Everything about Yorkists totally explained
The
House of York was a branch of the English royal
House of Plantagenet, three of whom became
English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended from
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth (surviving) son of
Edward III.
Descent from Edward III
Edmund of Langley had two sons,
Edward, and
Richard of Conisburgh. Edward succeeded to the dukedom in 1402, but was killed at the
battle of Agincourt in 1415, with no issue. His younger brother married
Anne de Mortimer, a great-granddaughter of
Lionel of Antwerp, the second son of Edward III. Anne was also heiress to the
earldom of March, following the death of her brother
Edmund, 5th Earl in 1425. Edmund was the son of
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, who had been named
heir presumptive of
Richard II, prior to the usurpation of the
House of Lancaster, in the person of
Henry Bolingbroke, in 1399.
Richard of Conisburgh was executed following his involvement in the
Southampton Plot to depose
Henry V of England in favour of the Earl of March. The dukedom of York therefore passed to his son,
Richard Plantagenet. Through his mother, Richard Plantagenet also inherited the lands of the earldom of March, as well as the Mortimer claim to the throne.
Wars of the Roses
Despite his elevated status, Richard Plantagenet was denied a position in government by the advisers of the weak
Henry VI, particularly
John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and the queen consort,
Margaret of Anjou. Although he served as Protector of the Realm during Henry VI's period of incapacity in 1453-54, his reforms were reversed by Somerset's party once the king had recovered.
The
Wars of the Roses began the following year, with the
First Battle of St Albans. Initially, Richard aimed only to purge his Lancastrian political opponents from positions of influence over the king. It wasn't until October 1460 that he claimed the throne for the House of York. In that year the Yorkists had captured the king at the
battle of Northampton, but victory was shortlived. Richard and his second son
Edmund were killed at the
battle of Wakefield on December 30.
Richard's claim to the throne was inherited by his son
Edward. With the support of
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ("The Kingmaker"), Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou were campaigning in the north, Warwick gained control of the capital and had Edward declared king in London in 1461. Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the
Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out.
Reigns of the Yorkist Kings
The early reign of
Edward IV was marred by Lancastrian plotting and uprisings in favour of Henry VI. Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and the king's jealous brother
George, Duke of Clarence in briefly restoring Henry in 1470-71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the house of Lancaster was all but wiped out with the last male, Henry VI himself, murdered in the
Tower of London in 1471.
On Edward's death in 1483, the crown passed to his twelve year-old son
Edward. Edward IV's younger brother
Richard, Duke of Gloucester was appointed Protector, and escorted the young king, and his brother
Richard, to the Tower of London. The famous
Princes in the Tower were never seen again. Parliament declared, in the document
Titulus Regius, that the two boys were illegitimate, on the grounds that Edward IV's marriage was invalid, and as such Richard was heir to the throne. He was crowned Richard III in July 1483.
Defeat of the House of York
Richard III had many enemies, chiefly the Lancastrian sympathisers, who now rallied behind
Henry Tudor, the
House of Tudor being closely linked with the House of Lancaster. A coup attempt failed in late 1483, but in 1485 Richard met Henry Tudor at the
battle of Bosworth Field. During the battle, some of Richard's important supporters switched sides or withheld their retainers from the field. Richard himself was killed, the last Plantagenet king and the last king of England to die in battle.
Henry Tudor declared himself king, took
Elizabeth of York, eldest child of Edward IV, as his wife, symbolically uniting the surviving houses of York and Lancaster, and acceded to the throne as Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty which reigned until 1603. The
de la Pole family were thereafter acknowledged as the legitimate Yorkist claimants. After
Richard de la Pole died at the
Battle of Pavia, the sole vestige of the Yorkist dynasty came in the form of
Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. Her descendant,
Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, featured in the documentary
Britain's Real Monarch, is considered by some to be the modern "
Heads of the House of York", while
Francis Melfort William Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford is a strong contender.
Legacy
The symbol of the House of York was a
white rose, still used as the badge of
Yorkshire and
Jacobitism. The rivalry between York and Lancaster, in the modern form of the counties of Yorkshire and
Lancashire, has continued into the present day on a more friendly basis.
Headship of the House
» For a complete list, from 1385 to the modern day see; Heads of the House of York
Yorkist—Dukes of York
|
Edmund of Langley(House of York founder)
1385–1402 || ||
5 June 1341Kings Langleyson of
Edward III of England and
Philippa of Hainault||
Isabella of Castile1372
3 children
Joan de Holland
no children ||
1 August 1402Kings Langleyage 61
|-
|
Edward of Norwich1402–1415 || || 1373
Norwichson of
Edmund of Langley and
Isabella of Castile||never married||
25 October 1415Agincourtage 42
|-
|
Richard Plantagenet1415–1460 || ||
21 September 1411son of
Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and
Anne de Mortimer||
Cecily Neville1437
13 children||
30 December 1460Wakefieldage 42
|-
|
Edward Plantagenet1460–1461 || ||
28 April 1442Rouenson of
Richard Plantagenet and
Cecily Neville||
Elizabeth Woodville1 May 146410 children||
9 April 1483Westminsterage 40
|-
|}
Edward Plantagenet became king
Edward IV of England in 1461, as thus the title Duke of York was merged with the
Crown of England.
Yorkist—Kings of England
|
Edward IV4 March 1461 –
3 October 147011 April1471–1483 || ||
28 April 1442Rouenson of
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and
Cecily Neville || ||
2 November 1470Westminsterson of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
|-
|
Richard III26 June1483–1485 || ||
2 October 1452Fotheringhay Castleson of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville ||
Anne NevilleWestminster Abbey12 July 14721 son
||
22 August 1485Bosworth Fieldage 32 (killed in battle)
|}
Further Information
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