WEBVTT - Presenting...This is History: A Dynasty to Die For 0:00:15.410 --> 0:00:21.890 Pushkin. The Middle Ages were full of disasters, the sinking 0:00:21.930 --> 0:00:24.970 of a ship which caused a twenty year civil war, 0:00:25.290 --> 0:00:28.970 a plague which wiped out almost half of Europe's population, 0:00:29.530 --> 0:00:33.530 and the infamous Battle of Cressey, which of course we've 0:00:33.530 --> 0:00:37.490 covered here. On Cautionary Tales, you can hear all about 0:00:37.490 --> 0:00:41.010 these catastrophes and how they've shaped the world we live 0:00:41.050 --> 0:00:44.290 in today. On a podcast I think you'll love, it's 0:00:44.290 --> 0:00:49.410 called This is History. A Dynasty to Die for. Across 0:00:49.450 --> 0:00:53.850 the series, host Dan Jones tells the story of the Plantagenets, 0:00:54.210 --> 0:00:58.010 Britain's bloodiest dynasty. If you haven't heard of them, they're 0:00:58.010 --> 0:01:03.570 the family who's infighting and warmongering inspired George R. R. Martin, 0:01:04.170 --> 0:01:08.690 think Richard the Lionheart, the One Hundred Years War, Thomas Beckett, 0:01:08.890 --> 0:01:14.010 and under Red Hot Pokers. They've just launched their tenth season, 0:01:14.210 --> 0:01:17.210 which tells the story of a brilliant young warrior king 0:01:17.450 --> 0:01:21.090 undone by his heart, the Shakespearean icon Richard I I, 0:01:21.730 --> 0:01:26.210 and the very unlikely rise of the mighty Tudor dynasty. 0:01:26.290 --> 0:01:29.450 If you want to listen ad free, This Is History 0:01:29.610 --> 0:01:33.690 our offering our Cautionary Club members a month's free trial 0:01:33.850 --> 0:01:37.330 of their Patreon look out for the giftlink. Here is 0:01:37.370 --> 0:01:42.570 the first episode of the new season, Enjoy. 0:01:44.210 --> 0:01:48.290 Pembroke Castle is a gray forbidding fortress which sits by 0:01:48.290 --> 0:01:51.770 the water on the southwest tip of Wales, whipped by 0:01:51.810 --> 0:01:55.530 the gales that blow in from the Atlantic Ocean in 0:01:55.610 --> 0:01:58.970 late January fourteen fifty seven. It's as bleak as it gets. 0:01:59.690 --> 0:02:03.330 Not only is this the coldest time of the year today, 0:02:03.490 --> 0:02:06.370 the castle is also taught with the tension of a 0:02:06.410 --> 0:02:11.170 young woman giving birth. She's a very young woman. Margaret 0:02:11.210 --> 0:02:15.530 Beaufort is thirteen and a half. That's perilously young to 0:02:15.570 --> 0:02:19.210 be laboring a child in any age. And Margaret isn't 0:02:19.290 --> 0:02:23.970 just young, she's also physically tiny. The rooms she's lodged 0:02:24.010 --> 0:02:27.490 in at the castle have been comfortably set up for childbirth, 0:02:27.730 --> 0:02:31.050 the fires stoked, and the windows and doors sealed to 0:02:31.090 --> 0:02:35.090 prevent dangerous vapors from getting in. There's a full staff 0:02:35.130 --> 0:02:39.090 of female midwives and attendants on hand to help Margaret 0:02:39.170 --> 0:02:42.970 through her ordeal, but there's no ignoring the fact that 0:02:43.050 --> 0:02:46.850 her body and even her life are in real danger. 0:02:47.250 --> 0:02:52.290 Ah not that Margaret's panicking. She's a determined girl, and 0:02:52.330 --> 0:02:56.090 she's putting on a brave face. Others may worry about 0:02:56.090 --> 0:03:00.970 her safety, but she's only concerned for one thing, her child. 0:03:02.010 --> 0:03:04.410 In the nine months that she's been carrying this baby, 0:03:04.690 --> 0:03:09.530 plague has been sweeping around Southwest Wales. It killed her husband, 0:03:09.770 --> 0:03:13.930 Edmund Tudor, striking him down last November at the age 0:03:13.970 --> 0:03:18.250 of twenty six. If plague gets into the birthing chamber, 0:03:18.810 --> 0:03:22.770 all Margaret's toil is going to be in vain. She 0:03:22.930 --> 0:03:29.210 can't let that happen. Why not. Well, as well as 0:03:29.250 --> 0:03:33.570 the fierce maternal instinct that's alive in young Margaret, this 0:03:33.730 --> 0:03:38.490 baby will have royal blood in its veins. Margaret is 0:03:38.530 --> 0:03:42.370 a granddaughter of John of Gaunt, legendary prince of the 0:03:42.410 --> 0:03:47.370 Plantagenet dynasty. That means she's a member of the Lancastrian 0:03:47.450 --> 0:03:52.130 clan headed by the useless shambling King Henry the sixth. 