March 22, 1459: Birth of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Tags

Archduke Albrecht VI of Austria, Battle of Guinegate, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Emperor Friedrich III, Emperor Maximilian I, Infanta Eleanor of Portugal, King Albert II of Germany, King Louis XI of France, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, Mary of Burgundy, Philip the Handsome, Pope Julius II

Maximilian I (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death.

Archduke Maximilian of Austria was born at Wiener Neustadt on March 22, 1459, the only surviving son of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Infanta Eleanor of Portugal, daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Aragon, daughter of King Fernando I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque.

Emperor Maximilian I

His father named him for an obscure saint, Maximilian of Tebessa, who Friedrich believed had once warned him of imminent peril in a dream.

Habsburg Rivalries

In his childhood Maximilian and his parents were besieged in Vienna by Archduke Albrecht VI of Austria, younger brother of Emperor Friedrich III. As a scion of the Leopoldian line, Archduke Albrecht VI ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1424, from 1457 also over the entire Archduchy of Austria until his death, rivalling with his elder brother Emperor Frederick III.

Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Infanta Eleanor of Portugal

In 1439 both Duke Friedrich IV of Further Austria and King Albrecht II of Germany (King of the Romans) Duke of Austria died. As heir of Inner Austria and regent of Further Austria, Tyrol and the Austria proper, Albrecht VI then ruled over all the dynasty’s hereditary lands. At that stage, Albrecht began quarreling with his brother Emperor Friedrich III (then known as Duke Friedrich V) and in 1446 claimed the lands of Further Austria from him.

The conflict between the brothers escalated when Duke Ladislaus Posthumous of Austria died childless in 1457 and Emperor Friedrich III, came into his inheritance. Albrecht VI rose up and in 1458 occupied the western part of the Austrian archduchy “above the Enns” (later known as Upper Austria), which he ruled at Linz as a separate principality (Fürstentum Österreich ob der Enns) and, quite small, his portion of Habsburg patrimony.

After laying siege to Friedrich in the Vienna Hofburg, he also took over the reign of Austria below the Enns (now Lower Austria) in 1462. Albrecht VI however died childless the next year and all his lands fell back to his elder brother.

One source relates that, during the siege’s bleakest days, the young prince Maximilian wandered about the castle garrison, begging the servants and men-at-arms for bits of bread.

Father and Mother

Maximilian’s father was elected and crowned King of the Romans in 1440. In 1452, at the age of 37, King Friedrich III travelled to Italy to receive his bride and to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Friedrich III’s reign of 53 years is the longest in the history of the Holy Roman Empire or the German monarchy.

Maximilian was the favourite child of his mother, whose personality was a contrast to his father (although there seemed to be communication problems between mother and son, as she spoke Portuguese). Reportedly she told Maximilian that, “If I had known, my son, that you would become like your father, I would have regretted having born you for the throne.” Her early death pushed him even more towards a man’s world, where one grew up first as a warrior rather than a politician.

First Marriage

The meeting of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy

The Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was the chief political opponent of Maximilian’s father. Emperor Friedrich III was concerned about Burgundy’s expansionist tendencies on the western border of his Holy Roman Empire, and, to forestall military conflict, he attempted to secure the marriage of Charles’ only daughter, Mary of Burgundy, to his son Maximilian. After the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), he was successful. The wedding between Maximilian and Mary took place on August 19, 1477.

Perhaps as preparation for his task in the Netherlands, in 1476, at the age of 17, in the name of his father, apparently Maximilian commanded a military campaign against Hungary – the first actual battlefield experience in his life (command responsibility was likely shared with more experienced generals though).

Maximilian was elected King of the Romans on February 16, 1486 in Frankfurt-am-Main at his father’s initiative and crowned on April 9, 1486 in Aachen. Much of the Austrian territories and Vienna were under the rule of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, as a result of the Austrian–Hungarian War (1477–1488). Since his coronation as King of the Romans he ran a double government, or Doppelregierung (with a separate court), with his father until Friedrich’s death in 1493.

