Britain's Bloody Crown (2016) s01e01 Episode Script
The Mad King
'Nearly 600 years ago, England was torn apart by a series of bloody battles for the throne.
In just 30 years, the crown changed hands seven times.
Tens of thousands were slaughtered.
It was one of the most turbulent and violent periods in British history.
It's known as the Wars of the Roses.
The bloodshed began when a bitter power struggle erupted between the Queen of England, Margaret of Anjou, and one of the country's most powerful nobles, Richard Duke of York.
Both were fighting for control of England's weakest king, Henry VI.
It's been portrayed as a simple family feud between the royal houses of Lancaster and York to snatch the ultimate prize.
The crown of England.
But it wasn't like that.
' I want to show you a very different version of history, one in which the Wars of the Roses are started not by hatred but from a noble desire to do the right thing, in which the real villain isn't scheming Yorkists or belligerent Lancastrians, but a man so feeble-minded and vacuous he allows a wound to open in his country that takes half a century to heal.
He is Henry VI, the mad king.
(CHEERING) 'Summer 1450.
With Suffolk gone, there's no-one to keep a lid on trouble for Henry VI.
' (SHOUTING) 'Armed rioters storm the gates of London.
They rampage through the city in an orgy of violence.
What England needs right now is a strong king to take control and end the bloodshed.
Unfortunately for England, that man is not Henry VI.
His dad, Henry V, is famous for beating the French at Agincourt, but this Henry has never even seen a battlefield.
He's shallow, pious and foolish, totally out of his depth.
He should crush the rebels.
Instead, he tries to placate them.
He hands them the corrupt and hated treasurer, Lord Saye.
It only makes things worse.
' The rebels set up a kangaroo court here at the Guildhall, the commercial heart of the city.
They try and they execute Lord Saye.
And his son-in-law.
Now, throw in the Duke of Suffolk and that's three of the country's leading nobles murdered by an angry mob.
England is dissolving into anarchy.
'In the mounting chaos, Henry abandons London for the safety of Kenilworth Castle in the Midlands, leaving London's mayor to deal with the rebels.
' The revolt comes to a bloody climax on London Bridge.
The Lord Mayor and his troops push the rebels back across the river and lock the city gates, but the fighting goes on all night.
In the morning of July 9th, this narrow river crossing is packed with bodies and hundreds more have floating away in the Thames below.
'At enormous cost, the Lord Mayor has put the rebels down.
For now.
It's not thanks to the King.
Henry may have run for it, but rather astonishingly, there is one royal who has stayed behind.
His French wife, Margaret of Anjou.
In the King's absence, Margaret acts quickly to damp down the chaos.
She promises to pardon any rebels prepared to give up and go home.
' The royal pardon seems to work.
Most of the rebels disperse, grateful to the Queen for saving their skins.
'But if anyone thinks the Queen is a shrinking violet, they're in for a nasty shock.
By the time Henry returns to London, any rebels that haven't had the good sense to accept the Queen's pardon have been gathered together for the King's attention.
This is the kind of decisive behaviour that the country needs from its King.
' All is ready, Your Majesty.
'Except it's not Henry being ruthless.
It's Margaret.
' No.
No! (AXE SLICES) (PRAYS IN LATIN) 'A woman taking charge comes perfectly naturally to 20-year-old Margaret.
Her mother ran the French duchy of Anjou while her dad was rotting in an enemy jail.
Now it's her turn to step up.
' Imagine what it's been like for Margaret of Anjou.
The daughter of a major French noble, married off at 15 to the King of England.
Sounds great.
Or it does until you arrive in your adopted country and find out your new husband's basically an imbecile.
She sees it as her job, even her duty, to protect the country and the royal family from her husband's appalling weakness.
It's a matter of pride.
The problem is, Margaret's not the only person who's thinking that way.
'Richard Duke of York, the King's cousin, and as Henry and Margaret are childless, heir to the throne.
As a seasoned military man who rules Ireland for the King, he has an extremely well-developed sense of his own importance.
He's decided it's his job to come home, support the king and save the country from further anarchy.
This is unlikely to go down well with Queen Margaret.
' As far as York's concerned, he's absolutely the right man for the job.
What he's not is subtle.
'On 27th September 1450, he marches into London with 5,000 men beneath his banner.
' York bursts through these doors to Westminster Palace, where parliament's meeting.
He's come to sort things out, but he goes at it like a wrecking ball.
Beloved cousin.
Welcome.
Your Grace.
He demands that the King dismisses all his old advisors and that parliament appoints him, York, in charge of the country.
But parliament tells him to get lost.
He's too late.
The King's already given the job to someone else.
'Just 16 days earlier, Henry gave another of his cousins the job of managing England for him, Lord Somerset.
' My Lord of York.
'Somerset's just returned from a disastrous French campaign where he lost the key city of Rouen and then committed the ultimate sin of running away.
' Forgive me, Your Grace, what is this? 'York is outraged.
Somerset isn't the solution to England's chaos.
To York, he's the cause.
' Your Grace, this man is bare worthy of his title, far less the captaincy of the realm.
'One of the reasons for all the violence is the number of blood-thirsty unemployed soldiers returning from Somerset's failed campaigns.
' I wouldst name this man a dishonourable coward.
Worse! A traitor! 'It's a serious charge, but in York's mind, totally justified.