0:03:53.370 --> 0:03:57.330 The child's late father, Edmund Tudor, was also part of 0:03:57.370 --> 0:04:00.530 the royal family, So the child about to be born 0:04:00.930 --> 0:04:05.130 will join the small inner circle of the Lancastrian royal house, 0:04:05.610 --> 0:04:09.330 which is good because right now that family he can 0:04:09.450 --> 0:04:13.650 use a bit of freshening up as the pangs of 0:04:13.770 --> 0:04:18.690 childbirth grip Margaret's little body. All thoughts of family trees 0:04:18.770 --> 0:04:22.570 are forgotten. The women of the chamber gather round to 0:04:22.650 --> 0:04:27.610 help her through a very long and difficult labour. When 0:04:27.610 --> 0:04:31.410 the baby is eventually delivered, it seems like a miracle. 0:04:32.410 --> 0:04:36.290 Margaret has suffered so much that she'll never have another child, 0:04:36.530 --> 0:04:40.850 but she's alive, and so is her son. There's some 0:04:40.890 --> 0:04:43.730 debate about what to call him that Margaret is in 0:04:43.810 --> 0:04:47.450 no doubt this boy is going to be named Henry, 0:04:48.890 --> 0:04:53.010 Henry Tudor. And though the circumstances of his birth are 0:04:53.090 --> 0:04:56.490 not very promising, a teenage widow for a mum, a 0:04:56.530 --> 0:05:00.850 remote Welsh coastal castle for a home, fate has decided 0:05:01.090 --> 0:05:05.810 that he's destined for a very big future. Indeed, because 0:05:05.850 --> 0:05:10.410 outside these castle walls, the Plantagenet have entered the first 0:05:10.610 --> 0:05:13.570 spasms of a war that's going to burn the whole 0:05:13.610 --> 0:05:17.330 dynasty to the ground. Out of the ashes will rise 0:05:17.370 --> 0:05:21.730 a new family, the Tudors. And in this the explosive 0:05:21.890 --> 0:05:25.730 final season of our Plantagenet saga, We're going to follow 0:05:25.930 --> 0:05:35.370 the astonishing story of their rise to power. I'm Dan 0:05:35.490 --> 0:05:41.050 Jones and from Sony Music Entertainment. This is History Season 0:05:41.130 --> 0:05:49.290 ten of A Dynasty to Die for Episode one, A 0:05:49.370 --> 0:06:12.570 New Hope. Whether you've been following this podcast since the 0:06:12.650 --> 0:06:16.170 beginning or you're just joining us for the first time today, 0:06:16.730 --> 0:06:19.930 I want to remind you of a golden rule of 0:06:20.010 --> 0:06:26.810 Plantagenet history. Anything can happen. In the three centuries we've covered. 0:06:27.050 --> 0:06:31.490 We've seen kings rise from total obscurity to absolute power, 0:06:31.970 --> 0:06:36.010 and we've seen rulers who seemed untouchable come hurtling down 0:06:36.090 --> 0:06:40.850 to earth with a splat. It pays to remember one 0:06:40.890 --> 0:06:45.890 of my favorite medieval chroniclers, quotes by good Old Gerald 0:06:45.930 --> 0:06:52.010 of Wales back in the twelfth century. Gerald wrote, A 0:06:52.130 --> 0:06:57.570 sensible man ought to consider that fortune's favor is variable, 0:06:58.210 --> 0:07:03.810 and her wheel is ever turning. Although the merciful creator 0:07:04.130 --> 0:07:09.570 is long suffering and patient, he is likewise severe, executing 0:07:09.690 --> 0:07:14.850 punishment and vengeance upon the stubborn and wilful, and usually 0:07:14.890 --> 0:07:20.490 begins to exact that punishment here on Earth. And yes, sure, 0:07:20.810 --> 0:07:23.010 I don't think we're going to squeeze that down to 0:07:23.090 --> 0:07:26.330 fit it on a slogan T shirt, but it seems 0:07:26.330 --> 0:07:31.730 to capture beautifully the topsy turviness of the Plantagenet cinematic universe. 0:07:32.330 --> 0:07:35.450 One minute, the world is eating out of your hand, 0:07:36.010 --> 0:07:39.570 the next it's sinking its fangs into your gluty eye, Maximi, 0:07:40.450 --> 0:07:44.050 Which brings us to where we left our story last season. 