RICHARD OF YORK, CLAIMANT TO THE ENGLISH THRONE
AND ONE OF THE MAIN LEADERS OF THE WAR OF ROSES
[WAR BETWEEN THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK,
BOTH DESCENDANTS OF KING EDWARD III]
[HISTORICAL IMAGE]
WAR OF THE ROSES
SCENE AT THE TEMPLE GARDEN
RICHARD, DUKE OF YORK, WEARING A
WHITE ROSE, TO CONFRONT
HIS POLITICAL RIVAL AND ENEMY,
EDMUND, BEAUFORT, 2ND DUKE OF
SOMERSET, FORCING HIM TO
CHOOSE A RED ROSE
THE NOBLE LORDS TAKING SIDES
THIS IS A SHAKESPEARE SCENE [HENRY VI]
AND NOT BASED ON ANY HISTORICAL
EVIDENCE
The White Rose of theHouse of York
The Red Rose of theHouse of Lancaster
.jpg)
KING HENRY VI OF ENGLAND
[HISTORICAL IMAGE]
MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN OF ENGLAND
[HISTORICAL IMAGE]
TWO IMAGES OF MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN OF ENGLAND
[FICTION]
ENGLISH HISTORY/THE WARS OF THE ROSES/MARGARET OF ANJOU AND THE DUKE
CONCERNING PROPAGANDA IN HISTORICAL WRITING AND
HISTORICAL VIEWS ON THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN POLITICS
Dear Readers
´´Queen of Last Hopes´´, fictional historical novel of writer Susan Higginbotham,
about the life of Margaret of Anjou, wife of the medieval English
King Henry VI, was one of the books, which fascinated me last year
2014.
Red theme in the life of Margaret of Anjou were the Wars of Roses,
the fight to the death for the English throne between the Houses of
It´s such a passionate period of history, that one nearly can´t avoid to
raise sympathy either for the Lancasters or the Yorks.
However, of importance is to take a historically balanced stand,
acknowledging that on both sides there were cruelties and injustice,
and that human beings are mostly a mixture of light and dark sides.
But that aside.
HISTORICAL VIEWS ABOUT WOMEN, INVOLVED
IN POLITICS:
SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM’S CONTRIBUTION
In her book and articles, Susan Higginbotham struggles against
the villfication of Margaret of Anjou through history and I think that´s
an important contribution,
not only out of
historical accuracy, but because she points out
the medieval ( and also later) demonization of women,
who dared to participate in politics, which was considered
as ”men’s affairs’, especially armed struggle.
Were those women, who participated in politics, saints?
Of course not, they were hard, but not harder than the men
involved.
That’s the point here.
Higginbotham’s contribution is, that she raises this
important point.
HISTORICAL ACCURACY
SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM
However, of importance is to take a historically balanced stand
and there comes my criticism.
In her book ´´Queen of Last Hopes´´, Higginbotham
Higginbotham accomplishes her
crusade against the exaggerated negative role of Margaret of Anjou by
on the contrary, picturing her great enemy the Duke of York as a cardboard
villain, who was after the throne from the beginning and even
wanted to kill King Henry VI and Queen Margaret for that.
I think, that is not historically right.
That´s why I wrote a letter to Mrs Higginbotham.
See for that letter the following link, scroll to below in the link.
But to get more information about the causes of the
Wars of Roses and the major players, I take you
to a journey to the past.
I warn you
It is a long piece of reading.
But realize, that it is a journey of 500
years ago and that takes time.
Go with me on the journey.
ENTER THE WORLD