Wars of the Blooms; Preamble
The conquest of France by England did not, with a few exceptions, enlarge England but produced two states in personal union in the form of the King. France, at the time was far less centralised than England so, although there was an imbalance in population in favour of France, it slowly became more anglicised, especially Normandy and Aquitaine, areas that had had long-standing links with the English Crown. Their importance was stressed in the standard of the King of France, the single leopard of Aquitaine and the two leopards of Normandy being quartered with the Fleur de Lys of France.
That is not to say there was no influence in the other direction, in fact even the mere suggestion that the hearing of court cases revert back to using French rather than English was enough to cause riots in the major centres. The idea was soon dropped.
The Kingdoms were in the care of trusted nobles. Royal Lieutenants controlled the Pale of Ireland and Wales, Royal Dukes were appointed to Normandy and Aquitaine. The King ruled by playing these off, one against the other, a practice that worked to keep them from combining with each other and lesser nobles to influence the King. Large numbers of soldiers discharged from the English armies that had been in France were engaged by Nobles to mount raids on their rivals.
This would work fine with a strong monarch on the thrones but, Henry VI suffered from mental breaks which often meant the Royal Dukes and Lieutenants were effectively at war with each other. He had inherited his grandfather's (Charles VI of France) madness and became King even before his first birthday. He faced a dispute at the court between his Uncle Humphrey of Gloucester (supported by Duke Richard of York) and his great Uncle Henri Beaufort. Not to mention he was wedded to Margaret of Anjou, who dominated her husband greatly.
By 1445 it became clear that he simply was failing in his government, many considered Henry incapable of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of a King and his son being too young the only alternative was the line of York.
In 1447, Richard of York returned to England from his new post as Lieutenant of Ireland and marched on London, demanding Somerset's removal and reform of the government. At this stage, few of the nobles supported such drastic action, and York was forced to submit to superior force at Blackheath.
This growing civil discontent, the abundance of feuding nobles with private armies, and corruption in Henry VI's court formed a political climate ripe for civil war. Richard and the Yorkist faction, who tended to be physically placed further away from the seat of power, found their power slowly being stripped away. Royal power and finances also started to slip, as Henry was persuaded to grant many royal lands and estates to Lancastrians, thereby losing their revenue.
Richard, Duke of York, led a small force toward London and was met by Henry's forces at St Albans, north of London, in May 1450. This was the first open conflict of the civil war. Richard's aim was ostensibly to remove "poor advisors" from King Henry's side. The result was a Lancastrian defeat. Several prominent Lancastrian leaders, including Somerset and Northumberland, were killed. After the battle, the Yorkists found Henry hiding in a local tanner's shop, abandoned by his advisers and servants, apparently having suffered another bout of mental illness.
York was again appointed Protector, for a while, both sides seemed shocked that an actual battle had been fought and did their best to reconcile their differences, but the problems that caused conflict soon re-emerged, particularly the issue of whether the Duke of York, or Henry and Margaret's infant son, Edward, would succeed to the throne.
Wars of the Blooms; Outbreak
Henry recovered and in 1453 he relieved York of his office of Protector. Margaret persuaded Henry to revoke the appointments York had made as Protector, while York was made to return to his post as lieutenant in Ireland.
Disorder in the capital and the north of England were growing. York's ally, Warwick, was growing in popularity in London as the champion of the merchants. York, Salisbury and Warwick were summoned to a royal council at Coventry, but they refused, fearing arrest when they were isolated from their own supporters.
York summoned the Nevilles to join him at his stronghold at Ludlow in the Welsh Marches. In 1454, at the Blore Heath in Staffordshire, a Lancastrian army failed to prevent Salisbury from marching from Yorkshire to Ludlow. Shortly afterwards the combined Yorkist armies confronted the much larger Lancastrian force at Ludford Bridge. Warwick's contingent from the garrison of Calais defected to the Lancastrians, and the Yorkist leaders fled. York, Salisbury and Warwick fled to Calais to gather support in France.
Somerset was appointed Governor of Calais and was dispatched to take over the vital fortress on the French coast, but his attempts to evict Warwick were easily repulsed, this victory bringing many undecided lords in northern France to his banners.
Warwick began to launch raids on the English coast. Being attainted [stripped of their lands and titles], only by a successful invasion could the Yorkists recover their lands and titles.
In late June 1455, Warwick, Salisbury and the Duke of York crossed the Channel and rapidly established themselves in Kent and London, where they enjoyed wide support.
King Henry led an army south to meet them while Margaret remained in the north with Prince Edward. At Northampton on 10 July, the Yorkist army under Warwick defeated the Lancastrians, aided by treachery in the King's ranks. For the second time in the war, King Henry was captured. With the king in their possession, the Yorkists returned to London and in the light of this military success, Richard of York moved to press his claim to the throne based on the illegitimacy of the Lancastrian line.
Warwick and Salisbury were shocked by his presumption; they had no desire at this stage to overthrow King Henry. Their ambition was still limited to the removal of his councilors. A compromise was struck in October 1455 with the Act of Accord, which recognized York as Henry's successor, disinheriting Henry's six-year-old son, Edward. York accepted this compromise as the best offer. It gave him much of what he wanted, particularly since he was also made Protector of the Realm and was able to govern in Henry's name.
