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Nearly 600 years ago,

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England was torn apart by a series
of bloody battles for the throne.

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In just 30 years, the crown changed
hands seven times.

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Tens of thousands were slaughtered.
(SCREAMING)

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It was one of the most turbulent and
violent periods in British history.

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It's known as the Wars Of The Roses.

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In 1461, six years after The Wars Of
The Roses erupted, the imbecilic
Henry VI -

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pretty much the weakest king England
had ever known -

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had his throne snatched away by a
young and charismatic Edward IV.

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The man who put him there was one of
England's most powerful barons:

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Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.

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The story goes that Warwick
the Kingmaker turned bad,

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plunging the country into anarchy
and Edward had to destroy his mentor.

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I'm going to show you that the truth
is

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the seeds of Warwick's destruction
were sown

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from the day Edward became king.

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All the same, it took Edward seven
long years

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to learn the hardest lesson of
kingship.

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That, to save his country, a good
king must do bad things

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and, to be a great king, the
Kingmaker must die.

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(GRUNTS)

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In the frozen bog of a Yorkshire
field... (GRUNTS)

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...the bloodiest battle
ever fought on British soil...

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(GASPS) ..is finally ended.

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(GRUNTS)

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Edward Earl of March has gambled
that he can snatch the crown

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from the useless Henry VI and his
scheming wife Margaret of Anjou.

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And in this battle, he has succeeded
big time.

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The King and Queen's forces
have been wiped out.

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The incompetent King Henry VI is
forced to flee to Scotland

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with his wife and son.

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This is total victory for Edward.

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This is the battlefield where Edward
triumphs.

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Just outside the village of Towton,
south of York.

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Perhaps 60,000 men lined up in this
field

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and contemporaries estimate

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that 28,000 of them were slaughtered
in just ten hours.

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That's pretty much half the troops
who took to the field that morning.

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The soil is saturated with their
blood.

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Henry VI may still be alive, but the
throne of England is now Edward's.

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Standing alongside him is the man
who, more than anyone else,

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made it all happen: Richard Neville,
Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker.

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Long live the King!

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Long live the King!

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Vigorous, ambitious
and just 18 years old...

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Let us give thanks to God.

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Edward, Earl of March is now Edward
IV,

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the 12 Plantagenet King of England.

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Arise!

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But Edward's inherited a country
that's been torn apart by blood
feuds.

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It's just three months since the
same soldiers Edward's just defeated

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killed his father the Duke Of York.

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To secure his position as King,

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Edward needs to end the cycle of
violence.

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It's a mighty challenge for any
leader.

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The man who's going to help him pull
it off

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is his closest ally, Warwick.

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England is a hotbed of unrest.

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To stabilise it, one of Edward's
first jobs

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is to snuff out trouble in the
violent north.

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And, of course, Warwick goes
willingly to do it.

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This is Bamburgh Castle in
Northumberland,

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the freezing, rainswept northern
powerbase of Sir Ralph Percy,

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leading troublemaker and a staunch
supporter of Henry VI and Queen
Margaret.

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The dangerous Queen is in exile just
across the Scottish border,

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barely 20 miles from Percy.

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Edward needs to make sure that she
won't be welcomed back

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if she tries to take revenge on him.

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So, on Christmas Eve 1462, after a
siege lasting less than a month,

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Warwick burst into this castle and
takes Percy prisoner.

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While Edward was fighting for the
throne,

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Percy sided decisively with Margaret
and Henry VI.

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That's now treason and Percy should
die.

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Instead, Edward offers him an
extraordinary choice.

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He could have his head chopped off

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or, alternatively, he could come on
side to Edward's cause

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and keep his castles, his land and,
of course, his life.

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Decapitation or a life of luxury?

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It's not the toughest decision he's
ever made.

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And this is Edward's big plan to
secure his rule.

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Turn his enemies into allies.

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Build a broad alliance to bridge the
fractured politics of England.

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And it seems to work.

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For the first time in more than six
years, the country calms down...

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...and Edward settles into
the role of King.

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One man more than any other is
responsible for Edward's success.

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Warwick's been the young King's
mentor

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since long before Edward's father
died.

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He's the go-to guy.

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The man who gets things done for the
King and he knows it.

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Warwick truly is the Kingmaker.

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Edward's right-hand man and he wants
it to stay that way.

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Three years into his rein,
things are looking up for Edward.

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He's getting the country's nobility
on side

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and money's started trickling in to
a treasury

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that was bankrupt under Henry.

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There's just one more thing on his
to-do list:

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find himself a wife.

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And it's not just about producing an
heir to the throne.

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A well chosen royal marriage could
cement foreign alliances,

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boost trade, even increase military
strength.

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Your Grace...

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Or, with a bit of luck, all three at
once.

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As the King's right-hand man,
Warwick believes

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there's only one man capable of
picking a winning bride for Edward.

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Him. My pardon, Your Grace.

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Might I take my leave, Your Grace,

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for the affairs of state
of which we spoke?

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I'm most pleased to find you well,
sir.

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Please.

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In March 1464, with Edward's
blessing,

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Warwick meets envoys from
King Louis XI of France

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to arrange the King's marriage to
the French Princess Bona of Savoy.

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This union could stamp out the
never-ending conflicts

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with England's deadliest enemy:
France.

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It is of much detail, but I pray of
order.

