Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-377) and index With descriptions of the battles of Towton and Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was slain, this narrative history revels in bedlam and intrigue This was a period when headstrong queens and consorts seized power and bent men to their will. Some of the greatest heroes and villains of history were thrown together in these turbulent times, from Joan of Arc to Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt marked the high point of the medieval monarchy, and Richard III, who murdered his own nephews in a desperate bid to secure his stolen crown. In this follow-up to The Plantagenets, historian Dan Jones describes how the longest-reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors. The crown of England changed hands five times over the course of the fifteenth century, as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. By inviting them to join his new fraternity, Edward III was not only rallying the military support he needed to pursue a claim to the crown of France-he had invaded the country in 1346 and warred there consistently through 1359-but taking steps to ensure that he would never share his father's dismal fate.Xxiii, 392 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm Yet as Dan Jones amply demonstrates in 'The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England,' such ostentatious display amid the horrors of the Black Death was justified by harsh personal experience: Edward's father, Edward II, had been deposed and murdered in 1327 because of his failure to win the respect of his war-minded nobles. In founding a new order of chivalry, he sought to establish his own Knights of the Round Table, with an expanded Windsor standing in for Camelot. Edward was fascinated by stories of the legendary King Arthur. This spectacular festival of jousting culminated in the creation of an exclusive club, the Order of the Garter. In April 1349, as an epidemic of bubonic plague devastated his subjects, King Edward III of England staged a lavish tournament at Windsor Castle.

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