The Wars of the Roses : 1455 - 1485

The battles and damage were limited to those who took part - trading and the industrial classes were little involved and commerce and business went on as before.

The battles were fought by the nobles for their own interests and men of rank were rarely spared death as the opposition could then confiscate their estates.

During this time the King of England had no reserved army and his forces were raised by the feudal system (a system of obligations given by those lower down in the social status scale to those above them) and by paying foreign soldiers.

In 1422 Henry VI was King of England and he continued to reign until 1461. Henry was a direct descendent of the Duke of Lancaster. However many supported his cousin Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, as the claimant to the throne.

Richard Plantagenet was the son of the Duke of York and Anne Mortimer who was a member of the powerful Herefordshire family that owned many estates in the county. The main family seat in Herefordshire was at Wigmore Castle (SMR 179) in the north of the county. It was also to Wigmore that Richard returned when the Duke of Somerset had defeated him.

1454 Henry VI had a fit of madness and Richard was named Protector of England by Parliament. During this time Richard imprisoned the Duke of Somerset a staunch supporter of Henry VI. When Henry regained his composure his wife Margaret persuaded him to dismiss Richard from his office.

Richard rose in revolt. He returned to Wigmore Castle to gather 4,000 men and marched on London. In a clash at St Albans in 1455 the Duke of Somerset was killed and Henry taken prisoner. Henry later suffered another fit of madness.

Richard was made Constable of England, which gave him an almost dictatorial power.

The fighting carried on intermittently for the next 5 years and in 1459 Richard fled to Ireland.

At the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, Lord Grey the commander of the Lancastrian vanguard had, prior to battle, done a deal with the Yorkists and he and his men helped them over the ramparts. King Henry was taken prisoner in the ensuing battle. The capture of Henry VI resulted in a compromise, Henry would rule until his death but be succeeded by Richard. Margaret, Henry’s wife was not happy at this arrangement and lured Richard into battle once more at Wakefield. Richard was defeated, his head cut off and his cause left to be taken up by his son Edward Mortimer.

In 1461 Edward defeated Owen Tudor, great-grandfather of Henry VIII at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross (near Leominster). Owen Tudor was beheaded and his head transported to Hereford where it was placed on the steps of the High Cross at the west end of High Town. 100 candles are said to have been placed around the cross to illuminate this gruesome scene. (A plaque marking the site can still be seen outside Marks and Spencers.)

After several more battles Edward marched on London and was proclaimed King Edward IV on the 3^rd of March 1461.Wigmore Castle now became a royal demesne.

Margaret (Henry VI's wife) was still determined that the throne should stay with the House of Lancaster and four weeks after being proclaimed King, Edward IV was facing the Lancastrian army near Townton in Yorkshire. Edward commanded 15,000 men and the Duke of Somerset had 20,000. The two forces combined created the largest number of men to meet on an English battlefield.

The Yorkist archer’s heavily dented the Lancastrian army and they then fought in close combat. The Lancastrians turned and fled but the Yorkists followed and cut them down. Edward was crowned in June 1461 and in 1464 he secretly married the commoner Elizabeth Grafton. In June of the same year he signed a treaty with Scotland, depriving the Lancastrians of refuge, thus making Henry VI a fugitive.

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