![]() In The Wars of the Roses, Alison Weir reconstructs this conflict with the same dramatic flair and impeccable research that she brought to her highly praised The Princes in the Tower.The first battle erupted in 1455, but the roots of the conflict reached back to the dawn of the fifteenth century, when the corrupt, hedonistic Richard II was sadistically murdered, and Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king, seized England's throne. The war between the royal House of Lancaster and York, the longest and most complex in British history, profoundly altered the course of the monarchy. Old noble names were ruined while rising dynasties seized power and lands. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in battle for control of the British monarchy. It is also clear that, far from living in subjection to Henry VII and his mother, Margaret Beaufort, she enjoyed a good relationship with both.Lancaster and York. ![]() ![]() Certainly the sources show that she deserves a lot more credit for her political accomplishments than most historians have been prepared to give her – and that she was highly active within the late medieval queen’s traditional spheres of influence. Her goodness shines forth in the records she was greatly loved, and deservedly so. Henry VII did engage in diplomacy to find a second wife, but did not in the end remarryĮlizabeth’s legacy to the Tudor dynasty was her Plantagenet blood, which compensated for any deficiency in Henry VII’s descent. Elizabeth’s bloodline was, in many eyes, superior to that of Henry Tudor himself, and her death robbed him of one prop to his dynastic claim, as well as ending hopes that he and Elizabeth could have more children: the dynasty’s future hung on the sole surviving prince, Henry – the future Henry VIII – aged just 11. It was also, however, a major political blow. ![]() It was a shattering personal blow to the king, says Dr James Ross – her grand funeral was the public expression of this. ![]() Elizabeth died on 11 February 1503, a few days after giving birth to a daughter, Katherine, who died soon after. ![]()
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