War between scarlet and white rose. Causes of the Scarlet and White Rose War

The history of your country, other countries of the world, is rich in many facts and events. School program physically unable to accommodate many of them. Ignorance is very important points, for erudite young people, will not add respect and will not free you from questions on the exam.

Let these questions not affect the overall assessment, but the opinion about your knowledge is an important component. Many pages of history, in addition to being fascinatingly interesting, are also reflected in the works of the classics. Such a theme is the War of the White and Scarlet Roses - a long and bloody confrontation between two respected families in England. What do you know about this period in the life of the British?

15th century English kingdom

War is war, but why is such a romantic name attached to these difficult and terrible events?

Each English noble family deservedly had a unique coat of arms. The York family had a rose on their coat of arms. white color, Lancaster - scarlet. The time of the heightened confrontation between the rivals fell on 1455-1485.

The historical period for England was difficult. One hundred years of exhausted war (the Hundred Years) ended in defeat. The easy prey that the plundering of French lands brought was over. The nobility of the country is mired in a showdown among themselves. King Henry VI Lancaster took on the role of peacemaker, but these efforts were in vain.

It could not be otherwise - Henry was ill, his bouts of insanity led to the fact that the kingdom was actually ruled by the Dukes of Somerset and Suffolk. The political atmosphere was tense to the limit, it seemed that the slightest spark would happen and a destructive fire would be kindled. It was Jack Cade's rebellion, which began in 1451. The rebels were stopped, but anarchist sentiments did not decrease from this, but, on the contrary, they gained momentum.

White made the first move

The Duke of York, Richard, decided on serious actions that he had been hatching for a long time. In the same year, 1451, he delivered a speech against the actions of the Duke of Somerset, the royal favourite. Members of Parliament, who took the side of Richard York, expressed their support for him. Moreover, they declared him heir to the throne. But Henry VI was so angry that he dissolved the disobedient Parliament. These actions shocked him greatly and led to another long attack and loss of reason. Richard took advantage of the situation and received the very important position of state protector.

The duke did not have long to rejoice at his victory. The king came to his senses and directed all his efforts to restore justice - depriving his brother of his position. Richard was not going to give up on what he had achieved so easily, and gathered supporters for decisive action. In parallel, he entered into an alliance with the Earl of Salisbury and Warwick. Combining two strong armies in the spring of 1455 opposed the king. This was the beginning of the War of the Roses.

The small town of St. Albans became the site of the first battle. In England, briefly, and without a shadow of regret, they announced what had happened, emphasizing only the main thing: the loyal supporters of the king and his close favorite, Somerset, died. Henry VI is captured.

But it so happened that Richard's exultation did not last long. A woman entered the game - Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI. She led the supporters of Rose Red and removed York from power. Richard had no choice but to revolt. This he did. Victory over the Lancasters was obtained. The battles of Blore Heath (September 23, 1459) and Northampton (July 10, 1460) became victorious. King Henry was again captured by the enemy.

Richard relaxed with joy, but Margarita of Anjou, who remained at large, simply did not give up her position. She managed to deal Richard a surprise blow, defeating his troops at the Battle of Wakefill. This event took place on December 30, 1460. The ambitious Richard died like a hero on the battlefield. Margarita ordered, as a warning to all rebels, that the head of the rebel, wearing a paper crown, be put on public display on the wall of York.

Crimson Crest Victory

The owners of the white coat of arms lost. It would seem that everything - the point is set, but the end of the war was still so far away. Interesting Facts the distant past did not end with these events. Edward, son of Richard, aka Earl of March - could not accept defeat and formed new army for the offensive. February 3, 1461 was marked by a new battle. The decisive battle at Mortimer Cross ended in a spectacular victory. The Lancasters fled the battlefield. Their losses reached three thousand soldiers. The white rose again sparkled with a victorious radiance on the coat of arms of the Yorks, but ...

