In the Middle Ages, England had to contend with a string of usurpers who deposed reigning kings and seized power for their own houses, thereby disrupting the British monarchy and ultimately changing the course of English history. There have been many infamous usurpers to come out of medieval England including William the Conqueror, King Stephen, Henry Bolingbroke, Edward IV, Richard III, and Henry Tudor. But did they really deserve the title of usurper or were they unfairly vilified by biased chroniclers and royal propaganda?
In this book we will examine the lives of six medieval kings, the circumstances that brought each man to power, and whether or not they really usurped their thrones. Along the way readers will hear stories of some of the most fascinating and daring people from medieval Europe, including Empress Matilda, the first woman who nearly succeeded at becoming queen of England; Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen of both France and England; the cruel reign of Richard II which caused his own family to revolt against him; the struggle between Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, Richard of York, and Edward IV during the Wars of the Roses; Richard III and his monstrous reputation as a child-killer; and Henry VII, who came out of obscurity and established arguably the most famous royal family of all: the Tudors.
The reader might be surprised to know that not all these kings were really usurpers, at least not in this author’s opinion. The purpose of this book is to correct popular misconceptions and long-held beliefs about these six kings who have been traditionally labeled as usurpers. One of the most difficult aspects of doing historical research during this time period is the lack of trustworthy sources, or sometimes the lack of any sources at all. Notably, you have the chroniclers who are clearly biased, perhaps even hired by a king to write the official history of their reign, so it’s important to take those accounts with a grain of salt. To unravel the truth, I have relied on a variety of sources, including medieval chroniclers, vintage biographies from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, and the newest research by modern-day historians for the most accurate, up-to-date information we have on the lives of these infamous medieval kings of England.