Wars of the Roses

The French were not the only people fighting over the throne; the English were too. One side was called the Lancastrians and the other was called the york. the Yorks had white, and the Lancastrians had red. The wars of the English throne were called the Wars of Roses. The Wars of Roses began during the time of Henry the VI, son of Henry V. When he grew up, he began to rule England. He was a very nice man who spent hours and hours praying and reading. One of his dukes came into the room to tell him about a problem in the kingdom, and he said, "I can hardly find a moment to read holy teachings without disturbance."

Henry sort of became mad and he wouldn't talk to his friends, and he believed he was made of glass. The Duke of York was asked to rule in the king's place. Then he decides to conquer it! He gathered his men and fought, but Henry's side won. The Duke was killed and the Queen said his head should be placed on the wall with a paper crown on it. Then his son Edward collected a big army and marched against them. This time they won the victory and took Henry VI to prison, and Edward crowned himself king.

Edward was a nice man, but he fell in love with a woman, Elizabeth Woodville, who had been married before to a knight that had died in battle. Nobody liked her because she was on the side of Henry VI, so he had to marry her in secret. When they wanted him to get married to a princess that they had picked, he had to admit that he had married her, and he put her in a parade. So some people took sides with Henry VI and let him out of jail. They tried to attack the palace at night time, but Edward jumped out of bed and ran away. Now Henry VI was king again.

But when Edward had collected a big enough army, Henry was put in prison again and killed in prison. Edward reigned for 12 years. When he died, his 12-year-old son Edward V became king. But he was too young, so his uncle, Richard III ruled in his place.

Edward V had been put into that big tower in London. His little brother had been put into the tower with him. Some people said that Richard ought to be king. Some people complained. But when Richard ordered Edward V's governor beheaded, people didn't complain so loudly, because no one wanted to be next. Once when some people were cleaning up some rubble in the tower, they found a box with two skeletons in it. They thought this might be the bodies of the two princes and that they had been killed or something, but no one is sure. And now as you have probably guessed, being heir to the throne in England was dangerous!