The Queen of Anjou, having strengthened her troops with an army that joined the opposition, the heir of Henry VI, Prince Edward, made a retaliatory strike. Her actions were swift and took the enemy by surprise. The queen defeated the White Rose and freed the king.

The cruel Margarita entered London and showed all her dislike for her people. Looting, terrorism, looting is what her army brought with her, bringing Londoners to an extremely disastrous state. When March and Warwick approached the gates of the capital, the inhabitants gladly let them through. On March 4, 1461, Edward March was proclaimed King Edward IV. March 29 was a black day for the Lancasters. The king and his devoted wife fled shamefully to Scotland.

Scarlet flower wilted ...

At this time, discontent began in the White Rose camp. The count, the son of the deceased Richard, is dissatisfied with the king who has taken the throne. He, having made an alliance with Edward's brother, attacks the army of Edward IV and defeats it. The king is captured - victory smiled at Wark. But the count, believing Edward's promises, releases him from captivity. Promises were not kept - enmity flares up with renewed vigor.

Margaret of Anjou shamefully ran away and did not think to calm down. The events of London led the queen to the idea - to restore justice. Having gathered an army, the restless Margarita approaches the Welsh border. There she was to unite with the army of Jasper Tudor. Her plans were thwarted by Edward IV, who prevented the Alym from reuniting and defeated them in battle. Margarita is captured, and the only heir, Henry VI, dies in battle. Edward IV rules the country until his death. Long-awaited calm is restored in England.

White, Scarlet - reunion

But in English kingdom final peace was still far away. Events now and then shook the country. This continued until the accession to the throne of Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. Having married the daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth, heiress of the Yorks, he created a coat of arms from the coats of arms of the two warring parties. On it, the White rose and the Scarlet rose were reunited for centuries.

All the events of the Roses for England had dire consequences. They are still studied by historians. The last point has not yet been set ...

Period score

"Monstrous, crazy times ..." - William Shakespeare;

"The War of the Scarlet and White Roses" - Walter Scott

"The Wars of the Roses is one of the most colorful pages English history- Egor Neverov.

In conclusion, it is worth saying that in our training courses we analyze all topics both in the history of Russia and in world history. That is why our guys pass the exam in history with 90 or more points, and this is their average result.

While historians are still debating the true extent of the impact of the conflict on medieval English life, there is no doubt that the Wars of the Roses led to a political upheaval and a change in the established balance of power. The most obvious outcome was the collapse of the Plantagenet dynasty, which was succeeded by the new Tudor dynasty, which would reshape England over the following years. In the years that followed, the remnants of the Plantagenet factions, left without direct access to the throne, drifted into different positions as the monarchs continuously pitted them against each other.

The War of the Scarlet and White Roses actually drew a line under the English Middle Ages. She brought about changes in feudal English society, including the weakening of the feudal power of the nobility and the strengthening of the position of the merchant class, as well as the rise of a strong, centralized monarchy under the leadership of the Tudor dynasty. The accession of the Tudors in 1485 is considered the beginning of the New Age in English history.

On the other hand, it is also suggested that the horrifying impact of the war was exaggerated by Henry VII to extol his achievements in ending it and securing peace. Of course, the effect of the war on merchants and peasants was far less than in the protracted wars in France and elsewhere in Europe, which were filled with mercenaries who were directly interested in continuing the war. Although there were several long sieges, they were relatively distant and weakly populated areas. In heavily populated areas belonging to both factions, opponents, in order to prevent the devastation of territories, sought fast decision conflict in the form of a general battle.

The war was disastrous for the already diminishing influence of England in France, and by the end of the struggle there were no English possessions, except for Calais , eventually also lost during the reign of Mary I . Although later English rulers continued to campaign on the Continent, the territory of England did not increase in any way. Various European duchies and kingdoms played important roles in the war, especially the kings of France and the dukes of Burgundy, who helped the Lancasters and Yorks in their struggle against each other. By giving them armed forces and financial assistance, as well as offering refuge to the defeated nobles and pretenders, they thereby wanted to prevent the emergence of a united and strong England that would become a threat to them.

