Just Finished Reading: A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses – The Bloody Rivalry for the Throne of England by Desmond Seward

For a period of 30 years in the second half of the 15^th century England was at war with itself over who would rule the country. Two sides – grouped together under the banners of the House of York and the House of Lancaster – schemed and, from time to time, engaged in deadly conflict. Neither side had any intention of giving ground or quarter to enemies that they deeply despised. Both sides saw themselves to be in the right with both God and the country on their side. In such an atmosphere it is not difficult to understand that almost any action was justified and any treachery attempted to win the throne once and for all. It was a conflict that pitched father against son and friend against friend. So vicious was the feuding between enemies that even between battles, in times of comparative peace, forces would still ride out to attack their neighbours or waylay them on the open road. After the few pitched battles that did take place – apparently a total of 13 weeks over 30 years – the commanders of the losing side where, as often as not, executed on the spot and, as often as not, by their own relatives. Uncles executed nephews in reprisal for previous executions of sons by fathers. It was by all accounts very nasty indeed. Surprisingly (or at least it surprised me) the rank and file – those who survived the initial slaughter – where not treated in anything like the same way. Obligated to follow their lords into battle they were seen as not fully responsible for their actions. Their lands, now forfeited to the victors, meant that henceforth they would fight for their new masters and so they were sparred – until called upon months or years later to stand on another battlefield.

We covered at least part of this great conflict in my early school history lessons. Back in those days I wasn’t as passionate about history as I am now so I didn’t pay the subject as much attention as I should have. I knew (or had a pretty good idea) that Lancaster won – they did – and that the Wars of the Roses (not called that at the time) culminated in victory at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 for Henry Tudor and effectively ended the Middle Ages (again not called that at the time). Indeed even before I knew anything about the battle itself I knew who lost because it had been taught to us as a childhood mnemonic to remember the colours of the rainbow – Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). That Richard being Richard III who died at Bosworth repeatedly shouting ‘Traitor’ at the top of his voice (rather than ‘A horse, a horse, my Kingdom for a horse’) as his enemies surrounded him and hacked him to death. The story of the Wars, told in truly excellent fashion by the author, overflowed with towering personalities, both good and bad (in my day for example King Richard III was still pretty much as bad as they get) most of whom I was at least aware of. Two ‘new’ characters did jump out at me in this narrative though – Margaret Beaufort the mother of the Tudor dynasty which culminated in Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I and William Hastings (Lord Oxford) who was the York’s greatest champion.

Despite the fact that the Wars ended over 500 years ago the rivalry between Lancaster and York still exists today and not just in the generally good natured contests between the two Universities. Passions can still flare up around the activities (or accused activities) of both sides and there was certainly enough double dealing, double crossing and suspicious deaths to go around to keep feeding that passion. It is a fascinating story from a very turbulent time in our history and one that I will be revisiting in both non-fiction and fictional format.