From the Plantagenets

to the Wars of the Roses

Performer Heritage
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2016
 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

1. Anarchy
• William I died in 1087.
• His son William II succeeded him on the throne.
• Henry I, William II’s brother became king in
1100.
• Stephen (1135-54), Henry’s nephew, was the
last Norman king.
• For most of his reign he fought Matilda’s (Henry
I’s daughter) attempts to seize the throne.
• A period of civil war called the Anarchy
followed.
• Stephen recognised Matilda’s son, Henry, as his
heir.

Performer Heritage
 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

2. The House of Plantagenet

• Henry II (1154-89), Henry I’s grandson.
• Richard I (1189-99), the Lionheart, third son
of Henry II.
• John (1199-1216), the Lackland, fifth son
of Henry II.
• Henry III (1216-72), John’s son.
• Edward I (1272-1307), Henry III’s son.
• Edward II (1307-27), Edward I’s son.
• Edward III (1327-77), Edward II’s son.
• Richard II (1377-99), Edward III’s grandson.

Performer Heritage
 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

3. Henry II: military reform

• He wanted to defend his

French territories and re-
establish order in England.

• He replaced the feudal duty

of military service with a tax,
the ‘scutage’. Knights could
remain on their land and the
king paid professional
soldiers.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

3. Henry II: the reform of justice

• The king regained control of the justice system
by creating travelling judges.
• The law they administered was called
common law

The common law was used
everywhere and based on
local customs comparisons
and previous cases.
It was different from the law
administered in other parts of
Europe, linked to the civil law
of the Roman Empire and the
canon law of the Church.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

3. Henry II and Thomas Becket

He appointed Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury.

1164 Constitutions of Clarendon

• The king was supreme in civil

matters.

• All people, including the clergy,

were subject to the crown.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

3. Henry II and Thomas Becket

• The conflict between the King and

Becket lasted for a long time until
Becket was murdered by four
knights sent by the King.

• Becket became a martyr

and a saint.

• Pilgrims visited his shrine

in Canterbury Cathedral.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

3. Henry II and the Church

• Europe was shocked by the murder of Thomas
Becket.
• After his death, Becket was made a saint, and
Canterbury Cathedral became a shrine for pilgrims to
visit.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

4. The Magna Carta

• Henry II was succeeded by his son Richard I,
known as Richard the Lionheart (1189-99).
• Richard joined the Third Crusade.
• His brother John became king in 1199
he lost French territories;
he collected higher taxes.
• In 1215 the barons
- refused to pay the scutage;
- conspired to resist the King;
- occupied London;
- made King John sign an important document,
the Magna Carta.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

4. The Magna Carta

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

4. The Magna Carta

The Magna Carta:

• promised freedoms to all

people;
• protected the rights of ordinary
people;
• gave England the basis of
a legal system;
• promised to have good and fair
laws;
• prevented any freeman from
being punished without
a proper trial.

Performer Heritage
 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

5. The birth of Parliament

From the earliest times, the kings of England had
assembled nobles and other important subjects in
the witan, or council, to advise them.

During the reign of Henry III assemblies were

summoned. They included:
-bishops;
-barons;
-knights of the shire;
-two representatives from the towns.
The transition from the king’s council to Parliament
was gradual. In 1295 the meeting of the king’s council
was known as ‘The Model Parliament’, England’s first
Parliament.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

6. Edward III and the Hundred Years’ War

The War with France broke out

in 1337 because

•Edward III claimed the crown of

France because his mother was
the French king’s sister;
•the French were threatening

Flanders, which was the chief

market for English wool.
•It lasted until 1453.

The Hundred Years’ War.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

6. Edward III and the Order of the Garter

Edward III introduced the a set of values –

idea of ‘chivalry’ bravery, loyalty, honesty
and glory – which the
He founded the Order of the perfect knight had to
Garter: a group of 24 knights, the respect, and which was
same number the legendary linked to the cycle of
Arthur had chosen, with high Arthurian legends.
ideals of honour and service.
They met once a year on St
George’s Day at Windsor Castle,
where King Arthur’s Round Table
was supposed to have been.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

7. The Black Death (1348-1350)

• A terrible plague which
spread across Europe.

• It was caused by fleas,

blood-sucking parasites,
living on rats which infested
the ship trading with
Europe.
Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg
Bible (1411).

• It killed one third of Britain’s population.

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

7. The Black Death (1348-1350)

The disease cycle

Fleas bit
Fleas drank human and
rat blood that Bacteria Human
regurgitated
carried the multiplied in beings were
blood into
bacteria flea gut infected
human
wound

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

8. The Peasants’ Revolt

• Richard II introduced the poll tax.
• A tax imposed on every adult without
reference to their income.
• A craftsman, Wat Tyler, gathered
a crowd of people and marched
On London.
• They asked the king to abolish
the peasants’ duties to their
landlords.
• The Mayor of London had Tyler
killed.
• The king had the leaders of the revolt
executed.
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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

9. The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)

Decline of the monarchy due to:

• expenses of the Hundred Years’ War;

• increasing power of the House of Commons;
• civil war fought by the two rival families.

the House of Lancaster the House of York

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

9. The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)

Lancaster vs York

The House of Lancaster The House of York

•Henry IV, Richard II’s •Edward IV, son of the Duke
cousin, 1399-1413 of York, 1461-1483
• Henry V, 1413-1422 • Edward V, Edward IV’s son, 1483
• Henry VI, 1422-1461 • Richard III, 1483-1485

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 From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses

9. The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)

Main events of the war

• Henry VI was weak and Lancastrians became unpopular.

• In 1461 he was confined to the Tower by the son of the Duke
of York, who seized the throne as Edward IV.
• When Edward died, his young son, Edward V, was murdered
by his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who crowned
himself as Richard III.
• Richard III was killed by Henry, Earl of Richmond, at the Battle
of Bosworth in 1485.
• Henry became Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty.
• He married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.

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