0:07:45.570 --> 0:07:48.650 In season nine, we heard how England went from the 0:07:48.770 --> 0:07:53.090 triumphs of Henry the Fifth's reign to the nadir of 0:07:53.210 --> 0:07:58.410 Henry the sixth. After a promising start, the king went mad, 0:07:58.650 --> 0:08:03.050 the nobles went feral, and eventually, after much tussling and 0:08:03.130 --> 0:08:08.370 some truly savage battles, an eighteen year old giant called Edward, 0:08:08.410 --> 0:08:13.210 Earl of Mark slashed his way to the top. Edwards 0:08:13.250 --> 0:08:17.490 destroyed his enemies at the monstrous Battle of Tauton, crushing 0:08:17.810 --> 0:08:22.810 a massive Lancastrian army seemingly from nowhere. He then took 0:08:22.850 --> 0:08:26.690 the throne as Edward the Fourth, becoming the first King 0:08:27.130 --> 0:08:30.930 of the House of York. If you're a newbie or 0:08:31.090 --> 0:08:34.530 want to recap, there's all that and more than two 0:08:34.690 --> 0:08:38.850 hundred other episodes available in our archive. To get them 0:08:38.930 --> 0:08:42.730 at free, sign up at Patreon dot com. Forward slash. 0:08:42.890 --> 0:08:47.770 This is history. The trouble is, it isn't easy at 0:08:47.770 --> 0:08:50.850 the top. So that's where we're going to pick up 0:08:50.890 --> 0:08:54.730 our story. At the start of this episode well with 0:08:55.130 --> 0:08:58.810 Margaret Beaufort as she gave birth to Henry Tudor in 0:08:58.850 --> 0:09:02.490 fourteen fifty seven. Now, I promise we're going to come 0:09:02.530 --> 0:09:06.130 back to Margaret and baby Henry as this season goes on. 0:09:06.930 --> 0:09:10.410 But right now we're going to assed forward four and 0:09:10.450 --> 0:09:14.290 a half years to join Edward fourth. In the summer 0:09:14.450 --> 0:09:19.090 of fourteen sixty one, he's proven himself on the battlefield 0:09:19.170 --> 0:09:22.810 at Tauton, suggesting that God is down with his claim 0:09:22.890 --> 0:09:27.810 to kingship. In June, he's been crowned in London by 0:09:27.890 --> 0:09:32.490 battle and now by coronation. England has a new king. 0:09:33.650 --> 0:09:36.090 But if Edward wants to hang on to his crown, 0:09:36.690 --> 0:09:40.730 he's going to have an almighty struggle. So to get 0:09:40.770 --> 0:09:45.370 our story going, let's get to know Edward. He was 0:09:45.410 --> 0:09:49.610 born in April fourteen forty two in Roume in Normandy, 0:09:49.890 --> 0:09:53.010 when his dad, Richard, Duke of York, was in charge 0:09:53.010 --> 0:09:56.930 of what was then an English ruled chunk of northern France. 0:09:58.370 --> 0:10:01.610 Richard fathered a big brood of children, and at the 0:10:01.650 --> 0:10:06.450 time of Edward's coronation he has three sisters and two brothers. 0:10:07.010 --> 0:10:11.730 A lot more on them shortly in person, Edward's mighty impressive. 0:10:12.330 --> 0:10:15.250 He stands well over six feet tall, and as well 0:10:15.250 --> 0:10:19.530 as being a handy warrior, he's a handsome, charming young man. 0:10:20.570 --> 0:10:26.410 He's got the characteristic long plantagenet nose, piercing eyes, and 0:10:26.490 --> 0:10:29.490 a small mouth that seems to have a smile playing 0:10:29.530 --> 0:10:33.490 at its corners. He also has quite a fancy for 0:10:33.570 --> 0:10:37.650 the ladies. In fact, this guy sniffs out hot damsel 0:10:37.970 --> 0:10:41.290 like a wild hog rooting for acorns, a trait that 0:10:41.330 --> 0:10:44.410 will cause him quite a lot of trouble as time 0:10:44.490 --> 0:10:47.570 goes by. But more of that in a moment. 0:10:48.850 --> 0:10:49.370 For now. 0:10:49.850 --> 0:10:54.810 Edward's charm is a positive virtue. A propaganda song composed 0:10:54.850 --> 0:10:58.330 in the aftermath of the Battle of Tauton hails Edward 0:10:58.370 --> 0:11:02.890 as the Rose of Ruon that refers not only to 0:11:03.050 --> 0:11:08.010 his birthplace and his incredible riz, but also to his 0:11:08.250 --> 0:11:12.610 heraldic ba. One of the symbols of Edward's royal house 0:11:12.610 --> 0:11:16.050 of York is a white rose, and the song makes 0:11:16.210 --> 0:11:20.450 great play on this. It goes that rose stands alone, 0:11:20.730 --> 0:11:24.290 the chief flower of this land. Blessed be the time 0:11:24.690 --> 0:11:29.090 that ever God spread that flower. Well, maybe that's laying 0:11:29.130 --> 0:11:32.090 it on a bit thick, but whichever way you look 0:11:32.090 --> 0:11:35.770 at it, Edward is an upgrade on Henry the sixth 0:11:36.810 --> 0:11:39.850 In the aftermath of Taunton. The old king is in 0:11:39.970 --> 0:11:44.890 exile in Scotland, and many people would agree that England 0:11:44.970 --> 0:11:50.410 has traded up. Those who would agree most strongly with 0:11:50.450 --> 0:11:54.130 that assessment are the people who helped Edward win his crown. 