1.
Wars of the Roses
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The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, however, there was fighting before and after this period between the houses. With the Duke of Yorks passing, the transferred to his heir, Edward. His son reigned for 86 days as Edward V, but Parliament then decided that Edward and his brother Richard were illegitimate and offered the crown to Edward IVs younger brother, the two young princes disappeared within the confines of the Tower of London. The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, after assuming the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The name Wars of the Roses refers to the badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. Wars of the Roses came into use in the nineteenth century. Badges were not always distinct, at the Battle of Barnet, Edwards sun was very similar to the Earl of Oxfords Vere star, which caused fateful confusion. Another example, Henry Tudors forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon, although the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchies had little to do with these cities. Although minor armed clashes had occurred previously between supporters of York and Lancaster, the first open fighting broke out in 1455 at the First Battle of St Albans, several prominent Lancastrians died at the hands of the Yorkists. Although peace was restored, the Lancastrians were inspired by Margaret of Anjou to contest Yorks influence. Fighting resumed more violently in 1459, York and his supporters were forced to flee the country, but one of his most prominent supporters, the Earl of Warwick, invaded England from Calais and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton. York returned to the country and became Protector of England, but was dissuaded from claiming the throne, Margaret and the remaining Lancastrian nobles gathered their army in the north of England. When York moved north to engage them, he and his second son Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrian army advanced south and released Henry at the Second Battle of St Albans, but failed to occupy London, Yorks eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV. He gathered the Yorkist armies and won a victory at the Battle of Towton in March 1461. After Lancastrian revolts in the north were suppressed in 1464 and Henry was captured once again, Edward fell out with his chief supporter and adviser, the Earl of Warwick after Edwards unpopular and secretly conducted marriage with the widow of a Lancastrian supporter, Elizabeth Woodville. Within a few years, it clear that Edward was favoring his wifes family
2.
Hexham
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Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. In 2011, it had a population of 11,829, Newcastle upon Tyne is about 25 miles to the east. Hexham Abbey originated as a monastery founded by Wilfrid in 674, the crypt of the original monastery survives, and incorporates many stones taken from nearby Roman ruins, probably Coria or Hadrians Wall. The current Hexham Abbey dates largely from the 11th century onward, other notable buildings in the town include the Moot Hall, the covered market, and the Old Gaol. He was buried at Hexham in the church. Her wæs Alfwald Norðhymbra cyning ofslægen fram Sigan on. viiii, kalendas Octobris,7 heofonlic leoht wæs lome gesewen þær þær he ofslægen wæs,7 he wæs bebyrged on Hagustaldesee innan þære cyrican. The name of Hexham derives from the Old English Hagustaldes ea, in 1312, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, demanded and received £2000 from the town and monastery in order for them to be spared a similar fate. In 1346 the monastery was sacked in an invasion led by King David II of Scotland. In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Hexham was fought somewhere to the south of the town, the defeated Lancastrian commander The Duke of Somerset was executed in Hexham market place. Until 1572, Hexham was the centre of the former Liberty or Peculiar of Hexhamshire. In 1715, James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, raised the standard for James Francis Edward Stuart in Hexham Market place, the rising, however, was unsuccessful, and Derwentwater was captured and beheaded after the Battle of Preston. In 1761, the Hexham Riot took place in the Market Place when a crowd protesting about changes in the criteria for serving in the militia was fired upon by troops from North Yorkshire Militia, fifty-one protesters were killed, earning the Militia the soubriquet of The Hexham Butchers. Hexham was used in the Borders as a euphemism for Hell, hence the term To Hexham wi’ you an’ ye’r whussel. Recorded in 1873, and the popular expression Gang to Hexham, hexham-birnie is derived from the term and means an indefinitely remote place. Hexhams architectural landscape is dominated by Hexham Abbey, the current church largely dates from c. 1170–1250, in the Early English Gothic style of architecture, the choir, north and south transepts and the cloisters, where canons studied and meditated, date from this period. The east end was rebuilt in 1860, the abbey stands at the west end of the market place, which is home to the Shambles, a Grade II* covered market built in 1766 by Sir Walter Blackett. At the east end of the market stands the Moot Hall. The Moot Hall is a Grade I listed building, and was used as a courthouse until 1838, the Moot Hall now houses the Council offices of the Museums Department, though not open to the public any relevant enquiries can be made on the first floor
3.
