Desmond Seward - A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses

DESMOND SEWARD was born in Paris and educated at Ampleforth and Cambridge. Fascinated by the Wars of the Roses since he was a boy, he has always taken a keen interest in everything that survived from the period whether castles, churches, battlefields, weapons, illuminated manuscripts or brasses acquiring the knowledge which has made possible his books striking and often unfamiliar illustrations. Other books written by him are Sussex (Pimlico), a history of the county where he lives, and The Monks of War (The Folio Society) the first general history of the military religious orders, from their foundation until the present day, to appear since the eighteenth century.

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DESMOND SEWARD

ROBINSON
London

For
Susan Mountgarret

Constable & Robinson Ltd
5556 Russell Square
London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK as The Wars of the Roses by Constable and Co. Ltd 1995

This new paperback edition published by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2007

Copyright Desmond Seward 1995, 2007

The right of Desmond Seward to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication data is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-84529-006-1

Printed and bound in the EU

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

People of the Middle Ages existed under mental, moral and physical circumstances so different from our own as to constitute almost a foreign civilization. As a result, qualities of conduct that we recognize as familiar amid these alien surroundings are revealed as permanent in human nature.

Barbara W. Tuchman,
A Distant Mirror

Colour illustrations

Black and white illustrations

My first debt is to my editor in New York, Carolyn Carlson of Viking. The book owes a very great deal to her enthusiasm and constructive criticism.

I am also grateful to Susan, Viscountess Mountgarret for many useful suggestions and for taking me round the battlefield of Towton; to Peter Drummond-Murray of Mastrick, Slains Pursuivant of Arms, for advice on the Earl of Oxfords genealogy and on the significance of the earldom of Derby; and to the staffs of the British Library, the London Library, and the Guildhall Library for all their patient assistance.

I have benefited immeasurably from the work of scholars during recent years, work which has enormously increased our knowledge of the Wars of the Roses and especially of Richard III. I would like to instance in particular the biography of Margaret Beaufort, The Kings Mother, by M.K. Jones and M.G. Underwood; the publications of Dr M.A. Hicks, whether books or articles in learned journals; and the contributions of numerous specialists to The Ricardian.

I must record a special debt of thanks to Michael Kadwell and David Plumtree of Holleyman & Treacher, Brighton, for their help in finding the black and white illustrations.