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Over the course of several weeks,

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he successful brokers a deal for the
King to marry the French Princess.

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Warwick is clearly a man in charge.

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Hm. To the extent that one French
dignitary later jokes

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that the English have two rulers:

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'Warwick and another whose name I've
forgotten.'

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That sort of thing can go to a man's
head.

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Warwick is the power behind the
throne.

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He's made Edward king.

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Now he's organised the future of the
royal dynasty too.

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In September 1464, Warwick arrives
at Reading Abbey

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with England's other senior nobles

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to confirm marriage arrangements for
Edward.

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And he gets to announce it to the
adulation of the realm's great and
good.

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What could possibly go wrong?

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Before Warwick or indeed any of the
other nobles has a chance to speak,

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Edward stands up to make an
announcement of his own.

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My Lords.

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I have glad tidings for you.

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He's already married.

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In fact, he got married almost five
months ago,

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while Warwick was still negotiating
with the French.

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My consort is a lady of great
virtue, wit and beauty.

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The Lady Elizabeth Woodville.

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Worse. Instead of a valuable foreign
princess,

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he's chosen one of his own subjects.

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And she's been married before. It's
unheard of.

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The King has made a total fool of
Warwick and everybody knows it.

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(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

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After the coronation ceremony,
Edward celebrates

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and lays on a spectacular feast for
his new Queen.

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Edward may be pleased with his new
bride.

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But in the eyes of Warwick
and many of the other nobles,

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Queen Elizabeth's family
is basically the enemy

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because her father, Sir Richard
Woodville, fought against Edward at
Towton.

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Warwick feels so betrayed he doesn't
even make an appearance.

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But even if the Woodvilles were
whiter than white,

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most of the nobility would find

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their elevation to the top of
society pretty hard to swallow.

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Elizabeth may be extraordinarily
beautiful, but she's a widow.

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She already has two children

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and she comes from a large family of
extremely ambitious but very minor
nobles.

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Edward IV, King of England, has
basically married a chav.

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Elizabeth brings along her whole
family to celebrate.

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That's two sons, three brothers, six
sisters,

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her mum and dad and her extended
family.

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This looks less like a celebration
for Edward and his new Queen.

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More like a pitch invasion by the
Woodvilles.

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Most of the senior nobility are
pretty unhappy

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about what they see as a huge bunch
of low-ranking opportunists

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muscling in on the well-established
order.

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And they're right to be concerned.

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Edward's already planning to start
forcibly marrying the Woodvilles
into the old aristocracy.

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Elizabeth's 20-year-old brother John
will end up married to the
65-year-old Countess of Oxford.

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It's all very unsavoury.

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So what was Edward thinking by
marrying Elizabeth?

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He knew it would enrage Warwick,

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which is why he kept it secret
for so long.

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Rumours spread that Edward's fallen
for the oldest trick in the book.

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That the beautiful Elizabeth simply
played hard to get.

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Apparently, marriage was
the only way he could bed her.

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Elizabeth's certainly the kind of
person who'd have played that card.

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She's smart, beautiful,

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ruthlessly loyal to her own family
and extremely ambitious.

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Incredibly, it looks as though

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the strong-willed Edward IV has
married for love,

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or at least for lust.

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And that's pretty easy for people to
believe.

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Edward has a fabulously
well-deserved reputation

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for being led by his loins.

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But I think there's more to it than
that.

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The marriage fits perfectly

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with Edward's plan of reaching out
to his former enemies,

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starting with the Woodvilles.

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He's prepared to give them the
benefit of the doubt.

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As far as Edward's concerned,

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they just backed the wrong horse at

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And, in July 1465, three months
after Elizabeth's coronation,

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Edward receives a late wedding
present...

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...Henry VI.

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00:16:01,460 --> 00:16:07,260
He's left exile in Scotland and been
caught skulking around in the north
of England.

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00:16:10,500 --> 00:16:14,540
Edward has him locked up here at the
Tower of London

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00:16:14,580 --> 00:16:17,180
but, instead of having him executed,

200
00:16:17,220 --> 00:16:21,820
Edward maintains his policy of
reaching out to his former enemies.

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00:16:21,860 --> 00:16:24,340
So he orders that Henry's well
treated.

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00:16:24,380 --> 00:16:26,860
He's put up in the royal apartments.

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00:16:26,900 --> 00:16:28,900
He's given good food and wine.

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00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:30,940
He's even allowed visitors.

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00:16:34,940 --> 00:16:38,260
Things seem to be going incredibly
well for Edward...

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00:16:39,940 --> 00:16:42,260
...but he knows he snubbed Warwick.

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00:16:44,100 --> 00:16:47,140
The King goes all out to make it up
to him.

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00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:54,180
He gives him the Castle of
Cockermouth,

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00:16:54,220 --> 00:16:57,300
the hereditary office
of Sheriff of Westmoreland,

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00:16:57,340 --> 00:17:00,460
custody of all the Royal Forests
north of the Trent.

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00:17:00,500 --> 00:17:04,660
And profits of all the royal gold
and silver mines in the same region,

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00:17:04,700 --> 00:17:08,380
wardship of the lands of the wealthy
peer Lord Lovell

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00:17:08,420 --> 00:17:13,020
and control of England's
most imposing castle: Dover.

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00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:21,700
But Warwick already has money and
land.