Northumberland
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Northumberland is a county in North East England. The northernmost county of England, it borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south, to the east is the North Sea coastline with a 64-mile long distance path. The county town is Alnwick although the county council is in Morpeth, the northernmost point of Northumberland and England is at Marshall Meadows Bay. The county of Northumberland included Newcastle upon Tyne until 1400, when the city became a county of itself, Northumberland expanded greatly in the Tudor period, annexing Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1482, Tynedale in 1495, Tynemouth in 1536, Redesdale around 1542 and Hexhamshire in 1572. Islandshire, Bedlingtonshire and Norhamshire were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844, Tynemouth and other settlements in North Tyneside were transferred to Tyne and Wear in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. Lying on the Anglo-Scottish border, Northumberland has been the site of a number of battles, the county is noted for its undeveloped landscape of high moorland, now largely protected as the Northumberland National Park. Northumberland is the most sparsely populated county in England, with only 62 people per square kilometre, Northumberland originally meant the land of the people living north of the River Humber. The present county is the core of that land, and has long been a frontier zone between England and Scotland. During Roman occupation of Britain, most of the present county lay north of Hadrians Wall, the Roman road Dere Street crosses the county from Corbridge over high moorland west of the Cheviot Hills into present Scotland to Trimontium. Northumberland has a rich prehistory with many instances of art, hillforts such as Yeavering Bell and stone circles like the Goatstones. Most of the area was occupied by the Brythonic-Celtic Votadini people, with another large tribe, later, the region of present-day Northumberland formed the core of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which united with Deira to form the kingdom of Northumbria in the 7th century. Lindisfarne saw the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels and it became the home of St Cuthbert, bamburgh is the historic capital of Northumberland, the royal castle from before the unification of the Kingdoms of England under the monarchs of the House of Wessex in the 10th century. The Earldom of Northumberland was briefly held by the Scottish royal family by marriage between 1139–1157 and 1215–1217, Scotland relinquished all claims to the region as part of the Treaty of York. The Earls of Northumberland once wielded significant power in English affairs because, as powerful and militaristic Marcher Lords, Northumberland has a history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the Rising of the North against Elizabeth I of England. These revolts were led by the Earls of Northumberland, the Percy family. Shakespeare makes one of the Percys, the dashing Harry Hotspur, after the Restoration of 1660, the county was a centre for Roman Catholicism in England, as well as a focus of Jacobite support. Northumberland was long a wild county, where outlaws and Border Reivers hid from the law, however, the frequent cross-border skirmishes and accompanying local lawlessness largely subsided after the Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England under King James I and VI in 1603. Northumberland played a key role in the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century on, many coal mines operated in Northumberland until the widespread closures in the 1970s and 1980s
4.
House of York
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The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became Kings of England in the late 15th century and it is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with the House of Lancaster, it had a claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture. The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England in 1485 and it became extinct in the male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick in 1499. Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, 1st Earl of Cambridge, KG was a son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He was the founder of the House of York, but it was through the marriage of his younger son, Richard to Anne Mortimer that the Yorkist faction in the Wars of the Roses made its claim on the throne. The other party in the Wars of the Roses, the Lancasters, were descendants of Edmunds elder brother, Edmund had two sons, Edward, and Richard of Conisburgh. Edward succeeded to the dukedom in 1402, but was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, Richard married Anne Mortimer, a great-granddaughter of Lionel of Antwerp, the second son of Edward III. Furthermore, Annes son Richard also became heir general to the earldom of March, after her brother, Edmund, 5th Earl. Richard of Conisburgh was executed following his involvement in the Southampton Plot to depose Henry V of England in favour of the Earl of March, the dukedom of York therefore passed to his son, Richard Plantagenet. Through his mother, Richard Plantagenet also inherited the lands of the earldom of March, although he served as Protector of the Realm during Henry VIs period of incapacity in 1453-54, his reforms were reversed by Somersets party once the king had recovered. The Wars of the Roses began the year, with the First Battle of St Albans. Initially, Richard aimed only to purge his Lancastrian political opponents from positions of influence over the king and it was not until October 1460 that he claimed the throne for the House of York. In that year the Yorkists had captured the king at the battle of Northampton, Richard and his second son Edmund were killed at the battle of Wakefield on 30 December. Richards claim to the throne was inherited by his son Edward, with the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou were campaigning in the north, Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out. The early reign of Edward IV was marred by Lancastrian plotting, Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and the kings jealous brother George, Duke of Clarence, in briefly restoring Henry in 1470-71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the House of Lancaster was wiped out with the death of Henry VI himself, in the Tower of London in 1471
5.
