Hello, and thank you for joining me for another Oak Academy history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Knox and I'm here to guide you through all of the resources that you need to be successful with your learning.

So let's get started on our lesson today.

The lesson today is part of the unit of work on the Wars of the Roses, where we are asking the question, what can the Wars of the Roses tell us about 15th century England? Today's lesson will focus on Edward the V and Richard III, and by the end of the lesson, you will be able to describe how Edward IV's death and the actions of Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, led to further instability in England.

Today's lesson will require some vocabulary.

Let's have a look at some of the words we'll come across.

The first word is heir, which is the person who will be the next king or queen.

We will also use the word will, which is a document stating a person's wishes after their death.

We'll also use the term minority reign, which is the period of a monarchs rule when they are still a child.

We'll also use the word coronation, which is the ceremony of crowning a king or queen.

And finally we'll use the word illegitimate, which is a child born of parents who are not legally married.

Now the lesson today will be in three parts, so let's get started now with part one, which will focus on the death of Edward IV.

In April, 1483, Edward IV unexpectedly became ill and died.

The cause of his death is unknown, but it is possible he died of a disease such as pneumonia or typhoid.

He was only 40 years old and his sudden death created a crisis in England.

His eldest son and heir Edward Prince of Wales was only 12 years old at the time.

In Edward IV's will, he was unclear about whether he wished his young son to have a minority reign with the help of the Royal Council, or whether he preferred the appointment of a protector to govern England until his son was old enough to take power.

The prospect of a minority reign was undesirable to many as it was believed it would inevitably result in a period of weak rule and instability.

People believed that it would be harder to keep the nobility under control, and foreign powers might see it as an opportunity to attack.

Furthermore, a boy king would be unable to lead the army into battle and could easily be influenced by powerful nobles.

In the instance of Edward Prince of Wales, there was also some concern about the amount of influence the queen's family, the Woodvilles had over him.

The Woodvilles were unpopular, and for a number of years, Edward had lived under the influence of his uncle Anthony Woodville.

Alright, time now for a quick check of your understanding so far.

I'd like you to answer this question.

Why did Edward IV's death cause a crisis? Was it A, his heir was only 12, B, he died without an heir, or C, he died without a will.

Press pause whilst you think of your answer and then press play when you're ready.

That's right, you should have said the correct answer was A.

Edward IV's death caused a crisis because his heir was only 12 years old.

Following the news of his father's death, Edward travelled from Ludlow Castle on the border with Wales where he had lived with his uncle for the past 10 years to London.

As the heir to the throne Edward was now King Edward V, and believed that the next step would be his coronation.

However, on the journey to London, he was stopped by his father's brother, Richard of Gloucester, who had travelled south from his lands in the north.

Gloucester had Anthony Woodville arrested along with other members of Woodville's household.

Edward's mother, Elizabeth Woodville, his younger brother, Richard and his other siblings were all forced to seek protection in Westminster Abbey.

It's time to have another quick check of your understanding.

Which family was Edward the V's mother from? Was she from A, the Tudor family, B, the Woodville family, or C, the Neville family? Press pause whilst you get your answer and then press play when you're ready.

You should have said the correct answer was B.

Edward V's mother was from the Woodville family.

Finally, in this section, let's put all the knowledge you've gained into practise.

I'd like you to explain two ways in which the death of Edward IV created instability again in England.

In your answer, you should try to include some of the following things.

The word heir, 12 years old, will, minority reign, protector, Anthony Woodville, and Richard of Gloucester.

Press pause now to write your answer and then press play when you're ready.

Welcome back, let's have a look at some of the points you might have included in your answer.

You could have said that one way that the death of Edward IV caused instability in England is because his sudden death meant that his sons were too young to rule.

His eldest son and heir, Edward, Prince of Wales, was only 12 years old.

Furthermore, Edward IV's will was unclear about his wishes, but a minority reign was undesirable in England because the new king would not be able to lead an army and he would inevitably be seen as a weaker leader than Edward IV.

This meant that England would be harder to control and more vulnerable to attack.

