The Wars of the Roses was a conflict that deeply divided England between the Plantagenet
houses of York and Lancaster.
The two factions believed they should be ruling over the country, and a number of devastating
battles saw hundreds and thousands killed and injured.
Eventually the Wars of the Roses culminated in one of England’s most infamous and notorious
King’s being slain in bloody fashion on Bosworth Battlefield.
Richard’s death was incredibly bloody, with him being defeated by Henry Tudor which began
the Tudor dynasty, the ruling family that famously Henry VIII, Bloody Mary and Elizabeth
I belonged to.
However before this, there was a Lancastrian King who was defeated and overthrown by Edward
VI, and this king reigned for a significantly long time.
Henry VI is one of only two men including Edward to have had two reigns on the throne,
but in 1471 he was allegedly murdered inside the Tower of London in devastating fashion.
He was after all a King in his own right and the murder of a king is a shocking event.
So join us today as we look at the BRUTAL Death Of Henry VIII, remember to support our
channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Henry VI was the last Lancastrian to rule England.
He was King twice from 1422 to 1461, and then for a year in 1470 before being kept off the
throne for good.
He was born on the 6th December 1421 at Windsor Castle.
His father was the valiant and brilliant King Henry V, the man who defeated the French spectacularly
at Agincourt during the 100s Years War.
Henry VI was the youngest person and still is to ever come onto the throne and to succeed,
but was officially crowned in 1429.
He was even also named the King of France in 1431 after his father’s victories and
success in the 100 years war, but as was normal he would not rule solely until he was old
enough, and in the meantime a regency council would oversee the two nations.
He married Margaret of Anjou in 1445 and was noted to have been a very religious man, but
a King who put his faith in the wrong people and advisors. Power struggles occurred often
at his court, and he found it incredibly difficult to oversee England let alone rule over France
too, and this stressful situation caused great strain on Henry.
Things got worst with Joan of Arc’s success and reputation causing significant damage
to the English in France, and in 1450 Normandy was lost which led to many in England to question
their own king.
Because of successive failings on France, the King was driven to a nervous breakdown
which occurred in 1453, and during this time Richard the Duke of York was named the Proctector
of England.
It took the King two years to recover, but during this time there had been a great divide
emerge in England.
Civil War broke out in the country dividing the nation between the Lancastrian and Yorkist
factions.
This saw the Protector the Duke of York fighting against the King and in particular Henry’s
Queen, who commanded the Lancastrian efforts.
In 1460, the Duke of York was slain in the Battle of Wakefield, but then his son took
up arms and the fight for the crown, and he heavily defeated Henry VI’s forces at the
Battle of Towton, which was described as the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil.
Edward then claimed the throne after the battle, and crowned himself King Edward IV.
Henry VI fled and went into exile, but later returned the year later and was captured by
Edward.
During his capture, he was then later paraded throughout London with his feet tied to a
heart, and he wore a straw hat proclaiming him to be rebel.
This caused great humiliation for the man who had ruled over England for decades.
But Henry would be returned to the throne, as at the turn of the 1460’s an incredibly
powerful medieval noble would switch his alliance from York to Lancaster.
The Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker switched turning on the new King Edward IV.
He was seen as the most powerful man in England, and the true power behind the Wars of the
Roses.
He then managed to restore Henry VI onto the throne in 1470 and Edward then was forced
into exile.
He later returned the year after and laid waste too the Lancastrian’s at the Battle
of Tewkesbury in May 1471.
This battle in particular was noted for heavy losses of Henry VI’s forces, and his only
son was also killed.
Edward the Prince of Wales was at one point the successor, but he was killed at just the
age of 17 on the battlefield.
Edward IV who then retook the crown, then threw Henry into prison sensing how dangerous
it was having him around.
He was thrown into not just a normal prison, he was imprisoned at the Tower of London a
place that today is synonymous with torture, execution and brutality.
The Tower after all is the place where 3 Queens lost their heads, but what is less well known
is that it is also the place where at least 1 King also died.
It was said that when the Royal Party, presumably Edward IV arrived in London, they were informed
that Henry VI was dead.
Official chronicles and documents from the time state how the deposed King passed away
in the evening of the 21st May 1471.
It’s considered that Henry’s enemies kept him alive for a while, as they feared his
son Edward more as a ruler, and that it was favoured having the weaker Henry as the head
of the Lancastrian force, as he was doing more damage to the country, and his son would
have been a better King.
According to the History of the Arrival of Edward IV, an official chronicle biased towards
Edward IV that Henry died of, ‘pure displeasure and of melancholy,’ upon hearing the news
of the Battle of Tewkesbury and his son’s death.’
However this can’t really be believed as the sources close to Edward would not say
that Edward ordered the King’s death or had killed Henry VI as at the time King’s
were believed to have been sent by God to rule.
If Edward had in fact ordered Henry’s death, then he could have been seen to have offended
God, and to be nothing more than a murderous usurper.
However, the believed story of Henry VI’s death and passing is much more brutal and
savage than that.
There have been a few people who have been blamed for the death of Henry VI, one of them
is the notorious King Richard III.
Richard who was the Duke of Gloucester at the time has been blamed for the death of
Henry.
Sir Thomas More, the Tudor advisor to Henry VIII stated Richard killed Henry, but it’s
believed that this was done as a way to portray Richard, the enemy of the Tudor dynasty as
a murderous and barbaric individual.
It’s believed though that Richard was away from London at the time of Henry’s death,
and also that he was just 18 when he died.
It’s believed that Henry was murdered, and although in some accounts a specific murderer
is not named, it was said that Edward IV must have given the order for the death of his
prize prisoner inside of the Tower of London.
Having Henry VI alive ultimately was dangerous for Edward, and by ordering the death of him
he was extinguishing and exterminating the direct line of the House of Lancaster with
ruthlessness.
The belief about Henry VI’s death, is that on the night of the 21st May 1471, on the
night of the vigil of the Ascension, Henry VI was praying inside his chapel in his prison.
He was being held inside of the Wakefield Tower, one of the oldest parts of the Tower
which was built in the 13th century.
Whilst he was on his knees, praying someone came up behind him, and stabbed the former
king to death using a dagger, or a sword.
So whilst Henry VI was most vulnerable, an opportunistic assassin went up behind him,
murdered him in cold blood and ended the life of a man who had reigned over the country.
Henry’s body was originally buried inside of Chertsey Abbey, however his body was later
moved to St George’s Chapel inside Windsor Castle by Richard III.
Allegedly Henry’s body was exhumed in 1910 and when the bones were analysed it was said
that he was 5 feet 9 inches tall.
His light hair was also said to have been covered in blood, which is interesting as
for over 400 years it remained preserved, and his skull did have a sufficient amount
of damage.
This put beyond doubt rumours that the King simply died from melancholy, and in fact he
had a very bloody end.
Henry VI’s murder and death is considered a forgotten moment in English history, but
he was a King born onto the throne.
His reign is seen as a poison chalice, as Henry being the King of France and England
could do nothing to juggle the thrones.
He was plagued by poor judgement and by civil war that split England and caused immense
brutality and changed the face of history forever.
His murderer has been lost to history, but what is certain is the fact he had a very
violent death inside of one of History’s most famous prisons.
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