were two young princes really murdered in the Tower of London was Richard III really hunchbacked and how did incest end A Century Of War the kings and queens of England part four The War of the Roses keep it in the family with a third of the population dead from Bubonic plague and a 10-year-old boy sitting tentatively on the throne England was on the brink of major changes in society and bloody conflicts over who would be king Richard II Old King Edward's eldest son Edward the black prince died a year before him so the next in line was his 10-year-old grandson who was crowned Richard II the real power behind the throne was Richard's Uncle John of Gant with a third of the population dead in the wake of the plague remaining peasants found that there was more demand for labor than there were people to do it they abandoned the feudal lands that their families had been enslaved to in search of better pay and many of them got it becoming wealthier than ever before this infuriated the Nobles who saw themselves as inherently Superior so they imposed laws limiting everything from where peasants could live to what types of clothes they could wear the government issued a tax on every citizen but they didn't understand that the population had shrunk so when they didn't raise as much money as they expected they taxed everyone Again The Peasants revolted and demanded the end to all nobility JN of Gant was forced into hiding when the rebel leader wat Tyler finally met the king to issue the people's demands he was slain by the mayor of London Rebels Drew their bows and the 14-year-old King rode forward to calm them he made a speech asking them to obey him and they would be treated fairly amazingly they believed him and dispersed they shouldn't have trusted the King after this meeting the rebel leaders were hunted down and executed now hated by the people King Richard made the Nobles hate him as well by pulling out of the war in France that was keeping them Rich Richard tried to rehab his reputation and was the first king of England to have his portrait made but there was one thing about the king that his medieval people could never forgive Richard was a homosexual and as kings before him had he raised homophobic a among the Nobles he was captured by his cousin Henry and forced to abdicate he was imprisoned and murdered at 32 with the King King dead and childless who was the rightful King now the descendants of Edward III were aligning themselves on two sides the lancasters symbolized by the Red Rose versus the Yorks symbolized by the White Rose England was poised for civil war cousin against cousin competing for the crown the House of Lancaster Henry ivth technically the next in line to the throne after the slain Richard II was the grandson son of King Edward III's Second Son an 8-year-old boy named Edmund living in Ireland Henry was the son of Edward's third son and not the rightful King but as he had just gone to the trouble of murdering the king he took the crown for himself anyway Henry's illegal claim to the throne haunted him and he became increasingly paranoid and oppressive anyone who questioned his right to be king would likely be disemboweled he fought ferociously against an uprising in the north and was said to have personally killed 30 men eventually his paranoia manifested itself in physical illness and he retreated from rule his son ruled in his place until Henry died at 45 Henry V the next Henry worked to stabilized the kingdom and returned to the war with France the French King Charles I 6 was mentally unstable he murdered his attendance in a rage and believed that he was made of glass and liable to break at any moment Henry easily defeated the French and killed a good portion of the French aristocracy at the Battle of Aunor he forced Charles to name him heir to the French throne and married Charles's sister Katherine ofala after the victory everything seemed wonderful for England and their popular young king but a few months later at the age of 36 Henry contracted denter and died leaving the throne to his 10-month-old son newly widowed the Queen Mother Katherine of Vala began an affair with her servant a Welshman named Owen Tudor remember him he'll be important later Henry V 6 shortly after baby King Henry was placed on the throne of England the king of France died leaving his crown to the infant as well the Doan son of the king of France wanted his father's crown back the army of France led by Joon of Arc and emboldened by a new invention gunpowder beat the English out of their country Henry grew into a pious and studious man he founded Eaton and King's College Cambridge but he had no interest in Warfare not a good trait for a medieval king without his military leadership England lost nearly all of its territory in France and the 100 Years War came to an end in France's favor to make things worse King Henry went mad he probably inherited the same mental disorder as his Uncle Charles I 6 of France he lost his memory control of his body and the ability to speak his cousin Richard of York became the Regent but he wanted the crown civil war broke out Henry's family the lancasters and Richard's family the Yorks cousin against cousin King Henry's wife Margaret of Anu made a valiant effort to fight for her husband she personally commanded the battle in Wakefield in which Richard of York was killed the house of York Edward ivth after the death of Richard of York his son Edward had himself declared King the rightful King Henry was still alive but he and his Queen were sent on the run in Scotland Edward fell in love with a beautiful but poor Widow Elizabeth Woodville she was English and Edward ruffled many feathers by choosing her over a political marriage to a foreign princess and even more when he gave Elizabeth's commoner family wealth and position Edward's grasp on the crown was always shaky he was surrounded by enemies when his own brother was found to have plotted against him Edward had him drowned in a vat of wine he also had Henry VI 6 stepfather Owen tutor beheaded but tutor's son Edmund was also a powerful rival he married 13-year-old Margaret bord a descendant of John of Gant and their son Henry tutor had a strong double claim to the throne Edward IV ruled for 9 years but was chased out of England by the French who placed Henry back on the throne Henry though a husk of a man was King again for less than a year Edward returned from Exile with an army Henry's son was killed in battle and Henry himself was captured put into the Tower of London and murdered while he knelt to prey in his private Chapel Henry tutor survived and was now the head of the Lancaster family and a major threat to King Edward and his heirs at 40 Edward contracted an unknown illness he named his 12-year-old son Ed Edward his Heir and his brother Richard Regent and died Edward V the Adolescent Edward V was now King and his appointed Regent his uncle Richard was on his way to bring the boy King to London for his coronation Edward's Mother Elizabeth Woodville didn't trust Richard one bit her family hid Edward but Richard seized him and took him and his younger brother to the Tower of London he claimed this was for their protection until the coronation could be arranged but the young Prin were never seen again conveniently their Uncle uncovered a priest who would swear that Edward IV had been betro to a young woman before he married his Queen which would make his marriage invalid and the young King Edward illegitimate the young princes in the tower Edward and Richard were probably murdered in 1789 workmen in the tower discovered bones belonging to two adolescent boys for centuries visitors to the tower have claimed to hear children playing near where the boys met their sad demise with Edward V out of the way who was next in line why Richard of course Richard III had himself declared King and is notorious as one of the most evil Kings in English history in addition to having the princes in the tower done in he is credited with personally drowning his older brother George in a vat of wine and killing Henry VI 6 Heir on the battlefield then marrying his wealthy Widow an Neville it has also been said that his outsides matched his insides that he was deformed and hunchbacked however Richard's reputation was largely shaped by William Shakespeare who was writing under the patronage of a descendant of Richard's arch nemesis Henry tutor historians have long debated whether or not this propaganda was true when Richard skeleton was discovered under a car park in 2012 it was revealed that Richard suffered from scoliosis which made one of his shoulders higher than the other King Richard didn't get to enjoy his ill-gotten crown for long a year into his Reign Henry tutor reappeared in England at the head of an army Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth field ending The War of the Roses and clearing the throne for a new Dynasty the tutors check out the next video to find out what was the deal with Henry VII chopping off his wife's heads why did a cocktail get named after a tutor Queen and and why was Elizabeth the known as the Virgin [Music] Queen