Famous Men of the Middle Ages · Ch. XXXI, part 2 · Unit 9: The end of the Middle Ages
40. Warwick the Kingmaker, part 2: Red rose, white rose, Tudor rose
Goal: Your child can tell how the crown passed back and forth in the Wars of the Roses, and how Henry Tudor ended them, and can look back over the whole book.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- A map of Europe and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
- Paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline strip (see the tips at the top)
- Your family tree from part 1
What's in the book
Chapter XXXI, sections II and III: Queen Margaret fights for her son, wins two battles, and the duke of York is killed. Warwick makes York's son king as Edward IV. Margaret escapes with help from a robber. Edward quarrels with Warwick; Warwick joins Margaret, brings Henry VI back, and Edward flees, returns, and kills Warwick at Barnet. Margaret's son is murdered and Henry dies, probably poisoned. Richard III has the two young princes murdered in the Tower and is killed at Bosworth by Henry Tudor, who marries the heiress of York and ends the Wars of the Roses.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Look at the family tree from last time. Ask your child to tell you who wore the red rose and who wore the white.
Read the chapter
Read from section II to the end of the book. It begins:
Most people thought this was a wise arrangement; but Queen Margaret, Henry's wife, did not like it at all, because it took from her son the right to reign after his father's death.
Heads-up: this part has several cruel deaths: York's head is set over a gate in a paper crown, Margaret's son is murdered, and the two young princes are smothered in the Tower. Read ahead and decide what to read aloud.
Tell it back
Prompts:
- How did Queen Margaret save her son from the robber?
- Why did Warwick change sides?
- How did Warwick die?
- Who was Henry Tudor, and how did the wars end?
Add to the tree
Add Edward IV and Richard III under the duke of York, and Henry Tudor on the Lancaster side. Draw a line joining Henry Tudor and the York heiress.
SayTheir badge, the Tudor rose, was red and white together.
What we know now
SayHistorians still argue about what really happened to the two princes in the Tower. And in 2012, the bones of Richard III were found buried under a parking lot in the city of Leicester. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral.
Talk it over
Read the book's last line:
So the long and terrible Wars of the Roses came to end.
Ask: Warwick made kings and unmade them. In the end, did all his power make him happy or safe?
Look back over the book
Spread out the whole timeline, from the gods of the Teutons to Henry Tudor. Ask:
- Which person in this book did you admire most, and why?
- Which one would you least like to have met?
Let your child tell the story of their favorite one more time.
Afterwards
Over the next week, play "Who am I?": you describe someone from the book in one or two sentences and your child guesses (for example, "I burned the cakes" or "I saw a spider try six times").
Tip
The Wars of the Roses are confusing even for adults. If your child can say "two sides of one royal family fought for the crown until Henry Tudor joined them by marriage," that is plenty.
Answers to the book's problems
She told the robber, "I am your queen and this is your prince," and trusted her son to his care; he helped them escape. Edward IV would not follow his advice and they quarreled and fought; Warwick was driven out, met Margaret in France and joined her. He was killed when Edward defeated him at the battle of Barnet. Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, was a Lancastrian through his mother; he defeated and killed Richard III at Bosworth and married the heiress of York, joining the two sides.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.