Emperor Maximilian I

Maximilian was now a king without lands. Matthias Corvinus offered Emperor Friedrich and his son Archduke Maximilian, the return of Austrian provinces and Vienna, if they would renounce the treaty of 1463 and accept Matthias as Friedrich’s designated heir and favoured successor as Holy Roman Emperor. Before this was settled though, Matthias died in Vienna in 1490. However, after Matthias Corvinus died from a stroke on April 9, 1490, civil war broke out in Hungary between the supporters of John Corvinus and the supporters of king Vladislaus of Bohemia.

Emperor

Upon Emperor Friedrich III’s death in 1493 he was succeeded by his son Maximilian who was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself Elected Emperor in 1508 (Pope Julius II later recognized this) at Trent, thus breaking the long tradition of requiring a papal coronation for the adoption of the Imperial title.

Maximilian expanded the influence of the House of Habsburg through war and his marriage in 1477 to Mary of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State, heir of Charles the Bold, though he also lost his family’s original lands in today’s Switzerland to the Swiss Confederacy.

Maximilian’s wife had inherited the large Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her father’s death in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477.

The Duchy of Burgundy was also claimed by the French crown under Salic law, with King Louis XI of France vigorously asserting his claim through military force. Maximilian at once undertook the defence of his wife’s dominions. Without support from the Empire and with an empty treasury left by Charles the Bold’s campaigns (Mary had to pawn her jewels to obtain loans), he carried out a campaign against the French during 1478–1479 and reconquered Le Quesnoy, Conde and Antoing. He defeated the French forces at the Battle of Guinegate, in modern Enguinegatte, on August 7, 1479.

Philipp the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, King of Castile

His son, Philipp the Handsome of Austria, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506. Through Philipp’s marriage to eventual Queen Joanna of Castile in 1496, he was the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Felipe I) for a brief time in 1506.

This helped Maximilian to establish the Habsburg dynasty in Spain, which allowed his grandson Charles of Burgundy to hold the thrones of both Castile and Aragon as King Carlos I of a united Spain.

Assessment

The historian Thomas A. Brady Jr. describes Emperor Maximilian I as “the first Holy Roman Emperor in 250 years who ruled as well as reigned” and also, the “ablest royal warlord of his generation.”

According to historian Joachim Whaley, if Maximilian ever saw the Empire as a source of income and soldiers only, he failed miserably in extracting both. His hereditary lands and other sources always contributed much more. On the other hand, the attempts he demonstrated in building the imperial system alone shows that he did consider the German lands “a real sphere of government in which aspirations to royal rule were actively and purposefully pursued.”

Emperor Maximilian I

Whaley notes that, despite struggles, what emerged at the end of Maximilian’s rule was a strengthened monarchy and not an oligarchy of princes. If he was usually weak when trying to act as a monarch and using imperial instituations like the Reichstag, Maximilian’s position was often strong when acting as a neutral overlord and relying on regional leagues of weaker principalities such as the Swabian league, as shown in his ability to call on money and soldiers to mediate the Bavaria dispute in 1504, after which he gained significant territories in Alsace, Swabia and Tyrol. His fiscal reform in his hereditary lands provided a model for other German princes.

When Maximilian I died on January 12, 1519 he was succeeded by his grandson, Charles, who became one of Europe’s most powerful Emperors who had inherited a greatly expanded Habsburg empire.

Emperor Charles V

Charles V (February 24, 1500 – September 21, 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Castile and Aragon) from 1515 to 1555, as King Carlos I, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. Charles V was head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century. His dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and the Burgundian Low Countries, and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples and Sicily and Sardinia.

The Sancy Diamond

Tags

Cardinal Mazarin, Charles I of England, Charles the Bold, Crown of Louis XV, Duke of Burgundy, fleur-de-lis, French Revolution, Henry IV of France, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Louis XV of France., Mazarin Diamonds, The Louvre, The Sancy Diamond

The Sancy Diamond, a pale yellow diamond of 55.23 carats (11.046 g), was once reputed to have belonged to the Mughals of antiquity, but it is more likely of Indian origin owing to its cut, which is unusual by Western standards.