The post-war period was also a "death march" for the standing baronial armies that fueled the conflict. Henry VII, fearful of further fighting, kept the barons under tight control, forbidding them from training, hiring, arming and supplying armies so that they could not start a war with each other or with the king. As a result, the military power of the barons was reduced, and the Tudor court became the place where baronial quarrels were decided by the will of the monarch.

On the battlefields, scaffolds and in prison casemates, not only the descendants of the Plantagenets died, but also a significant part of the English lords and chivalry. For example, in the period from 1425 to 1449, before the outbreak of war, many noble dynasties disappeared, which continued during the war from 1450 to 1474. The death in battles of the most ambitious part of the nobility led to a decrease in the desire of its remnants to risk their lives and titles.

Reason for starting a war

1454. The King of England is Henry VI. He is not mentally healthy, so his ability to rule is questionable. At court, the struggle for real power in the country begins.
The Duke of York, Richard, seeks the position of regent in an incapable king. This is a thoughtful move, since the duke is a descendant of King Edward III, which means that in the future he has the right to claim the throne.
The wife of a weak-minded monarch, Margaret of Anjou, used her influence and managed to remove an ambitious vassal from a promising position.
Richard responded to court intrigue with force. Thus the war began.

Progress of the War of the Roses

Richard York united his supporters and in 1455 marched against the king's army. Opponents met at St. Albans. The fight ended in victory for the duke. He is again the regent, but now the official heir to the insane king.
This is the beginning of the feudal war, later called the War of the Roses.
The country was divided into two camps: supporters of Richard York (white rose) and those who supported the legitimate king from the Lancaster dynasty (scarlet rose). A powerful ally of Richard was the Earl of Warwick - he was called the maker of kings. Support for the king, and really Queen Margaret, was provided by the French monarch.
After a short truce, established as a result of negotiations in 1458, both sides returned to the forceful scenario of eliminating contradictions.
July 1460 – The Earl of Warwick took London and then captured Henry VI.
December 1460 - Richard York was defeated at Wakefield and killed. But it is too early to sum up the results of the war - it did not end there: the deceased pretender to the throne from the White Rose camp had sons who also aspired to supreme power.
1461, February - Richard's eldest son Edward defeats the supporters of the incumbent king at Mortimer's Cross.
February 17 - The forces of the Scarlet Rose freed the king, but London did not open the gates to its ruler.
March 29 - son of the fallen Duke of York Edward again crushes the troops of Henry VI, now at Toughton and proclaims himself king - Edward IV.
Margarita and Henry flee north, but in 1464 they are overtaken by the York troops. Henry is captured again, Margarita finds protection from her patron in France.
Edward did not want to share the seized power with anyone, which greatly upset the kingmaker Earl of Warwick. Now the White Rose camp has split.
1468 - Warwick Neville defeats the troops of the new king, and takes Edward himself prisoner. Having held him for prophylaxis in captivity, Edward IV is again put on the throne. He is still needed.
1470 Warwick changed his mind again. From now on, he is on the side of the feudal lords of the Scarlet Rose. The count releases Henry VI from the dungeon and hands him the crown. And Edward is forced to leave England.
But not for long. The following year, he returns, gathers allies and defeats the kingmaker's troops. Warwick himself met death on the battlefield. Presumably, in a duel with Edward's younger brother - Richard, Duke of Gloucester (he was later destined to become Richard III). Heinrich was again captured by the victors, but he did not leave the Tower alive. The Yorkies celebrate their victory over Camp Scarlet Rose. This was the intermediate result of the war. The subsequent 1471-1485 years can be described as a lull in the confrontation between the Scarlet and White Roses.
1483 - Edward IV dies. His 12-year-old son is elevated to the throne under the royal name of Edward V. The real power at court was wielded by the brother of the late ruler, Richard of Gloucester. First, he becomes regent for the boy-king. And then he declares the crowned nephew a bastard. On this basis, Edward V and his brother are locked in the Tower. The boys are dying there. Richard simply could not allow England to be left without a ruler. So he crowned himself, and went down in history as Richard III.
For pretty much short period reign, the newly-minted monarch managed to turn everyone against himself, even representatives of the White Rose camp (the relatives of Edward IV did not forgive him for the death of his children).
The logical result was the resumption of the war. Only now the forces of the Scarlet and White Roses have united to overthrow the usurper. Henry Tudor, who was related to the Lancasters (scarlet), led the general army.
1485, August 22 - opposing sides met in a duel at Bosworth. The result of the battle was the defeat of the army of Richard III from the troops under the command of Tudor.
The wedding was a symbolic end to the war: the winner (scarlet) married the daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth (white). The dynastic coat of arms of the Tudors depicted the union of two flowers that competed for England for 30 years.

