welcome to the ancestral findings podcast do you know who is who in the Wars of the Roses
there were many players in that infamous war let's start today with one of them
Henry the six was a key player in the Wars of the Roses in fact the roots of the war began a
century earlier with Henry the sixth grandfather Henry the fourth Henry the fourth overthrew his
cousin Richard the second from the throne they both shared a grandfather in King Edward the
third each being a son of a different child of Edward the root of the conflict of the war was
which branch of the family had a better claim to the throne while the line of succession passed
peacefully from Henry the fourth to his son Henry the fifth and to his son Henry the six
it was during Henry the sixth reign that the rival branch of Edward the thirds descendants
came forward and stated that they had the better claim to the throne this was the beginning of the
war Henry the Six was born in 1420 to the only child of King Henry the fifth and his
Queen Catherine of Valois he was heir to the throne of England from birth and was also born
during the waning years of the 100-year war between England and France his father Henry
v was a hero of that war and is considered one of England's last warrior kings Henry the fifth
died of dysentery while on campaign in the 100 Years War leaving Henry the six the new King of
England at only nine months old fortunately his father had brothers so the boy King had lots of
powerful men to run the country for him and advise him during his youth incidentally Henry's mother
Catherine of Valois became a beautiful young widow at the age of only twenty-one and soon found love
again in the arms of her Welsh Squire Owen Tudor with whom she had at least three children though
some historians say it was as many as six they initially had a secret affair but eventually
went public with it and got married causing a great scandal and the passage of a new law
that said any royal woman could not get married without the permission of the king Catherines
children with Owen Tudor became Henry the six half siblings and Henry Tudor who was the son
of his half-brother Edmund Tudor and thus Henry the six half nephew eventually became King Henry
the seventh and began the Tudor royal Empire in England Henry the sixth was also technically king
of France for a short time as a small child as he was the only legitimate male heir of his maternal
grandfather Charles the sixth and France unlike England did not allow females to rule on their
own the throne of France was eventually given to a nephew of Charles in a treaty with England
the Hundred Years War went on throughout Henry the sixth childhood being managed by his uncles
and finally ended in 1453 when Henry was 31 years old by that time Henry had married his grandfather
Charles's niece Margaret of Anjou and was ruling England on his own Henry and Margaret negotiated
a lasting peace with France with Calais being England's only remaining French territory where
at once had dozens the 100 Years War was over but a new one in England was about to begin Henry the
six and Margaret of Anjou were popular rulers when they were a young married couple known for
enjoying good parties and being benevolent merciful and generous with the people of
England however they did not conceive a child for their first seven years of marriage which put the
English people on edge wondering if there would be an issue with the succession shortly before
Margaret announced her pregnancy at last Henry the six fell into what would be the first of his
many mental health episodes where he was either mad or catatonic in this first instance he was
catatonic for more than a year Margaret gave birth during this time and Henry the Six was not able to
verbally acknowledge the boy as his son according to English custom the acknowledgement of the king
is necessary in order to be considered the new Prince Edward was left in limbo for the time
being while Henry was suffering from madness for the first time Margaret tried to keep it a secret
from all but their closest advisors however Henry the sixth cousin Richard of York from a rival
branch of Edward the third family suspected what was going on Henry eventually recovered from his
bout of madness and acknowledged his son but he did not stay well long his second bout of madness
was not as easily hidden and Richard of York took over the running of the kingdom from Margaret who
fled with her son into the countryside during her absence where she took refuge in Scotland Richard
of York exacted a promise from Henry the Six to name him as his heir instead of Henry's own son
Margaret of Anjou was a warrior queen and not one to let her son's birthright be taken from him when
Henry the Six was well again she came back and sought to it Richard of York was banished from
court and from the King's Council it was only a temporary victory however Henry the six bouts of
madness became more frequent and Richard of York was at the ready to take control of the kingdom
and the king along with an army of his own to back him up what followed was a constant battle back
and forth between he and Margaret of Anjou for physical custody of the Mad King Henry the six
that eventually erupted into full war this was the beginning of the English Civil War known as
the Wars of the Roses and to contemporaries as the cousins war Richard of York was eventually
killed in one of the early battles of this war and so never got to become King and name though
he acted as king indeed a few times his second eldest son Edmund was killed in the same battle
as him but his eldest son Edward succeeded shortly after Richard's death in overthrowing Henry the
Six and proclaiming himself King Edward the fourth getting the crown his father always wanted for him
but never managed to fully grab Henry the six lost the crown in March 14 61 and was taken to Scotland
by his wife however he was captured by forces loyal to Edward the fourth in 1465 and returned
to England where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London forces loyal to Henry the six who was
referred to as Lancastrians the name of Henry's branch of Edward the thirds family briefly took
the crown back on Henry's behalf in October of fourteen seventy but Henry lost the crown again
to Edward the fourths forces in April of 14 71 he never got it back his son was killed in the
battle that put Edward the fourth on the throne for good Edward the fourth branch of the family
were called Yorkists and Margaret of Anjou was captured and kept in the Tower of London for
years until her relatives in France ransomed her and obtained her freedom she went back to France
where she spent the rest of her life as a poor relation to the French crown Henry the Six was
put back in the Tower of London when Edward the fourth took the throne the second time he was
killed in the tower the very night Edward the fourth was officially restored to the throne
Edward the fourth told the people of England it was merely a tragic coincidence but most
historians believe Henry the six was killed by Edward the fourth and his brothers or by someone
they hired the Wars of the Roses raged on until 1485 when Edward the force brother King Richard
the third was killed on the battlefield and lost the throne to the last legitimate Lancastrian heir
Henry Tudor who became King Henry the seventh Henry the seventh married Edward the fourth
daughter Elizabeth of York uniting the two warring family branches and ending the Wars of the Roses
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