The Sancy Diamond

The shield-shaped stone comprises two back-to-back crowns (the typical upper half of a stone) but lacks any semblance to a pavilion (the lower portion of a stone, below the girdle or midsection).

History

The Sancy’s known history began circa 1570. Several sources state it belonged to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1433-1477) In 1495 the diamond passed to Charles the Bold’s cousin King Manuel I of Portugal (1469-1521 When Portugal was threatened to come under Spanish rule, claimant António, Prior of Crato fled the country with the bulk of the Portuguese Crown Jewels. He spent his life trying to get allies to regain the Portuguese throne in the French and English courts, and sold the diamond to Nicolas de Harlay, Seignure de Sancy.

Other sources claim that the diamond was purchased in Constantinople by de Sancy. He was popular in the French Court and was later French Ambassador to Turkey. Something of a gem connoisseur, de Sancy used his knowledge to prosperous advantage.

Henri IV, King of France and Navarre

Henri III of France (1551-1589) suffered from premature baldness and tried to conceal this fact by wearing a cap. As diamonds were becoming increasingly fashionable at the time, Henri arranged to borrow de Sancy’s diamond to decorate his cap. Henri IV (1553-1610) also borrowed the stone, for the more practical purpose of using it as security for financing an army. Legend has it that a messenger carrying the jewel never reached his destination, but de Sancy (by then Superintendent of Finance) was convinced that the man was loyal and had a search conducted until the site of the messenger’s robbery and murder was found. When the body was disinterred, the jewel was found in the faithful man’s stomach.

De Sancy later sold the diamond to James I-VI of England, Scotland and Ireland (1566-1625) in March 1605 when it is thought the Sancy acquired its name. It weighed 53 carats and cost 60,000 French crowns. It was described in the Tower of London’s 1605 Inventory of Jewels as “…one fayre dyamonde, cut in fawcetts, bought of Sauncy.” James had it set into the Mirror of Great Britain, with diamonds from the Great H of Scotland.

James II-VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland

The Sancy was briefly possessed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1600-1649) and then by his third son James II-VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1633-1701). Beleaguered after a devastating defeat, James took shelter under Louis XIV of France and Navarre (1638-1715) fickle host who tired of his exiled guest. Facing destitution, James had no choice but to sell the Sancy to Cardinal Mazarin in 1657 for the reported sum of £25,000. The cardinal bequeathed the diamond to the king upon his death in 1661.

The Sancy was thus domiciled in France. In 1722 a new crown was created for King Louis XV (1710-1774). It was used at his coronation and was embellished with diamonds from the Royal Collection. The new crown was made by Laurent Ronde, the French Crown jeweller.

Crown of Louis XV

It originally contained a collection of Mazarin Diamonds, Including the Sancy diamond in the fleur-de-lis at the top of the arches, and the famous ‘Regent’ diamond, which was set in the front of the crown, as well as hundreds of other precious diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

Louis XV, King of France and Navarre

The Sancy Diamond disappeared during the French Revolution when brigands raided the Garde Meuble (Royal Treasury). As well as the Sancy, other treasures stolen were the Regent diamond, and the French Blue diamond which is known today as the Hope diamond.

The Sancy was in the collection of Vasiliy Rudanovsky until 1828 when purchased by Prince Demidoff for £80,000. It remained in the Demidov family collection until 1865 when sold to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, an Indian prince, for £100,000. He sold it only a year later, creating another gap in its history. It reappeared in 1867, displayed at the Paris Exposition, carrying a price tag of one million francs; the gem then vanished again for forty years.

The Sancy Diamond with the French Crown Jewels

The Sancy next surfaced in 1906 when bought by William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, from famous Russian collector A.K.Rudanovsky. The prominent Astor family possessed it for 72 years until the 4th Viscount Astor sold it to the Louvre for $1 million in 1978. The Sancy now rests in the Apollo Gallery, sharing attention with the likes of the Regent and the Hortensia Diamonds.

