The wars that inspired Game of Thrones - Alex Gendler

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Beginning around 1377, medieval England was shaken by a power struggle between two noble families, which spanned generations and involved a massive cast of characters, complex motives and shifting loyalties. Sound familiar? Alex Gendler illustrates how the historical conflict known as the Wars of the Roses served as the basis for much of the drama in Game of Thrones.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, animation by Brett Underhill.

As far as we know,

Medieval England was never invaded
by ice zombies,

or terrorized by dragons,

but it was shaken by a power struggle
between two noble families

spanning generations

and involving a massive
cast of characters

with complex motives
and shifting loyalties.

If that sounds familiar,

it's because the historical conflicts
known as the Wars of the Roses

served as the basis for much
of the drama in Game of Thrones.

The real-life seeds of war were sewn
by the death of King Edward III in 1377.

Edward's oldest son
had died before his father,

but his ten-year-old son, Richard II,

succeeded to the throne
ahead of Edward's three surviving sons.

This skipping of an entire generation

left lingering claims to the throne
among their various offspring,

particularly the Lancasters,
descended from Edward's third son,

and the Yorks, descended
from his fourth son.

The name of the ensuing wars

comes from the symbols
associated with the two families,

the white rose of York
and the red rose of Lancaster.

The Lancasters first gained the throne

when Richard II was deposed
by his cousin Henry IV in 1399.

Despite sporadic unrest,

their reign remained secure until 1422,

when Henry V's death
in a military campaign

left an infant Henry VI as king.

Weak-willed and dominated by advisors,

Henry was eventually convinced to marry
Margaret of Anjou to gain French support.

Margaret was beautiful, ambitious,

and ruthless in persecuting
any threat to her power,

and she distrusted
Richard of York, most of all.

York had been the King's close advisor
and loyal General,

but was increasingly
sidelined by the Queen,

who promoted her favorite supporters,
like the Earls of Suffolk and Somerset.

York's criticism of their inept handling
of the war against France

led to his exclusion from court
and transfer to Ireland.

Meanwhile, mounting military failures,

and corrupt rule by Margaret
and her allies

caused widespread discontent,

and in the midst of this chaos,

Richard of York returned with an army
to arrest Somerset and reform the court.

Initially unsuccessful,
he soon got his chance

when he was appointed
Protector of the Realm

after Henry suffered a mental breakdown.

However, less than a year later,

Henry suddendly recovered

and the Queen convinced him
to reverse York's reforms.

York fled and raised an army once more.

Though he was unable
to directly seize the throne,

he managed to be reinstated as Protector

and have himself and his heirs designated
to succeed Henry.

But instead of a crown,

York's head acquired a pike

after he was killed in battle
with the Queen's loyalists.

His young son took up the claim
and was crowned Edward IV.

Edward enjoyed great military success
against the Lancasters.

Henry was captured,

while Margaret fled into exile

with their reportedly cruel son,
Edward of Westminster.

But the newly crowned King
made a tragic political mistake

by backing out of his arranged marriage
with a French Princess

to secretly marry the widow
of a minor Noble.

This alienated his most powerful ally,
the Earl of Warwick.

Warwick allied with the Lancasters,

turned Edward's jealous
younger brother, George, against him,

and even briefly managed
to restore Henry as King,

but it didn't last.

Edward recaptured the throne,

the Lancaster Prince was killed in battle,

and Henry himself died
in captivity not long after.

The rest of Edward IV's reign
was peaceful,

but upon his death in 1483,
the bloodshed resumed.

Though his twelve-year-old son
was due to succeed him,

Edward's younger brother Richard III
declared his nephews illegitimate

due to their father's secret marriage.

He assumed the regency himself
and threw the boys in prison.

Though no one knows what ultimately
became of them,

after a while, the Princes disappeared

and Richard's power seemed secure.

But his downfall would come
only two years later

from across the narrow sea
of the English Channel.

Henry Tudor was a direct descendant
of the first Duke of Lancaster,

raised in exile after his father's
death in a previous rebellion.

With Richard III's power grab
causing a split in the York faction,

Henry won support for his royal claim.

Raising an army in France,
he crossed the Channel in 1485

and quickly defeated Richard's forces.

And by marrying Elizabeth of York,
elder sister of the disappeared Princes,

the newly crowned Henry VII
joined the two roses,

finally ending nearly a century of war.

We often think of historical wars
as decisive conflicts

with clearly defined winners and losers.

But the Wars of the Roses,
like the fiction they inspired,

show us that victories
can be uncertain,

alliances unstable,

and even the power of Kings
as fleeting as the seasons.