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English history (Part II), The deaths of many powerful nobles during the…

- - - - When Richard II (1377-1399), successor of Edward III, tried to illegally confiscate the Duchy of Lancaster from his cousin Henry of Bolingbroke, rebellion broke out and Richard had to abdicate.
        
        Parliament appointed Bolingbroke as King Henry IV in 1399. Richard's previous successor, his grand nephew Edmund of Mortimer, was still just a child.
        
        Henry IV (r. 1399-1413) spent the first decade of his reign dealing with rebellions attempting to depose him.
    - - When Henry V died, despite his conquests, he left a newborn son on the throne of a almost bankrupt country, which would prove to be a disaster.
    - - Henry VI was a weak king, failing to keep the nobility in check and thus allowing them to grow stronger.
      - Henry VI married a French noblewoman and agreed to return Maine to France, but war once again broke out in 1449. This time, England lost the war entirely.
  - - - Henry VI had a mental breakdown after the end of the HYW, leading to even greater political instability
    - - Richard of York was appointed protector of the realm and regent instead of Margaret while Henry and his son were sick.
    - - The Battle of St Albans (1455) was the first of the war, and resulted in a decisive Yorkist victory. After that, they reaffirmed their fealty to Henry and there was uneasy peace for 5 years. York became ruler of England in all but name.
  - - - The Yorkists invaded England in 1460, quickly gathering support and, at the Battle of Northampton (1460), managing to capture the king.
      - Tired of the misrule of his cousin, Richard of York decided to press his claim to the throne, but this wasn't received well, even by his most loyal supporters. Thus, compromise was that Richard became Henry's successor.
    - - Richard was killed at the Battle of Wakefield (1460). He was succeeded by his son, Edward, who later became Edward IV.
      - The Yorkists managed to stop the Lancastrian advance at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross (1461), but Henry was rescued shortly after at the Second Battle of St Albans.
      - The Yorks scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton (1461), probably the bloodiest battle fought in English soil, thus forcing the Lancastrians to retreat.
    - - Henry VI was once again captured by the Yorks in 1464.
  - - - Warwick tried another revolt against Edward in 1470, but failure resulted in a reluctant alliance with the Lancasters.
    - - France assisted the Lancastrians in exchange for help against Burgundy, und thus Burgundy helped fund a Yorkist invasion.
    - - At the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471) Edward managed to kill Prince Edward, Henry's son and only heir.
      - Restored to the throne, Edward ordered Henry killed. Thus ended Lancastrian hopes for the throne.
    - - Richard himself was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) by Henry Tudor, who then became Henry VII, marking the end of house York, the Plantagenet dynasty, the War of the Roses and medieval Britain.