You might also have included the following explanation.

A second reason for the return to instability in England is that there was a struggle over who would likely become protector until Edward was of age to rule himself.

On the one hand, his mother's family, particularly Edward's uncle Anthony Woodville, wanted to maintain their influence.

However, the brother of the late king, Richard of Gloucester, saw an opportunity to become protector.

This led him to arresting Anthony Woodville and forcing Edward's mother and siblings to seek protection in Westminster Abbey.

All right, we're ready to move on to the second section of the lesson now.

This section will focus on how Richard, the Duke of Gloucester became protector.

On the 4th of May, 1483, Richard of Gloucester entered London with Edward V and declared himself protector of England.

Although some at court may have been alarmed at Gloucester's actions, there was also a sense of relief that the Woodvilles would no longer have influence over Edward and their power would decrease at court.

Gloucester was a preferable choice to govern England until Edward was old enough to rule himself.

Moreover, as the brother of the late king, Gloucester also seemed like the natural choice.

Gloucester had always been loyal to Edward IV and his actions may have been viewed as his way of ensuring the safety of the young prince.

Time now to check your understanding again.

I'd like you to attempt this question.

Is it true or false? The royal court supported Richard of Gloucester becoming protector of England.

Press pause and then when you're ready, press play.

Well done if you said that the correct answer is true.

The royal court did support Richard of Gloucester becoming protector of England, but why did they support him? Was it because A, many believed he should be the protector as he was Edward IV's brother and preferable to the Woodvilles, or B, it was believed that Richard of Gloucester would only rule until Edward came of age.

Press pause until you have your answer and then press play.

You should have said that the correct answer was A.

Many believed that he should be the protector as he was Edward IV's brother and preferable to the Woodvilles.

Although some thought that Richard of Gloucester would only rule until Edward came of age, others had suspicions that Richard perhaps wanted to keep power for himself.

In May, 1483, the young Prince Edward was placed in the Tower of London.

At this time, the tower was a lavish royal residence and it was traditionally used as a palace for monarchs awaiting coronation.

It also allowed Gloucester to keep the prince under careful watch preventing any members of the Woodville family from gaining access to him.

Initially, there seemed to be no threat that Gloucester would seize the throne for himself.

However, his repeated orders to delay Edward's coronation must have raised some suspicions.

There was talk that Edward would be crowned in the middle of June, so in order to attend his brother's coronation, Elizabeth Woodville allowed her son, Richard to leave the safety of Westminster Abbey to join his brother at the Tower of London.

However, the ceremony was once again postponed and now Prince Richard was also essentially Gloucester's prisoner.

Time to check your understanding once more.

I'd like you to answer this question.

Why were there increasing suspicions that Richard of Gloucester planned to seize power? Was it because A, he started to refer to himself as King Richard III, B, he kept postponing the coronation of Edward V, or C, he relaxed security around the princes.

Press pause and when you have your answer, press play.

That's right you should have said that the reason why there was increasing suspicion that Richard of Gloucester planned to seize power is because of B, he kept postponing the coronation of Edward V.

Gloucester's next steps revealed his plan.

He wanted to make himself king and to disinherit his nephews from the throne.

He claimed that Edward and Richard were illegitimate arguing that their father had promised to marry someone other than their mother.

Therefore, this meant that they were not the rightful heirs to the throne.

Their uncle Anthony Woodville was executed on the 25th of June on Gloucester's orders, which meant that the princes were now also without his protection and guidance.

The following day, Gloucester declared himself King Richard III.

His coronation was held on the 6th of July at Westminster Abbey with very little protest against him.

As is the custom for a newly crowned king, Richard III went on a tour around England with his wife, Queen Anne, and was warmly welcomed as he journeyed around the country.

However, during this royal tour, he was informed that a plot to free the princess from the tower had been discovered.

The idea that a plot might free the princes may have convinced Richard III that it was necessary to kill his nephews to prevent any future challenge to his position as king of England.

Finally, in this section, I'd like you to try this task.

