English History

Have a look at the kids' video project on the history of England. Covering all the major people and events from the Norman conquest to the Spanish Armada.

The Wars of The Roses

The Wars of the Roses took place in England between the years 1455 and 1487. In those times England was not a united country but divided between rival members of the Plantagenet family, whose rule were based in the cities of York and Lancaster. It was called the Wars of the Roses as the two factions took different coloured roses as their respective symbols. The house of Lancaster had a red rose while the house of York had a white one. 

Richard III

Richard III was the final king of the Plantagenet dynasty. He came from the city of York and was known as Richard of Gloucester before becoming king. 

The final battle of the War of the Roses took place between Richard and his rival Henry Tudor at Bosworth field in the year 1485. 

The battle was won by Henry which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses and the rule of the Plantagenet kings. According to Shakespeare Richard was heard lamenting “.... my kingdom for a horse!!!” before dying at the end of the battle.

After Richard’s death he was demonized by the new dynasty and it is very difficult to tell fact from fiction. Richard’s body disappeared and it’s location passed into the realm of myth. We can see this propaganda quite clearly in the work of William Shakespeare who wrote many plays about the period of the Wars of the Roses.

Check out the opening soliloquay from Laurence Olivier's rendition of Shakespeare's Richard III. It opens with the famous "Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer this son of York..."

Shakespeare also tells us the fate of Richard’s nephews, the princes who were his rivals for the crown. The two princes disappeared in mysterious circumstances and it was believed that they were imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually executed.

How much of this is true? It’s common for a new king to say that his predecessor did terrible things, in order to legitimize his rule. However Richard’s body has recently been discovered in the city of Leicester near to where the battle of Bosworth took place. He had been buried in the church of Blackfriars, which was later destroyed by Henry VIII, but the foundations remained. The location where Richard’s body was found is now a car park in the city centre! 

Interestingly enough, the back bone of his skeleton shows clear signs of the medical condition known as scoliosis which would have accounted for his supposed deformity. 

The End of the Wars of the Roses

Henry was crowned king and he became known as Henry VII. After the War of the Roses the victorious  Tudor family used a red and white rose as a symbol of peace. 

Tudor England

The new dynasty ruled England for many years and included famous kings and queens such as:

Henry VIII

Ruled from 1509 until 1547. He had a grant total of six wives during his life time, the first of which being the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon. He is the king responsible for the Church of England, changing the national religion to Protestantism.

Here's the trailer for the first series of The Tudors with a very different Henry VIII!

Elizabeth I

Ruled from 1558 until 1603. She was Henry VIII’s daughter and ruled during the golden age of England, known as the Elizabethan period, which produced many great artists, musicians and dramatists such as Shakespere. She was queen at the time of the attempted invasion force of the Spanish Armada sent by king Phillip II in the year 1588. 

It’s a great irony that her father married so many times as he wanted to have a son to follow him as king, yet it was his daughter who was responsible for the English golden age!

Let's end with a bit of comedy. This is Elizabeth I as she appeared in the popular BBC series Black Adder. It's the age of discovery and Black Adder has just got back from a voyage to the new world, but he seems to have gotten lost! Where have they really been?