Flower Fight

 

   The War of the Roses. It sounds like fun. A bunch of knights whipping each other with roses. Whoever had the most petals left at the end was the winner. The worst wounds were only scratches. But it wasn't like that at all. Back in 15th century England, the only permanent way to get your way was at the point of a sword.

   When I started my career as an English Major back in 1965. The professor gave us a list of the English monarchs. "Memorize this," he said. "It will help you keep things organized." The list started with William the Conqueror (1066-1087), not that there was an English language at that time any of us students would have understood. The list ended with Elizabeth II (1952-    ). And all these years later, Elizabeth still has that hypen hanging.

   Along with the list of monarchs were several pages of family trees. A dynasty would go along for a couple of hundred years, then there'd be a cut in the line. You knew that's when the swords had come out. Being king back then meant keeping the favor of the powerful dukes. A king did this by giving the dukes land and offices, and by not interfering too much in the dukes’ business. In return, the dukes served in the king’s army when needed and helped pay for the wars.

   The dukes approved of stability. It provided a balance of power and peace in the land. Sure the king's son might be a doofus, but he could be manipulated, and everyone would muddle through. Trouble often began when the new king was totally inappropriate. 

   In 1377 when Edward III died, his son Edward, aka The Black Prince, would have made a perfect king.  He was a noble prince, always going off to war to protect England's interests. Unfortunately he contracted dysentery on one of his campaigns and died the year before his father did. The king had three other sons. Logically one of these grown men should have become king, but based on the rules of primogeniture, the Black Prince's ten year old son was crowned King Richard II.

   Richard II is considered a bad king. The slighted uncles went on to form the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose). After twenty years of increasing misrule, Richard's cousin led a rebellion which put Richard under house arrest while the cousin became Henry IV. Lancaster 1, York 0.

   It's always dangerous to have a former king in the background so Richard II conveniently died in his castle, probably from starvation. Henry IV was seen as a usurper and spent the 14 years of his reign suppressing rebellions. Henry's son King Henry V (Agincourt and all that) cemented his claim to the crown by starting a war with France. Unfortunately again, Henry picked up dysentery and died at age 35.

   Before he died, Henry had married the daughter of the French king who gave birth to a son named Henry. This Henry became Henry VI, king of both England and France. He was nine months old. As his father had been martial, Henry VI was peaceable. He also had mental problems and throughout his life was a pawn to the ambitious men and women around him.

   Another rebellious cousin took the throne from Henry VI. This was King Edward IV, the first Yorkist king. Henry VI was locked in a tower or castle, no one knows where for sure. It is known that he died soon after. When his body was dug up in 1910, there was evidence of foul play.

   Edward IV had to fight a few battles to protect his hold on the crown. When he died, his son became Edward V. He was only twelve and his uncle Richard was named protector. But Richard wanted to be king more than he wanted to be protector. So he found a pretext to lock Edward in the Tower of London where he died under mysterious circumstances. This was the notorious King Richard III.

   Richard's move did not go down well with the Lancastrian branch of the family. They dusted off Henry Tudor from Wales, a great, great, great grandson of Henry III who started this whole mess over a hundred years previously. There was a big battle, Richard III was killed, and Henry Tudor became King Henry VII. He married Edward IV's daughter thus uniting the Houses of Lancaster and York.

   And so began the House of Tudor symbolized by a rose that was both red and white, and so ended the War of the Roses.

   

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