' This sets him on a collision course with Margaret because Somerset is the Queen's closest and most essential ally.
As a woman, Margaret can't operate directly in government.
She needs a senior noble whose position she can exploit.
Somerset's record in France doesn't exactly suggest him as a leader of men, but he is the perfect proxy for Margaret.
So whether York knows it or not, by attacking Somerset, he's attacking the Queen.
Your Grace, may I take my leave? 'York's absolutely certain that he should be in charge.
Margaret's absolutely certain she should be in charge.
Even though both want the best for the country, their good intentions threaten to tear it apart.
' After parliament's rejection, York storms out of London and begins to gather troops near Dartford, just down river from the capital.
If he didn't look threatening before, he certainly does now.
He demands that Somerset be put on trial, and to keep the peace, Henry agrees, but only if York disbands his army.
Well, that's fine by York.
He starts sending his soldiers home.
He doesn't need them now.
He's won.
'York goes to the King's tent, ready to take Somerset's place in charge of England.
' 'Instead, he finds Somerset still at the King's side.
It's a trap.
' I wouldst name this man a traitor! 'Somerset keeps the top job at the King's side.
It doesn't go so well for York.
' York's forced to ride back through the streets of London between his captors, effectively a prisoner.
'He's brought to the great medieval cathedral of Old St Paul's.
' He's forced to kneel before the King to swear a very public oath of allegiance, and to acknowledge that any more treasonous behaviour will see him banged up for good.
It's appallingly humiliating for the high-born Duke of York.
And worst of all, he probably realises that it's all his own fault.
'With York back in his box and her man Somerset in position, Queen Margaret's got it all under control.
' In spring 1453, after eight years of anxiety and ridicule, Margaret finally fulfils the most basic duty of queenship.
She becomes pregnant.
If she produces a boy, her position and her power as mother of the heir to the throne will be unbreakable.
'Fortune is at last smiling on Henry's troubled reign.
But it's too good to last.
New troubles are brewing for Henry 200 miles away.
England has been at war with France for more than 100 years, and in Henry's reign, it's been one disastrous campaign after another.
He's lost Champagne, Normandy, Brittany.
Now there's just one significant part of the vast Plantagenet empire left - Gascony.
' Excellent, Your Majesty! 'Henry is with a hunting party when the latest news comes from France.
' (HORSE NEIGHS) 'It's not good.
His army's been routed at the Battle of Castillon.
Gascony has fallen.
' What? 'It's the final collapse of a 300-year-old empire that once controlled more of France than the French.
The greatest legacy of the Plantagenet dynasty has been snuffed out on Henry's watch.
Henry collapses into a catatonic stupor.
' Let him breathe, let him breathe.
'Nothing can rouse Henry from his senseless trance.
' (BABY CRIES) 'Not even the birth of his son, Prince Edward, two months later.
Queen Margaret tries to keep a lid on the state of the King, hoping desperately that he will wake up.
Margaret and Somerset can't enforce any decisions without a conscious monarch's seal of approval.
A power vacuum is developing at the heart of government.
The Queen needs to fill it and fast.
' Margaret's first move takes place in October 1453 here at Westminster Abbey, when she appoints Somerset as godfather to the new prince.
Now, with the King conspicuous by his absence, this is a powerful statement.
If there were any doubts that Somerset is the Queen's man, well, there isn't any more.
But this is more than just a show of solidarity with her ally, this is a power play by Margaret.
She's planning to govern England using the authority of the baby prince.
'For that, Margaret needs the backing of the nobles.
So she gets Somerset to call a great council, to acknowledge the baby prince as heir to the throne and sideline the Duke of York, the previous heir, at the same time.
' Unsurprisingly, York's not invited.
But Margaret's plan backfires spectacularly.
York's allies in the council insist that he attends.
My Lords, I greet you well.
And when he arrives, he refuses to debate the status of the new prince.
Instead, he has one of his closest supporters denounce Somerset as a traitor again.
'This time, there's no pliable king for Somerset to hide behind.
And York knows it.
York's move is staggeringly audacious.
With one deft blow, York has neutered both Somerset and Queen Margaret.
Somerset is banged up in the Tower of London.
Queen Margaret is suddenly isolated from power.
Desperate to claw back control, she does something completely outrageous.
There's evidence of it here at the British Library in a rare 500-year-old document.
' The Queen publishes a bill of five articles and they're recorded in this contemporary document.
The first is that she desireth to have the whole rule of this land.
She wants to appoint the chancellor and the treasurer and all the officers of state.
She wants to decide who gets to be a bishop.
And she wants to have sufficient livelihood assigned her for the King and the Prince and herself.
That's a sensational list of demands.
It amounts to all the powers of a king.
You have to admire her.
She doesn't do things by halves.
To Margaret, this makes perfect sense.
She sees nothing particularly strange in a woman taking power.
After all, she's seen her mother do it for years.
But that was in a duchy in France.
She's talking about an entire country and she's completely misjudged the reaction of the English nobles.
'The idea of being governed by a woman, and even worse, a French one, is way more than they can stomach.
Margaret's ideas are kicked out of the door.
With the King still senseless, there's only one option left to govern the country.
' On 27th March 1454, York finally gets what he wants.
He's made Protector of the Realm.
And to begin with, he makes a pretty decent fist of creating an inclusive government.