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00:17:21,740 --> 00:17:27,460
What he wants, what he needs is
to be Edward's indispensible
right-hand man.

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00:17:27,500 --> 00:17:29,820
Just as he's always been.

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00:17:29,860 --> 00:17:33,460
That's the one thing Edward can't
give him.

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00:17:36,380 --> 00:17:39,620
Warwick was the perfect ally for
snatching the crown.

219
00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:41,660
Ruthless and bold.

220
00:17:41,700 --> 00:17:43,700
But that's in the past.

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00:17:43,740 --> 00:17:47,220
What England needs now is stability,
not war

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00:17:47,260 --> 00:17:49,740
and that's why, from Edward's point
of view,

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00:17:49,780 --> 00:17:51,580
the Woodvilles are the future.

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00:17:51,620 --> 00:17:54,020
They're an essential part
of his plan

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00:17:54,060 --> 00:17:57,900
for spreading royal influence into
the rest of the nobility.

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00:17:57,940 --> 00:18:00,380
But, from Warwick's point of view,

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00:18:00,420 --> 00:18:05,580
well, he's the only one who should
be able to exert that kind of
influence over the reign.

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00:18:06,620 --> 00:18:10,620
Edward can have Warwick or he can
have the Woodvilles.

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00:18:10,660 --> 00:18:12,260
He can't have both.

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00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:18,180
Squaring that circle will dog the
next five years of Edward's reign.

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00:18:21,020 --> 00:18:26,460
In 1467, Edward sends Warwick to see
his French allies.

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00:18:26,500 --> 00:18:30,620
Both Warwick and the French King
Louis XI believe

233
00:18:30,660 --> 00:18:35,300
they are negotiating a lucrative new
trade deal between the two countries.

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00:18:36,340 --> 00:18:38,340
They're not.

235
00:18:38,380 --> 00:18:41,100
Edward just wants Warwick out of the
way...

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00:18:41,140 --> 00:18:44,380
I pray you are well, My Lord. Thank
you.

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00:18:44,420 --> 00:18:47,700
...because he's about to
humiliate him utterly.

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00:18:50,940 --> 00:18:52,940
(CHEERING)

239
00:19:02,620 --> 00:19:05,340
With Warwick out of the way,

240
00:19:05,380 --> 00:19:08,860
Edward organises a massive
tournament at Smithfield,

241
00:19:08,900 --> 00:19:11,740
just outside London's city walls.

242
00:19:14,260 --> 00:19:15,900
Ooh!

243
00:19:19,260 --> 00:19:21,260
It has one purpose.

244
00:19:21,300 --> 00:19:25,540
To ally England with the Burgundians
- the Woodvilles' favourites.

245
00:19:26,580 --> 00:19:32,340
Unfortunately, they just happen to
be the mortal enemies of Warwick's
pals the French.

246
00:19:37,900 --> 00:19:39,900
Enough, my Lords!

247
00:19:39,940 --> 00:19:41,940
(CHEERING) Enough.

248
00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:47,340
Pride of place goes to the Queen's
brother Anthony Woodville.

249
00:19:51,860 --> 00:19:54,460
Argh! (CHEERING)

250
00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:56,700
He's been fighting the guest of
honour,

251
00:19:56,740 --> 00:20:00,620
the son of the Duke of Burgundy in
the tournament show fight.

252
00:20:04,020 --> 00:20:07,100
(LAUGHTER AND CHEERING)

253
00:20:07,140 --> 00:20:09,060
Putting a Burgundian in the show
fight

254
00:20:09,100 --> 00:20:11,700
is the most public possible
advertisement

255
00:20:11,740 --> 00:20:14,660
that Edward doesn't give
a damn about the French.

256
00:20:14,700 --> 00:20:16,700
(LAUGHTER)

257
00:20:16,740 --> 00:20:19,100
When the French discover that

258
00:20:19,140 --> 00:20:22,020
the English king is in bed with the
hated Burgundians,

259
00:20:22,060 --> 00:20:26,340
they will know that Warwick has
become utterly irrelevant.

260
00:20:29,020 --> 00:20:31,660
My King would most solemnly accept
these terms.

261
00:20:31,700 --> 00:20:33,700
(CHUCKLES)

262
00:20:33,740 --> 00:20:36,740
Many thanks. My Lord...

263
00:20:36,780 --> 00:20:38,780
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

264
00:20:38,820 --> 00:20:41,340
Edward has clearly made his choice.

265
00:20:42,380 --> 00:20:45,260
He's chosen the Woodvilles over
Warwick.

266
00:20:49,380 --> 00:20:52,820
Warwick's supposed to be the King's

267
00:20:52,860 --> 00:20:56,540
Edward has made him look a fool
again.

268
00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:04,980
It's no surprise that Warwick is
becoming paranoid

269
00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:07,460
that his influence over Edward is
slipping away.

270
00:21:10,900 --> 00:21:12,900
It is.

271
00:21:15,740 --> 00:21:19,580
Warwick's not the sort of man to
disappear quietly into retirement,

272
00:21:19,620 --> 00:21:23,980
so he comes up with a plan to win
back his influence with the King.

273
00:21:24,020 --> 00:21:26,740
He's going to marry his daughter
Isabel

274
00:21:26,780 --> 00:21:31,780
to the King's shallow, self-serving
younger brother the Duke of Clarence.