House of Lancaster
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The House of Lancaster was the name of two cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster—from which the house was named—for his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 and this brought him—and Henry, his younger brother—into conflict with their cousin Edward II of England, leading to Thomass execution. Henry inherited Thomass titles and he and his son, who was also called Henry, the second house of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, who married the heiress of the first house. Edward III married all his sons to wealthy English heiresses rather than following his predecessors practice of finding continental political marriages for royal princes. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, had no male heir so Edward married his son John to Henrys heiress daughter and this gave John the vast wealth of the House of Lancaster. Their son Henry usurped the throne in 1399, creating one of the factions in the Wars of the Roses, there was an intermittent dynastic struggle between the descendants of Edward III. In these wars, the term Lancastrian became a reference to members of the family, the family provided England with three kings, Henry IV, who ruled from 1399 to 1413, Henry V, and Henry VI. Later grants included the first Earldom of Lancaster on 30 June 1267, Edmund was also Count of Champagne and Brie from 1276 by right of his wife. Edmunds second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the widow of the King of Navarre, Blanches daughter Joan I of Navarre was queen regnant of Navarre and through her marriage to Philip IV of France was queen consort of France. Edmunds son Thomas became the most powerful nobleman in England, gaining the Earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury through marriage to the heiress of Henry de Lacy and his income was £11,000 per annum—double that of the next wealthiest earl. After initially supporting Edward, Thomas became one of the Lords Ordainers, who demanded the banishment of Piers Gaveston, after Gaveston was captured, Thomas took the lead in his trial and execution at Warwick in 1312. Edwards authority was weakened by poor governance and defeat by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn and this allowed Thomas to restrain Edwards power by republishing the Ordinances of 1311. Following this achievement Thomas took little part in the governance of the realm and this allowed Edward to regroup and re-arm, leading to a fragile peace in August 1318 with the Treaty of Leake. In 1321 Edwards rule again collapsed into civil war, Thomas raised a northern army but was defeated and captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered but because he was Edwards cousin he was given a death by beheading. Henry joined the revolt of Edwards wife Isabella of France and her lover Mortimer in 1326 and his restored prestige led to him knighting the young King Edward III of England before his coronation. Mortimer lost support over the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton that formalised Scotlands independence, when Mortimer called a parliament to make his new powers and estates permanent with the title of Earl of March in 1328, Henry led the opposition and held a counter-meeting. In response, Mortimer ravaged the lands of Lancaster and checked the revolt, Edward III was able to assume control in 1330 but Henrys further influence was restricted by poor health and blindness for the last fifteen years of his life
6.
Capital punishment
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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, etymologically, the term capital in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment,103 countries have abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Capital punishment is a matter of controversy in various countries and states. In the European Union, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment, also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007,2008,2010,2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime, in most countries that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, defection or as part of military justice. In many countries use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty, in militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history, most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment, usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, a blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of a system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour, acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context, compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, the person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals
7.
