The Rose, The Bastard and The Saint King
The Siege of London 1471 and the Death of Henry VI
My new book set in the Wars of the Roses is out in Autumn 2024, published by The History Press.
‘Then stood the realm in great jeopardy a long while, and every lord that was mighty of men made him strong, and many wanted to be king’.
The siege of London fought on 12-14 May 1471, is a largely forgotten episode in the Wars of the Roses, but its implications were far-reaching in that it sealed the fate of the Lancastrian dynasty and led to twelve years of peace in England.
After being forced into exile, Edward IV’s reclamation of the throne for the House of York was a triumph against all the odds. But even after winning crucial battles against Warwick ‘The Kingmaker’ at Barnet and Queen Margaret of Anjou at Tewkesbury, Edward’s position was far from secure. Thomas Neville, the Bastard of Fauconberg, was able to raise a popular rebellion in Kent, and his desperate gamble to free Henry VI from the Tower of London would become a crisis of epic proportions.
Thousands of ordinary people joined Fauconberg’s revolt, and hundreds suffered in the aftermath. Kent, Essex and other southern counties rose against Edward IV’s perjured rule, and despite London’s strong defences, the Lord Mayor’s resolve and a handful of Yorkist lords left in charge of the city, the siege was a desperate battle of wills that destroyed several parts of London and left many dead in the streets.Â
In this first-ever full-length study of the little-known siege of London and the reason behind Henry VI’s death, I use contemporary sources to uncover the truth of Fauconberg’s rebellion of 1471 and the tragic demise of the last Lancastrian King of England. I trace Henry VI’s lamentable part in the Wars of the Roses, the power politics of Edward IV and the Earl of Warwick, Edward’s exile and invasion of England, Thomas Fauconberg’s family and his career as a pirate and adventurer. I reconsider the twin battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, explore medieval London, and examine the identities of the city officials and Yorkist lords caught up in the conflict. I explain the culture of rebellion in Kent and the motivations of the insurgents. I document in detail the various attacks on London Bridge, the bombardment of the city and the assaults on the gates. I trace the Bastard of Fauconberg’s legacy, the arrival of Edward IV in London, and revisit the murderous death of Henry VI in the Tower. I explain how the Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) played a significant part in the events of May 1471 and what happened to Fauconberg in the aftermath. More than anything, I contextualise the siege of London and why Henry VI was so dangerous even after he died.
Despite the startling new evidence presented in Phillipa Langley’s latest book, The Princes in the Tower, the death of Henry VI in May 1471 ranks as being more sinister than might be at first imagined. Henry was an anointed and legitimate king who had reigned intermittently for almost fifty years. He was a controversial figure who suffered from mental illness, and it is an ongoing debate amongst all those interested in the darker side of the Wars of the Roses who actually killed him. But if Richard III was not responsible for his nephew’s deaths in the Tower, as Langley suggests, did Richard (as Duke of Gloucester) personally kill Henry VI as some contemporaries and Shakespeare would have us believe?
As always, the truth of this particular cold case is far stranger.
‘THE ROSE THE BASTARD AND THE SAINT KING’ will be published in Autumn 2024 by The History Press.
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