At our September meeting we talked about "The Wars of the Roses" or the "Cousins' War", as it was sometimes called. Edward III left 4 sons and some daughters, and the resulting struggle for power and a weak king --- Henry VI , who had a strong French wife --- resulted in this civil war. Another reason for the starting of hostilities was the end of the 100 years war in 1453, when the English armies returned and many ex soldiers were just roaming around the country causing trouble.
The first main battle was St Albans in 1455 and the final decisive one was, of course, Bosworth in 1485. In between this were another 12 battles, and at Towton it was reported that the slaughter was so great that the battle had to be stopped , so that the bodies of the fallen could be moved away and they could then carry on with the battle.
During this time there was a succession of monarchs, starting with Henry VI, then Edward IV, Henry VI again, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III and then of couse Henry VII and the start of the Tudors.
Although it is called " The Wars of the Roses", the white rose was only adopted during the second decade of the war and the red rose once it was all over. The first recorded reference to " The Wars of the Roses" was as late as 1762.
The next meeting will be on Monday 20th October when we will be talking about "Agriculture in the Middle Ages-before the potato".
Michael Page