0:11:55.290 --> 0:11:59.410 Chief among them is Edward's right hand man, Richard Neville, 0:11:59.770 --> 0:12:04.410 Earl of Warwick, thirty three years old in fourteen sixty one. 0:12:04.970 --> 0:12:10.610 Warwick has plenty of military experience and no shortage of ambition. 0:12:12.090 --> 0:12:15.250 He's been at Edward's side for several years, and he 0:12:15.330 --> 0:12:20.050 fancies himself with some justification as the power behind the 0:12:20.170 --> 0:12:25.010 throne York Is. Propaganda produced around the same time as 0:12:25.050 --> 0:12:29.730 The Rose of Roung calls Warwick the flower of manhood, 0:12:30.290 --> 0:12:35.770 so clearly there's a general horticultural themur play. But more 0:12:35.810 --> 0:12:39.850 important than flower power are the lands and titles that 0:12:39.970 --> 0:12:43.570 Warwick accruise as a result of betting long on the 0:12:43.610 --> 0:12:50.650 House of York. After Edward's coronation, Warwick is showered with rewards. 0:12:51.370 --> 0:12:56.250 He already holds four, yes, four noble titles. On top 0:12:56.290 --> 0:12:59.330 of that, he gets renewed in his post as Captain 0:12:59.370 --> 0:13:03.210 of Calais. That's the English military garrison in northern France, 0:13:03.490 --> 0:13:06.770 which he made his stronghold during the wars in Henry 0:13:06.810 --> 0:13:10.690 the sixth reign. And on top of that, he pockets 0:13:10.730 --> 0:13:15.890 a whole portfolio of new offices. Edward makes him Constable 0:13:15.970 --> 0:13:19.810 of Dover Castle and Warden of the Sink Ports. Those 0:13:19.810 --> 0:13:26.090 are the most important trading towns on England's southeast coast. Effectively, 0:13:26.730 --> 0:13:30.930 this means Warwick owns the whole English Channel, the key 0:13:31.130 --> 0:13:36.690 military and trade seaway with Europe. And that's just the beginning. 0:13:37.730 --> 0:13:41.610 He also is appointed as Warden of the North, meaning 0:13:41.730 --> 0:13:46.690 he has oversight of the turbulent Scottish border. He's put 0:13:46.730 --> 0:13:50.210 in charge of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy 0:13:50.250 --> 0:13:54.610 of York. Those are the two huge private estates owned 0:13:54.690 --> 0:13:58.690 by the crown. Then there's a massive trunch of land 0:13:58.810 --> 0:14:03.010 confiscated from nobles who sided with Henry the six that Taunton, 0:14:03.690 --> 0:14:07.370 especially the Percy family, who are the long term opponents 0:14:07.650 --> 0:14:14.090 of Warwick's Neville family in northern England. The financial value 0:14:14.090 --> 0:14:17.330 of all this makes Warwick the richest non royal noble 0:14:17.370 --> 0:14:21.410 of all time. The political heft puts him virtually on 0:14:21.490 --> 0:14:25.570 a par with the king. Foreign diplomats describe him as 0:14:25.570 --> 0:14:30.170 being the governor of all England. One French observer writes 0:14:30.210 --> 0:14:32.930 to the King of France that the English have put 0:14:33.090 --> 0:14:36.690 tour ruleus monsieur le wariq and another word, who is 0:14:36.770 --> 0:14:41.410 nimaev for Goudin. Obviously that's a joke. The French can 0:14:41.490 --> 0:14:46.450 be amusing sometimes, but like all good one liners, it's 0:14:46.490 --> 0:14:50.130 got a sharp sting of truth to it. Warwick is 0:14:50.170 --> 0:14:53.210 more than a decade older than Edward, and he's been 0:14:53.250 --> 0:14:57.770 around the block. He reckons with some justification that if 0:14:57.810 --> 0:15:01.130 it wasn't for him, there would be no House of York. 0:15:02.090 --> 0:15:04.090 So if the world wants to see him as a 0:15:04.130 --> 0:15:10.770 second king, that suits Warwick down to the ground. But 0:15:10.890 --> 0:15:14.330 if Warwick is going to enjoy all the riches and 0:15:14.370 --> 0:15:18.530 the influence that being a kingmaker brings, then it's going 0:15:18.570 --> 0:15:22.170 to fall on him to make sure Edward stays secure 0:15:22.490 --> 0:15:26.650 in his crown. And it's not long before he has 0:15:26.730 --> 0:15:33.010 to do exactly that, because within two years of Edward's 0:15:33.010 --> 0:15:39.410 coronation there's a serious assault on the kingdom. Royal spies 0:15:39.530 --> 0:15:42.890 find out that a plot is being hatched between renegade 0:15:42.970 --> 0:15:49.210 Lancastrians in England and foreign enemies outside. Pulling the strings 0:15:49.610 --> 0:15:53.530 is a person who's nursed more hatred towards the House 0:15:53.530 --> 0:15:57.570 of York than anyone else. The old Queen of England, 0:15:58.290 --> 0:16:09.490 Margaret of Anjou, an ill and tired sixty years old, 0:16:09.770 --> 0:16:15.250 shuffles towards the chopping block. An expectant crowd gathers around. 