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The Sibling Rivalry That Wrecked an Empire, and Other Self-Destructive Royal Family Episodes

Khalid Elhassan January 5, 2020 33 min

Wars of the Roses - Battle of Bosworth Field — The Wars of the Roses, during which the Plantagenet Dynasty destroyed itself. Encyclopedia Britannica

The Plantagenet Dynasty destroyed itself in the Wars of the Roses, between the rival Yorkist and Lancastrian branches. Encyclopedia Britannica

25. The Plantagenets’ Last Bout of Bloodletting: The Wars of the Roses

The Plantagenets finally finished themselves off with the Wars of the Roses, between the Yorkist and Lancastrian branches of the Dynasty. They were helped in no small part by Richard Neville, 16^th Earl of Warwick (1428 – 1471), one of the most powerful noblemen of his era. Neville was a capable military commander, who began the conflict on the Yorkist side, but then switched his support to the Lancastrians. His role in making and deposing two kings earned him the nickname “Warwick the Kingmaker”.

The Wars of the Roses began when Richard, Duke of York, supported by the Nevilles, attempted to seize the crown from his cousin, the mentally incapacitated King Henry VI. However, the Duke of York and Warwick’s father were slain in battle, and the struggle passed on to the next generation of Yorkists, including Warwick and the Duke of York’s son, Edward.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.