When Edward died he asked Richard to look after his young children until the oldest could be King.

They raised an army, returned to England, killed Warwick, defeated the Lancastrians, took back the throne and then murdered Henry VI. Edward and his younger brother Richard had to flee. They argued so much that Warwick asked Marguerite who was hiding in France to invade England. However, he and Warwick argued over who should be the wife of Edward. Marguerite and the Lancastrians were crushed and Henry was captured.įor ten years Edward ruled. Together they chased Marguerite’s army to the north of England and fought a great battle at Towton. He was so powerful that people called him the Kingmaker because they said he could make Kings. He quickly marched to London with his friend Warwick. The Duke of York’s young son, Edward was now the Duke. Her army killed the Duke of York in battle and they freed the King. The Duke claimed the throne of England for himself. He had a strong wife called Marguerite and she would have been a much better ruler than him.Įventually the Duke of York got fed up with how useless Henry was being.

By this time the Lancastrian King was called Henry VI. Then Joan of Arc came and helped to reconquer France. One king won a great victory at the Battle of Agincourt. He and his son were at first very successful Kings. So their Duke became the King of England. At first the Lancastrians were more powerful. The Lancastrians had a red rose the Yorkists had a white rose. They each had a banner with a Rose on it. This was the civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster that was fought in the time of knights and castles to see who would rule England.Ħ00 years ago two families had a claim to the throne of England: the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Wars of the Roses.

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