Women of the Roses: Power, War, and Survival

Beyond the Queens: Women’s Roles in the Wars of the Roses

We tend to think of the Wars of the Roses as a series of events dominated by powerful men raising armies, commanding troops, and even promoting their own claims to the throne. When women’s roles in the wars are examined, prominent figures like Margaret Beaufort or Cecily Neville take the limelight as mothers of famous leaders, working behind the scenes to further the fortunes of their families. Duchesses, countesses, and queens navigated this period of instability triggered by the weak rule of Henry VI and the distribution of royal power among ambitious nobles.

However, it is possible to find evidence of women’s wartime involvement from different social classes, too. For centuries, their stories lay hidden in family documents, government records, and chronicles. Midwives, innkeepers, servants, and tradeswomen played vital roles in the undercurrent of the national conflict, conveying information, raising support, and taking part in key events of the war.

Noblewomen in Peril: Treason, Betrayal, and Tragedy

At the higher end of the social scale was Alice Montacute, the Countess of Salisbury. Alice was the wife of Richard Neville and mother of the Earl of Warwick. Firmly on the Yorkist side of the wars, in the winter of 1459 Alice found herself singled out in parliament as a traitor. It was alleged that she ‘falsely schemed and plotted the death and final destruction’ of Henry VI, the Lancastrian king, and instead promoted Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York’s claim to the throne. Attainted with her husband, the couple’s lands were seized by the crown and dispersed among Lancastrian supporters. Alice lived to see the coronation of her nephew Edward IV, who reinstated her lands but had, by then, suffered the murder of her husband. She died in around 1462.

Thousands of men died in the violence of battle on muddy fields, but others were assassinated in politically-driven murders. Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk, learned of her husband’s death as he headed into the supposed safety of exile. Widely hated for his influence over Henry VI in the 1440s, he was recognised leaving the realm in May 1450, beheaded and his remains thrown over the side of the boat and into the sea. Elizabeth Scales, the future wife of Sir Anthony Woodville, also experienced the brutal murder of her father, Lord Scales, in London in the same year. His body was left on the shore of the Thames, according to one chronicler, ‘naked as a worm’.

Spies, Merchants, and Entertainers in Wartime

Joan Canynges of Bristol

For other women, their contribution was more subtle. Innkeepers like Elizabeth Higgens of the Black Swan in London received and safeguarded messages in the 1470s. At a time before a secure or centralised postal system, this was a vitally important role, maintaining the flow of communication between both Yorkist and Lancastrian supporters as to their next steps. There is ample evidence for other characters of the Wars of the Roses visiting inns and taverns to rest, feed horses, and do business, like John Howard, the future Yorkist Duke of Norfolk, who visited The Cardinal’s Hat in London and The Mermaid in Fleet Street in the 1460s. Singers and musicians also eased royal minds preoccupied by the stresses of the wars. In 1493, Henry VII paid a generous £30 to a dancer, and in 1495, a woman, to sing for him and his queen Elizabeth of York. Women merchants, usually widows continuing their husbands’ businesses after their deaths, contributed towards keeping the economy propped up according to the ever-changing royal commands, priorities, and tax regulations at ports including Southampton, Bristol, and York. Alice Chestre, a Bristol merchant, has also been credited with making improvements to her city, commissioning the building of a crane to help with loading and unloading products from their ships. Joan Canynges is also believed to have entertained Edward IV at her home in the Redcliffe area of Bristol during a visit by the young king to her husband, the wealthy merchant and mayor William Canynges.

Elizabeth Mores was a Herefordshire woman with a particularly interesting story. A servant of Kinnersley Castle, she became the residents’ second wife. In 1483, after the Buckingham Rebellion against Richard III, Elizabeth safeguarded the Duke of Buckingham’s young heir by disguising him as a girl and riding with him through the streets of Hereford. Her story also connects her with a number of other local women who worked undercover and alongside Elizabeth to ensure the young Henry survived.

Nuns, Sieges, and Defiance

Those living in religious houses did not escape the wars either. Holding processions and praying for peace, some sought refuge from the political and social fallout, installing themselves in communities at Beaulieu, Shrewsbury, and Amesbury. One group of nuns found themselves at the centre of a politically motivated witchcraft scandal, while another paused their prayers as the boom of cannon and the shout of soldiers rang outside their stained-glass windows. Although they were not permitted to fight in battle, other women witnessed the physical aspect of war. They manned sieges and commanded troops while under attack at their homes, often in deliberately timed assaults to coincide with the absence of their husbands. Margaret Paston famously sent for arrows, crossbows, and armour to help protect their home in Norfolk, while Alice Knyvet stood defiantly at the drawbridge of her castle at Buckenham and ordered Edward IV’s men to retreat. Elizabeth Blount defended Hammes in Calais, resisting Richard III’s attempts to secure the fortress in 1484.

Women’s Enduring Legacy in the Wars of the Roses

It is clear from surviving evidence that there were indeed many women who steered and shaped the Wars of the Roses in various ways. Some wielded political and social power, while others left their mark on the age more subtly. They worked through the uncertainty of conflict, supporting families and their local communities while pledging allegiance to an ever-changing figurehead. Women counted sacks being hulked from ships, took on commercial contracts from the crown, and plotted secretly to ensure their side of the wars maintained the upper hand. They also fulfilled one of the greatest roles of the era: rocking the cradles and feeding the tiny mouths of the next generation of heirs, in a bid to prevent a repeat of the Wars of the Roses by installing a legitimate successor on the throne. Their stories are all important and, when placed in context with the wars, add to a far greater understanding of life at all social levels during the conflict.