1. Performer Heritage
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2016
From the Plantagenets
to the Wars of the Roses

2. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
1. Anarchy
• William I died in 1087.
• His son William II succeeded him on the throne.
• Henry I, William II’s brother became king in
1100.
• Stephen (1135-54), Henry’s nephew, was the
last Norman king.
• For most of his reign he fought Matilda’s (Henry
I’s daughter) attempts to seize the throne.
• A period of civil war called the Anarchy
followed.
• Stephen recognised Matilda’s son, Henry, as his
heir.

3. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
2. The House of Plantagenet
• Henry II (1154-89), Henry I’s grandson.
• Richard I (1189-99), the Lionheart, third son
of Henry II.
• John (1199-1216), the Lackland, fifth son
of Henry II.
• Henry III (1216-72), John’s son.
• Edward I (1272-1307), Henry III’s son.
• Edward II (1307-27), Edward I’s son.
• Edward III (1327-77), Edward II’s son.
• Richard II (1377-99), Edward III’s grandson.

4. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
3. Henry II: military reform
• He wanted to defend his
French territories and re-
establish order in England.
• He replaced the feudal duty
of military service with a tax,
the ‘scutage’. Knights could
remain on their land and the
king paid professional
soldiers.

5. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
3.Henry II: the reform of justice
• The king regained control of the justice system
by creating travelling judges.
• The law they administered was called
common law
It was different from the law
administered in other parts of
Europe, linked to the civil law
of the Roman Empire and the
canon law of the Church.
The common law was used
everywhere and based on
local customs comparisons
and previous cases.

6. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
3. Henry II and Thomas Becket
1164 Constitutions of Clarendon
• The king was supreme in civil
matters.
• All people, including the clergy,
were subject to the crown.
He appointed Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury.

7. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
3. Henry II and Thomas Becket
• The conflict between the King and
Becket lasted for a long time until
Becket was murdered by four
knights sent by the King.
• Becket became a martyr
and a saint.
• Pilgrims visited his shrine
in Canterbury Cathedral.

8. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
3. Henry II and the Church
• Europe was shocked by the murder of Thomas
Becket.
• After his death, Becket was made a saint, and
Canterbury Cathedral became a shrine for pilgrims
to visit.

9. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
4. The Magna Carta
• In 1215 the barons
- refused to pay the scutage;
- conspired to resist the King;
- occupied London;
- made King John sign an important document,
the Magna Carta.
• Henry II was succeeded by his son Richard I,
known as Richard the Lionheart (1189-99).
• Richard joined the Third Crusade.
• His brother John became king in 1199
he lost French territories;
he collected higher taxes.

10. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
4. The Magna Carta

11. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
4. The Magna Carta
• promised freedoms to all
people;
• protected the rights of ordinary
people;
• gave England the basis of
a legal system;
• promised to have good and fair
laws;
• prevented any freeman from
being punished without
a proper trial.
The Magna Carta:

12. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
5. The birth of Parliament
From the earliest times, the kings of England had
assembled nobles and other important subjects in
the witan, or council, to advise them.
During the reign of Henry III assemblies were
summoned. They included:
- bishops;
- barons;
- knights of the shire;
- two representatives from the towns.
The transition from the king’s council to Parliament
was gradual. In 1295 the meeting of the king’s council
was known as ‘The Model Parliament’, England’s first
Parliament.

13. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
6. Edward III and the Hundred Years’ War
The War with France broke out
in 1337 because
• Edward III claimed the crown
of France because his mother
was the French king’s sister;
• the French were threatening
Flanders, which was the chief
market for English wool.
• It lasted until 1453.
The Hundred Years’ War.

14. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
6. Edward III and the Order of the Garter
Edward III introduced
the idea of ‘chivalry’
a set of values –
bravery, loyalty,
honesty and glory –
which the perfect
knight had to respect,
and which was linked
to the cycle of
Arthurian legends.
He founded the Order of the
Garter: a group of 24
knights, the same number
the legendary Arthur had
chosen, with high ideals of
honour and service. They
met once a year on St
George’s Day at Windsor
Castle, where King Arthur’s
Round Table was supposed
to have been.

15. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
7.The Black Death (1348-1350)
• A terrible plague which
spread across Europe.
• It was caused by fleas,
blood-sucking parasites,
living on rats which infested
the ship trading with Europe.
• It killed one third of Britain’s population.
Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411).

16. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
7.The Black Death (1348-1350)
The disease cycle
Fleas drank
rat blood that
carried the
bacteria
Bacteria
multiplied in
flea gut
Fleas bit
human and
regurgitated
blood into
human
wound
Human
beings were
infected

17. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
8.The Peasants’ Revolt
• A tax imposed on every adult without
reference to their income.
• A craftsman, Wat Tyler, gathered
a crowd of people and marched
On London.
• They asked the king to abolish
the peasants’ duties to their
landlords.
• The Mayor of London had Tyler
killed.
• The king had the leaders of the revolt
executed.
• Richard II introduced the poll tax.

18. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
9.The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)
• expenses of the Hundred Years’ War;
• increasing power of the House of Commons;
• civil war fought by the two rival families.
Decline of the monarchy due to:
the House of Lancaster the House of York

19. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
9.The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)
Lancaster vs York
The House of Lancaster
• Henry IV, Richard II’s
cousin, 1399-1413
• Henry V, 1413-1422
• Henry VI, 1422-1461
The House of York
• Edward IV, son of the Duke
of York, 1461-1483
• Edward V, Edward IV’s son, 1483
• Richard III, 1483-1485

20. From the Plantagenets to the Wars of the Roses
Performer Heritage
Main events of the war
• Henry VI was weak and Lancastrians became unpopular.
• In 1461 he was confined to the Tower by the son of the Duke
of York, who seized the throne as Edward IV.
• When Edward died, his young son, Edward V, was murdered
by his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who crowned
himself as Richard III.
• Richard III was killed by Henry, Earl of Richmond, at the Battle
of Bosworth in 1485.
• Henry became Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty.
• He married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.
9.The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)