He stamps out some long-running, bloody noble feuds in the north and brings some desperately-needed stability to the country.
Now, this all proves to York, who's not a man short on vanity, that he was right all along.
He really is the best man for the job.
'Trapped by the state of her insensible husband, Margaret is powerless.
' (CLATTERING) 'Aided by his close allies, like the Earl of Warwick, York is the man of the hour.
He must be feeling pretty smug.
' My Lord, what news? 'Then, on Christmas Day 1454, it all blows up in York's face.
Henry wakes up.
Queen's Margaret's ally Somerset is back in pole position behind the throne.
And the Queen is back on top, exactly where she wants to be.
' York is furious.
As far as he's concerned, Somerset's a coward and a traitor and he has no business running England.
But York has bigger problems.
He's fallen out with the Queen and he's put Somerset in the tower.
He can expect them to repay the compliment.
So he has a choice.
He can retire quietly to one of his castles in the north and sulk and pray that Somerset and the Queen don't come for him.
Or he can strike at them first.
For a bull-headed man like York, that's no choice at all.
'What York does next is perilously close to treason.
He raises an army and marches south towards London.
The moment the Queen hears, she sends Somerset north to head him off, raising troops as he goes.
' On May 22nd 1455, the two sides meet here at St Albans.
'York has around 3,000 men with him.
He has one simple aim.
Take out the Queen's man Somerset and gain control of the King.
Somerset is holed up in the town.
He's managed to throw together an army of just 2,000.
But he has the King with him.
It's certainly not because Henry can contribute anything to the battle.
But whoever possesses the King can claim to be fighting for the good of the realm.
' They exchange messages with York, clearly trying to talk their way out of trouble.
Trust between the two sides is virtually non-existent.
The only thing that's gonna stop York is if the King hands Somerset over.
Well, that's never gonna happen.
'Negotiations are going nowhere.
' Warwick, the choices are few.
'It's York's closest ally Warwick that makes the first move in the first battle of what will become known as the Wars of the Roses.
' Forward! York and Warwick's men make light work of the barricades.
They storm through the narrow streets, cutting down the King's men.
(MAN SCREAMS) The defenders are taken totally by surprise.
'York's men capture the King and secure him in the abbey.
York has just one target now.
Somerset.
Under the mediaeval rules of war, a high-born noble like Somerset expects to be taken prisoner.
' It's Somerset, sir.
Where do we take him? 'That doesn't work for York.
Somerset's not the only great noble to die at York's hands.
Lords Clifford and Northumberland are also slaughtered.
' York is victorious.
Somerset's dead, he has Henry in his possession, secured here at St Albans Abbey.
But he's crossed a very big red line.
He's attacked the King's army.
He's killed three of the country's senior nobles.
And along the way, he's started a blood feud with their relatives that'll last for 30 years.
'It's a bloody turnaround considering that York's original plan was to bring peace and stability.
He's done exactly the opposite.
Whatever York may believe, there's no way back from this level of carnage.
' Your Grace, the King.
After the battle, York and his allies Warwick and Salisbury come here to meet the King.
They fall to their knees before him and profess their loyalty.
All they ask in return is that he makes them his advisors.
And, of course, he agrees.
But it's not like he has very much choice.
Henry VI has now become a puppet, passed from hand to hand, and whoever holds the King rules England.
'York gets himself reappointed Lord Protector.
But his position is legally tenuous.
For a start, Henry's clearly not incapacitated this time.
And when York starts giving away all the best jobs to his allies, it's obvious that this is a narrow clique, not a unified government.
This will be his downfall.
' 'The first test comes after just four months.
' My Lords, I petition you all for your good assistance in restoring the fortunes of the royal coffers.
'Years of fruitless war in France has left the King broke.
As Lord Protector, York has the unwelcome job of trying to raise more money.
' For the sake of our most noble King I beg all of his loyal servants to affirm this cause.
'He must ask the lords in parliament to pass an order' Your Grace.
'.
.
That would force them to sign over some of their land to the King.
It would be an unpopular move at the best of times.
And the slaughter of St Albans means York is increasingly isolated.
' Aye.
Nay.
Aye.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
'His order is kicked out of parliament.
' This is incredibly frustrating for York.
He's the Protector.
He should be running things.
But without the support of parliament, he's effectively powerless.
Forced into a humiliating climb-down, York resigns the Protectorate and heads north.
Everything he did here at St Albans, all the blood that was shed, it was all for nothing.
'Technically, Henry is now back in full control of the country, which, given his track record, is a little surprising.
Here at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, there's a book that makes it crystal clear what's really going on.
This is the Brut Chronicle, one of the earliest printed books in British history, published just a few years after Henry VI's reign.
It's almost an eyewitness account of the time.
' This is a passage describing events in 1456, barely six months after York left London.
And it gives us a very clear idea about what people in England thought about their king.
So it says here, "The governance of the realm stood most by the Queen and her council.
" - And then a bit further down, "It is to be noted that every lord in England at this time - And then a bit further down, It is to be noted that" Durst not disobey the Queen, for she ruled peaceably all that was done about the King.
" And that leaves us in no doubt, it's Margaret wearing the trousers in the marriage, but more importantly, running the country.
And actually, she does a pretty good job, which shouldn't be surprising because both York and Margaret shared the same aim, stabilising England.
'But their mutual hatred has gone too far.
Controlling England is no longer enough for the Queen.