Battle of Towton
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The Battle of Towton was fought during the English Wars of the Roses on 29 March 1461, near the village of Towton in Yorkshire. It is described as probably the largest and bloodiest battle fought on English soil. According to chroniclers, more than 50,000 soldiers from the Houses of York and Lancaster fought for hours amidst a snowstorm on that day, a newsletter circulated a week after the battle reported that 28,000 died on the battlefield. Contemporary accounts described Henry VI as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars and he had periods of insanity while his inherent benevolence eventually required his wife, Margaret of Anjou, to assume control of his kingdom, which contributed to his own downfall. After the Yorkists captured Henry in 1460, the English parliament passed an Act of Accord to let York, Henrys consort, Margaret of Anjou, refused to accept the dispossession of her sons right to the throne and, along with fellow Lancastrian malcontents, raised an army. Richard of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield and his titles, including the claim to the throne, the Battle of Towton was to affirm the victors right to rule over England through force of arms. On reaching the battlefield, the Yorkists found themselves heavily outnumbered, Part of their force under the Duke of Norfolk had yet to arrive. The Yorkist leader Lord Fauconberg turned the tables by ordering his archers to take advantage of the wind to outrange their enemies. The one-sided missile exchange, with Lancastrian arrows falling short of the Yorkist ranks, the ensuing hand-to-hand combat lasted hours, exhausting the combatants. The arrival of Norfolks men reinvigorated the Yorkists and, encouraged by Edward, many Lancastrians were killed while fleeing, some trampled each other and others drowned in the rivers, which are said to have made them run red with blood for several days. Several who were taken as prisoners were executed, the power of the House of Lancaster was severely reduced after this battle. Later generations remembered the battle as depicted in William Shakespeares dramatic adaptation of Henrys life—Henry VI, Part 3, Act 2, in 1929, the Towton Cross was erected on the battlefield to commemorate the event. Various archaeological remains and mass graves related to the battle were found in the centuries after the engagement. In 1461, England was in the year of the Wars of the Roses. The Lancastrians backed the reigning King of England, Henry VI, the leader of the Yorkists was initially Richard, Duke of York, who resented the dominance of a small number of aristocrats favoured by the king, principally his close relatives the Beaufort family. Fuelled by rivalries between influential supporters of both factions, Yorks attempts to displace Henrys favourites from power escalated into a full-blown conflict, after capturing Henry at the Battle of Northampton in 1460, the duke, who was of royal blood, issued his own claim to the throne. The Queen of England, Margaret of Anjou, refused to accept an arrangement that deprived her son—Edward of Westminster—of his birthright. She had fled to Scotland after the Yorkist victory at Northampton, there she began raising an army and her Lancastrian supporters also mustered in the north of England, preparing for her arrival
8.
Battle of Barnet
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The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, on 14 April 1471 near Barnet, then a small Hertfordshire town north of London, Edward led the House of York in a fight against the House of Lancaster, which backed Henry VI for the throne. Leading the Lancastrian army was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, historians regard the battle as one of the most important clashes in the Wars of the Roses, since it brought about a decisive turn in the fortunes of the two houses. Edwards victory was followed by 14 years of Yorkist rule over England, formerly a key figure in the Yorkist cause, Warwick defected to the Lancastrians over disagreements about Edwards nepotism, secret marriage and foreign policy. Leading a Lancastrian army, the earl defeated his former allies, the Yorkist king persuaded his host, Charles the Bold, to help him regain the English throne. Leading an army raised with Burgundian money, Edward launched his invasion of England, under cover of darkness, the Yorkists moved close to the Lancastrians and clashed in a thick fog at dawn. As both armies fought, the Earl of Oxford on the Lancastrian right routed the Yorkists opposite under Lord Hastings, on their return to the battlefield, Oxfords men were erroneously shot at by the Lancastrian centre commanded by Lord Montague. As cries of treason spread through their line, Lancastrian morale was disrupted, while retreating, Warwick was killed by Yorkist soldiers. Warwick had been such a figure in 15th-century English politics that, on his death, no one matched him in terms of power. Three centuries after the Battle of Barnet, an obelisk was raised on the spot where Warwick purportedly died. The Wars of the Roses were a series of conflicts between various English lords and nobles in support of two different royal families. In 1461 the conflict reached a milestone when the House of York supplanted its rival, Edward IV, leader of the Yorkists, seized the throne from the Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was captured in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou, and her son, Edward of Lancaster, fled to Scotland, Edward IV crushed the uprisings and pressured the Scottish government to force Margaret out, the House of Lancaster went into exile in France. The Earl grew to disapprove of the Kings rule, however, Warwick had planned for Edward to marry a French princess—Bona of Savoy—to create an alliance between the two countries. At her request, Edward bestowed gifts of land and titles on her relations and arranged marriages to rich, eligible bachelors were paired with the Woodville females, narrowing the marriage prospects for Warwicks daughters. Furthermore, the Earl was offended by two matches involving his kin, the first was the marriage of his aunt, Lady Katherine Neville, over 60 years old, to Elizabeths 20-year-old brother, John Woodville, a pairing considered outside of normal wedlock by many people. The other was his nephews fiancée, the daughter of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, exasperated by these acts, Warwick decided the Woodvilles were a malignant influence on his liege. He felt marginalized, his influence over the king was failing
9.