Put the events in chronological order in the timeline.

The first one has been done for you.

Press pause and when you're ready, press play to see the correct answer.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at the correct timeline order.

The first thing that happened was Edward IV died.

Secondly, Gloucester became protector.

Then Gloucester declared the prince's illegitimate.

Then Anthony Woodville was executed, and finally Richard III's coronation was held.

Well done if you've got all of the events in the correct order.

Let's move on now to the final section of today's lesson.

In this section we'll look at the return of instability in England.

Although there is no evidence to prove that Richard III was responsible for the deaths of the princes in the tower after the summer of 1483, the boys were never seen again.

The disappearance of the princes undoubtedly damaged Richard III's reputation as many suspected that he was responsible for their murders.

To this day, Richard III is still depicted as a villain who put power ahead of the lives of his own nephews.

Time to quickly check your understanding again.

I'd like you to answer this true or false question.

Richard III's reputation was damaged by the disappearance of the princes in the tower.

Is that true or false? Press pause and when you're ready for the answer, press play.

You should have said that the correct answer is true.

Richard III's reputation was damaged.

What's the correct justification for this? Is it A, many believed he had murdered the princes to prevent plots to restore them to the throne, or B, many believed he had murdered the princes to get revenge on the Lancastrians.

Press pause and when you ready for the answer, press play.

You should have said the correct answer was A.

Many believed he had murdered the princes to prevent plots to restore them to the throne.

In the aftermath of their disappearance, Richard's position as king became more insecure.

He faced rebellions from the Lancastrian nobles who believed that he had come to power illegally.

Although Richard had a good level of support in the north, he was less popular in the south and by the autumn of 1483, his throne was challenged by a Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, who was married to the eldest daughter of Edward IV.

The Lancastrians believed that Henry Tudor's claim to be king was as strong as Richard's.

They were also willing to use violence to overthrow the Yorkist king, just as they suspected Richard had used violence to overthrow his own nephews.

Richard III's reign proved to be short as he was killed by Henry Tudor in August, 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The crown once again passed from the Yorkists to the Lancastrians.

The actions of Richard III and Henry Tudor had restarted the Wars of the Roses and returned instability to England.

Here's another check of your understanding now.

Which of these men won the Battle of Bosworth? Was it A, Henry VI, B, Henry Tudor, or C, Richard III? Press pause and then press play when you are ready.

That's right, you should have said the correct answer is B.

Henry Tudor won the Battle of Bosworth.

It's time now to put everything you've learned into practise by answering this question.

I'd like you to read Lucas' point of view and give two reasons that could be used to support his idea.

Let's just read what Lucas' point of view is.

He says, "Instability returned to England due to arguments over the actions of Richard III.

He was responsible for restarting the Wars of the Roses." Press pause to write your answer and then press play to see what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at some of the reasons that you could have given to support Lucas' point of view that Richard III was responsible for restarting the Wars of the Roses.

You might have said that the Lancastrians believed that Richard had murdered Edward IV's rightful heirs.

You could also have said they felt that Henry Tudor's claim to the throne was as strong as Richard's.

Finally, you could have said that the Lancastrians were willing to use force to overthrow Richard as this is how Richard III had become king.

I hope you got on well with that answer.

Now we've reached the end of our lesson today, so let's have a quick summary.

In April, 1483, Edward IV suddenly died, aged 40.

This created instability as Edward's heir was too young to rule and he had not left clear instructions in his will as to who would support his son until he came of age.

There was a struggle to try to control the princes who were placed in the Tower of London by Edward IV's brother, Richard of Gloucester.

Richard made himself protector and then declared the princes illegitimate.

Richard's coronation was then held in July, 1483.

This reignited the Wars of the Roses and led to Richard III's death at the Battle of Bosworth in August, 1485.

Thank you for all of your hard work in our lesson today.

I hope you feel confident that you've met your learning objective, and I look forward to you joining me in a future lesson on the Wars of the Roses.

We'll continue to examine what the Wars of the Roses can tell us about 15th century England.