The results of the war of scarlet and white roses

In the second half of the 15th century, Great Britain was shaken by a terrible civil war between supporters of the two branches of the ruling Plantagenet dynasty - the Lancasters and the Yorks. Since, going into battle, supporters of the Lancasters attached to their armor scarlet rose, and the symbol of the Yorks was White flower, behind the bloody events of 1455-85, with the light hand of Walter Scott, the poetic name "War of the Scarlet and White Roses" was assigned.

Background and causes of the conflict

Henry V Lancaster ruled Britain from 1413-22. He was one of the greatest generals of his time and a talented ruler. Like his predecessors, Henry V fought the French in the Hundred Years' War. In this matter, Henry V achieved great success. He not only included part of the French possessions in his state and married the French princess - Catherine of Valois, but also insisted that in the future his son and Catherine become the king of both powers.

However, fate played a cruel joke with the English king. At the age of 35, he died of an illness, and his heir, Henry VI, who received the throne at the age of one, became an adult, not only deprived of his father's talents, but also mentally ill.

Henry VI was rapidly losing control over the French lands, on which the troops under the leadership of Joan of Arc operated. In 1453, the Hundred Years' War ended with the loss of all English possessions on the continent, with the exception of the city of Calais. However, the internal affairs of the mad king were not much better. After the defeat in the Hundred Years' War, the nobles decided that Henry VI, whose mental health was last years seriously shaken, needs a regent. It was decided to make cousin King Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. This proposal greatly frightened the queen - Margaret of Anjou, who believed that Richard would push her and Henry's son, Edward, from the throne. During periods of her husband's madness, Margarita herself ruled the country - an educated and powerful woman, however, she did not enjoy great popularity among the British. Therefore, the protests of Margarita did not meet with the support of the nobles (a powerful party of big feudal lords) and Richard Plantagenet received the title of Protector.

By 1455, Henry VI's fortunes had improved significantly and he decided to return to independent rule. Marguerite insisted that the York party be expelled from the Grand Royal Council. The Duke of York was not ready to give up his high title, therefore, having enlisted the support of the powerful earls of Salisbury and Warwick, he gathered an army in order to regain the throne by force.

Thus, the causes of the war of the Scarlet and White Roses were:

• the results of the Hundred Years' War, which not only led to economic collapse, but also hit the authority of the royal power hard;
• peasant uprisings of 1450-51;
• the attitude of the British towards the Frenchwoman Margaret of Anjou;
• political instability associated with the health of the English king;
• the crisis of patrimonial landownership caused by outdated feudal orders;
• the presence of different branches of the Plantagenet dynasty that fought for power.

In a broad sense, the War of the Scarlet and White Roses was a clash not just between various representatives royal family, but rather between two ways of life and economic systems. The ruling king and his wife were supported by the northern barons - staunch conservatives, whose possessions were located in the most economically backward region of the country, and the inhabitants of the economically developed south-east of England - merchants, artisans and the most progressive nobles - supported the Yorks.