March 22, 1459: Birth of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. Part I.

Tags

Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Holy Roman Empire, Louis XI of France, Mary of Burgundy, Philip the Handsome, Salic Law

Maximilian I (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. Maximilian was the son of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal, daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Aragon. Maximilian was born at Wiener Neustadt on March 22, 1459. His father named him for an obscure saint, Maximilian of Tebessa, whom Friedrich believed had once warned him of imminent peril in a dream.

Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Eleanor of Portugal

At the time, the dukes of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the French royal family, with their sophisticated nobility and court culture, were the rulers of substantial territories on the eastern and northern boundaries of France. The reigning duke, Charles the Bold, was the chief political opponent of Maximilian’s father Friedrich III. Friedrich was concerned about Burgundy’s expansive tendencies on the western border of his Holy Roman Empire, and, to forestall military conflict, he attempted to secure the marriage of Charles the Bold’s only daughter, Mary of Burgundy, to his son Maximilian. After the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), he was successful. The wedding between Maximilian and Mary took place on August 19, 1477.

.
Mary, Duchess of Burgundy

Maximilian’s wife had inherited the large Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her father’s death in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Already before his coronation as the King of the Romans in 1486, Maximilian decided to secure this distant and extensive Burgundian inheritance to his family, the House of Habsburg, at all costs.

The Duchy of Burgundy was also claimed by the French crown under Salic Law, with Louis XI of France vigorously contesting the Habsburg claim to the Burgundian inheritance by means of military force. Maximilian undertook the defence of his wife’s dominions from an attack by Louis XI and defeated the French forces at Guinegate, the modern Enguinegatte, on August 7, 1479.

Maximilian and Mary’s wedding contract stipulated that their children would succeed them but that the couple could not be each other’s heirs. Mary tried to bypass this rule with a promise to transfer territories as a gift in case of her death, but her plans were confounded. After Mary’s death in a riding accident on March 27, 1482 near the Wijnendale Castle, Maximilian’s aim was now to secure the inheritance to his and Mary’s son, Philipp the Handsome.

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of the latter’s reign, from c. 1483 to his father’s death in 1493. Maximilian was elected King of the Romans on February 16, 1486 in Frankfurt-am-Main at his father’s initiative and crowned on April 9, 1486 in Aachen. He became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father in 1493. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was always too risky. He was instead proclaimed Emperor Elect by Pope Julius II at Trent, thus breaking the long tradition of requiring a papal coronation for the adoption of the imperial title.

Part II Reign in the Holy Roman Empire

February 18, 1478: Execution of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence.

Tags

Bill of Attainder, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Duke of Clarence, George Plantagenet, House of Lancaster, House of York, King Edward IV of England, King Henry VI of England, King Richard III of England, Lord of Ireland, Mary of Burgundy, Wars of the Roses

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (October 21, 1449 – February 18, 1478), was a son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets known as the Wars of the Roses.

Coat of Arms of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

George’s father died in 1460. In 1461 his elder brother, Edward, became King of England as Edward IV. In that year George was made Duke of Clarence and invested as a Knight of the Garter, and in 1462 Clarence received the Honour of Richmond, a lifetime grant, but without the peerage title of Earl of Richmond.Despite his youth, he was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the same year.

Having been mentioned as a possible husband for Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Clarence came under the influence of his first cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and in July 1469 was married in Église Notre-Dame de Calais to the earl’s elder daughter Isabel Neville.

Here is a side story to the connection of the House of Burgundy and the House of Plantagenet. In 1454, at the age of 21, Charles the Bold was looking to marry a second time. Charles the Bold’s first wife was Catherine of France (1428 – 13 July 1446) was a French princess and the fourth child and second daughter of Charles VII of France and Marie of Anjou. Catherine fell ill with violent coughing in 1446 and died with what was likely tuberculosis.

