The Wars of the Roses - Alison Weir [258]
2 John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He saw his life’s work as maintaining the honour and integrity of the English crown. (illustration credit 2)
3 Henry IV. The legitimacy of his title to the throne would remain a sensitive issue. (illustration credit 3)
4 Henry V. He possessed all the attributes required of a successful mediaeval ruler. (illustration credit 4)
5 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, an intensely ambitious man who was Beaufort’s deadly rival for power during the minority of the young Henry VI. (illustration credit 5)
6 Cardinal Henry Beaufort, a shrewd politician who exerted enormous influence over the King. (illustration credit 6)
7 Henry VI as a young man. He was ‘neither intelligent nor experienced enough to manage a kingdom such as England’. (Jean de Waurin: Chronicle.) (illustration credit 7)
8 Henry VI in later life. His severe nervous breakdown resulted in his withdrawal from normal life and precipitated the outbreak of civil war. (illustration credit 8)
9 René, Duke of Anjou. Despite his landless status, he was a considerable power at the French court, and was rumoured to govern the realm in Charles VII’s name. (illustration credit 9)
10 Margaret of Anjou. She was beautiful, talented, courageous, autocratic, changeable and vindictive – ‘more like to a man than a woman’. (illustration credit 10)
11 Richard, Duke of York. He had a better claim to the throne than Henry VI, but preferred to promote himself as the champion of good government. (illustration credit 11)
12 The Falcon and Fetterlock badge of the mediaeval dukes of York. Duke Richard inherited the fabulous wealth of the Mortimers and became the richest landowner in England. (illustration credit 12)
13 ‘The harvest of heads’: the gruesome aftermath of Jack Cade’s rebellion in 1450, a largely middle-class revolt against misgovernment by Henry VI’s favourites. (illustration credit 13)
14 A nineteenth-century portrayal of the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses: the Dukes of Somerset and York confront each other in Temple Gardens, London. This colourful scene, enshrined in the pages of Shakespeare, is fictitious, the stuff of legend. (illustration credit 14)
15 Ludlow Castle, Shropshire: the mightiest fortress owned by York, and his headquarters during the Wars of the Roses. (illustration credit 15)
16 Westminster Hall, London. Here, in October 1460, York formally laid claim to the crown of England. (illustration credit 16)
17 Edward IV. Affable, handsome, promiscuous and generally indolent, he nevertheless brought stable government to England and was consistently victorious over his enemies in battle. (illustration credit 17)
18 Elizabeth Wydville. In his choice of wife, King Edward was ‘governed by lust’; the marriage caused not only scandal but political disruption. (illustration credit 18)
19 Warwick the Kingmaker. Next to the King, he was the greatest man in England, and virtually controlled the government during the early years of Edward’s reign. (illustration credit 19)
20 George, Duke of Clarence, with his wife, Isabel Neville, and their son. Clarence, who wanted to depose his brother the King and rule in his place, was Warwick’s natural ally in the late 1460s. (illustration credit 20)
21 Edward IV sets sail from Flushing in March 1471. Although few believed he stood any chance of victory, he had no intention of retreating. (illustration credit 21)
22 Edward IV watches the execution of the Duke of Somerset, last of the male Beaufort line, and twelve others, in May 1471. The King pardoned all the common soldiers who had fought against him. (illustration credit 22)
23 The oratory in the Wakefield Tower in the Tower of London where tradition sets the murder of Henry VI, which took place on the night of 21 May 1471. He was the last surviving member of the House of Lancaster. (illustration credit 23)
This book is dedicated to
a much-loved uncle,
Rankin Lorimer Weir,
in commemoration of his ninetieth birthday.
It is also dedicated
in loving memory of
his beloved wife