0:16:16.210 --> 0:16:19.570 They've all made it to Tower Hill, the area immediately 0:16:19.610 --> 0:16:24.050 surrounding the Tower of London. It's London's top spot to 0:16:24.090 --> 0:16:28.890 go and see a lively show, assuming you're into public executions. 0:16:30.890 --> 0:16:35.130 In late February fourteen sixty two, it's John de Vere's turn. 0:16:36.090 --> 0:16:39.210 The Earl of Oxford has been around the political scene 0:16:39.210 --> 0:16:42.730 in England for decades. But it's a wonder the guy 0:16:42.810 --> 0:16:46.250 hasn't already died from a bad case of splinters in 0:16:46.290 --> 0:16:49.410 the backside, given how much of his life he's spent 0:16:49.810 --> 0:16:54.290 sitting on the fence. For most of the wars between 0:16:54.330 --> 0:17:00.970 the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, Oxford avoided committing to either side. Then, 0:17:01.450 --> 0:17:05.770 with incredibly bad timing, just before the Battle of Tauton, 0:17:06.250 --> 0:17:09.690 he did pick a team, and unfortunately it was the 0:17:09.690 --> 0:17:13.930 wrong one. He went for Queen Margaret and King Henry, 0:17:14.370 --> 0:17:19.330 and that decision has now come back to haunt him. 0:17:19.770 --> 0:17:23.930 Oxford survived the accession of the new King, Edward the Fourth, 0:17:24.610 --> 0:17:28.890 but he forgot to update his settings to political reality. 0:17:30.370 --> 0:17:34.330 Having chosen the Lancastrian side, he stuck with it and 0:17:34.410 --> 0:17:38.250 got himself caught up in a web of intrigue aimed 0:17:38.730 --> 0:17:44.650 at bringing down the new king. The plot that Oxford's 0:17:44.650 --> 0:17:48.250 god himself mixed up in has more moving parts than 0:17:48.330 --> 0:17:53.010 a swinger's party. The schemers include a hotch potch of 0:17:53.170 --> 0:17:59.370 exiled Lancastrian aristocrats. They're backed with varying degrees of seriousness 0:17:59.810 --> 0:18:05.890 by foreign royals, including the rulers of Scotland, France, Brittany, Aragon, 0:18:06.410 --> 0:18:12.890 Portugal and Denmark. Putting it all together is Queen Margaret 0:18:12.930 --> 0:18:17.290 of Anjou, who's been shuttling between Scotland and the courts 0:18:17.330 --> 0:18:21.330 of Europe, trying to whip up support for a comeback 0:18:21.610 --> 0:18:28.450 for her and old King Henry. Yorkist propaganda accuses Margaret 0:18:28.530 --> 0:18:32.130 of wanting to destroy the realm, to pervert the royal 0:18:32.210 --> 0:18:37.290 succession and bring robbery and vengeance. She would say she's 0:18:37.370 --> 0:18:41.730 just trying to get back. What's hers by right? Her 0:18:41.770 --> 0:18:46.730 plan is, or rather was, to launch a three pronged invasion, 0:18:47.250 --> 0:18:51.330 with armies hitting the Yorkist regime from Wales, Southern England 0:18:51.610 --> 0:18:55.810 and the North, while insurgents within the realm rose up 0:18:55.850 --> 0:19:00.930 to create civil disturbance, overwhelming the new king's capacity to 0:19:01.090 --> 0:19:09.050 resist only well self. Evidently the whole thing has unraveled loosely. 