HISTORICAL TIMELINE
1399 29 September. Deposition of Richard II; accession of Henry of Bolingbroke as Henry IV, first king of the house of Lancaster.
1411 22 September. Birth of Richard Plantagenet, future duke of York.
1413 20 March. Death of Henry IV; uncontested accession of Henry V, second king of the house of Lancaster.
1415 25 October. Battle of Agincourt- Henry V wins major victory over the French.
1417-1420 Henry V conquers Normandy
1420 22 May. Treaty of Troyes recognizes Henry V as heir to Charles VI of France, disinherits the Dauphin Charles, future Charles VII.
2 June. Henry V marries Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France.
1421 6 December. Prince Henry, son of Henry V and future Henry VI, is born at Windsor.
1422 31 August. Death of Henry V; uncontested accession of nine-month-old Henry VI, third king of the house of Lancaster.
21 October. Death of Charles VI of France; Charles VII accepted as king in areas of France outside Anglo-Burgundian control.
1428 28 November. Birth of Richard Neville, future earl of Warwick.
1429 8 May. English abandon siege of Orleans in France.
17 July. Charles VII is crowned king of France at Rheims.
6 November. Henry VI is crowned king of England at Westminster.
1430 23 May. Joan of Arc is captured by Burgundian forces.
1431 30 May. Joan of Arc is burned at the stake for heresy in Rouen.
16 December. Henry VI is crowned king of France at Paris.
1435 15 September. Death of John, duke of Bedford, uncle of Henry VI and regent of France.
21 September. Burgundians abandon English alliance and conclude treaty with France.
1436 17 April. Paris falls to the forces of Charles VII.
8 May. York appointed lord lieutenant of France.
1437 3 January. Death of Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI.
12 November. The minority of Henry VI, now almost sixteen, formally ends.
1440 2 July. York appointed lord lieutenant of France for a second time.
12 September. Henry VI founds Eton College.
1441 12 February. Henry VI founds King's College, Cambridge.
1442 28 April. Birth of Edward, earl of March, eldest son of the duke of York and future Edward IV
1443 30 March. Henry VI appoints John Beaufort, duke of Somerset, captain-general of France and Gascony.
31 May. Birth of Margaret Beaufort, future mother of Henry VII.
1445 23 April. Henry VI marries Margaret of Anjou.
1447 23 February. Death of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, uncle and former lord protector of Henry VI.
9 December. York appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland.
1448 16 March. English surrender Le Mans, the capital of Maine, to the French.
1449 21 October Birth of George, son of duke of York, and future duke of Clarence.
29 October. English surrender Rouen, the capital of Normandy, to the French.
1450 15 April. English defeat at the Battle of Formigny allows French to overrun much of Normandy.
2 May. William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, after being impeached by Parliament and banished by Henry VI, is murdered by sailors when trying to leave the kingdom.
June-July. Jack Cade rebels occupy London.
12 August. French capture Cherbourg and end English rule in Normandy.
1451 12 June. French capture Bordeaux in Gascony.
1452 2 March. York ends his opposition to the court and submits to the king at Dartford.
2 October. Birth of Richard, youngest son of the duke of York and future Richard III.
23 October. English recapture Bordeaux.
November. Henry VI ennobles his uterine half brothers, Edmund and Jasper Tudor, as earls of Richmond and Pembroke, respectively.
1453 17 July. French victory at Castillon ends English rule in Gascony; Calais is only remaining English possession in France
c. 1 August. Onset of Henry VI's first bout of mental illness.
24 August. Percy and Neville families clash at Heworth.
13 October. Birth of Edward of Lancaster, son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou.
1454 27 March. York is named lord protector during the king's illness.
c. 31 October. Percy and Neville families clash at Stamford Bridge.
c. 25 December. Henry VI recovers.
1455 January. York surrenders the office of protector.
22 May. First Battle of St. Albans- York and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisbury and Warwick, win control of the king and kill their chief enemies: Somerset, Northumberland, and Clifford.
S 19 November. York is appointed lord protector for the second time.
1456 25 February. York resigns as lord protector.
August. Court travels to Coventry and the Midlands.
1457 28 January. Birth of Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, the future Henry VII.
1458 25 March. Henry VI mediates the love-day of 1458, a negotiated settlement between York and his Neville allies and the heirs of their victims at first Battle of St. Albans.
