The True Story That Became "The Game of Thrones" | ROYALTY NOW

hello everyone and welcome back to royalty now where we bring you face to face with figures from the past and talk about their history King Edward IV was a man who came out a victor of one of the most complex political situations ever recorded the wars of the Roses was a series of civil wars fought between two families for the right to sit on the English Throne its complexity its backstabbing its NeverEnding twists would go on to Inspire George RR Martin to write his Series Game of Thrones we'll

talk about the wars their many characters and just how Edward IV found himself the victor of the real Game of Thrones at the end we'll also reveal Recreations of Edward and his wife of legendary Beauty Elizabeth woodbell so let's go ahead and get started Edward the Earl of March was born on April 28th 1442 to his father Richard the third Duke of York a commander of English troops in France born in the midst of the Hundred Years War Edward's home country of England was struggling economically an

d suffering defeat after defeat to France the tension amongst the English people was palpable their King was weak and corrupt and the nobility began to secretly look to other places for a leader Edward's Father Richard of York was where they found their solution but in order to truly understand Edward's story we must go back nearly 70 years before he was born to the 1370s where the tension truly began King Edward III was a well-respected and admired King of England who turned England into a mili

tary power and spent most of his life expanding England into France starting the legendary 100 Years War his eldest son and Heir Edward the black prince was also well-liked but in 1376 the black prince suddenly died now because King Edward III had two living Sons left nobody could have imagined that this would cause any real problems the throne would simply be passed onto his eldest living son John of gun but when King Edward III did pass away he shocked Everyone by skipping his living Sons inst

ead opting for the son of the late black prince a 10-year-old boy boy who would be crowned King Richard II Edward III's eldest living child John of Gant was the Duke of Lancaster and his descendants would come to be known as the lancastrians represented by a red rose Edward III's second living eldest son Edmund of Langley was the Duke of York the Yorks would come to be represented by a white rose King Edward's decision to skip these two powerful sons in the line of succession is what truly chang

ed the course of English History eventually leading to a civil war between the two families the young king Richard II's Reign was marked by unrest his uncle John of Gant essentially stepped in to rule in his dead becoming extremely rich and Powerful Jon was successfully able to keep the peace no small feat considering the nobility hated Richard II when John died in 1399 there was no one left to hold this fragile peace together Richard II would immediately Exile John of gun's son Henry and take a

ll of his father's massive wealth and titles away from him for the next 2 years Richard would execute Nobles that had revolted against him attempting to consolidate his power against the Hostile nobility but this tyranny of Richard II would instead backfire fueling propaganda and turning the people against their King John's exiled son Henry rose up against Richard invading England marching into London virtually unopposed and eventually winning the crown as Henry IV a Lancaster now sat on the thr

one despite minor unrest King Henry IV was able to keep the crown until his death in 1413 when he was succeeded by his son Henry V known as one of England's Greatest Warrior Kings Henry V's victory at the Battle of aenor would cause the French to sign the Treaty of tuah which stated that Henry V was now the heir to the French and English Throne effectively ending the Hundred Years War yet all of this nearly didn't happen right before the decisive battle of Ashen cor a plot to depose King Henry V

was found out its ring leader was a man named Richard of kyburg a cousin of Henry V and a York are first evidence of a conflict directly between the two houses Henry V executed The Man Without Mercy but more important to the story The Man's 4-year-old son was allowed to keep his dukedom the boy would grow up to become the Lancaster family's worst enemy becoming Richard the third Duke of York what looked as if it was going to be a long and glorious reign ended abruptly when King Henry VI died in

1422 at only the age of 35 his son the new king of England and France was only 9 months old The War of the Roses is really complex in fact I think I heard Andre lightly screaming from the other room as he dove into this research but that's where today's sponsor Factor stepped in to take care of us if you find yourself in that work or creative Flow State that you just can't step away from having a quick healthy meal waiting in the fridge is a must factors fresh never frozen meals are ready in Ju

st 2 minutes so you can just heat and enjoy choose from over 35 weekly flavor packed meals that promote a healthy lifestyle being vegetarian means that we have to keep an eye on our protein and the Protein Plus meals have at least 30 gram to keep us going since we are mostly vegetarian it's harder to just throw together meals that are tasty and healthy to eat so this is so helpful I personally loved the Middle Eastern chickp Bowl factor is now owned by one of our favorites hellofresh today we di