Mary, Duchess of Burgundy

For his second marriage, Charles the Bold wanted to marry Margaret of York, daughter of his distant cousin Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (a sister of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England), but under terms of the Treaty of Arras of 1435, he was required to marry another French princess. His father, Philippe III the Good of Burgundy, chose Isabella of Bourbon, who was Charles the Bold’s first cousin being the daughter of his father’s sister, Agnes of Burgundy and Charles I, Duke of Bourbon. Agnes of Burgundy and Charles of Bourbon both were very distant cousins of Charles VII of France, the father of Charles the Bold’s first wife, Catherine. Charles the Bold and Isabella of Bourbon were the parents of Mary of Burgundy, potential bride of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence.

Isabella of Bourbon died September 25, 1465, and July 3, 1468 Charles the Bold finally married Margaret of York as his third wife. As Duchess of Burgundy Margaret acted as a protector of the duchy after the death of Charles the Bold in January 1477.

Now back to George, Duke of Clarence…

Though a member of the House of York, he switched sides to support the Lancastrians, before reverting to the Yorkists. Clarence had actively supported his elder brother’s claim to the throne, but when his father-in-law, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as “the Kingmaker,” deserted Edward IV to ally with Margaret of Anjou, consort of the deposed King Henry VI, Clarence supported him and was deprived of his office as Lord Lieutenant. Clarence joined Warwick in France, taking his pregnant wife. She gave birth to their first child, a girl, on April 16, 1470, in a ship off Calais. The child died shortly afterwards. Henry VI rewarded Clarence for his loyalty by making him next in line to the throne after his own son, justifying the exclusion of Edward IV either by attainder for his treason against Henry VI or on the grounds of his alleged illegitimacy. After a short time, Clarence realized that his loyalty to his father-in-law was misplaced.

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

In 1477 Clarence was again a suitor for the hand of Mary, who had just become Duchess of Burgundy in her own right. Edward IV objected to the match, and Clarence left the court.

The arrest and committal to the Tower of London of one of Clarence’s retainers, an Oxford astronomer named Dr John Stacey, which led to his confession under torture that he had “imagined and compassed” the death of the King, and also implicated Thomas Burdett and Thomas Blake, a chaplain at Stacey’s college (Merton College, Oxford). All three were tried for treason, convicted, and executed.

This was a clear warning to Clarence, which he chose to ignore. He appointed Dr John Goddard to burst into Parliament and regale the House of Commons with Burdett and Stacey’s declarations of innocence that they had made before their deaths. Goddard was a very unwise choice, as he was an ex-Lancastrian who had expounded Henry VI’s claim to the throne. Edward IV summoned Clarence to Windsor, severely upbraided him, accused him of treason, and ordered his immediate arrest and confinement.

Edward IV, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Clarence was imprisoned in the Tower of London and put on trial for treason against his brother Edward IV. Clarence was not present – Edward IV himself prosecuted his brother, and demanded that Parliament pass a Bill of Attainder* against his brother, declaring that he was guilty of “unnatural, loathly treasons” which were aggravated by the fact that Clarence was his brother, who, if anyone did, owed him loyalty and love.

Following his conviction and attainder, he was “privately executed” at the Tower on February 18, 1478, by tradition in the Bowyer Tower, and soon after the event, the unfounded rumor gained ground that he had been drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.

Richard III biographer Paul Murray Kendall believes that the reason Edward was so harsh with his brother was that he had discovered from Bishop Robert Stillington of Bath and Wells that George had let slip the secret of Edward IV’s marriage precontract with Lady Eleanor Talbot, which would mean that Edward IV’s marriage with Elizabeth Woodville was null and void, making their children illegitimate. Although legend claims Richard III had brought about his brother’s death, the opposite may be true: he tried to prevent it.

* A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them, often without a trial.

Legal Succession: Henry VI & Edward IV: Part Four.

