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Tolkien vs. Disney and Other Major Historic Feuds

Khalid Elhassan August 20, 2021 37 min

Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens by Henry Albert Payne (British, 1868-1940) based upon a scene in Shakespeare’s Henry VI. Wikimedia

11. The Fall of the Lancastrians and Rise of the Yorkists

The Wars of the Roses dragged on for 32 years from 1455 to 1487. They began when Richard, Duke of York, with the support of the powerful Neville family, made an attempt to seize the crown from his cousin, the feeble and mentally incapacitated King Henry VI. However, the attempt failed, and the Duke of York was slain in battle along with his ally Richard Neville, 5^th Earl of Salisbury and the father of Richard Neville, the 16^th Earl of Warwick.

The feud then passed on to the next generation of Yorkists, led by Warwick and the Duke of York’s son, Edward. Warwick was instrumental in securing victory for the Yorkists, who crushed the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton in 1461. Henry VI was deposed and imprisoned, and his place was taken by the slain Duke of York’s son, who was crowned as King Edward IV. The new king was a great warrior, but was uninterested in government, so Warwick governed the realm on his behalf. It did not end well and led to yet another twist in the family feud.

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.