The Decline Of The Middle Ages
War of the Roses (1455-1487)
Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)
The Hundred Year’s War was a series of wars from 1337-1453 fought on French soil between English and French kings. The roots of the war started as far as back to the reign of William the Conqueror. William united England and Normandy in France when he became the king in 1066, and he ruled them both lands as his own property. England continued to rule the French territories until the reign of Henry II. Henry II expanded the lands as well as his control within the French territories. However, King John lost most of England’s overseas possessions to France in 1204, but Henry III renounced his claim at a peace treaty signed in 1259. By the time when Edward III ascended to his throne in 1327, England only controlled two areas, Gascony and Pontineu.
The war started when Philip VI of France confiscated Edward III’s duchy of Aquitaine in 1337. As a result, Edward III responded to the confiscation by challenging Philip VI ’s right to throne. The power struggle started when Charles IV of France died without an heir in 1328. Charles IV did have a sister named Isabella, who was Edward III’s mother. However, French government decided to crown Philip to be the king, who was Charles IV’s cousin. Edward III not only believed that he had a right to the French throne in right of his mother, but also he feared that Philip VI would be a threat to his lands. The Hundred Year’s War grew out from the clashes and consequences of inevitable friction and the complex relationship between the kings of England and France.
Consequently, Edward III attacked France in 1338 . The English were successful during the first stages of the war, such as in the battle of Crecy ( 1346), Poitiers, Calais ( 1347), and Agincourt. However, Joan of Arc defeated the English army in 1429 at the Siege of Orleans, bringing victory to the French. Subsequently, the French continued to defeat the English for the last 25 years of the war.. In July 1453 Henry VI sent the English army to Bordeaux to attack Castillon. Unfortunately, the war repulsed and commander Shrewsbury was killed in the war. Ultimately, the English surrendered at the Battle of Castillon to France and the remaining survivors sailed back home to England.
The War of the Roses was a series of dynamic civil wars fought between the two houses of Lancaster and York from 1455-1485. There were many factors that led to the war, such as the poor rule of Henry VI and the social and political aftermath of the Hundred Year’s War. The consequences of this violent power struggle resulted in terrible destruction and serious damage throughout England.
The name of the War of the Roses derived after the white rose and the red rose that symbolized the houses of Lancaster and York. Both houses claimed the throne stating that they were directly descended from Edward III. On the other hand, the Yorks never had pressed a claim on the throne since the Lancasters occupied it from 1339.
Consequently after the death of Henry V, Henry VI rose to throne. However, he proved to be weak and a feckless puppet ruler, dominated by his cunning queen, Margaret of Anjou. As a result, he fell into insanity in 1453. For this reason, Richard the duke of York was installed as the protector of the realm supported by Richard the earl of Warwick.
In 1455, Richard the duke of York challenged Henry IV’s right to throne, starting the War of the Roses. The Yorks seized the first victory, which was from 1453-1464, prevailing and exiling the Lancastrians. Due to their successful victories, the Yorks were able to imprison Henry VI and crown Edward IV as the king in 1461. Hence, the war ceased for nearly a decade under the strong rule of the Yorks.
Nevertheless, the Yorks were discontent with Edward IV. Moreover, the Earl of Warwick rebelled against Edward IV with Edward’s brother Clarence in order to make Clarence the king. Subsequently, Edward IV’s army was defeated and he was captured.
However, Richard the duke of York rescued Edward IV from prison as well as banishing Warwick and Clarence out of England sentencing them with treason in 1470. Warwick and Clarence fled to France where they allied themselves with their former enemies, Louis XI and Margaret of Anjou. In France, Warwick made an arrangement with Margaret of Anjou, the former queen of England to gain support from the French. In September 1470, Warwick deposed Edward IV and returned the throne to Henry VI.
Edward IV fled to the Netherlands with his forces, but he regained his control in April 1471, defeating Warwick and Margaret. Shortly after capturing Warwick, Henry VI was executed at the Tower of London. Furthermore, after the death of Edward IV in 1483, his eldest son Edward V succeeded at the age of twelve. Unfortunately, Richard III, Edward IV’s brother, murdered Edward IV’s sons as well as overriding the position of Edward V.
In the end, Henry Tudor from Lancaster brought an end to this civil war by killing Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth (1485). Henry VII not only ended the Plantagenet line that ruled for 300 years in the British history, but also established the Tudor Dynasty. However, Lambert Simon and the Yorkists rebelled against Henry VII at the Battle of Stroke on June 4, 1487. Henry VII moved to fight the Yorkist forces on June 16th and completely crushed the rebels. Shortly after, Simon was captured, and the Yorkist faction was destroyed.
Edward IV
Henry VII
Richard III
Edward III
Philip VI
By the mid 14- 15th hundreds, feudalism was slowly deteriorating. Due to the constant wars and the decline of the economy, there was instability within the feudal system of kings and lords and vassals. Feudalism then was referred to as "Bastard Feudalism". By the 1400s, lands were no longer rewarded to vassals and knights for military service. Any labour or service required was exchanged with money. However, noblemen still retained servants in exchange for money and support.