Tags

Anne Neville, Battle of Tewkesbury, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Duke of York, Edward prince of Wales, George Neville, George of Clarence, King Edward IV of England, King Henry VI of England, Kings and Queens of England, Montagu Neville, Richard Neville, The Earl of Warwick, the prince of Wales, Tower of London

With Edward IV now the legal King of England and Henry VI arrested and sitting in the Tower of London one may think that the Wars of the Roses was over, but such was not the case. In history Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, friend and ally of King Edward IV, was known as the kingmaker. He was truly the most powerful man in England.

In the last post on this subject I mentioned that Warwick wanted Edward to marry a foreign princess in an effort to secure a powerfully ally to support Edward’s claim to the throne. The king did not abide by Warkwick’s wishes and instead married Elizabeth Woodville. This created great tensions between the two powerful men. The king also refused a match between his brother, George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, The Earl of Warwick’s daughter. Warwick’s brother, George Neville, archbishop of York, was dismissed as Chancellor of England and this was the final blow that pushed the Earl of Warwick to the Lancastrian side. When a plot to confront the king with Warwick’s troops was uncovered by Edward IV, Warwick fled to France.

While in France King Louis XI reconciled Queen Margaret, who had been living in France since her husband was deposed, with Warwick and the two began plotting to restore Henry VI to the throne. George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV, also supported Warwick in replacing his brother with Henry VI. An agreement was reached that Margaret’s son, Edward, The Prince of Wales, would now marry Anne Neville, the Earl of Warwick’s daughter.

A diversion was created in the north of England which drew the king North while the forces of Warwick and Clarence arrived in the south of England. Lead by Montagu Neville, the Earl of Warwick’s other brother, who brought his forces down from the north and with the forces of Warwick and Clarence coming from the south, Edward IV was surrounded. On October 2, 1470 King Edward IV fled to the Netherlands and Henry VI was restored to the throne. Parliament legalized this restoration by placing an Attainder on Edward IV’s lands and titles and created George, Duke of Clarence, Duke of York.

With years spent in captivity Henry VI was in no shape to rule so Warwick and the new Duke of York were the true powers behind the throne. However, in a rapid turn of events international politics came into play which placed the exiled Edward IV in a position to regain his throne. Another part of the tension between Warwick and Edward IV surrounded the conflicts between France and Burgundy. Warwick wanted to place his support with France while Edward IV supported Burgundy. When war between Burgundy and France began early in 1471 Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy placed troops at Edward IV’s disposal to help him regain the throne.

The forces of Edward IV and the Earl of Warwick met at the Battle of Barnet on April 14, 1471. The Duke of Clarence & York defected back to his brother’s side. The forces of Edward IV were triumphant and as the Earl of Warwick was escaping the battlefield he was dismounted from his horse and killed. His brother Montagu was also killed in the battle. It took one more battle, the Battle of Tewkesbury, on May 4, 1471 to restore Edward IV to the throne. At the Battle of Tewkesbury the Lancastrian forces were led by Queen Margaret and Edward, Prince of Wales. The Lancastrian forces were defeated and the Prince of Wales was killed in the battle (the only Prince of Wales to have died in battle).

Edward IV was restored to the throne. Henry VI was returned to the Tower of London and on the morning prior to the re-crowning of Edward IV, Henry VI was found dead. There has been a great deal of speculation of how Henry died. It was said he died as a result of the news of the death of his son, Edward, Prince of Wales at the Battle of Tewkesbury. It has also been believed that Edward IV ordered the death of Henry VI and that his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III) actually committed the murder himself.

So what does this say about the legality of the throne? The times of the Wars of the Roses were a time of civil unrest and a wrestling for power. Technically, the restoration of Henry VI was by right of conquest, although this conquest was not conducted by him, it was merely conducted in his name. At this point Henry VI was just a puppet whose strings were pulled by others.

With Edward IV restored to the throne the legal line by male prefered primogeniture was also restored. The House of Lancaster was decimated and defeated although factions from other genealogical lines would one day rise up once more. But from his restoration until his death Edward IV was soundly on the throne.