She wants York out of the way permanently.
And she's more than happy to do the job herself.
Acting in the name of her husband and son, she recruits an army to take York down.
' Margaret's troops march north and catch up with York here in his castle at Ludlow on 12th October 1459.
This time, Margaret outnumbers York two to one.
She travels with her army, and like everyone else, she brings the King along for legitimacy.
York sends messages to the King claiming to be his faithful subject.
But really, it's a bit late for all that.
'Orders are sent in the name of the King demanding that York lay down his arms and surrender.
That's obviously not going to end well for York.
Unsurprisingly he declines.
' From up here on the battlements, York's men can clearly see the Royal Standard fluttering in that field over there, and that tells them the King himself is with his army.
'Taking on the King directly and risking treason is a step too far for some of them.
In the middle of the night, a chunk of York's troops defect.
On the evening of October 12th, realising he's now hopelessly outgunned, York decides that discretion is the better part of valour.
He runs for it.
' But it's not enough for Margaret to have her enemies on the run.
She wants to destroy them totally.
So in November 1459, she persuades parliament to pass Acts of Attainder against York and his allies.
These acts strip them of lands and of titles and their families are expelled from the nobility forever.
So it's legal death.
But it's still one step short of total victory, because while York himself remains alive, he's still a very dangerous man.
'Margaret should've killed him.
' (OWL HOOTS) 'The King is brought back to London in the custody of York's ally, Warwick.
With Queen Margaret now in hiding, it's safe for York to return to England.
But he knows it's only a matter of time before Margaret returns to take control of her husband and the kingdom.
York's tried politics, he's tried force, neither have worked.
To stop the Queen, he needs to do something radical.
York marches to London, not under his own arms of the House of York but under the arms of England.
Only one man is allowed to do that.
The King.
York has made his decision.
He's going to take the crown.
On 10th October 1460, York storms into the painted chamber at Westminster his sword held out before him, and demands they take the crown from Henry and give it to him.
Even his closest allies are horrified.
But the truth is York does have a genuine claim.
Henry VI is only on the throne because his grandfather snatched it from the rightful king.
' Henry's grandfather unrightwisely usurped the throne.
'And if that hadn't happened, York's claim to the throne would be just as strong as Henry's, because both of them are descended from Edward III.
' The right and estate of the crowns of the realms of England and of France belong to Richard Duke of York.
'Parliament is thrown into chaos.
If they side with Henry, York has troops stationed outside armed to the teeth.
If they side with York, they risk civil war by deposing an anointed king.
It takes two weeks for parliament to make a decision.
York doesn't quite get the crown, but he does get the next best thing.
He will become Lord Protector for the third time.
With Henry his captive, he's basically running the country.
And when Henry dies, York or his children will take the throne.
It's not a bad deal for York.
But for everyone else, it's a messy compromise.
And pretty much all it guarantees is that the bloodshed won't stop.
' For Margaret, this is intolerable.
Her son Prince Edward is effectively disinherited.
Since York's return, Margaret's been hiding out in Scotland.
But now she writes to her allies in England asking them for support.
She must know that York's coming for her son and for her.
After all, Edward's the only remaining opposition to York's claim and she's York's sworn enemy.
'York is holding all the cards.
He's heir to the throne again, he's got the king in his control and he's Lord Protector.
All he needs now is Margaret.
Wasting no time, York heads north himself to bring in the Queen.
' These are the remains of Sandal Castle, York's stronghold near Wakefield.
Now, York arrives here on December 21st 1460, fresh from his success in London, with his confidence and his self-importance brimming over.
'But he's set off after Margaret so fast, he has just 6,000 troops with him.
' York's overreached himself again.
As he looks out from the walls it's clear he's massively underestimated the strength of support for Margaret.
In fact, by the time he closes the castle gates, a huge army is gathering against him.
York's outnumbered two to one.
'Out-manned and under-supplied, York spends a meagre Christmas virtually besieged at Sandal.
But all he has to do is wait for reinforcements.
' On December 30th, York lets his self-confidence get the better of him for the last time.
One of his foraging parties is attacked.
Now, what he should do is wait for reinforcements to arrive before retaliating.
But sitting on his hands has never been one of York's strong points.
'York sets off down Manygates Lane in pursuit of the attackers.
' Attack! (SCREAMING AND SHOUTING) With a little less pride and a little more caution, York might actually have taken the throne.
'It takes less than an hour for Margaret's men to capture him.
They mock York with a bloodied paper crown.
Then they take the Queen's revenge.
' (BIRDS TWEET) His head is stuck on a pole and displayed above the Mickelgates here in York with the paper crown still in place.
'Margaret's final victory over York should end the violence, but it can't.
The rivalry between York and Margaret has torn deep divisions across England.
The fires of hatred will keep burning for decades.
' So who's the real villain here? Is it Margaret of Anjou, a woman desperate to stop her husband's rule from collapsing and to save her son's rightful place? Or is it Richard Duke of York, a man who begins with honourable intentions to save England? In truth, I think it's neither.
'Both of them were trying to protect England from the real culprit, the feeble-minded Henry VI.
It's his weakness that forced the people around him to try and shore up the kingdom for him, making enemies of each other and kick-starting the decades of bloodshed that we now call the Wars of the Roses.
Next time, York's son Edward takes the crown with his father's great ally Warwick at his side.
