. A short history of England and the British Empire. nominious retreat from the Continent, his mind Henry VI-gave way, and for some months he was hopelessly will be remembered that his grandfather was the insaneking Charles VI of France and the weakness was probably in-herited. Under the circumstances some form of regency wasnecessary. Queen Margaret,2 who was a strong Queenand spirited though not always discreet woman, Margaret-claimed the right to rule in her husbands name; but thiswas opposed by a large faction of the nobility. At the headof the opposition stood Richard, duke of Y
. A short history of England and the British Empire. nominious retreat from the Continent, his mind Henry VI-gave way, and for some months he was hopelessly will be remembered that his grandfather was the insaneking Charles VI of France and the weakness was probably in-herited. Under the circumstances some form of regency wasnecessary. Queen Margaret,2 who was a strong Queenand spirited though not always discreet woman, Margaret-claimed the right to rule in her husbands name; but thiswas opposed by a large faction of the nobility. At the headof the opposition stood Richard, duke of York, a descendantof Lionel and Edmund, the second and fourth sons of EdwardIII. As chief of the Mortimer family duke Richard ofRichard had wide possessions in the west, whence York-he drew the larger part of his forces. At first he pretended tobe fighting for better government only — England should not be 1 Cheyney, No. 178; Kendall, No. 37; Bates and Coman, 210-212 (Shakespeare,Henry VI). 2 Kendall, No. 41. ig6 FIFTEENTH CENTURY: THE RENAISSANCE. Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI, and Ladies ofHer Court From a fifteenth-century tapestry. THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 1455-1471 197 ruled by a French princess and an insane king — but soon he set his heart on the crown 174. The Wars of the Roses. 1455-1471. The war between York and Margaret began with the battle of St. Albans in 14sc and closed five years later on the field of War betweenWakefield, where the Yorkist pretender How- York and ever, his young son Edward, the earl of March, Margaret. 1455. who now succeeded to his fathers power anddignities, openly claimed the throne and was crowned thefollowing year. The Wars of the Roses differed from ordi-nary civil wars in this, that they were fought chiefly by thenobles and their retainers; the masses of the nation took nogreat interest in the struggle, except when forced Queen Mar_to take sides in self-defense. This happened in garet loses1460, when the queen cam
Size: 1304px × 1916px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidshorthistory, bookyear1915