275
00:21:33,380 --> 00:21:38,100
Until Elizabeth produces a son,
Clarence is heir to the crown,

276
00:21:38,140 --> 00:21:43,020
so Warwick clearly sees this as
a way to leapfrog the Woodvilles.

277
00:21:47,660 --> 00:21:50,660
...the union of my daughter with
Lord Clarence would clear -

278
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:52,700
Enough.

279
00:21:54,340 --> 00:21:56,340
It shall not be.

280
00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:02,940
Edward flat-out refuses Warwick's
proposition.

281
00:22:04,020 --> 00:22:06,020
Pray we shall discuss it no more.

282
00:22:06,060 --> 00:22:10,260
He argues that Clarence has to marry
for political gain...

283
00:22:10,300 --> 00:22:12,020
Your move, cousin.

284
00:22:12,060 --> 00:22:15,780
...which is pretty rich, considering
Edward's own track record.

285
00:22:15,820 --> 00:22:17,820
Come on.

286
00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:21,860
Warwick's power and influence over
the King has gone.

287
00:22:21,900 --> 00:22:25,100
It's an intolerable position for the
Kingmaker.

288
00:22:27,340 --> 00:22:30,380
Is it by design you have made my
victory so easy?

289
00:22:38,220 --> 00:22:41,500
If there's any doubt about who he
blames for the rift,

290
00:22:41,540 --> 00:22:47,700
Warwick spells it out by refusing to
attend a meeting of the King's
Council in Coventry

291
00:22:47,740 --> 00:22:50,780
if the Queen's father Lord Rivers is
present.

292
00:22:50,820 --> 00:22:55,140
Warwick hates the Queen's Woodville
family with such a passion

293
00:22:55,180 --> 00:22:57,700
he can't even stand to be
in the same room as them.

294
00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:01,620
So what's he going to do about it?

295
00:23:02,980 --> 00:23:06,460
Warwick doesn't have to wait long to
take his revenge.

296
00:23:08,060 --> 00:23:10,100
Just two years after the tournament,

297
00:23:10,140 --> 00:23:12,140
tax riots break out
across the north.

298
00:23:12,180 --> 00:23:15,380
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING AND SCREAMING)
Fuelled by rumours that

299
00:23:15,420 --> 00:23:18,540
the Woodvilles are skimming off tax
money for themselves.

300
00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:25,660
The riots threatened to tear apart
the fragile peace that Edward has
built up.

301
00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:33,660
And one man is poised to fan the
flames and set the kingdom ablaze.

302
00:23:52,860 --> 00:23:54,860
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)

303
00:24:09,060 --> 00:24:12,260
By June 1469, rumours circulate that

304
00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:15,940
there are 60,000 men
being mustered in Yorkshire

305
00:24:15,980 --> 00:24:19,660
under the banner of the mysterious
rebel Robin of Redesdale.

306
00:24:21,740 --> 00:24:24,940
Chroniclers describe it as the Great
Insurrection.

307
00:24:24,980 --> 00:24:28,020
Robin of Redesdale has to be stopped.

308
00:24:29,220 --> 00:24:32,300
Suddenly, the King needs
Warwick back in the game.

309
00:24:35,100 --> 00:24:39,340
On July 9th, Edward writes
to Warwick asking for his help.

310
00:24:39,380 --> 00:24:43,060
What he gets in return
is a deafening silence.

311
00:24:43,100 --> 00:24:46,700
Hurt and embittered at being
discarded by the King,

312
00:24:46,740 --> 00:24:51,580
Warwick's turned to Edward's weak
and venal younger brother Clarence.

313
00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:55,540
They're in Calais, where Warwick's
married Clarence to his daughter.

314
00:24:55,580 --> 00:24:58,740
This is some piece of scheming from

315
00:24:58,780 --> 00:25:01,300
It's a direct violation of royal
orders

316
00:25:01,340 --> 00:25:04,700
and a very explicit challenge to
royal authority.

317
00:25:06,660 --> 00:25:09,940
Edward writes to Warwick again,
almost immediately.

318
00:25:09,980 --> 00:25:12,460
He says he's heard
he's up to no good

319
00:25:12,500 --> 00:25:16,220
and demands that he meet the King in
Nottingham to explain himself.

320
00:25:17,540 --> 00:25:20,020
Warwick and Clarence don't come.

321
00:25:20,060 --> 00:25:23,140
Instead,
they publish an open letter.

322
00:25:23,180 --> 00:25:28,460
There's a 500-year-old copy of it
here at the Bodleian Library in
Oxford.

323
00:25:30,780 --> 00:25:32,500
And this is it.

324
00:25:32,540 --> 00:25:37,740
It begins, 'Right trusty and
well-beloved, we greet you well.

325
00:25:37,780 --> 00:25:40,180
Well, that's Medieval English for
hello.

326
00:25:40,220 --> 00:25:42,420
Then it gets straight down to
business.

327
00:25:42,460 --> 00:25:45,620
It says that 'certain seditious
persons

328
00:25:45,660 --> 00:25:50,100
have been practising a deceivable
covetous rule about the King.'

329
00:25:50,140 --> 00:25:52,700
Who are those persons? Well, here
they are named.

330
00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:55,220
'Lord Rivers and the Duchess of
Bedford.'