Course of events

The first military clash between the Yorks and the Lancasters took place in May 1455 at St. Albans. The army of Henry VI turned out to be smaller and weaker, so the victory remained with the White Rose. Many high-ranking Lancastrian supporters fell in this battle. The victory allowed the head of the White Rose to declare himself Lord High Constable of England and heir to Henry VI. Small skirmishes between the two parties continued until 1460, when the Yorks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Lancasters at Northampton. The king was captured by the Yorks, so Richard York was able to enter London unhindered. However, the struggle was continued by Margarita Anzhuyskaya, who escaped captivity. Through her efforts, the Lancastrian supporters managed to defeat the Yorks at Wakefield that same year. In this battle, Richard York died without receiving the coveted English crown.

After the death of the Duke of York, his eldest son, Edward, became the head of the White Rose. In 1461, the new king inflicted several defeats on the Lancasters. The largest was the Battle of Towton, as a result of which Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower, and Margaret of Anjou and her son were forced to flee the country. After the victory, Edward York was crowned in London under the name of Edward IV, bypassing the legitimate heir to the throne. By decree of the new king, the Lancasters themselves and their supporters were declared traitors.

However, Edward IV could not find mutual language about his subjects. The king was distinguished by a tough temper, which led many of his supporters to prefer to go to the Lancastrian camp. Among the defectors were the younger brother of the king - the Duke of Clarence - and an experienced intriguer Earl of Warwick, who was given the nickname "kingmaker" by his contemporaries.

In 1470, the Lancasters, with the support of new allies, opposed Edward IV. The young king was forced into Burgundy. Meanwhile, Warwick managed to free and return to former place Henry VI. The Lancastrian king, whose mental state was completely shaken by that time, did not participate in state affairs in any way, the powerful Earl of Warwick had real power at court. The "Kingmaker" planned in the future to replace the mad king from the Lancaster family with his younger brother, George. To do this, the Earl of Warwick implemented another intrigue: having provoked the opponents of the Lancasters to another performance, he convinced Henry VI to move on a deliberately failed punitive campaign. The king fell into a trap and the cunning count took him to one of his castles, ostensibly for protection. In fact, to capture. Henry VI realized too late that former ally betrayed him, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Meanwhile, Edward IV raised a new army, made peace with the Duke of Clarence and resumed the fight for the throne. In 1471, he managed to inflict several serious defeats on the Lancasters. In one of them, the Earl of Warwick was killed. But the real disaster awaited the Lancasters at Tewkesbury. After the battle, this place was called the "bloody meadow". In this battle, not only almost all the supporters of the Lancasters were destroyed, but also the only heir to Henry VI - Prince Edward. Margaret of Anjou and the young widow of the prince who died on the battlefield were captured by Edward IV. Henry VI survived his son by only a few days. Shortly after the victory of the Yorks in the "bloody meadow", it was announced that Henry VI Lancaster had died of grief upon learning of the death of his son. Both historians and contemporaries of those events had every reason not to believe in the version that explained death former king natural causes. It is likely that Edward IV decided to get rid of the last legitimate claimant to the English crown.

For some time, relative calm reigned in England. But in 1483 Edward IV of York died. By law, his young son succeeded to the throne under the name of Edward V of York. However, this decision was opposed by the boy's uncle, Richard of Gloucester, one of the younger brothers of the deceased king. He declared his brother's sons illegitimate and ordered that the boys be sent to the Tower. Historians know nothing more about their further fate. Obviously, the princes were killed and secretly buried on the orders of their uncle. So Richard III of Gloucester became the new English king. The new king took up guidance internal order, however, he had to face strong opposition from the Yorks and the seemingly completely broken Lancasters.

The power of resistance returned to the Scarlet Rose camp after it was led by Henry Tudor, the grandson of Catherine of Valois and the nephew of Henry VI. After the death of Henry V, Catherine of Valois was still a young woman, so she soon started secret romance with a Welsh nobleman - Owen Tudor. From this relationship, the couple had six children, including the father of Henry Tudor.