0:19:09.090 --> 0:19:13.330 Lips of sunk ships and key figures in England, like Oxford, 0:19:13.490 --> 0:19:17.970 have been betrayed. Six days ago, Oxford's eldest son was 0:19:18.010 --> 0:19:21.690 divorced from his head on this very spot outside the 0:19:21.730 --> 0:19:27.170 Tower of London. Now it's the older man's turn. If 0:19:27.170 --> 0:19:31.370 anyone thinks there might be mercy given Oxford's obvious ill health, 0:19:31.850 --> 0:19:35.850 they're dead wrong. The old geezer is brought forward and 0:19:36.010 --> 0:19:40.450 offered any last words, then made to kneel down, and 0:19:42.050 --> 0:19:46.690 it's Cyanarus Sunshine. The wars of the Roses have claimed 0:19:47.010 --> 0:19:52.890 their latest noble head. As the axe comes down on Oxford, 0:19:53.250 --> 0:19:56.010 the heat goes out of the wider plot. He was 0:19:56.130 --> 0:20:01.650 Party two, smelling failure. The foreign backers mostly lose interest, 0:20:02.610 --> 0:20:08.610 mostly but not totally. Queen Margaret trying to salvage something 0:20:08.650 --> 0:20:13.010 from them, keeps on lobbying foreign rulers to help her out. 0:20:14.330 --> 0:20:17.330 In the autumn of fourteen sixty two, she manages to 0:20:17.410 --> 0:20:21.610 scrape together enough donations and troops to take a few 0:20:21.690 --> 0:20:26.450 dozen ships and eight hundred mercenaries to northern England, where 0:20:26.450 --> 0:20:30.050 her men invade the coast of Northumbria and take control 0:20:30.170 --> 0:20:35.130 of a few castles. This isn't enough to threaten to 0:20:35.210 --> 0:20:39.890 collapse Edward's rule completely, but it is still a bloody nuisance. 0:20:40.890 --> 0:20:44.450 So now is the moment that Edward's heavily rewarded right 0:20:44.490 --> 0:20:47.690 hand man, the Earl of Warwick, has to step up 0:20:48.130 --> 0:20:52.690 and show his worth. Across the winter of fourteen sixty 0:20:52.730 --> 0:20:55.690 two to sixty three, he works his way around the 0:20:55.730 --> 0:21:00.090 castles Margaret's men are holding and kicks the rebels out 0:21:00.130 --> 0:21:04.450 of them. By March fourteen sixty three, he seems to 0:21:04.490 --> 0:21:07.730 have got the job done, and although he can't lay 0:21:07.770 --> 0:21:11.250 his hands on Queen Marle, Margaret herself or the feeble 0:21:11.330 --> 0:21:14.770 old Henry the sixth, he manages to split them up. 0:21:16.010 --> 0:21:18.930 When it becomes clear that their plot has fizzled out, 0:21:19.450 --> 0:21:23.370 Margaret high tails it to France, taking with her her 0:21:23.490 --> 0:21:27.730 nine year old son Will She ever see Old Henry again. 0:21:28.610 --> 0:21:31.570 Does she ever want to? She's got to have mixed 0:21:31.610 --> 0:21:35.770 feelings about that one either way. This is very much 0:21:35.930 --> 0:21:40.290 Round one to King Edward and the Earl of Warwick, 0:21:41.130 --> 0:21:44.610 and they follow up Round one by taking round two 0:21:44.770 --> 0:21:48.770 and three. In the spring of fourteen sixty four, there's 0:21:48.810 --> 0:21:53.850 another attempt by renegade Lancastrian nobles to incite rebellion in 0:21:53.930 --> 0:21:57.490 the North. The instigator this time is one of Queen 0:21:57.530 --> 0:22:03.530 Margaret's closest allies, Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. He gets 0:22:03.570 --> 0:22:08.090 around five thousand men together and starts raising hell in 0:22:08.370 --> 0:22:13.370 northern England. Once again, Edward and Warwick have to respond, 0:22:14.010 --> 0:22:18.250 and they do. They're already working hard through diplomatic channels 0:22:18.290 --> 0:22:21.850 to persuade the French and Scots to stop backing their enemies, 0:22:22.770 --> 0:22:25.370 and when it seems like diplomacy isn't getting the message 0:22:25.410 --> 0:22:28.650 through to the Lancastrians in England, they send an army 0:22:28.810 --> 0:22:32.890 out into the North. It's led by Warwick's brother John, 0:22:33.130 --> 0:22:37.410 another old school veteran of England's civil wars, which by 0:22:37.450 --> 0:22:43.770 the looks of things, are still very much on. John 0:22:43.850 --> 0:22:48.770 Nevill wastes no time he runs the Lancastrian rebels to ground, 0:22:49.210 --> 0:22:52.370 engaging them in two battles known as the Battle of 0:22:52.450 --> 0:22:57.210 hedgeley Moor and the Battle of Hexham. At Hexham in 0:22:57.250 --> 0:23:01.570 May fourteen sixty four, John Nevills scores a crushing victory. 0:23:02.410 --> 0:23:06.250 He puts the Lancastrian army to flight and kills its leader, 0:23:06.570 --> 0:23:11.010 the Duke of Somerset. With that, the last embers of 0:23:11.090 --> 0:23:15.890 Lancastrian rebellion in the North of England are finally snuffed out. 0:23:16.970 --> 0:23:21.690 Queen Margaret has no chance of rallying another insurgency anytime soon, 0:23:22.810 --> 0:23:25.970 and though King Henry is still a free man, the 0:23:26.050 --> 0:23:28.770 old Duffer isn't much of a threat to anyone on 0:23:28.850 --> 0:23:33.810 his own. It's taken three years, but by the summer 0:23:33.850 --> 0:23:38.970 of fourteen sixty four Edward and Warwick look like they've survived. 