


In 1461 he lost the throne to Richard's son Edward IV.At the battle of Northampton in 1460 he was captured by the Yorkist forces and forced to acknowledge Richard as the rightful heir to the throne.The next year he recovered and clashed with Richard over who would rule England thus starting the Wars of the Roses. At the age of 32 (1453) he suffered his first attack of mental illness and control of the country was taken up by Richard, duke of York.During his reign his country lost the Hundred Year's War and all of its French territories except for Calais. Henry VI was crowned king of both England and France when he was an infant.All this divided York and Lancaster.“ William Shakespeare, Richard III Causes both houses were direct descendents of king Edward III the ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with unpopular nobles the civil unrest of much of the population the availability of many powerful lords with their own private armies the untimely episodes of mental illness by King Henry VI. Jesús Centen Camarg "England hath long been mad, and scarr’d herself: The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood The father rashly slaughter’d his own son The son, compell’d, been butcher to the sire.

Illustrated with more than 200 photographs, artworks and maps, The Wars of the Roses reveals the scheming and betrayal, the skullduggery and murder behind the struggle to gain power – and then hold on to it.The War f the R ses 1455- 1485 Prof. From mad Henry VI captured in battle to the mystery of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ and the truth behind Richard III’s deformity, the book is a lively account of more than 30 tumultuous years. Its protagonists were twisted by their conflicting loyalties of blood, marriage and, above all, ambition. Martin said: “I’ve drawn on many parts of history, but the Wars of the Roses is probably the one A Song Of Ice and Fire is closest to.” Telling the story of the fifteenth century wars between Lancastrians and Yorkists, The Wars of the Roses follows the course of the conflict from the succession of infant King Henry VI right through to the defeat of rebellions under Henry VII. Kings who were insane, infant or imprisoned feuding families, disputed successions and monarchs executing their brothers exiled nobles, war with France and enemies forced to unite against a common foe – the history of the Wars of the Roses is so filled with drama that it feels like fiction.