In August 1485, Henry Tudor, who had lived almost all his life in France, traveled across the English Channel with his army and landed on the English coast. Richard III met him at Bosworth Field. During the battle, many nobles left the camp of Richard III, running to his opponent. The king himself was killed and Henry VII Tudor was proclaimed the new ruler of England. In 1487, one of the nephews of Richard of Gloucester tried to overthrow Henry VII from the throne, but this attempt failed. Thus, the civil war in England ended with the nominal victory of the Scarlet Rose, but in fact with the suppression of the Plantagenet dynasty.

The results of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses in England

Henry VII managed to establish peace in the country. He married the daughter of Edward IV, as if combining the Scarlet and White Roses together. However, the war ended, rather, due to the fact that the country was completely drained of blood, and only their most insignificant representatives remained from the huge noble clans, incapable of a serious struggle for power. Thirty years of conflict has led to a variety of consequences:

• establishing Tudor power;
• complete eradication of the oldest and noblest English noble families. Although the Scarlet and White Roses were represented by compatriots, many of whom were related, the clashes between the two sides were marked by great bloodshed. Noble clans were massacred completely, including women, the elderly and children. No one was taken prisoner, the enemy was destroyed in the bud;
• the complete renunciation of England's claims to French lands;
• the strengthening of the merchant class, which took the place of the nobility and became the main social pillar of the Tudors.

The tragic events of the 15th century, replete with almost detective plot twists, became a source of inspiration for many authors: William Shakespeare with his plays "Henry VI" and "Richard III", Walter Scott and George Martin.

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Dynastic strife

The exact date of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses cannot be determined: disputes have been going on for 5 centuries. The immediate cause of the conflict was a dynastic crisis - a consequence of the super-fertility of King Edward III (1327-1377). The struggle for the throne between the heirs of his two sons - John of Gaunt and Edmund York - resulted in almost half a century armed struggle two of the most powerful and wealthy feudal houses in England. But by the end of the 15th century, they almost completely exterminated each other: the Lancaster male line was cut short in 1471 after the death of Prince Edward, son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, and the last York, Richard III, was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Elizabeth York and Henry VII Tudor

The result of long strife between court factions was the accession of a new Tudor dynasty, founded by Henry VII. He was distant relative Lancaster, and to legalize his rights to the throne, he married the last surviving representative of York, the daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth.

The coat of arms of two roses appeared at the wedding of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

It is at the royal wedding that the famous emblem of two connected roses, Scarlet and White, first appears. Before that, no one even thought about the famous metaphor, which would later find its place on the pages of the works of Shakespeare and Walter Scott.

"Wars of the Nobles"

The influence of the Wars of the Roses on the history of England is enormous: this series of conflicts led to the accession of a new dynasty and the establishment of absolutism. Still, calling it a full-scale civil war would be wrong. For this era, the term “non-peaceful” is more suitable (archaism, meaning non-peaceful or war time. — Dictionary V. I. Dahl).

The War of the Roses is a classic example of a fictionalized war.

The struggle of the court parties for the English crown could not but affect the life in the provinces. The petty nobles were forced to go to war in order not to lose the favor of the patron lord. The gentry themselves (the so-called "new nobility" of England of that era) did not have any preferences in the ruling dynasties. Peace and stability were far more important to them than respect for the order of succession to the throne. During political struggle unrest also took place in the center on the ground, but it rarely came to the murder of nobles, usually the warring parties limited themselves to cattle rustling, intimidation, and, in extreme cases, the killing of servants.

The number of fallen nobles in the battles of the court parties themselves is relatively small. The fact that the gentry fought not for their beliefs, but for the patronage of the Lord Protector, proves that no bloody civil war in the minds of contemporaries was not and could not be. For people far from the court, it was a series of protracted conflicts in the highest circles.