331
00:25:55,260 --> 00:25:58,740
That's the Queen Elizabeth
Woodville's mother and father.

332
00:25:58,780 --> 00:26:01,900
It mentions 'Lord Scales, '
that's her brother Anthony.

333
00:26:01,940 --> 00:26:04,900
'Sir John Woodville and his brethren

334
00:26:04,940 --> 00:26:09,060
and others of their mischievous
rule, opinion and assent.'

335
00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:11,580
In other words, anyone of the
Woodville clan

336
00:26:11,620 --> 00:26:13,620
we might have forgotten to mention.

337
00:26:13,660 --> 00:26:18,020
It accuses them of 'enriching
themselves at the country's expense.'

338
00:26:19,140 --> 00:26:22,820
But what's really amazing
is the last line of this letter

339
00:26:22,860 --> 00:26:25,620
which says that
'anyone who shares this opinion,

340
00:26:25,660 --> 00:26:29,180
should be at Canterbury, upon Sunday
next.'

341
00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:31,860
That's an open invitation to
rebellion.

342
00:26:31,900 --> 00:26:34,220
So, far from siding with the King,

343
00:26:34,260 --> 00:26:36,940
Warwick and Clarence are supporting
the rebels.

344
00:26:36,980 --> 00:26:40,780
Or, if you want to put it another
way, they've gone rogue.

345
00:26:46,220 --> 00:26:48,700
Get those horses moved!

346
00:26:48,740 --> 00:26:53,100
On July 16th, 1469,
Warwick lands in Kent

347
00:26:53,140 --> 00:26:56,820
with his new son-in-law, Edward's
younger brother Clarence.

348
00:26:59,220 --> 00:27:01,940
Two days later, they head north from
London

349
00:27:01,980 --> 00:27:03,980
with a vanguard of an army.

350
00:27:06,780 --> 00:27:11,820
Publicly, Warwick tells anyone
who'll listen that he's on Edward's
side

351
00:27:11,860 --> 00:27:15,140
and is only trying to save
his friend from the Woodvilles.

352
00:27:16,260 --> 00:27:18,700
How very selfless of him (!)

353
00:27:21,460 --> 00:27:24,860
In reality, with the King in
Nottingham with a small army,

354
00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:27,740
Warwick's craftily creating a pincer
movement.

355
00:27:29,140 --> 00:27:32,340
The King is caught between Warwick
approaching from the south

356
00:27:32,380 --> 00:27:35,420
and Robin of Redesdale's men in the
north.

357
00:27:36,940 --> 00:27:39,620
Warwick is going to war with the
King.

358
00:27:41,380 --> 00:27:46,780
The confrontation on July 26th is
less of a battle and more of a rout.

359
00:27:46,820 --> 00:27:49,900
Warwick's forces annihilate the
Royalists

360
00:27:49,940 --> 00:27:54,620
and Warwick brings Edward as a
prisoner here to Midland Castle.

361
00:28:04,420 --> 00:28:08,380
Warwick's success may look like an
opportunistic punt

362
00:28:08,420 --> 00:28:11,540
that takes advantage of Robin of
Redesdale's rebellion.

363
00:28:13,220 --> 00:28:16,860
And that's certainly what Warwick
wants everyone to believe.

364
00:28:18,980 --> 00:28:22,460
But we now know that the shadowy
figure of Redesdale

365
00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:25,100
is almost certainly
Sir John Conyers,

366
00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:27,940
a loyal servant of the Kingmaker.

367
00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:34,540
The entire rebellion was
stage-managed by Warwick.

368
00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:41,100
So Warwick's got the King banged up.

369
00:28:41,140 --> 00:28:43,900
The question is:
what's his end game?

370
00:28:43,940 --> 00:28:46,180
Cos, if you're going to imprison a
king,

371
00:28:46,220 --> 00:28:49,900
you'd better prepared to replace and
to kill him too.

372
00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:54,780
So Warwick's best bet might be to
have Edward declared a bastard

373
00:28:54,820 --> 00:28:58,060
and replaced with the vain and
malleable Clarence.

374
00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:01,660
But that'll never work so long as
Edward's still alive

375
00:29:01,700 --> 00:29:04,900
and Warwick's not prepared to take
the final step.

376
00:29:05,940 --> 00:29:08,500
So maybe he's trying to keep his
options open.

377
00:29:08,540 --> 00:29:11,420
But he's got the King locked up.

378
00:29:12,460 --> 00:29:14,980
I don't think he's really thought
this through.

379
00:29:17,060 --> 00:29:19,140
Warwick has balked at killing the

380
00:29:19,180 --> 00:29:22,540
Instead, he takes out
his frustration and hatred

381
00:29:22,580 --> 00:29:27,060
in a killing spree designed to wipe
out as many of the Woodvilles as
possible.

382
00:29:31,660 --> 00:29:36,500
The highest profile victim is
Edward's father-in-law, Lord Rivers.

383
00:29:37,540 --> 00:29:43,660
On August 12th 1469, he's executed
at Kenilworth Castle, without a
trial.

384
00:29:46,460 --> 00:29:52,260
Without a king at large, the fragile
peace that Edward built up between
his warring nobles

385
00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:56,340
now collapses into violence with
astonishing speed.

