckingham, who had been a staunch supporter, looked for an ally in the exiled Henry Tudor, the Duke over-played his hand when bad weather prevented Tudor from reaching England. Buckingham, as a descendant of Edward III, declared himself King but without Henry Tudor, Buckingham's supporters saw little hope of victory and soon began to desert him. It was two years later, after Buckingham's execution that Henry Tudor landed in Stafford with an army of 5000 men. Henry had been in exile since the defeat at Tewkesbury.
The armies met at Bosworth just a few miles west of Leicester which is classed as the last battle of the Wars of the Roses.On the eve of the battle, Richard stayed in Leicester at what is now the Blue Boar Inn. A crowd gathered to see him off, and when Richards spur caught a stone as he crossed the bridge, it is said a wise woman made a prophecy that his head would strike the same stone on returning.
In the battle that followed Richard was killed and victorious Henry Tudor was declared King. Richard's body was thrown over a horse and returned to Leicester and just as the old woman said, on crossing the bridge, Richard’s head was said to strike the same stone.
Richard III is said to haunt the battlefield where he lost his life. There have been many accounts of paranormal phenomena with paranormal groups holding vigils at the site.
A relic of the battle that looks to be a foot soldier haunts the area along with a horse and headless rider that have been seen numerous times. Drumming has also been heard in nearby Ambion Wood as though an army is marching and soldiers have also been seen at Sutton Cheney church.
It wasn't until after Richard's death that he was portrayed as a sadistic monster with Shakespeare's intervention turning him into a grotesque hunchback. There are so many question marks with Richard. If his plans were long term it meant that he had a significant hand in getting rid of his brother, George, possibly murdering Edward IV and then declaring his and nieces and nephews illegitimate to take the crown. Unless there was fear of revolt, there was little to gain by having his two nephews murdered and especially have them disappear when there was so much illness and death around every corner, and Richard never declared the boys to be dead. What had become of the two boys was left to Henry VII to explain.
At the ruins of St. Mary’s Chapel at Eastwell in Kent there is a monument to Richard Plantagenet who died on the 22nd of December 1550. Either true or false, Richard had a good tale to tell. Legend goes that in 1545 when Sir Thomas Moyle was having a new mansion built at Eastwell Park he came upon a bricklayer reading a book in Latin. These were days when few had time to learn to read and write and questioning the man, Sir Thomas was told an extraordinary story. The bricklayer, named Richard, while only a young man, had been summoned to the King’s encampment at Bosworth on the eve of the battle where he met Richard III. Having had a classical education, he was told this was due to the King who was his rightful father. Richard III then acknowledged his illegitimate son his heir. He claimed to have been at the battle, fleeing when the King was killed and becoming a bricklayer so as not to be recognised by agents of Henry VII who would arrest anyone laying a claim to the crown.
His story stood him in good stead and Sir Thomas gave him a house at Eastwell where he lived for five years until his death. Henry VII had to contend with impostors and true claimants alike, but this claim was at the latter end of Henry VIII’s reign when the Tudor dynasty was well established. He must also have been very old as the battle had taken place sixty years before. And as for Richard making any illegitimate offspring heir, that is highly doubtful after all his careful planning to acquire the crown by making Edward V illegitimate.
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