But the kingmaker goes rogue, plunging the country into yet more bloodshed.
'
In just 30 years, the crown changed hands seven times.
Tens of thousands were slaughtered.
It was one of the most turbulent and violent periods in British history.
It's known as the Wars of the Roses.
The bloodshed began when a bitter power struggle erupted between the Queen of England, Margaret of Anjou, and one of the country's most powerful nobles, Richard Duke of York.
Both were fighting for control of England's weakest king, Henry VI.
It's been portrayed as a simple family feud between the royal houses of Lancaster and York to snatch the ultimate prize.
The crown of England.
But it wasn't like that.
' I want to show you a very different version of history, one in which the Wars of the Roses are started not by hatred but from a noble desire to do the right thing, in which the real villain isn't scheming Yorkists or belligerent Lancastrians, but a man so feeble-minded and vacuous he allows a wound to open in his country that takes half a century to heal.
He is Henry VI, the mad king.
(CHEERING) 'Summer 1450.
With Suffolk gone, there's no-one to keep a lid on trouble for Henry VI.
' (SHOUTING) 'Armed rioters storm the gates of London.
They rampage through the city in an orgy of violence.
What England needs right now is a strong king to take control and end the bloodshed.
Unfortunately for England, that man is not Henry VI.
His dad, Henry V, is famous for beating the French at Agincourt, but this Henry has never even seen a battlefield.
He's shallow, pious and foolish, totally out of his depth.
He should crush the rebels.
Instead, he tries to placate them.
He hands them the corrupt and hated treasurer, Lord Saye.
It only makes things worse.
' The rebels set up a kangaroo court here at the Guildhall, the commercial heart of the city.
They try and they execute Lord Saye.
And his son-in-law.
Now, throw in the Duke of Suffolk and that's three of the country's leading nobles murdered by an angry mob.
England is dissolving into anarchy.
'In the mounting chaos, Henry abandons London for the safety of Kenilworth Castle in the Midlands, leaving London's mayor to deal with the rebels.
' The revolt comes to a bloody climax on London Bridge.
The Lord Mayor and his troops push the rebels back across the river and lock the city gates, but the fighting goes on all night.
In the morning of July 9th, this narrow river crossing is packed with bodies and hundreds more have floating away in the Thames below.
'At enormous cost, the Lord Mayor has put the rebels down.
For now.
It's not thanks to the King.
Henry may have run for it, but rather astonishingly, there is one royal who has stayed behind.
His French wife, Margaret of Anjou.
In the King's absence, Margaret acts quickly to damp down the chaos.
She promises to pardon any rebels prepared to give up and go home.
' The royal pardon seems to work.
Most of the rebels disperse, grateful to the Queen for saving their skins.
'But if anyone thinks the Queen is a shrinking violet, they're in for a nasty shock.
By the time Henry returns to London, any rebels that haven't had the good sense to accept the Queen's pardon have been gathered together for the King's attention.
This is the kind of decisive behaviour that the country needs from its King.
' All is ready, Your Majesty.
'Except it's not Henry being ruthless.
It's Margaret.
' No.
No! (AXE SLICES) (PRAYS IN LATIN) 'A woman taking charge comes perfectly naturally to 20-year-old Margaret.
Her mother ran the French duchy of Anjou while her dad was rotting in an enemy jail.
Now it's her turn to step up.
' Imagine what it's been like for Margaret of Anjou.
The daughter of a major French noble, married off at 15 to the King of England.
Sounds great.
Or it does until you arrive in your adopted country and find out your new husband's basically an imbecile.
She sees it as her job, even her duty, to protect the country and the royal family from her husband's appalling weakness.
It's a matter of pride.
The problem is, Margaret's not the only person who's thinking that way.
'Richard Duke of York, the King's cousin, and as Henry and Margaret are childless, heir to the throne.
As a seasoned military man who rules Ireland for the King, he has an extremely well-developed sense of his own importance.
He's decided it's his job to come home, support the king and save the country from further anarchy.
This is unlikely to go down well with Queen Margaret.
' As far as York's concerned, he's absolutely the right man for the job.
What he's not is subtle.
'On 27th September 1450, he marches into London with 5,000 men beneath his banner.
' York bursts through these doors to Westminster Palace, where parliament's meeting.
He's come to sort things out, but he goes at it like a wrecking ball.
Beloved cousin.
Welcome.
Your Grace.
He demands that the King dismisses all his old advisors and that parliament appoints him, York, in charge of the country.
But parliament tells him to get lost.
He's too late.
The King's already given the job to someone else.
'Just 16 days earlier, Henry gave another of his cousins the job of managing England for him, Lord Somerset.
' My Lord of York.
'Somerset's just returned from a disastrous French campaign where he lost the key city of Rouen and then committed the ultimate sin of running away.
' Forgive me, Your Grace, what is this? 'York is outraged.
Somerset isn't the solution to England's chaos.
To York, he's the cause.
' Your Grace, this man is bare worthy of his title, far less the captaincy of the realm.
'One of the reasons for all the violence is the number of blood-thirsty unemployed soldiers returning from Somerset's failed campaigns.
' I wouldst name this man a dishonourable coward.
Worse! A traitor! 'It's a serious charge, but in York's mind, totally justified.
' This sets him on a collision course with Margaret because Somerset is the Queen's closest and most essential ally.
