The Causes Of The Wars Of The Roses Explained

'The Causes Of The Wars Of The Roses Explained'

The Wars of the Roses were one of the bloodiest periods in English history. After 30 years of conflict between the royal houses of Lancaster and York, the nobility was shattered, and the Plantagenet dynasty was ended. But what caused this long period of internecine violence? It's a story of such complexity and intrigue that it inspired one of the greatest TV smashes ever: Game of Thrones. Dan Snow narrates this animated short documentary on the events that led to 22 May 1455 - the First Battle of Saint Albans.

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[EmpressMermaid]

Both Henry II and Edward III demonstrate that having too many sons can be almost as bad as having too few.

[AbiShafi]

“Woe to that land that’s govern’d by a child!” Richard III by William Shakespeare

[lisakilmer]

Well-written, well-narrated, with clever animations. The background track occasionally competes with the terrific voice of Dan Snow. I thought the use of "Carol of the Bells" a little bit comical, but still better than the repetitive and vapid BBC background music.

[Richard-fvrq]

Fascinating stuff, such a rich & powerful history we have.

[kariannecrysler]

Your voice is quite enjoyable even in telling the path’s leading to war. Thank you.😊

[williamrobinson]

Really succinct and well done. Nice one Dan! 👍

[Tadicuslegion]

Dan Jones' books on this era are must reads to understand the big picture of how William the Conqueror taking England in 1066 leads directly to Henry Tudor winning at Bosworth Fields centuries later.

[robert--hw]

hell of a cliffhanger you left us on there.

Kidding aside, great content as usual.

[JockeB]

As usual you make us wanting for more! Awesome!

[biffstrong]

I love that I know the battles of Agincourt and Crecy but never learned of the battle of Castillon or the battle of Formigny despite the fact that Canada is theoretically a country of two nations England and France.

[RatedPP]

Great video! Informative and entertaining with good writing

[Emthesomething]

4:40 I love the Carol of the Bells being used to build suspense. Though now I feel even warmer here in August. And want some presents under the tree. And maybe missed what was said there, haha

[TheMrFishnDucks]

Awesome video. Very informative. These wars were so pointless and wasteful. Keep up the good work.

[chrisjacobs]

This channel is actually nuts right… whatever I happen to be looking at in history, they seem to post a video on it very soon afterwards. They say Alexa doesn’t listen… but not complaining honestly because I’ve never understood the wars of the roses, was struggling to write a book review on it when this popped up. Just awesome, thanks guys.

[ianwild]

Great video. We often see docs on the War of the Roses but nothing on what had lead to this period. The only thing I found was that the incidental music and sound effects often obscured the voice-over. Thank you for posting.

[MC-rfsx]

That's was the best version of The War of the Roses so far I've seen

I'm from the USA but my ancestors are from England Scotland France and Italy so this is very interesting

[bsangel]

Putting it ridiculously simply so many young men died so someone that isn’t them can become king.

[aidanrogers]

While writing my MA dissertation on the politics and battles of the Wars I have found that Margaret of Anjou has been such a vilified figure, simply because she was a woman, a French woman no less. All she wanted to do was to protect the interests of her son, Edward of Westminster, as heir to the throne. The rumours about her affair with Beaufort were likely spread by York allies to try and undermine the queen, and her position, and she proved to be more politically adept than most, like York himself. I think she was a leading cause the Lancastrians lasted as long as they did before war broke out and is a seriously underrated historical figure in this time period.

[chocho]

Edward III although known as one of the greatest kings of England

enforced policies and made many decisions that contributed largely to the War of Rose

1. Edward planned only partially successfully for a huge international empire

in order to keep his sons occupied, successful and from fighting each other

with the Black Prince Duke of Aquitaine,
Lionel lord of Ireland and Scotland,
John of Gaunt lord of Brittany etc. etc.

He made his four oldest sons into Dukes,
with huge lands, income, and armies of retainers

he planned for them to be mini kings

and he raised the bar for ambition

before this Dukes we're not common

and many princes were made simply Earls, a slightly lowe rank

2. Edward was so anxious about marriage alliances of his children and the issue that they would incur
that he basically put off marrying the first two kids off
Edward the Black Prince
and the first daughter.
This created a situation where Richard II,
The Black Princes son,
was way too young and immature, a teenager

whereas Richard II s uncles like John of Gaunt were much more mature and powerful,
with children who were similar ages to Richard II,
a competitive issue,
instead of being much younger as they should have been
( The black prince was much older than the other sons )



3. Edward III disinherited Philippa from the crown of England because she was a female
and the only child of Lionel, Edwards second son, older than John of Gaunt patriarch of the Lancastrians

However, Edward married Philippa to extremely rich and landed Mortimer family

who did not like being disinherited
and who privately thought that they should be the next kings of england,

after Richard II.



4. The final coup is that Henry IV, Lancastrian,

king who deposed Richard II,

permitted Anne of Mortimer,

descended from Philippa and Mortimer family,

to marry into Yorkist faction,

giving the Yorkist claim to throne

over the Lancastrians .


this is one of the most crucial points in the war.

Henry IV was older and ill

and he made a huge error for his line .

5. one must remember that these rivalries and wars lasted over such a long period

that people simply made some bad choices

possibly losing track of rivalries ...

from 1399 the deposition of Richard II by Henry IV, Lancastrian

all the way to the 1460's

with Henry IV s grandson Henry VI, married to Margaret of Anjou

fighting Edward IV, Yorkist king ...who triumphed .


6. Henry V, Lancastrian son of Henry IV
basically made the mistake of permitting Richard Duke of York to inherit both Mortimer an dYorkist fortune

despite the plots of Richards father against the throne.

Henry V chose forgiveness

and this fortune and power permitted Richard of York to rival

[williamrobinson]

On second viewing I'd say that this is perfect for the non expert such as I, to revisit.. Very useful indeed! ❤️👍