War of the Roses
The Family Feud That Lasted Thirty Years Most wars in history have been very noble wars fought between men of two different sides, battling for the power over the people of a country. William Lace argues that, "There was nothing noble about the Wars of the Roses [though,] because brothers fought brothers, fathers fought sons, prisoners were executed without trials, and battles were won only by last minute deception"(10-11). Throughout the events of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Barnet is one battle that makes an impact on British politics and society. The events of the Wars of the Roses are nothing more than feuds within the Plantagenets family. Because three very powerful noblemen, York, Salisbury, and Warwick are not invited to a council meeting where the other nobles are trying to discuss different ways to protect the king, they feel that they are being plotted against. With an army of about five thousand men, York and company leads an attack on London where Henry I and twenty-five hundred men meet them (Lace 28). Lace describes the start of the war saying, "The Wars of the Roses, brewing for years, finally breaks out when the armies of Richard, duke of York, and Edmund Beaufort, duke of Somerset, meet in the
Edward is then released so Warwick can gain the support of the nobles. The Battle of Towton becomes the longest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Hastings commands his unit to the left, Edward's unit is in the center, and Gloucester's unit is on the right. After hearing of Edward's victory, Warwick takes his army toward London in order to help Edward, but Margaret's army stops them and rescues King Henry (35-37). Margaret finally gives up the fight, for now, and England and France engage in a truce (Lace 45-46). Because Edward knows this, he moves his army silently into position, much closer to Warwick's army. This causes eight hundred men to start yelling "treason" and then surrender, leaving the battlefield. After the battle, on June 28, 1461, Edward goes back to London and is officially named the King of England (44-45). The Lancasters lose the Battle of Tewkesbury because the leaders of the different divisions cannot get along and they kill each other. Due to a heavy snow, the Lancasters almost lose but with the help of reinforcements they stand their ground (Lace 42-43). Then, because of the dense mist, the two sides have to maneuver so that they are directly in front of each other and this leads them to where they are currently, turned at a ninety-degree angle to their original positions (Ross 180). Many people will die, but most of the time, the country will return to normal. According to Charles Ross, "English life and civilization in general, are remarkably little affected by thirty years of sporadic conflict" (162) except that the people try to do many things in order to increase their status in the society. Henry's wife, Margaret, becomes furious so she goes to the Lancasters and gathers a powerful army which greatly outnumbers York's army (Lace 32-34). The House of Commons, Parliament, also loses initiative as a direct result of the war.
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