There were only a few appearances of the Third Estate in the wars, the most famous being the rebellion of Jack Ked in 1450. However, many contemporaries call this movement "predatory": the rebels did not pursue any noble goals, except for robbery.

Three centuries of mythology

The creation of the scarlet and white rose war myth began as early as the rebellion of Richard York in 1452. The Duke actively used the achievements of propaganda of that era. In his calls for rebellion, he began to emphasize the illegitimacy of the acquisition of power by Henry VI - after all, the king's grandfather had gained the throne by overthrowing his uncle, Richard II, back in 1399.

Richard III Plantagenet

This version of the myth quickly gained popularity among the English aristocrats, who were dissatisfied with the rule of Henry and the omnipotence of the Lancaster party, led by Queen Margaret, whom opponents called the "Queen of Thorns"

Richard III and Henry VII. Engraving by William Faythorne, 1640. Richard III is shown as an old man with a symbolically broken scepter

The second version of the myth was created already at the end of the dynastic war, immediately after the marriage of Henry VII Tudor to the heiress of the Yorks. It was at this time that they began to demonize the image of Richard III: he became a bloodthirsty tyrant, child and fratricide. The rest of the parties to the conflict loomed in neutral colors. In this myth, the emphasis was not on criticism of the Lancasters, whose distant ancestor was Henry, but on harsh accusations against the previous ruler.

The spread of this version among the people was facilitated by the inconsistency that shrouded Richard's ascension to the throne: after the death of Edward IV, his elder brother, he became regent for the king's young children, Princes Edward and Richard. However, six months later, Richard Gloucester declared the boys bastards, and himself the rightful heir. Having received the consent of Parliament, he was crowned in July 1483. The fate of Edward's sons remained unknown: according to one version, the “princes from the Tower” were killed by their own uncle, according to another, they managed to escape to France. The first version proved much more attractive to the Tudor propaganda machine.

Richard III suffered from scoliosis, but was not humpbacked

Soon after the consolidation of his power, Henry VII began to forget that he owed half the crown to his wife. The third revision of history began, in which it was customary to criticize the Yorks and glorify the Lancasters, and also to present the era not as a series of conflicts of court parties, but as a continuous war, from which the young Tudor acted as a deliverer.

The fourth stage in the transformation of myth was under Henry VIII. The blood of two dynasties flowed in it, so there was no need to criticize one of them. The king's ancestors, both Lancasters and Yorkes (except Richard III), were now victims of circumstance. All the blame for the outbreak of the civil war was placed on the foreigner Margaret of Anjou. And the image of the last of the York dynasty in the work of the famous humanist Thomas More "History of Richard III" acquired new features: the author attributes the famous hump and a withered left hand to the unfortunate king.

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England

In the reign of Elizabeth, the myth was revised for the fifth time. The goal of Tudor propaganda was to affirm the idyll of the Elizabethan era against the backdrop of the terrible and dark times of feudal strife. Shakespeare's famous "Historical Chronicles" appear here. The great playwright's Peru owns the famous scene where in the garden of the Tower the Lancasters and Yorkies pin scarlet and white roses to themselves as a sign of an irreconcilable struggle to the bitter end. It was Shakespeare who created the image of a dark and bloodthirsty era of uninterrupted fratricidal wars, which attracts with its tragedy and heroism.

The term "War of the Scarlet and White Roses" was coined by Walter Scott.

The stereotypes created by Shakespeare fixed the image of a large-scale bloody war in the minds of the British for two centuries. Finally, in the 18th century, Walter Scott proposed the term "War of the Scarlet and White Roses", which seemed so successful to contemporaries that it is still used in science.

The debunking of the Tudor myth began only in the 20th century. The process of wholesale rehabilitation of the heroes of history has begun. It went to extremes: numerous societies of Richard III were created, whose members are convinced that England had no better king. The events of the Wars of the Roses are still being studied today, but many questions remain unanswered.