CHAPTER 17
My investigations into the secret traditions of Wales had already come a long way. I was now convinced that the legends about ‘King Arthur’ were mostly based on the life and career of King Arthur son of Maurice, a 6th-century ruler who was crowned at Caerleon (Camelot) and used this as his capital city. I had also been shown ancient stones that clearly dated from his time, thereby proving the veracity of the traditional history of the area. Meanwhile, I became aware that the wheel crosses of this era, many of which are preserved in the museum at Margam Abbey, were later replaced stylistically by ‘Rosicrucian’ crosses. Quite why this happened, I wasn’t sure, but most of these seem to date from around the time of the Wars of the Roses (late 15th century). Accordingly, I decided to investigate this period and, in particular, their impact on Wales.
The Wars of the Roses came about as the result of rival claims to the throne of England by different branches of the royal family descended from Edward III. He himself, a grandson of Edward I, was a relatively successful and popular king. This was especially so in the earlier part of his reign when England was living through what, in retrospect, would be regarded as a golden age. His victory in 1346 in the Battle of Crécy, at the start of the Hundred Years War with France, made him a hero. However, this was overshadowed by the calamity of the Black Death (1348–50), which killed over a third of the population of England. It left a bitter aftertaste and brought widespread disillusionment with religion. After all, if the good were just as susceptible to the disease as the wicked and their prayers went unheard, what was the point in worshipping God? Strange as it may seem, this disaster was to set England, until then an unquestioningly devout, Catholic country, on the path to Reformation and eventually the scientific Enlightenment.
Edward III had five legitimate sons who came to manhood. This was unusual, but under normal circumstances should have caused little problem. Unfortunately, his eldest son, Edward, ‘the Black Prince’, died in 1376 before he could inherit the crown. Instead, his son Richard II, who was only a boy of nine, was crowned the following year. He proved to be a weak, sensitive king at a time when strength was needed. Meanwhile, Edward’s second son, Lionel, didn’t have any sons, while his third son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, was father to Henry Bolingbroke. In 1399, the latter successfully deposed his cousin Richard II and had himself crowned in his place as Henry IV. Richard died a year later in suspicious circumstances that were suggestive of murder. As he had no children, this left Henry in a very strong position and the House of Lancaster as the ruling dynasty.* Henry IV died in 1413, to be succeeded by his son Henry V. Famous for his military prowess at the Battle of Agincourt (October 1415), he is generally regarded as a hero. He would likely have been one of England’s greatest kings had he not died from dysentery in 1422. He was still only 34 years old at the time, younger than even Alexander the Great. He was succeeded by his son, Henry VI, then only a baby of one. This would have been a recipe for disaster in any age, but it was especially so in the febrile atmosphere of the 15th century – a time when protracted warfare with France had created a generation of hardened fighting men with few other talents. Furthermore, although Henry VI was able to hang on to his throne into manhood – itself a major achievement – his position was not unchallenged. For although Edward III’s second son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, had no son to succeed him, he was father to a daughter, Philippa. She had married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. Their son, Roger, the 4th Earl of March, also had a daughter, Anne, who married Richard, Earl of Cambridge, the son of Edmund of Langley, Edward III’s fourth son. This meant that their son, Richard Duke of York, had not one but two claims on the throne.*
The first – the weaker – was through the line of his father Richard. More important was the second: the descent through his mother, Anne Mortimer, from Lionel’s grandson Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March. For, in 1385, and therefore prior to his deposition, Richard II had publicly proclaimed that Roger Mortimer and his heirs should inherit the throne after him. The deposition of Richard by Henry Bolingbroke made this declaration of Richard’s redundant, even though it had been given in Parliament. However, the situation had now turned full circle. The Yorkists, fortified by the legitimacy of their claim, set about deposing Bolingbroke’s grandson, Henry VI.
The Wars of the Roses broke out in 1455 with the first Battle of St Albans. Richard, Duke of York, was killed in 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield, but his mantle was picked up by his eldest son Edward, the next Duke of York. In 1461, he took revenge for the death of his father by inflicting two crushing defeats on the Lancastrians: the Battles of Mortimer’s Cross and Towton. The Battle of Tewkesbury, in 1471, was particularly important as it not only put Edward IV in an unassailable position, but cleared the way for Henry Tudor to take over as the principal Lancastrian claimant.
This is because during the battle, which the Lancastrians lost, Prince Edward, the son of Henry VI and his heir apparent, was killed. According to some accounts, on seeing that the battle was lost, he fled for sanctuary into the Abbey church itself. Despite it being against all the rules of war, he was pursued inside by the victorious Yorkists and butchered. Because of this sacrilege, before it could be used again for services, the church had to be thoroughly cleaned and reconsecrated. A year later, Prince Edward’s father, Henry VI, who was already a prisoner in the Tower of London, also died. This left Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond, as the last remaining Lancastrian claimant to the throne.
Map 5: Major battles in the Wars of the Roses
This, in a nutshell, is what the Wars of the Roses were all about. However, it was clear to me that the use of roses as symbols for the two rival houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose) was important from an esoteric point of view. Quite what they symbolized and why the two rival dynasties had chosen these flowers as their emblems was, at first, not clear. Even so, I was sure that if I dug deeply enough, I would find the answer and, curiously enough, once more it was Wales that held the key.
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* See Chart 7: The Lineage of the House of Lancaster, page 230
* See Chart 8. The Lineage of the House of York, page 231