House of Lancaster

As I said, his father Thomas is sent into exile and all these lands are taken by Richard II, but within two years, As most people know, Richard II is then toppled himself by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who becomes Henry IV of the House of Lancaster.

What's quite fortunate for this boy, Richard, is that he picks the winning side.

He stays loyal to the Lancastrians.

Of course, his future depends on it, toppling Richard II.

He's very much on the side of the Lancastrians and he serves them and fights for them in those early years when they're trying to secure But I think ironically, what I'd say about Richard is that although he is a Lancastrian by nature, by his support and in his actions in terms of how he's fighting, he's clearly learned so much from Richard II about the importance of pageantry and performance of nobility.

Because really his life and his early life in the 1400s, as he's trying to re-establish himself as a great lord in the Midlands, but also at the court, is it's all performative.

You know, he, he recognized that it's not just about wealth or land or showing your, your muscle and your sword, but actually showing, you know, your men or your supporters or the other nobles that you yourself are, you know, a romance hero of yourself.

For reasons that are still unclear, York sallied out from a position of safety with only a small force in late December of 1460.

His opponents, by now known as Lancastrians, after one of Henry VI's many titles, summarily killed the Duke.

The Yorkist cause seemed to be in tatters.

The Yorkists, however, had an unexpected ace up their sleeve.

Edward, the strapping, handsome, charismatic 18-year-old son and heir to the late Duke of York, who turned out to be a truly gifted leader.

Edward subsequently crushed the Lancastrian army in the early months of 1461 and declared himself king soon after, then pursued the Lancastrians into the north of England.

The stage was set for a truly enormous confrontation.

Each side mustered as many as 50,000 soldiers, the largest armies ever assembled in Britain.

Civil war broke out.

Henry's family, the Lancasters, against Richard's family, the Yorks.

It was known as the Wars of the Roses.

The Woodvilles were firmly on the Lancastrian side, and Elizabeth's husband was killed in a battle.

And he proves himself in his first test to basically sort of win this battle.

And the Lancastrians are routed.

And then within just a couple of weeks, they then travel across England to the West Country and fight the Second Battle of Ballachewksbury, where again, Richard is highly successful.

It's a phenomenal turnaround, really.

Dicey?

Yeah, the Lancastrian claim is still wide open to claim.

There are others, particularly the Mortimers in the country, who some people are thinking, well, if the Lancastrians can't do it, the Mortimers arguably have a better hereditary claim to the throne.

Maybe we should try that.

And Henry has been raised in the conflicts... of his father's reign, particularly in Wales.

He spends a lot of his teenage years prosecuting a war to subdue Wales to Lancastrian rule.

And he's exposed to all of the aspects of military life.

When he does go on campaign to France, we will see him meticulously planning his funding, his supply chains, making sure that everything is in place, that you complete each step before you move on to the next one.

The Wars of the Roses.

York against Lancaster.

Two great dynasties battling for the English throne...

On one side, King Edward IV.

Henry VI of Windsor, The Red Rose and the White.

You remember that Henry IV, who took the crown from Richard II, was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III.

But there was someone who had a better right to the throne.

That was Edmund Mortimer, who was descended from the third son of Edward III.

Then the Duke of Somerset sprang forward and, tearing a red rose from another bush, said, Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer but dare maintain the party of the truth pluck a red rose from off the thorn with me.

Then one after another all the nobles who were there plucked red or white roses.

Those who were for Lancaster, that is the king, because he was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, wore red roses in their caps.

Those who were for the Duke of York wore white roses in theirs.