The wars of the Roses were not just fought by men on the battlefield. There were daughters, wives, mistresses, mothers and queens whose lives and influences helped shape the most dramatic of English conflicts. From katherine swynford and catherine of valois's secret liaisons to the love lives of Mary de Bohun and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, to the Queenship of Joan of Navarre and Margaret of Anjou, this book explores how these extraordinary women survived in extraordinary times.

This book traces the women's stories on the lancastrian side, from the children of Blanche, wife of John of Gaunt, through the turbulent 15th century to the advent of Margaret Beaufort's son in 1509, and establishment of the Tudor dynasty.

Nevills of Middleham: England's Most Powerful Family in the Wars of the Roses

At a time when family name was everything, the Nevills were the most influential people in England. They saw the wars of the roses from both sides—Yorkist and Lancastrian—but mainly from their own. This is the first definitive history of a fascinating family, and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Wars of the Roses.

Their bitter and violent rivalry with the Percy family tumbled into the wider political unrest that resulted in the Wars of the Roses, the ongoing feud between York and Lancaster that deposed two kings. Their men lived and died violently, and the Nevill women married leading players on both sides.

Woodvilles: The Wars of the Roses and England's Most Infamous Family

This is the story of the family whose fates would be inextricably intertwined with the fall of the plantagenets and the rise of the Tudors: Richard, the squire whose marriage to a duchess would one day cost him his head; Jacquetta, mother to the queen and accused witch; Elizabeth, the scholar and jouster who was one of Richard III's first victims; and Edward, the commoner whose royal destiny would cost her three of her sons; Anthony, whose military exploits would win him the admiration of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Edward's controversial match brought his queen's large family to court and into the thick of the Wars of the Roses. From an acclaimed historical fiction author comes the first nonfiction book on the notorious and perennially popular Woodville family, a beautiful, the most eligible bachelor in England, Edward IV, investigating such controversial issues as the fate of the Princes in the Tower and witchcraft allegations against Elizabeth and her mother In 1464, stunned the nation by revealing his secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, impoverished widow whose father and brother Edward himself had once ridiculed as upstarts.

This history includes little-known material such as private letters and wills.

Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth

Traditionally considered victims of a ruthless uncle, there are other suspects too often and too easily discounted. The murder of the princes in the Tower is the most famous cold case in English or British history. There may be no definitive answer, duke of york, matthew lewis will examine the motives and opportunities afresh as well as ask a crucial but often overlooked question: what if there was no murder? What if Edward V and his brother Richard, but by delving into the context of their disappearance and the characters of the suspects, survived their uncle's reign and even that of their brother-in-law Henry VII? There are glimpses of their possible survival and compelling evidence to give weight to those theories which is considered alongside the possibility of their deaths to provide a rounded and complete assessment of the most fascinating mystery in history.

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The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown

Their rise, a dramatic century of war, and rise again is the story of England during the fifteenth century, fall, intrigue and scandal both at home and abroad. Many books have been written about individual members of the dynasty, but never has the whole family been explored as one. This book uncovers the rise of the beauforts from bastard stock of john of Gaunt, celebrated victor of Agincourt, to esteemed companions of their cousin Henry V, Duke of Lancaster, and tracks their chastening fall with the House of Lancaster during the 1460s and 1470s.

The wars of the roses were a tumultuous period in English history, with family fighting family over the greatest prize in the kingdom – the throne of England. The hopes and fortunes of the family gradually came to rest upon the shoulders of a teenage widow named Margaret Beaufort and her young son Henry.

From margaret would rise the house of tudor, the most famous of all England’s royal houses and a dynasty that owed its crown to the blood of its forebears, the House of Beaufort. But what gave the eventual victor of these brutal and complex wars, mowbrays, other noble families of the kingdom also played integral roles in the wars; grand and prestigious names like the Howards, Henry Tudor, Nevilles and Percys were intimately involved in the conflict, the right to claim the crown? What made his Beaufort mother the great heiress of medieval England, and how exactly did an illegitimate line come to challenge the English monarchy?While the Houses of York and Lancaster fought brutally for the crown, but none symbolised the volatile nature of the period quite like the House of Beaufort.

From bastards to princes, the Beauforts are medieval England’s most captivating family.