386
00:29:56,380 --> 00:30:00,820
The unrest that Warwick engineered
during the Redesdale Riots

387
00:30:00,860 --> 00:30:04,700
backfires on him, setting off the
rest of the country.

388
00:30:07,340 --> 00:30:09,420
Desperate to put a lid on the
violence,

389
00:30:09,460 --> 00:30:13,460
Warwick appeals to other nobles for
help stabilising the country,

390
00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:18,020
but there's nothing in it for them
in helping Warwick, so they just
laugh at him.

391
00:30:19,060 --> 00:30:24,300
After all, he's one who arrested the
King and triggered all the trouble
in the first place.

392
00:30:27,580 --> 00:30:31,820
This is exactly why Warwick
is such a poor peacetime ally

393
00:30:31,860 --> 00:30:34,860
and exactly why Edward
was sidelining him.

394
00:30:35,980 --> 00:30:38,460
Warwick's great at the rapid action.

395
00:30:38,500 --> 00:30:40,860
The pincer movement he used to
capture Edward,

396
00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:42,660
well, that's right up his street.

397
00:30:42,700 --> 00:30:45,420
What he can't grasp are the
politics

398
00:30:45,460 --> 00:30:49,340
and the compromises necessary
to actually run a country.

399
00:30:49,380 --> 00:30:53,820
Warwick's decision to grab Edward
without a coherent plan

400
00:30:53,860 --> 00:30:57,980
to replace or to kill him has blown
up in his face

401
00:30:58,020 --> 00:31:00,980
and England is descending into
anarchy.

402
00:31:03,940 --> 00:31:06,660
Little more than a month after
locking Edward up,

403
00:31:06,700 --> 00:31:10,100
Warwick is forced into
a catastrophic climb-down.

404
00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:27,900
The word 'awkward' probably doesn't
do justice

405
00:31:27,940 --> 00:31:30,780
to the first meeting
between Warwick and the King.

406
00:31:32,180 --> 00:31:36,740
Sire, all that was done was done
for the good of the realm.

407
00:31:38,740 --> 00:31:40,820
Edward's back in control of England.

408
00:31:42,020 --> 00:31:46,020
Astonishingly, he sticks to his
policy of appeasing his enemies.

409
00:31:49,060 --> 00:31:51,460
He forgives Warwick and Clarence.

410
00:31:53,820 --> 00:31:57,580
It's recorded that Edward even calls
them his best friends.

411
00:31:58,980 --> 00:32:02,500
But Warwick clearly remains a
dangerous man

412
00:32:02,540 --> 00:32:06,060
and England remains perilously
unstable.

413
00:32:08,820 --> 00:32:12,620
In March 1470, rebellion breaks out
in Lincolnshire

414
00:32:12,660 --> 00:32:14,740
and Edward sends in the troops.

415
00:32:14,780 --> 00:32:18,780
They meet the rebels at the village
of Empingham near Peterborough.

416
00:32:18,820 --> 00:32:21,820
Edward's men scatter the rebels and
as they run,

417
00:32:21,860 --> 00:32:24,860
they tear off any clothing
that could identify them,

418
00:32:24,900 --> 00:32:28,580
which is why the battle site
is known as Loose Coat Field.

419
00:32:33,020 --> 00:32:37,380
But when Edward's men run through
the rebel leader Sir Robert Wells,

420
00:32:37,420 --> 00:32:39,620
they find hidden inside his helmet

421
00:32:39,660 --> 00:32:43,500
letters implicating Warwick and
Clarence in the rebellion.

422
00:32:43,540 --> 00:32:46,020
It's a damning piece of evidence.

423
00:32:51,340 --> 00:32:53,620
Edward can never trust them again.

424
00:32:58,540 --> 00:33:01,260
This is Warwick's second act of
treason.

425
00:33:01,300 --> 00:33:04,420
He's bull-headed, but he's not a
fool.

426
00:33:04,460 --> 00:33:06,980
He knows the King will be coming for
him

427
00:33:07,020 --> 00:33:10,900
and this time, there'll be no hugs
and best buddies.

428
00:33:16,620 --> 00:33:20,860
Warwick the mighty Kingmaker,
utterly disgraced,

429
00:33:20,900 --> 00:33:25,700
is reduced to running for the safety
of France, taking Clarence with him.

430
00:33:30,620 --> 00:33:33,820
Warwick now has just two choices.

431
00:33:33,860 --> 00:33:36,300
He can live out his life in exile,

432
00:33:36,340 --> 00:33:41,420
or he can go large and try to wipe
out Edward permanently.

433
00:33:41,460 --> 00:33:45,100
But to pull that off, he needs a
powerful ally.

434
00:33:45,140 --> 00:33:50,540
Someone who, if it were possible,
hates Edward even more than he does.

435
00:33:53,460 --> 00:33:55,260
Margaret of Anjou.

436
00:33:55,300 --> 00:33:58,660
Wife of the previous King, Henry VI.

437
00:33:59,820 --> 00:34:01,620
My Lord.

438
00:34:02,660 --> 00:34:04,660
The Duke of Clarence.

439
00:34:05,860 --> 00:34:08,860
Since her husband's capture nearly
ten years ago,

440
00:34:08,900 --> 00:34:13,860
she's been living in frustrated and
powerless exile in her native France.

441
00:34:15,900 --> 00:34:17,900
My Queen.

