Wars of the Roses

The People, Places and Battlefields of the Yorkists and Lancastrians

Paul Kendall

• Publisher: Frontline Books
• Year: 2023
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781399097529
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

The Wars of the Roses, which saw England and Wales ravaged by warfare for three decades and dynasties rise and fall, decimated the nobility of an entire generation, and saw the rise of the merchant class, the decline of medieval feudalism and opened the country to the enlightened ideals of the Renaissance. Such has been its lasting effects the red and white rose of the Tudors is still a national symbol. This book is an exploration of the buildings, monuments, towns and battlefields of that turbulent era across both England and Wales – places that can still be visited and experienced today. The stories of the great battles of St Albans, Stoke Field, Wakefield, Townton, Barnet, Tewksbury and, of course, Bosworth, are told along with beautiful photographs to help guide the reader round these important sites, as well as the dozens of smaller engagements where the supporters of the Houses of York and Lancaster fought and died. Here are castles and manor houses galore, all of which played their part in this protracted struggle for the throne of England, such as Richard of York's imposing powerbase of Lulow Castle and the magnificent Tudor stronghold of Bamburg. These are compared with the scant remains of Fotheringhay Castle, the birthplace of Richard III – the man whose remains were so dramatically uncovered in Leicester – and Micklegate Bar, York, was where Richard's head was placed on a spike. We see the Clocktower of St Albans and 'Gabriel' the bell that was rung in 1455 alerting of the Yorkist advance, as well as the Tower of London where Henry VI met his death and the possible burial place of the two princes. These, and scores of other places, monuments, plaques, buildings and battlegrounds, represent not only a journey across England and Wales, but a journey back in time to the bloody conflict that was the War of the Roses.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Effigy Head of Henry V
• 2 The Talbot Shrewsbury Book depicting the enthronement of Henry VI
• 3 Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris)
• 4 Statue of Henry VI, the King’s Screen, York Minster
• 5 Joan of Arc Tower, Rouen
• 6 Titchfield Abbey
• 7 Tomb of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
• 8 The London Stone
• 9 Fotheringhay Castle
• 10 Statue of Margaret of Anjou, Angers
• 11 Statue of Henry VI
• 12 Windsor Castle
• 13 Engraving depicting Westminster
• 14 Clocktower, St Albans
• 15 Map of St Albans in 1455
• 16 Plaque commemorating Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
• 17 St Albans Cathedral and Abbey Gatehouse
• 18 Pembroke Castle
• 19 The ragged staff emblem
• 20 Audley’s Cross, Blore Heath
• 21 Ludlow Castle
• 22 Ludford Bridge
• 23 Sandwich Quay
• 24 Eleanor Cross, Northampton
• 25 The Tower of London
• 26 The Painted Chamber, Westminster Palace
• 28 Battlefield at Wakefield
• 29 Monument dedicated to Richard, 3rd Duke of York, Wakefield
• 30 Old Wakefield Bridge
• 31 Micklegate Bar, York
• 32 Battle of Mortimer’s Cross Monument
• 33 Marketplace at St Albans
• 34 Crossing at Ferrybridge
• 35 St Mary’s Church, Lead
• 36 Towton Memorial Cross
• 37 Bloody Meadow, Towton
• 38 Wooden bridge over the Cock Beck, Towton
• 39 The Towton Skeleton
• 40 All Saints Church, Saxton & Lord Dacre’s Tomb
• 41 Chapel of St John the Evangelist, Tower of London
• 42 Westminster Abbey
• 43 Execution site, Tower Hill, London
• 44 Bamburgh Castle
• 45 Reading Abbey
• 46 Waddington Old Hall
• 47 Danesmoor, site of the Battle of Edgcote
• 48 Battle of Losecoat Field Monument
• 49 Angers Cathedral
• 50 Compass Memorial, Purfleet Quay, King’s Lynn
• 51 Edward IV & Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III), plaque, Cromer
• 52 Walmgate Bar, York
• 53 Battle of Barnet Obelisk
• 54 Statue of Margaret of Anjou and Prince Edward, Paris
• 55 Gupshill Manor, Tewkesbury
• 56 Ghent Manuscript, depiction of the Battle of Tewkesbury
• 57 Bloody Meadow, Tewkesbury
• 58 Burial site of Prince Edward, Tewkesbury Abbey
• 59 Tewkesbury Abbey
• 60 Model of the medieval London Bridge
• 61 The King’s Private Chapel, the Wakefield Tower
• 62 Engraving of Henry VI
• 63 Stained glass window commemorating marriage of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and Anne Neville
• 64 Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay
• 65 Yorkist Heraldry
• 66 Bowyer Tower
• 67 Engraving of Edward IV
• 68 Eltham Palace
• 69 St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
• 70 Rose and Crown Inn, Stony Stratford
• 71 Crosby Hall
• 72 Entrance to Westminster Abbey
• 73 St Paul’s Cross, London
• 74 Baynard’s Castle, London
• 75 The Coronation Chair
• 76 Westminster Hall
• 77 Arms of Richard III, Charter of Incorporation Plaque, Gloucester
• 78 York Minster
• 79 Archbishop’s Palace, York
• 80 The Bloody Tower, Tower of London
• 81 Staircase where two skeletons were discovered
• 82 Facial Reconstruction of Richard III
• 83 Middleham Castle
• 84 Nottingham Castle
• 85 Mill Bay Memorial
• 86 Henry Tudor House, Shrewsbury
• 87 Blue Boar Inn, Leicester
• 88 Bow Bridge, Leicester
• 89 King Dick’s Well, Bosworth
• 90 Bosworth Battlefield Site, Fenn Lane, and the Bosworth Boar
• 91 Statue of Richard III, Leicester
• 92 Sundial Memorial, Bosworth
• 93 The Two Kings’ Plaque, Leicester
• 94 Turret gateway entrance to Leicester Castle
• 95 A royal grave, Greyfriars, Leicester
• 96 Skeleton of Richard III
• 97 Tomb of Richard III
• 98 Rose Window, York Minster
• 99 Gatehouse of Richmond Palace
• 100 Tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth Tudor
• Bibliography