1459 23 September. Battle of Blore Heath- Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, defeats a Lancastrian force trying to block his junction with York.
12-13 October. Heavily outnumbered, the Yorkist lords abandon their men and flee from the royal army at Ludford Bridge; York goes to Ireland and Warwick, Salisbury, and March go to Calais.
20 November. Lancastrian-controlled Parliament opens at Coventry.
1460 26 June. Yorkist earls of Warwick, Salisbury, and March land in England from Calais.
10 July. Battle of Northampton- Warwick captures Henry VI and control of the government.
3 August. James II of Scotland killed by a cannon fired to celebrate the arrival of his wife, Mary of Guelders, at the siege of Roxburgh; accession of eight-year-old James III.
30 December. Battle of Wakefield- defeat and death of York, Salisbury, and York's second son, Edmund Plantagenet, earl of Rutland.
1461 2 February. Battle of Mortimer's Cross- Yorkist victory in Wales.
17 February. Second Battle of St. Albans-Margaret of Anjou defeats Warwick and reunites herself and her son with Henry VI.
4 March. Edward, earl of March, York's eldest son, takes coronation oath and is proclaimed king as Edward IV at Westminster.
27-28 March. Battle of Ferrybridge- Lancastrian attempts to prevent a Yorkist crossing of the River Aire.
29 March. Battle of Towton- Edward IV wins throne and Henry VI and his family flee into Scotland.
28 June. Official coronation of Edward I V
22 July. Charles VII of Frances dies; accession of Louis XI.
16 October. Battle of Twt Hill- Yorkist victory in Wales.
4 November. Opening of Edward IV's first Parliament.
1462-1463- Led by Margaret of Anjou, Lancastrians based in Scotland several times seize and lose the Northumbrian castles of Alnwick, Bamburgh, and Dunstanburgh.
1464 25 Apri1. Battle of Hedgeley Moor-Yorkist victory in the north.
1 May. Edward IV secretly marries Elizabeth Woodville.
15 May. Battle of Hexham- Yorkist victory leads to the execution of Henry Beaufort, the Lancastrian duke of Somerset.
25 December. Elizabeth Woodville is publicly introduced to the court as queen.
1465 13 July. Henry VI is captured in Lancashire and imprisoned in the Tower of London.
1467 15 June. Death of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy; accession of Charles the Bold.
1468 3 July. Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV, marries Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy.
3 August. Edward I V concludes an alliance with Burgundy, agreeing to send English troops to support the duke against France.
14 August. Lancastrian defenders of Harwich Castle in Wales surrender.
1469 April July. Robin of Redesdale's Rebellion is fomented by Warwick.
11 July. Clarence marries Warwick's daughter, Isabel Neville, at Calais.
26 July. Battle of Edgecote Moor- William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, and other Yorkist lords are defeated and executed by Warwick.
29 July. Deserted by most of his supporters, Edward IV is taken into custody by Warwick's brother, George Neville, archbishop of York, who places the king under the earl's "protection."
c. 10 September. Warwick is forced by rebellion to release Edward IV from custody.
1470 12 March. Battle of Losecote Field- Edward I V defeats rebels operating under the direction of Warwick and Clarence.
early April. Warwick and Clarence flee England.
22 July. Warwick and Margaret of Anjou meet in Angers to conclude a formal accord known as the Angers Agreement.
25 July. Prince Edward of Lancaster is formally betrothed to Warwick's daughter, Anne Neville.
c. 15 September. Warwick and Clarence land in West Country and declare for Henry VI.
1 October. Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, takes sanctuary with her children at Westminster.
2 October. Isolated in the north, Edward IV and a small party of supporters, including Richard, duke of Gloucester, flee England for Burgundy.
6 October. Warwick enters London in triumph.
2 November. Birth in sanctuary of Prince Edward, eldest son of Edward IV and future Edward V 26 November. Readeption Parliament meets at Westminster.
c. 13 December. Prince Edward of Lancaster marries Anne Neville.
1471 14 March. Edward IV lands in England at Ravenspur, Henry of Bolingbroke's landing site in 1399.
3 April. Clarence abandons Warwick and is reconciled with his brothers, Edward IV and Gloucester.
14 April. Battle of Barnet- Warwick is defeated and killed; Margaret of Anjou and Prince Edward of Lancaster land in England at Weymouth.