As a woman, Margaret can't operate directly in government.
She needs a senior noble whose position she can exploit.
Somerset's record in France doesn't exactly suggest him as a leader of men, but he is the perfect proxy for Margaret.
So whether York knows it or not, by attacking Somerset, he's attacking the Queen.
Your Grace, may I take my leave? 'York's absolutely certain that he should be in charge.
Margaret's absolutely certain she should be in charge.
Even though both want the best for the country, their good intentions threaten to tear it apart.
' After parliament's rejection, York storms out of London and begins to gather troops near Dartford, just down river from the capital.
If he didn't look threatening before, he certainly does now.
He demands that Somerset be put on trial, and to keep the peace, Henry agrees, but only if York disbands his army.
Well, that's fine by York.
He starts sending his soldiers home.
He doesn't need them now.
He's won.
'York goes to the King's tent, ready to take Somerset's place in charge of England.
' 'Instead, he finds Somerset still at the King's side.
It's a trap.
' I wouldst name this man a traitor! 'Somerset keeps the top job at the King's side.
It doesn't go so well for York.
' York's forced to ride back through the streets of London between his captors, effectively a prisoner.
'He's brought to the great medieval cathedral of Old St Paul's.
' He's forced to kneel before the King to swear a very public oath of allegiance, and to acknowledge that any more treasonous behaviour will see him banged up for good.
It's appallingly humiliating for the high-born Duke of York.
And worst of all, he probably realises that it's all his own fault.
'With York back in his box and her man Somerset in position, Queen Margaret's got it all under control.
' In spring 1453, after eight years of anxiety and ridicule, Margaret finally fulfils the most basic duty of queenship.
She becomes pregnant.
If she produces a boy, her position and her power as mother of the heir to the throne will be unbreakable.
'Fortune is at last smiling on Henry's troubled reign.
But it's too good to last.
New troubles are brewing for Henry 200 miles away.
England has been at war with France for more than 100 years, and in Henry's reign, it's been one disastrous campaign after another.
He's lost Champagne, Normandy, Brittany.
Now there's just one significant part of the vast Plantagenet empire left - Gascony.
' Excellent, Your Majesty! 'Henry is with a hunting party when the latest news comes from France.
' (HORSE NEIGHS) 'It's not good.
His army's been routed at the Battle of Castillon.
Gascony has fallen.
' What? 'It's the final collapse of a 300-year-old empire that once controlled more of France than the French.
The greatest legacy of the Plantagenet dynasty has been snuffed out on Henry's watch.
Henry collapses into a catatonic stupor.
' Let him breathe, let him breathe.
'Nothing can rouse Henry from his senseless trance.
' (BABY CRIES) 'Not even the birth of his son, Prince Edward, two months later.
Queen Margaret tries to keep a lid on the state of the King, hoping desperately that he will wake up.
Margaret and Somerset can't enforce any decisions without a conscious monarch's seal of approval.
A power vacuum is developing at the heart of government.
The Queen needs to fill it and fast.
' Margaret's first move takes place in October 1453 here at Westminster Abbey, when she appoints Somerset as godfather to the new prince.
Now, with the King conspicuous by his absence, this is a powerful statement.
If there were any doubts that Somerset is the Queen's man, well, there isn't any more.
But this is more than just a show of solidarity with her ally, this is a power play by Margaret.
She's planning to govern England using the authority of the baby prince.
'For that, Margaret needs the backing of the nobles.
So she gets Somerset to call a great council, to acknowledge the baby prince as heir to the throne and sideline the Duke of York, the previous heir, at the same time.
' Unsurprisingly, York's not invited.
But Margaret's plan backfires spectacularly.
York's allies in the council insist that he attends.
My Lords, I greet you well.
And when he arrives, he refuses to debate the status of the new prince.
Instead, he has one of his closest supporters denounce Somerset as a traitor again.
'This time, there's no pliable king for Somerset to hide behind.
And York knows it.
York's move is staggeringly audacious.
With one deft blow, York has neutered both Somerset and Queen Margaret.
Somerset is banged up in the Tower of London.
Queen Margaret is suddenly isolated from power.
Desperate to claw back control, she does something completely outrageous.
There's evidence of it here at the British Library in a rare 500-year-old document.
' The Queen publishes a bill of five articles and they're recorded in this contemporary document.
The first is that she desireth to have the whole rule of this land.
She wants to appoint the chancellor and the treasurer and all the officers of state.
She wants to decide who gets to be a bishop.
And she wants to have sufficient livelihood assigned her for the King and the Prince and herself.
That's a sensational list of demands.
It amounts to all the powers of a king.
You have to admire her.
She doesn't do things by halves.
To Margaret, this makes perfect sense.
She sees nothing particularly strange in a woman taking power.
After all, she's seen her mother do it for years.
But that was in a duchy in France.
She's talking about an entire country and she's completely misjudged the reaction of the English nobles.
'The idea of being governed by a woman, and even worse, a French one, is way more than they can stomach.
Margaret's ideas are kicked out of the door.
With the King still senseless, there's only one option left to govern the country.
' On 27th March 1454, York finally gets what he wants.
He's made Protector of the Realm.
And to begin with, he makes a pretty decent fist of creating an inclusive government.
He stamps out some long-running, bloody noble feuds in the north and brings some desperately-needed stability to the country.