442
00:34:19,340 --> 00:34:20,940
Out of this meeting

443
00:34:20,980 --> 00:34:24,700
between the incensed Warwick
and the furious ex-Queen,

444
00:34:24,740 --> 00:34:27,620
comes a breathtaking, outrageous
plan.

445
00:34:28,660 --> 00:34:32,660
Kick Edward off the throne and
replace him with Henry VI,

446
00:34:32,700 --> 00:34:35,900
the old king, currently locked up in
the Tower.

447
00:34:36,940 --> 00:34:40,100
After all, Warwick's the Kingmaker,
isn't he?

448
00:34:40,140 --> 00:34:42,140
He did it for Edward.

449
00:34:42,180 --> 00:34:44,180
Surely he can do it for Henry.

450
00:34:45,780 --> 00:34:48,260
Warwick lands on the Devonshire
coast

451
00:34:48,300 --> 00:34:52,020
with a small, fast-moving army
and heads north.

452
00:34:54,220 --> 00:34:58,220
Edward's near Doncaster when he's
woken in the middle of the night

453
00:34:58,260 --> 00:35:01,300
and warned that enemy troops
are just a mile away.

454
00:35:02,860 --> 00:35:05,780
Edward's troops are completely
outnumbered.

455
00:35:10,340 --> 00:35:13,740
He can stand and fight, but the odds
don't look good.

456
00:35:13,780 --> 00:35:16,660
Or he can run for it.

457
00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:27,620
Edward flees to Flanders.

458
00:35:32,620 --> 00:35:34,620
And as if that wasn't enough,

459
00:35:34,660 --> 00:35:37,140
Edward has been forced to abandon
the woman

460
00:35:37,180 --> 00:35:39,700
who precipitated all his problems.

461
00:35:39,740 --> 00:35:43,220
Elizabeth Woodville, now pregnant
again,

462
00:35:43,260 --> 00:35:47,260
has sought sanctuary here at
Westminster Abbey.

463
00:35:51,580 --> 00:35:54,980
In October, after ten years in
captivity,

464
00:35:55,020 --> 00:35:57,740
Warwick releases Henry VI from the
Tower.

465
00:36:04,980 --> 00:36:07,660
This is the man that Warwick's
depending on

466
00:36:07,700 --> 00:36:09,700
to save England from itself.

467
00:36:11,340 --> 00:36:13,340
He must be mad.

468
00:36:14,820 --> 00:36:18,140
Henry was always a disastrous king
and nothing's changed,

469
00:36:18,180 --> 00:36:21,460
but he's the only card that Warwick
has left.

470
00:36:21,500 --> 00:36:24,620
So, for the second time in his life,

471
00:36:24,660 --> 00:36:27,740
Henry VI is King of England.

472
00:37:03,980 --> 00:37:08,460
With thousands of men behind him,
Edward heads south to London.

473
00:37:12,020 --> 00:37:16,180
To avoid confronting Edward,
Warwick's holed up in Coventry.

474
00:37:17,220 --> 00:37:19,580
He sends a desperate message to

475
00:37:19,620 --> 00:37:23,140
to try and rally support
behind Henry VI.

476
00:37:24,180 --> 00:37:27,260
The result is indeed desperate.

477
00:37:27,300 --> 00:37:29,980
On Maundy Thursday 1471,

478
00:37:30,020 --> 00:37:33,340
in a shambolic piece of political
theatre,

479
00:37:33,380 --> 00:37:36,380
Henry's paraded through the streets
of London.

480
00:37:36,420 --> 00:37:42,980
But all that the thin crowd that
turns out sees is a feeble,
half-senile man.

481
00:37:43,020 --> 00:37:46,420
So all that Warwick is doing is
pointing out

482
00:37:46,460 --> 00:37:51,060
in the bluntest possible way all the
King's failings.

483
00:37:52,100 --> 00:37:54,100
(RIPPLES OF LAUGHTER)

484
00:37:56,380 --> 00:37:59,820
On the same day that Henry's paraded
through the streets,

485
00:37:59,860 --> 00:38:02,940
Edward enters London at the head of
an army.

486
00:38:02,980 --> 00:38:08,340
The contrast with the weak and feeble
old king couldn't be more extreme.

487
00:38:08,380 --> 00:38:11,460
Edward's a strapping, energetic young
man.

488
00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:14,260
The picture perfect example of

489
00:38:14,300 --> 00:38:18,020
Whereas Henry's parade was greeted
with derision,

490
00:38:18,060 --> 00:38:21,020
Edward's welcomed with universal
acclaim.

491
00:38:21,060 --> 00:38:24,380
The first thing he does is come here
to St Paul's

492
00:38:24,420 --> 00:38:26,540
to give thanks for his safe arrival.

493
00:38:26,580 --> 00:38:28,780
Then it's down to business.

494
00:38:31,180 --> 00:38:36,220
Edward heads across the river to
Lambeth Palace, where Henry VI is
waiting.

495
00:38:36,260 --> 00:38:38,260
My cousin of York.

496
00:38:44,620 --> 00:38:46,620
All will be well.

497
00:38:46,660 --> 00:38:48,940
Edward may sound reassuring

498
00:38:48,980 --> 00:38:53,540
but ominously, he immediately has
Henry taken back to the Tower.

499
00:38:54,580 --> 00:38:58,940
Then Edward heads back across the
Thames as fast as possible.

