Wars of the Roses
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In spite of the name ‘Wars of the Roses’ given in retrospect, it is exceedingly unlikely that any long-term ‘war’ at all was recorded contemporarily. During those years, the vast majority of the time the country was at peace, and unconcerned with its king being either Yorkist or Lancastrian. The bitter hatred between those two…
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My Ricardian Bulletin arrived this morning with a very kind nice review of The Wars of the Roses to brighten my Saturday morning. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1445646358
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15 November 1558 – Deaths of Queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary for her executions of Protestants, and her Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginald Pole. Mary’s accession marked a return to Catholicism for England after her father Reformation and her brother’s passion for Protestantism. Many Protestants were executed, including Thomas Cranmer, Henry VIII’s Archbishop…
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This new book looks at the characters, motivations, events and nomenclature of the Wars of the Roses, as we now know them. It confronts the great cliche that the series of battles began in 1455 and ended in 1485, demonstrating convincingly that it was still in progress decades later. Despite the fame of the Henry…
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Studying the locations of Premiership rugby teams the other day gave me an odd sense of deja vu with reference to “Roses” battles. Both feature a cluster in the midlands, one in the south-west, one in the north and one around the home counties. There are twelve of the former and about fifteen major battles,…
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I was lucky enough to get a board game for Christmas from my 29 year old son, Jim, who is a board game fanatic! Luckily his wife, Kat, is too! Anyway, this one is a bit special because it is called “Richard IIITM – The Wars of the Roses” by Columbia Games, Inc. (Incidentally, I’m…
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If you look at a map showing Lancastrian/Yorkist areas at the start of the war, there is a good degree of congruence with Royalist/Parliament division in the Civil War. Not complete, but fairly similar. The main difference is probably the Yorkist domination of the Welsh marches, which tended to be a bit Royalist in the…
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With news coming out of Leicester Cathedral as to how they plan to observe the re-interment of Richard III in March, 2015, I was reminded yet again of how the public continues to perceive this monarch from the 15th century. Even well-intentioned and balanced reporting in the media continues to perpetuate a historiography that emphasizes…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 