A Timeline of Britain
Royal authority evaporated, factions quarrelled and the On the domestic front, the outlook was equally dire.
Henry distinguished himself by founding King’s College, Cambridge, and Eton College; yet lacked the willpower needed to keep the country together. It was said he was “not steadfast of wit as other kings have been,” with bouts of depression and what may have been hereditary madness filtered down from his grandfather, Charles VI of France. Easily led, he doled out dukedoms to his kinsmen while the country slipped into economic chaos and political anarchy.
political ambitions of England’s most powerful families came to the fore. After the opening scuffles of civil war, Richard, Duke of York, asserted that his claim to the throne, as a descendant of Edward III’s second son, was superior to that of Henry. Now the Wars of the Roses fully erupted, so called in reference to the heraldic badges of the two rival houses: the red rose of the Lancastrians and the white rose of the Yorkists. Later centuries would paint the strife as a long and
bloody civil war. “Bloody it was, indeed, but the blood- shed was isolated and not prolonged,” Alison Weir points out. “In fact, there were only 13 weeks of fighting in 32 years, and the architecture and literature of the time do
Above left: A re-enactment of Henry Tudor's victory at the Battle of Bosworth, 1485. Below left: Victorian engraving of the rose-picking scene from Shakespeare's Henry VI Part I. Above right: The hammer-beam roof from 1393 in Westminster Hall
1453 The Hundred Years’ War is effectively ended when France defeats England at Castillon
1461–70 Reign of Edward IV. Deposed 1470–71, he is restored 1471–83
1470 Thomas Malory completes writing Le Morte d’Arthur
Edward lV
1455 The Yorkists
defeat the
Lancastrians at St Albans, the first pitched
battle of the Wars of the Roses
1461 Edward, Duke of York, defeats the Lancastrians at Mortimer’s Cross and proclaims himself Edward IV. Following his decisive victory at the Battle of Towton, Henry VI and Margaret flee to Scotland. Edward IV is crowned king
www.britain-magazine.com The Battle of Tewkesbury
1471 Edward IV defeats and kills the Earl of Warwick at Barnet. He routs a Lancastrian force at Tewkesbury. Henry VI is murdered, probably in the Tower of London
Richard lll
c. 1475 William Caxton establishes a press at Westminster
Elizabeth Wydeville, mother of one of the Princes in the Tower
1483 12-year-old Edward V becomes King, but vanishes with his brother Richard after being locked up in the Tower of London
1485 Henry Vll
1483–85 Reign of Richard III
1485 Henry Tudor defeats and kills Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, and becomes Henry VII. His subsequent marriage to Elizabeth of York unites the Houses of York and Lancaster and the Wars of the Roses come to an end
BRITAIN 83
PHOTO:
WWW.VISITBRITAINIMAGES.COM/ALAMY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100