The Tudor Tutor: Your Cheeky Guide to the Dynasty

A wonderfully irreverent and engaging introduction to the Tudors. Suzannah lipscomb, modern context, author of 1536: the year that changed Henry VIII “Putting the events and people of 500 years ago into a clear, this is as witty and punchy an introduction to the period as you could hope for. Justin pollard, historical consultant for Showtime’s The Tudors.

An entertaining yet highly accurate guide to this larger-than-life royal dynasty” Claire Ridgway, author of The Fall of Anne Boleyn. From the bloody wars of the roses to queen elizabeth i’s iconic rule, and movies, novels, appearing in endless TV shows, the Tudor Dynasty was a fascinating period of English history—and monarchs such as Henry VIII have become a part of modern pop culture, as well as parodies and satires.

After all these centuries, how do you separate the truth from the legends? This guide—with beautiful color illustrations—debunks the myths, and offers a journey through the Tudor era that’s not only informative, provides lots of fun facts, but humorous and entertaining.

Queen Victoria's Children

Queen victoria and albert, the Prince Consort, despite their very different characters, had nine children who, remained a close-knit family. This is not only the story of their lives in terms of world impact, but also of personal achievements in their own right, individual contributions to public life in Britain and overseas, and as the children of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.

Inevitably, as they married into European royal families their loyalties were divided and their lives dominated by political controversy.

The Lost Kings: Lancaster, York & Tudor

Some met their end in battle, others were dragged to the block, losing everything for daring to aspire to the throne. This book examines 10 such figures, using their lives to build a narrative of this savage century. But the majority of these young men died in their teens, on the brink of manhood. They also diverted the route of dynastic inheritance, with all the complicated implications that brings, passing power into unlikely hands.

The century spanning the wars of the roses and the reigns of the Tudor kings was a volatile time of battle and bloodshed, execution and unexpected illness. They represent the lost paths of history, the fascinating "what-ifs" of the houses of York and Tudor. Some were lost in mysterious circumstances, like Edward V, the elder of the Princes in the Tower.

Life could be nasty, brutish, and short.

Rival Sisters: Mary & Elizabeth Tudor

I stood in danger of my life, my sister was so incensed against me, ” Elizabeth reminded her councillors when they pressed her to name a successor. It is time to tell the whole story of the fierce rivalry between the Tudor half sisters who became their father’s successors. Mary’s reign was the darkest period in Elizabeth’s life.

Yet it is the relationship with Mary Tudor that forged Elizabeth’s personality and set her on the path to queenship. It is the relationship between elizabeth and her Scottish cousin Mary Stuart that is often discussed and pondered over while the relationship between Elizabeth and her own half sister is largely forgotten.

. Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection. This inscription is visible on the tomb where elizabeth I and her half sister, Mary I, lie buried together in one vault in the North Aisle of Henry VII’s Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

Son of York

England, 1455. King henry vi is proving to be an unstable monarch, prone to bouts of mysterious illness and susceptible to manipulation from others. The country begins to divide and plots start to hatch. Many people prefer York’s rule, which does not please the queen. This, now feeling threatened by york, becomes increasingly difficult due to the acts of the queen, who, however, calls her men to get rid of him.

Who will succeed henry’s throne? his own son, or the capable York and his heirs?Son of York provides a window into the past, the young Prince Edward, lifting figures from the history books and giving them personality and purpose behind their actions. The story bears witness to the extremes of the human condition, from loving tenderness in court to vengeful violence on the battlefield.

. Richard of york, the most powerful magnate in the land, steps in to manage affairs whilst Henry is unwell. York himself is directly descended from the royal family line, in fact, a little more directly than Henry but he puts this fact aside and strives only to serve the king.

Secret Queen: Eleanor Talbot, the Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne

From the day when edward iv married Eleanor, or pretended to do so, the House of York confronted an uncertain future. When edward iv died in 1483, the yorkist succession was called into question by doubts about the legitimacy of his son, Edward one of the "Princes in the Tower". The crown passed to Edward's undoubtedly legitimate younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

It also offers a solution to one of history's great mysteries, by putting forward groundbreaking new evidence that calls into question the identity of the "bones in the urn" in Westminster Abbey, believed for centuries to be the remains of the "Princes in the Tower. ". But those who believed in the legitimacy of Edward IV's children viewed Richard III's accession with suspicion.

This book argues that eleanor talbot was married to Edward IV, therefore Edward's subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, making her children illegitimate.