Now, this all proves to York, who's not a man short on vanity, that he was right all along.
He really is the best man for the job.
'Trapped by the state of her insensible husband, Margaret is powerless.
' (CLATTERING) 'Aided by his close allies, like the Earl of Warwick, York is the man of the hour.
He must be feeling pretty smug.
' My Lord, what news? 'Then, on Christmas Day 1454, it all blows up in York's face.
Henry wakes up.
Queen's Margaret's ally Somerset is back in pole position behind the throne.
And the Queen is back on top, exactly where she wants to be.
' York is furious.
As far as he's concerned, Somerset's a coward and a traitor and he has no business running England.
But York has bigger problems.
He's fallen out with the Queen and he's put Somerset in the tower.
He can expect them to repay the compliment.
So he has a choice.
He can retire quietly to one of his castles in the north and sulk and pray that Somerset and the Queen don't come for him.
Or he can strike at them first.
For a bull-headed man like York, that's no choice at all.
'What York does next is perilously close to treason.
He raises an army and marches south towards London.
The moment the Queen hears, she sends Somerset north to head him off, raising troops as he goes.
' On May 22nd 1455, the two sides meet here at St Albans.
'York has around 3,000 men with him.
He has one simple aim.
Take out the Queen's man Somerset and gain control of the King.
Somerset is holed up in the town.
He's managed to throw together an army of just 2,000.
But he has the King with him.
It's certainly not because Henry can contribute anything to the battle.
But whoever possesses the King can claim to be fighting for the good of the realm.
' They exchange messages with York, clearly trying to talk their way out of trouble.
Trust between the two sides is virtually non-existent.
The only thing that's gonna stop York is if the King hands Somerset over.
Well, that's never gonna happen.
'Negotiations are going nowhere.
' Warwick, the choices are few.
'It's York's closest ally Warwick that makes the first move in the first battle of what will become known as the Wars of the Roses.
' Forward! York and Warwick's men make light work of the barricades.
They storm through the narrow streets, cutting down the King's men.
(MAN SCREAMS) The defenders are taken totally by surprise.
'York's men capture the King and secure him in the abbey.
York has just one target now.
Somerset.
Under the mediaeval rules of war, a high-born noble like Somerset expects to be taken prisoner.
' It's Somerset, sir.
Where do we take him? 'That doesn't work for York.
Somerset's not the only great noble to die at York's hands.
Lords Clifford and Northumberland are also slaughtered.
' York is victorious.
Somerset's dead, he has Henry in his possession, secured here at St Albans Abbey.
But he's crossed a very big red line.
He's attacked the King's army.
He's killed three of the country's senior nobles.
And along the way, he's started a blood feud with their relatives that'll last for 30 years.
'It's a bloody turnaround considering that York's original plan was to bring peace and stability.
He's done exactly the opposite.
Whatever York may believe, there's no way back from this level of carnage.
' Your Grace, the King.
After the battle, York and his allies Warwick and Salisbury come here to meet the King.
They fall to their knees before him and profess their loyalty.
All they ask in return is that he makes them his advisors.
And, of course, he agrees.
But it's not like he has very much choice.
Henry VI has now become a puppet, passed from hand to hand, and whoever holds the King rules England.
'York gets himself reappointed Lord Protector.
But his position is legally tenuous.
For a start, Henry's clearly not incapacitated this time.
And when York starts giving away all the best jobs to his allies, it's obvious that this is a narrow clique, not a unified government.
This will be his downfall.
' 'The first test comes after just four months.
' My Lords, I petition you all for your good assistance in restoring the fortunes of the royal coffers.
'Years of fruitless war in France has left the King broke.
As Lord Protector, York has the unwelcome job of trying to raise more money.
' For the sake of our most noble King I beg all of his loyal servants to affirm this cause.
'He must ask the lords in parliament to pass an order' Your Grace.
'.
.
That would force them to sign over some of their land to the King.
It would be an unpopular move at the best of times.
And the slaughter of St Albans means York is increasingly isolated.
' Aye.
Nay.
Aye.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
'His order is kicked out of parliament.
' This is incredibly frustrating for York.
He's the Protector.
He should be running things.
But without the support of parliament, he's effectively powerless.
Forced into a humiliating climb-down, York resigns the Protectorate and heads north.
Everything he did here at St Albans, all the blood that was shed, it was all for nothing.
'Technically, Henry is now back in full control of the country, which, given his track record, is a little surprising.
Here at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, there's a book that makes it crystal clear what's really going on.
This is the Brut Chronicle, one of the earliest printed books in British history, published just a few years after Henry VI's reign.
It's almost an eyewitness account of the time.
' This is a passage describing events in 1456, barely six months after York left London.
And it gives us a very clear idea about what people in England thought about their king.
So it says here, "The governance of the realm stood most by the Queen and her council.
" - And then a bit further down, "It is to be noted that every lord in England at this time - And then a bit further down, It is to be noted that" Durst not disobey the Queen, for she ruled peaceably all that was done about the King.
" And that leaves us in no doubt, it's Margaret wearing the trousers in the marriage, but more importantly, running the country.
And actually, she does a pretty good job, which shouldn't be surprising because both York and Margaret shared the same aim, stabilising England.
'But their mutual hatred has gone too far.
Controlling England is no longer enough for the Queen.
She wants York out of the way permanently.
And she's more than happy to do the job herself.