0:23:39.490 --> 0:23:43.250 The Lancastrian threat has been reduced to Margaret of Anjou 0:23:43.730 --> 0:23:48.210 fuming with her son somewhere on the continent, Henry the sixth, 0:23:48.450 --> 0:23:52.090 who's a wall but not considered a very active threat, 0:23:52.730 --> 0:23:59.530 and some minor characters who don't seem very threatening to anyone, 0:23:59.850 --> 0:24:04.050 like the seven year old Henry Tudor, but he and 0:24:04.170 --> 0:24:08.730 his mother Margaret Beaufort have been placed under genteel house 0:24:08.810 --> 0:24:14.410 arrest with a loyal Yorkist family in South Wales, and honestly, 0:24:15.170 --> 0:24:19.370 they don't seem like a big problem. So now Edward 0:24:19.410 --> 0:24:23.530 and Warwick can pour themselves a drink, take a deep breath, 0:24:23.930 --> 0:24:26.890 and start to think about plans for the rest of 0:24:27.050 --> 0:24:31.210 Edward's reign. When they do that, there seems to be 0:24:31.290 --> 0:24:35.850 one issue that matters above all others, securing the succession. 0:24:36.690 --> 0:24:39.250 They need to take a grip from the long term 0:24:39.370 --> 0:24:44.730 future of the family. For that, Edward needs to get married, 0:24:45.090 --> 0:24:48.930 make a sensible foreign alliance, and get to work on 0:24:49.090 --> 0:24:55.690 producing some Yorkist princes and princesses. The last bit, at least, 0:24:56.290 --> 0:25:00.410 feels like a job he's up to, so Warick adds 0:25:00.450 --> 0:25:03.890 a new job to his ever lengthening resume as the 0:25:03.970 --> 0:25:08.890 King's right hand man and puppet master. He's now a matchmaker. 0:25:09.890 --> 0:25:12.770 It's time to find the Rose of Rouon, a hot 0:25:12.850 --> 0:25:16.970 piece of medieval marriage material to make into the first 0:25:17.010 --> 0:25:33.530 ever Yorkist queen. The ambassadors from Castile have been hanging 0:25:33.610 --> 0:25:37.410 around in the chamber in Westminster Palace for some time. 0:25:38.650 --> 0:25:47.330 They've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Then England's charming 0:25:47.490 --> 0:25:51.930 young King Edward the Fourth bursts into the room. He 0:25:52.010 --> 0:25:54.930 seems a little lout of breath, and when he has 0:25:55.010 --> 0:25:58.170 time to sit and everyone has a drink in their hands, 0:25:58.570 --> 0:26:03.010 he explains that he's just dashed sixty miles from Cambridge 0:26:03.250 --> 0:26:08.330 to meet them. This being a king business, what a 0:26:08.450 --> 0:26:12.370 job you need to be everywhere all at once. But 0:26:12.570 --> 0:26:17.090 Edward's very glad the ambassador's waited because he's been told 0:26:17.570 --> 0:26:21.650 they have quite a proposal for him, which is right. 0:26:22.530 --> 0:26:26.770 The ambassadors explain they've been sent to England to make 0:26:26.930 --> 0:26:31.930 Edward the offer of a wife, and not just any wife. 0:26:33.170 --> 0:26:36.970 The King of Castile is Enrique the fourth, and he 0:26:37.050 --> 0:26:42.730 wants to suggest that Edward marries his sister Isabella. That's 0:26:42.770 --> 0:26:47.290 not a bad offer. Castile is a major kingdom. Isabella 0:26:47.450 --> 0:26:51.930 is just approaching her thirteenth birthday. But as Margaret Beaufort 0:26:51.970 --> 0:26:55.290 could have told them, the medieval marriage market takes a 0:26:55.490 --> 0:27:00.010 remarkably liberal view of that sort of thing, and she 0:27:00.170 --> 0:27:07.730 is assuredly a top rank European princess. Edward listens to 0:27:07.770 --> 0:27:11.170 the ambassador's proposal and then makes a big show of 0:27:11.290 --> 0:27:16.450 rewarding them for their generosity in even delivering this wonderful message. 