4 May. Battle of Tewkesbury- Prince Edward of Lancaster is killed on the field.
7 May. Margaret of Anjou is captured and taken to the Tower of London.
21 May. Edward IV enters London in triumph; Henry VI is murdered in the Tower of London.
2 June. Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, escapes from England with his nephew, Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond.
c. 1472 Richard, duke of Gloucester, marries Anne Neville, daughter of Warwick and widow of Prince Edward of Lancaster.
1473 c. 17 August. Birth of Richard, second son of Edward IV and future duke of York.
30 September. John de Vere, the Lancastrian earl of Oxford, seizes St. Michael's Mount on the tip of Cornwall.
1474 May. An act of Parliament attempts to settle the long-running dispute between Edward IV's brothers, the dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, over the division of their wives' Neville inheritance.
25 July. Treaty of London concludes a formal alliance between England and Burgundy against France.
1475 4 July. Edward IV crosses to Calais to begin invasion of France.
29 August. Edward IV concludes Treaty of Picquigney with Louis XI, ending the English invasion of France.
1476 21 December. Death of Isabel, duchess of Clarence.
1477 5 January. Death in battle of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, ally and brother-in-law of Edward IV
1478 18 February. George, duke of Clarence, is executed in the Tower of London.
1482 27 March. Death of Mary, duchess of Burgundy, begins ultimate division of Burgundy between France and Maximilian Habsburg of Austria, Mary's husband and eventual ruler of the Netherlands.
11 June. Treaty of Fotheringhay is concluded between Edward IV and the duke of Albany, brother of James III of Scotland.
29 August. Death of Margaret of Anjou, widow of Henry VI, in France.
1483 9 April. Death of Edward IV; accession of Edward V
30 April. Richard, duke of Gloucester, takes charge of his nephew, Edward V, at Stony Stratford on the road to London.
13 June. Summary execution of William Hastings, Lord Hastings.
17 June. Richard, duke of York, leaves sanctuary at Westminster to join his brother, Edward V, at the Tower of London.
22 June. Dr. Ralph Shaw delivers a public sermon at Paul's Cross in London setting forth Richard of Gloucester's claim to the throne.
26 June. At an assembly of political notables at Baynard's Castle in London, Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, presents Richard of Gloucester with a petition requesting him to take the throne.
6 July. Coronation of Richard III.
30 August. Death of Louis XI of France; accession of Charles VIII.
July-September? Probable deaths of Edward V and his brother Richard, duke of York, in the Tower of London.
October. Buckingham's Rebellion fails; Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, aborts planned landing in England.
2 November. Buckingham is executed at Salisbury.
25 December. Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, takes oath to marry Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV
1484 23 January. Richard III's only Parliament opens at Westminster-the members attaint the Buckingham rebels, including Henry Tudor, and embody the petition of June 1483, which asked Richard III to take the Crown, in the statute Titulus Regius.
1 March. With her daughters, Elizabeth Woodville, widow of Edward IV, leaves sanctuary at Westminster.
April. Death of Edward of Middleham, only child of Richard III.
September. Three-year truce is concluded between England and Scotland; Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, flees from Brittany to France.
1485 16 March. Death of Anne Neville, wife of Richard III.
30 March. Richard III is forced by rumor to publicly deny any intention of marrying his niece Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV
7 August. Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, lands with an invasion force at Milford Haven in Wales.
22 August. Battle of Bosworth Field-Richard III is defeated and killed; accession of Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, as Henry VII.
30 October. Coronation of Henry VII.
7 November. Henry VII's first Parliament opens at Westminster.
1486 18 January. Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV
19 September. Birth of Prince Arthur, first child of Henry VII.
1487 24 May. Lambert Simnel, who claims to be a nephew of Edward IV, is crowned king of England in Dublin.
l6 June. Battle of Stoke-Henry VII defeats Yorkist supporters of Lambent Simnel.
1488 11 June. Death of James III of Scotland after Battle of Sauchieburn; accession of James IV
1489 28 March. Treaty of Medina del Campo is concluded with Spain.
1491 28 June. Birth of Prince Henry, future Henry VIII.
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Excerpted from "The Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses", by John A Wagner
published by ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2001 (www.abc-clio.com)