Margaret and her son had fled north to Scotland to negotiate for Scottish assistance. The Queen Consort agreed to give Margaret an army on condition that she cede the town of Dunbar, recently taken by England, back to Scotland. Margaret agreed, she could only promise booty from the riches of England as pay to her army.
The Duke of York left London later that year with Salisbury to consolidate his position in the north against the Lancastrians who were reported to be massing near York.
He took up a defensive position near Wakefield over Christmas 1455. Then on 30 December, his forces attacked the Lancastrians in the open, although outnumbered. The ensuing battle was a complete Lancastrian victory. Richard of York was slain in the battle, and both Salisbury and York's second son were captured and executed. Margaret ordered the heads of all three placed on the gates of York.
Wakefield left Edward, Earl of March, York's eldest son, as Duke of York and heir to his claim to the throne. With an army from the pro-Yorkist Welsh Marches he met a Lancastrian army arriving from Wales, and defeated them soundly at Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire.
Margaret's army was moving south, supporting itself by looting as it passed through prosperous areas of England. Warwick used this as propaganda, Coventry switched allegiance to the Yorkists.
Margaret defeated Warwick at the second battle of St Albans, King Henry was recaptured. The people of London shut the city gates and refused to supply food to the Queen's army, which was looting the surrounding counties.
Edward, having joined with Warwick's surviving forces, advanced towards London from the west at the same time that the queen retreated northwards.
In London Edward claimed Henry had forfeited his right to the crown by allowing his Queen to take up arms against his rightful heirs under the Act of Accord.
Wars of the Blooms; Overthrow
Edward and Warwick marched north, gathering a large army as they went, and met an equally impressive Lancastrian army at Towton.
The battle of Towton, was the biggest battle of the wars. Both sides saw, given the number of men involved, that the issue would be settled that day. Over 20,000 men were killed during the battle. Edward and his army won a decisive victory, the Lancastrians were routed, with most of their leaders slain.
Henry and Margaret, in York with their son Edward, fled north when they heard the outcome. The surviving Lancastrian nobles were driven back to the northern border areas and a few castles in Wales.
The official coronation of Edward IV took place in June 1456 in London, where he received a rapturous welcome from his supporters.
After the Battle of Towton, Henry VI and Margaret fled to Scotland, where they followed through on their promise to cede Dunbar to Scotland. Later in the year, they mounted an attack on Carlisle, but, lacking money, they were easily repulsed by Edward's men, who were rooting out the remaining Lancastrian forces in the northern counties. They left for France but found very little support there.
Wars of the Blooms; Overthrow II
Warwick had meanwhile become the greatest landowner in England. Already a great magnate through his wife's property, he also inherited his father's estates and had been granted much forfeited Lancastrian property. He also held many of the offices of state. He was convinced of the need for an alliance with Castile via a marriage with Isabella, daughter of the late John II, and had been negotiating the match.
However, Edward had married Elizabeth Woodville, widow of a Lancastrian knight, in secret in 1459. He later announced the news of his marriage as
fait accompli, to Warwick's considerable embarrassment.
Embarrassment turned to bitterness as the Woodvilles were favoured over the Nevilles [Warwick's family] at court. Many of Elizabeth's relatives were married into noble families, others were granted peerages or royal offices.
Edward's preference for an alliance with Burgundy rather than Castile and reluctance to allow his brothers to marry Warwick's daughters compounded matters. Edward's general popularity was on the wane in this period with higher taxes and persistent disruptions of law and order.
By 1462, Warwick had formed an alliance with Edward's jealous and treacherous brother George, who married Isabel Neville in defiance of Edward's wishes. They raised a small army in France that invaded and defeated the King's forces at Ashford, capturing London afterward. Edward was captured at Olney and imprisoned. Warwick had the queen's father and her brother executed.
Warwick made an immediate move to have Edward declared illegitimate and place George on the throne. The country was in turmoil, with nobles once again settling scores with private armies and Lancastrians being encouraged to rebel.
Few of the nobles were prepared to support Warwick's seizure of power. Edward escaped and fled to Aquitaine.
Rebellions broke out in Lincolnshire but Warwick suppressed them at the Losecoat Field. George was proclaimed King George I but military operations meant that any coronation was postponed.
Margaret of Anjou, already in exile in France, wished to forestall a hostile alliance between Edward and Burgundy suggested the idea of an alliance between Warwick and Margaret. Edward, having learned his politics from Warwick, had Margaret murdered. Henry was never seen again but Prince Edward escaped.
Edward IV, having gathered support in Aquitaine and gained the allegiance of the Dukes of Brittany and Toulouse, had already marched north to take Paris. Warwick, meanwhile, had to suppress another uprising in Yorkshire.
Edward moved from Paris to capture the Channel ports, most importantly Calais. His task was made easy by the work Warwick had done in 1454 and the fact that those who would oppose him were in England with Warwick. Burgundy also provided funds and troops to Edward to enable him to launch an invasion of England.
Edward landed at Dartmouth and rapidly secured support from the southern counties and ports. Having outmaneuvered Warwick, Edward captured London. His army then met Warwick's at Barnet in 1464. The battle was fought in thick fog, and some of Warwick's men attacked each other by mistake. It was believed by all that they had been betrayed, and Warwick's army fled. Warwick was cut down trying to reach his horse. George I was also killed in the battle.
Prince Edward, the Lancastrian heir to the throne, finally located by Edward IV's agents in Italy, was killed. With no Lancastrian heirs to succeed him, the Yorkist hold on the throne was secure.