500
00:39:03,900 --> 00:39:06,300
He comes here, to Westminster Abbey,

501
00:39:06,340 --> 00:39:08,740
to be reunited with his wife
Elizabeth

502
00:39:08,780 --> 00:39:12,780
who has been sheltering from Henry's
men under the laws of sanctuary.

503
00:39:19,900 --> 00:39:24,460
While he's been away, Elizabeth has
given birth to a fine baby boy.

504
00:39:34,300 --> 00:39:39,860
Edward has got his throne back, his
wife back and he's got a son and
heir.

505
00:39:39,900 --> 00:39:42,700
He is King of England again...

506
00:39:45,780 --> 00:39:49,140
...but he's learned the lessons of
kingship the hard way.

507
00:39:53,900 --> 00:39:57,940
However much Edward wants to avoid
bloodshed and recrimination,

508
00:39:57,980 --> 00:40:00,300
forgiveness has its limits.

509
00:40:00,340 --> 00:40:06,700
Sometimes, the only way to keep your
throne is to deploy the ultimate
sanction...

510
00:40:08,060 --> 00:40:10,060
...death.

511
00:40:10,100 --> 00:40:15,020
So Edward heads north with his army
to hunt Warwick down.

512
00:40:20,900 --> 00:40:23,300
Come on! Come on!
(MEN CHEERING)

513
00:40:24,380 --> 00:40:27,380
On April 14th 1471,

514
00:40:27,420 --> 00:40:31,900
Warwick and Edward go into battle
one last time at Barnet.

515
00:40:35,460 --> 00:40:40,060
Just like at Towton, Edward and
Warwick are in the thick of it.

516
00:40:41,380 --> 00:40:46,380
They must both known that only one
king can leave the field alive.

517
00:40:50,660 --> 00:40:53,860
Warwick throws 15,000 men into the
fight.

518
00:40:53,900 --> 00:40:55,900
Edward, 12,000.

519
00:40:58,660 --> 00:41:02,340
The odds favour Warwick but,
confused by heavy fog,

520
00:41:02,380 --> 00:41:05,140
his army accidentally attacks itself.

521
00:41:06,740 --> 00:41:11,100
In the chaos, Edward's army
overwhelms Warwick's men.

522
00:41:15,100 --> 00:41:17,100
Warwick flees the battlefield...

523
00:41:25,060 --> 00:41:28,700
...but he's hunted down like a dog by
Edward's troops.

524
00:41:32,380 --> 00:41:34,380
(SNARLS)

525
00:42:16,980 --> 00:42:19,180
The Kingmaker is dead.

526
00:42:33,660 --> 00:42:36,260
Edward has Warwick's body brought to
London.

527
00:42:36,300 --> 00:42:40,100
It's stripped naked, except for a
cloth covering the genitals

528
00:42:40,140 --> 00:42:42,940
and is put on display
for everyone to see

529
00:42:42,980 --> 00:42:46,940
at the old medieval cathedral
here in St Paul's.

530
00:42:46,980 --> 00:42:52,620
Edward's sending a very simple, very
plain message to the entire country.

531
00:42:55,580 --> 00:42:58,940
The new King has learned the old
lessons.

532
00:43:00,340 --> 00:43:02,340
Your Grace.

533
00:43:05,740 --> 00:43:07,740
There will be no more forgiveness.

534
00:43:11,900 --> 00:43:13,900
Make sure it's done.

535
00:43:20,300 --> 00:43:27,060
On May 21st 1471, barely a month
after Edward's victory over
Warwick...

536
00:43:28,860 --> 00:43:30,860
...Henry dies.

537
00:43:31,900 --> 00:43:35,940
The official cause is pure
displeasure and melancholy,

538
00:43:35,980 --> 00:43:38,300
but few people believe that.

539
00:43:39,620 --> 00:43:41,740
It's reported that his corpse is
found

540
00:43:41,780 --> 00:43:44,100
with congealed blood in his hair.

541
00:43:46,580 --> 00:43:49,380
Whether he was cudgelled to death or
not,

542
00:43:49,420 --> 00:43:53,300
there's no doubt at all that Edward
has had him killed.

543
00:43:56,340 --> 00:44:02,540
Edward came to the throne determined
to break the cycle of violence that
had been consuming England,

544
00:44:02,580 --> 00:44:04,580
but it just couldn't be done.

545
00:44:04,620 --> 00:44:07,700
I mean, look at the last 11 weeks.

546
00:44:07,740 --> 00:44:12,380
He's invaded England, raised
an army, fought a brutal battle,

547
00:44:12,420 --> 00:44:16,340
killed his friend and murdered a
rival king.

548
00:44:17,580 --> 00:44:21,300
And that is the reality of medieval

549
00:44:21,340 --> 00:44:24,460
In the end, there was
only ever one way

550
00:44:24,500 --> 00:44:27,020
that Edward was going to earn his
crown:

551
00:44:27,060 --> 00:44:29,060
in blood.

552
00:44:30,140 --> 00:44:34,820
Next time, the most infamous story
in the entire blood-soaked era.

553
00:44:34,860 --> 00:44:37,580
Richard III snatches the throne.

554
00:44:37,620 --> 00:44:42,460
The only obstacles are his own
nephews, the Princes in the Tower.