Battle of Tewkesbury
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The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, the Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died or was murdered shortly after the battle. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483, in 1461 the Yorkist claimant, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV and defeated the supporters of the weak, intermittently insane Lancastrian king Henry VI at the Battle of Towton. Lancastrian revolts in the far north of England were defeated in 1464, and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou, and their thirteen-year-old son Edward of Westminster, were exiled and impoverished in France. Edward IVs hold on the throne appeared temporarily to be secure, Edward IV owed his victory in large measure to the support of his cousin, the powerful Earl of Warwick. When the marriage became public knowledge, Edward placed many of his new family in powerful positions that Warwick had hoped to control. Edward meanwhile reversed Warwicks policy of friendship with France by marrying his sister Margaret to Charles the Bold, the embittered Warwick secured the support of Edward IVs brother George, Duke of Clarence, for a coup, in exchange for Warwicks promise to crown Clarence king. Although Edward was imprisoned briefly, Clarence was unacceptable as monarch to most of the country, Edward was allowed to resume his rule, outwardly reconciled with Warwick and Clarence. Within a year, he accused them of fresh treachery and forced them to flee to France, with no hope of a reconciliation with King Edward, Warwicks best hope of regaining power in England lay in restoring Henry VI to the throne. Louis XI of France feared an alliance of Burgundy under Charles the Bold. He was prepared to support Warwick with men and money, but to give legitimacy to any uprising by Warwick, Warwick and Margaret were previously sworn enemies, but Margarets attendants and Louis eventually persuaded her to ally the House of Lancaster with Warwick. At Angers, Warwick begged her pardon on his knees for all past wrongs done to her, Prince Edward was betrothed to Warwicks younger daughter Anne. Finally, they swore loyalty to Henry VI on a fragment of the True Cross in Angers Cathedral, however, Margaret declined to let Prince Edward land in England or to land there herself until Warwick had established a firm government and made the country safe for them. Warwick landed in the West Country on 13 September 1470, accompanied by Clarence and some unswerving Lancastrian nobles, including the Earl of Oxford and Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke. Edward fled to Kings Lynn where he took ship for Flanders, part of Burgundy, accompanied only by his youngest brother, Richard of Gloucester, in London, Warwick released King Henry, led him in procession to Saint Pauls cathedral and installed him in Westminster palace. His alliance with Louis of France and his intention to declare war on Burgundy was contrary to the interests of the merchants, as it threatened English trade with Flanders, Clarence had long been excluded from Warwicks calculations. In November 1470, Parliament declared that Prince Edward and his descendants were Henrys heirs to the throne, unknown to Warwick, Clarence secretly became reconciled with his brother, King Edward. With Warwick in power in England, it was Charles of Burgundys turn to fear a hostile alliance of England, as an obvious counter to Warwick, he supplied King Edward with money, ships and several hundred men
10.
Battle of Bosworth Field
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Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, by his victory became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty and his opponent, Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, at the request of his brother Edward IV, Richard was acting as Lord Protector for his son Edward V. Richard had Parliament declare Edward V illegitimate and ineligible for the throne, across the English Channel in Brittany, Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richards difficulties so that he could challenge his claim to the throne. Henrys first attempt to invade England was frustrated by a storm in 1483, marching inland, Henry gathered support as he made for London. Richard mustered his troops and intercepted Henrys army south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire, Thomas, Lord Stanley, and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to support. Richard divided his army, which outnumbered Henrys, into three groups, one was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland. Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford, Richards vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against Oxfords men, and some of Norfolks troops fled the field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry, seeing the kings knights separated from his army, the Stanleys intervened, Sir William led his men to Henrys aid, surrounding and killing Richard. After the battle Henry was crowned king below an oak tree in nearby Stoke Golding, Henry hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably, the Battle of Bosworth was popularised to represent the Tudor dynasty as the start of a new age. From the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamorised as a victory of good over evil, the climax of William Shakespeares play Richard III provides a focal point for critics in later film adaptations. The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack of conclusive data, in 1974 the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built on a site that has since been challenged by several scholars and historians. In October 2009 a team of researchers, who had performed geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area from 2003, during the 15th century civil war raged across England as the Houses of York and Lancaster fought each other for the English throne. In 1471 the Yorkists defeated their rivals in the battles of Barnet, the Lancastrian King Henry VI and his only son, Edward of Lancaster, died in the aftermath of the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their deaths left the House of Lancaster with no direct claimants to the throne, the Yorkist king, Edward IV, was in complete control of England. He attainted those who refused to submit to his rule, such as Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry, naming them traitors and confiscating their lands. The Tudors tried to flee to France but strong winds forced them to land in Brittany, then a semi-independent duchy, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, uncle of King Richard II and father of King Henry IV. The Beauforts were originally bastards, but Henry IV legitimised them on the condition that their descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne
11.