0:27:17.530 --> 0:27:20.170 He gives them a free pass to bring some trading 0:27:20.210 --> 0:27:24.370 ships to England under his protection anytime in the next year, 0:27:24.810 --> 0:27:28.170 to trade as much wine as they like in exchange 0:27:28.370 --> 0:27:32.610 for as much English produce as they can carry. It's 0:27:32.650 --> 0:27:37.450 a nice little sweetener, But then again it needs to 0:27:37.450 --> 0:27:43.930 be because actually, for all Edward's enthusiastic demeanor, he's already 0:27:43.930 --> 0:27:47.170 decided that he isn't going to take them up on 0:27:47.290 --> 0:27:54.690 this marriage offer. There are a few reasons. One is 0:27:54.690 --> 0:27:58.970 that there's something of a stain hanging over Isabella's family. 0:28:00.170 --> 0:28:04.970 Her brother, King Enrique, who's making the offer, is nicknamed 0:28:06.250 --> 0:28:10.530 Enrique the Impotent. That's a direct reference to his own 0:28:10.690 --> 0:28:16.250 first marriage, which Enrique found himself unable to consummate despite 0:28:16.490 --> 0:28:23.410 years of trying. Enrique claims that someone had, I don't 0:28:23.450 --> 0:28:26.730 know how to phrase this politely, laid a curse on 0:28:26.850 --> 0:28:31.090 his royal wiener. This was a special sort of curse 0:28:31.210 --> 0:28:33.690 that only affected his ability to get it on with 0:28:33.770 --> 0:28:37.570 his wife, and not with any number of mistresses and 0:28:37.850 --> 0:28:41.690 sex workers, several of whom were called to give evidence 0:28:41.730 --> 0:28:45.050 to that effect in a court case to annul his 0:28:45.250 --> 0:28:51.890 marriage Anyway, the ins and outs or not of that 0:28:52.010 --> 0:28:56.050 episode don't need to concern us here. The fact is 0:28:56.450 --> 0:29:01.370 that marrying the sister of Enrique the Impotent doesn't fill 0:29:01.490 --> 0:29:06.330 Edward with much confidence, and more to the point, he 0:29:06.450 --> 0:29:10.570 has other irons in the fire, or rather his consilieri, 0:29:10.930 --> 0:29:14.130 the Earl of Warwick does. For the past three years, 0:29:14.210 --> 0:29:18.650 Warwick's been putting feelers out around Europe for potential wives 0:29:18.650 --> 0:29:22.250 for Edward, and there are a number of plausible candidates. 0:29:23.130 --> 0:29:27.370 The Duke of Burgundy has a sister, She's one possibility. 0:29:28.290 --> 0:29:32.330 Then there's Mary of Guelders, the widow of James the 0:29:32.370 --> 0:29:36.370 Second of Scotland who's been sheltering Queen Margaret of Anjou 0:29:36.810 --> 0:29:42.210 and Henry the sixth. Mary of Guilders is older than Edward, 0:29:42.450 --> 0:29:46.050 and although there are many rumours about her exciting love 0:29:46.130 --> 0:29:50.410 life since she's been widowed, a Scottish alliance might not 0:29:50.530 --> 0:29:55.210 be the worst idea in the world, especially given Mary's 0:29:55.330 --> 0:30:02.250 current Lancastrian inclinations. Then there's France. Warwick has put a 0:30:02.250 --> 0:30:06.490 word in with the recently crowned French King Louis the Eleventh, 0:30:07.010 --> 0:30:09.970 wondering if he has any daughters. Sou might make a 0:30:10.170 --> 0:30:16.650 suitable English queen. Since Louis's daughter is only three, He's 0:30:16.770 --> 0:30:20.930 nixed that idea, but he's offered up another option, his 0:30:21.050 --> 0:30:24.050 sister in law, Boner of Savoy, on the grounds of 0:30:24.090 --> 0:30:27.450 her name alone. Old Boner is the opposite of Enrique 0:30:27.530 --> 0:30:31.050 the impotent sister, and a French alliance has been a 0:30:31.170 --> 0:30:36.850 reliable route in international marriage diplomacy for generations, stretching all 0:30:36.890 --> 0:30:40.210 the way back to Edward The First Stay. For more 0:30:40.250 --> 0:30:43.250 on Edward the First listen back to season four of 0:30:43.330 --> 0:30:46.490 A Dynasty to Die For, I'd start with episode four, 0:30:46.850 --> 0:30:51.730 a New Arthur. The point is Warwick has plenty of options, 0:30:52.210 --> 0:30:55.650 and if anything, the problem is choosing which of these 0:30:55.810 --> 0:30:59.930 eligible young European princesses is going to be the match 0:31:00.010 --> 0:31:03.090 most fitting for King Edward and the House of York. 0:31:03.730 --> 0:31:08.730 Now that their problems with the Lancastrians are starting to recede. 0:31:09.090 --> 0:31:12.010 By the end of summer fourteen sixty four, Warwick is 0:31:12.090 --> 0:31:15.450 leaning towards a French match, and he's about to send 0:31:15.490 --> 0:31:19.370