Acting in the name of her husband and son, she recruits an army to take York down.
' Margaret's troops march north and catch up with York here in his castle at Ludlow on 12th October 1459.
This time, Margaret outnumbers York two to one.
She travels with her army, and like everyone else, she brings the King along for legitimacy.
York sends messages to the King claiming to be his faithful subject.
But really, it's a bit late for all that.
'Orders are sent in the name of the King demanding that York lay down his arms and surrender.
That's obviously not going to end well for York.
Unsurprisingly he declines.
' From up here on the battlements, York's men can clearly see the Royal Standard fluttering in that field over there, and that tells them the King himself is with his army.
'Taking on the King directly and risking treason is a step too far for some of them.
In the middle of the night, a chunk of York's troops defect.
On the evening of October 12th, realising he's now hopelessly outgunned, York decides that discretion is the better part of valour.
He runs for it.
' But it's not enough for Margaret to have her enemies on the run.
She wants to destroy them totally.
So in November 1459, she persuades parliament to pass Acts of Attainder against York and his allies.
These acts strip them of lands and of titles and their families are expelled from the nobility forever.
So it's legal death.
But it's still one step short of total victory, because while York himself remains alive, he's still a very dangerous man.
'Margaret should've killed him.
' (OWL HOOTS) 'The King is brought back to London in the custody of York's ally, Warwick.
With Queen Margaret now in hiding, it's safe for York to return to England.
But he knows it's only a matter of time before Margaret returns to take control of her husband and the kingdom.
York's tried politics, he's tried force, neither have worked.
To stop the Queen, he needs to do something radical.
York marches to London, not under his own arms of the House of York but under the arms of England.
Only one man is allowed to do that.
The King.
York has made his decision.
He's going to take the crown.
On 10th October 1460, York storms into the painted chamber at Westminster his sword held out before him, and demands they take the crown from Henry and give it to him.
Even his closest allies are horrified.
But the truth is York does have a genuine claim.
Henry VI is only on the throne because his grandfather snatched it from the rightful king.
' Henry's grandfather unrightwisely usurped the throne.
'And if that hadn't happened, York's claim to the throne would be just as strong as Henry's, because both of them are descended from Edward III.
' The right and estate of the crowns of the realms of England and of France belong to Richard Duke of York.
'Parliament is thrown into chaos.
If they side with Henry, York has troops stationed outside armed to the teeth.
If they side with York, they risk civil war by deposing an anointed king.
It takes two weeks for parliament to make a decision.
York doesn't quite get the crown, but he does get the next best thing.
He will become Lord Protector for the third time.
With Henry his captive, he's basically running the country.
And when Henry dies, York or his children will take the throne.
It's not a bad deal for York.
But for everyone else, it's a messy compromise.
And pretty much all it guarantees is that the bloodshed won't stop.
' For Margaret, this is intolerable.
Her son Prince Edward is effectively disinherited.
Since York's return, Margaret's been hiding out in Scotland.
But now she writes to her allies in England asking them for support.
She must know that York's coming for her son and for her.
After all, Edward's the only remaining opposition to York's claim and she's York's sworn enemy.
'York is holding all the cards.
He's heir to the throne again, he's got the king in his control and he's Lord Protector.
All he needs now is Margaret.
Wasting no time, York heads north himself to bring in the Queen.
' These are the remains of Sandal Castle, York's stronghold near Wakefield.
Now, York arrives here on December 21st 1460, fresh from his success in London, with his confidence and his self-importance brimming over.
'But he's set off after Margaret so fast, he has just 6,000 troops with him.
' York's overreached himself again.
As he looks out from the walls it's clear he's massively underestimated the strength of support for Margaret.
In fact, by the time he closes the castle gates, a huge army is gathering against him.
York's outnumbered two to one.
'Out-manned and under-supplied, York spends a meagre Christmas virtually besieged at Sandal.
But all he has to do is wait for reinforcements.
' On December 30th, York lets his self-confidence get the better of him for the last time.
One of his foraging parties is attacked.
Now, what he should do is wait for reinforcements to arrive before retaliating.
But sitting on his hands has never been one of York's strong points.
'York sets off down Manygates Lane in pursuit of the attackers.
' Attack! (SCREAMING AND SHOUTING) With a little less pride and a little more caution, York might actually have taken the throne.
'It takes less than an hour for Margaret's men to capture him.
They mock York with a bloodied paper crown.
Then they take the Queen's revenge.
' (BIRDS TWEET) His head is stuck on a pole and displayed above the Mickelgates here in York with the paper crown still in place.
'Margaret's final victory over York should end the violence, but it can't.
The rivalry between York and Margaret has torn deep divisions across England.
The fires of hatred will keep burning for decades.
' So who's the real villain here? Is it Margaret of Anjou, a woman desperate to stop her husband's rule from collapsing and to save her son's rightful place? Or is it Richard Duke of York, a man who begins with honourable intentions to save England? In truth, I think it's neither.
'Both of them were trying to protect England from the real culprit, the feeble-minded Henry VI.
It's his weakness that forced the people around him to try and shore up the kingdom for him, making enemies of each other and kick-starting the decades of bloodshed that we now call the Wars of the Roses.
Next time, York's son Edward takes the crown with his father's great ally Warwick at his side.
But the kingmaker goes rogue, plunging the country into yet more bloodshed.
'