Henry VI of England
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Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Henry inherited the long-running Hundred Years War, where Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. Henry married Charless niece, Margaret of Anjou, partially in the hope of achieving peace in 1445, the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand, by 1453, Calais was Henrys only remaining territory on the continent. Henry experienced a breakdown after the failure of the war. Civil war broke out in 1460, leading to a period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry was taken prisoner by Richard of York at Northampton on 10 July 1460 but was rescued that December by forces loyal to Margaret and he was deposed on 29 March 1461 following the victory at Towton by Richards son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Henry suffered another breakdown and, despite Margaret continuing to lead a resistance to Edward, he was captured by Edwards forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, restored Henry to the throne in 1470, Henry died in the Tower during the night of 21 May 1471, possibly killed on the orders of Edward. He was buried at Chertsey Abbey, before being moved to Windsor Castle in 1484, miracles were attributed to Henry after his death, and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, Kings College and All Souls College, William Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret. Henry was the child and heir of King Henry V. He was born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle and he succeeded to the throne as King of England at the age of nine months upon his fathers death on 31 August 1422, he was the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. A few weeks later on 21 October 1422 in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420 and his mother, Catherine of Valois, was then 20 years old. As Charles VIs daughter, she was viewed with suspicion by English nobles and was prevented from playing a full role in her sons upbringing. On 28 September 1423, the nobles swore loyalty to Henry VI and they summoned Parliament in the Kings name and established a regency council to govern until the King should come of age. One of Henry Vs surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed regent of the realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedfords absence, the government of England was headed by Henry Vs other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and his duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Parliament. Henry Vs half-uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, had an important place on the Council, after the Duke of Bedford died in 1435, the Duke of Gloucester claimed the Regency himself, but was contested in this by the other members of the Council
12.
Leicester
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Leicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest, in the 2011 census the population of the City of Leicester unitary authority was 329,839 making it the most populous municipality in the East Midlands region. The associated urban area is also the 11th most populous in England, the name of Leicester is recorded in the 9th-century History of the Britons as Cair Lerion, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Ligora-ceastre. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as Ledecestre, the second element of the name comes from the Latin castrum which is reflected in both Welsh cair and Anglo-Saxon ceastre. Based on the Welsh name, Geoffrey of Monmouth proposes a king Leir of Britain as a founder in his Historia Regum Britanniae. Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a going back at least two millennia. The native Iron Age settlement encountered by the Romans at the seems to have developed in the 2nd or 1st centuries BC. This area of the Soar was split into two channels, a stream to the east and a narrower channel on the west. The settlement seems to have controlled a ford across the larger channel, the later Roman name was a latinate form of the Brittonic word for ramparts, suggesting the site was an oppidum. The plural form of the name suggests it was composed of several villages. The Celtic tribe holding the area was recorded as the Coritanians. The Corieltauvians are believed to have ruled over roughly the area of the East Midlands and it is believed that the Romans arrived in the Leicester area around AD47, during their conquest of southern Britain. The Corieltauvian settlement lay near a bridge on the Fosse Way, in the 2nd century, it received a forum and bathhouse. In 2013, the discovery of a Roman cemetery found just outside the old city walls, the remains of the baths of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall, recovered artifacts are displayed at the adjacent museum. Knowledge of the following the Roman withdrawal from Britain is limited. Certainly there is continuation of occupation of the town, though on a much reduced scale in the 5th and 6th centuries. Its memory was preserved as the Cair Lerion of the History of the Britons, following the Saxon invasion of Britain, Leicester was occupied by the Middle Angles and subsequently administered by the kingdom of Mercia. It was elevated to a bishopric in either 679 or 680, this see survived until the 9th century and their settlement became one of the Five Burghs of the Danelaw, although this position was short-lived
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