d factor for lunch and hellofresh for dinner so you can enjoy both brands at a discount with our royalty now codes head to factor75.com or click the link below and use code royalty Now 50 to get 50% off your first Factor box that's factor75.com and use the code royalty now 50 King Henry V 6 was coddled and taken advantage of by countless power hungry men since the day of his birth he would grow up to be pacifist fickle and extremely reliant on the advice of others making him ill-fit for the time

he lived in his childhood was marked by England's failure to keep the gains that his father Henry V had made in France allowing the French to Rally around Joan of Arc regaining their morale and crowning their own King by 1436 Henry V 6 was beginning to wonder if the war in France was even worth it nearly all of his advisers including Richard of York who had risen from his father's shame to become a commander of English troops in France agreed that all they needed was a full commitment of resour

ces to take the fight to the French yet despite overwhelming advice it only took one man named William de lapole to convince Henry that diplomacy was the only way forward Henry would send deapo to France where he eventually negotiated an effort of peace through the Royal marriage of King Henry V 6 and Margaret of aou Margaret would become one of the most if not the most influential person of this time she was incredibly ambitious and she quickly became the power and the engine behind King Henry

VI 6's Crown influencing every decision Henry made for the rest of his life including who he chose for powerful positions who he gave land and money to and who he surrounded himself with but the people of England saw right through this Corruption of the King by the new French Queen the people revolted against King Henry and his wife it was during this time of revolt and growing instability that the boy who would become Edward IV was born and his father Richard of York's rise to power began altho

ugh Richard had served King Henry Faithfully his entire life he found himself on Margaret's bad side after becoming enemies with her closest Ally Edmund Bower the Duke of Somerset she would send Richard away to Ireland ending his influence on the king entirely but the revolts against the crown gave Richard the perfect opportunity to make his concerns about Margaret known he would return to London and stand with the people who had begun to look at Richard as as the leader they needed his York cla

im to the throne was looking more and more appealing with King Henry's rule deteriorating Richard of York made a daring bid for power since Henry and Margaret did not have an heir after 7 years of marriage Richard asked to be recognized as heir to the English Throne the move would immediately backfire resulting in York's imprisonment which he was only released from after swearing an oath of allegiance to to the king although the revolts would not die down support for Richard waned all seemed los

t for the York family until 1453 when England suffered its most catastrophic defeat to the French at the Battle of Caston the battle drove the English completely out of France and effectively ended the Hundred Years War in a disgraceful defeat the furious people of England would blame Henry V 6 for it all he would suffer a complete mental breakdown becoming completely unresponsive and unable to even speak chaos would ensue with riots spreading throughout England with the country left on the edge

of collapse and no one to lead a Regency Council was created and despite Furious protests from Margaret of vonu Richard of York was still the premier Duke of the realm he was appointed Lord protector with his 11-year-old son Edward by his side for the next 2 years Richard would Implement reforms and attempt to lead the country away from Civil War but Richard's quick rise to power was seen as a threat by many families that benefited from Lancaster rule this resulted in a domino effect where Engl

and's Premier noble families began to divide along this York Lancaster line by 1455 King Henry had finally recovered his mental health and he relieved Richard of York of his post as Lord protector but by this point enough of the nobility including Richard Neville the Earl of War Commander of the largest standing army in England had sided with the York cause the nobility would no longer accept King Henry V 6 rule with their support Richard of York gathered an army to confront King Henry on May 22

nd 1455 5,000 men flying the white rows of York met 2,000 flying the red rows of the lancasters at the first battle of St Albin the ensuing battle would end as a decisive York Victory resulting in the death of many of Richard of York's worst enemies and the capture of King Henry V 6 although none of them knew it then this small battle would begin a 30-year Civil War that would end with the death of every Lancaster and every York heir King Henry V 6 would soon be released but only after agreeing

to reappoint York as Lord protector of England York now had the king under his thumb and the Nobles who supported him began to fly up the English ranks the Earl of War especially who had allowed Richard to fight in the first place became Richard's right-hand man and one of the richest men in the country but behind the scenes Margaret vonu was Furious that her husband and more importantly she was out of power she and Henry now had a son and Heir Edward of Westminster and now more than ever Richar

d of York was a threat that had to be dealt with over the years Margaret avanu had been secretly amassing a large army of men which had swelled to the size of 10,000 nearly doubling any army that Richard could raise less than a year after agreeing to reappoint York as Lord protector King Henry 6 once again relieved York of his title before Richard could even rally his troops Margaret had given the signal for her new Army to Ambush 5,000 York soldiers War's forces would be defeated soon after kno

wing that Margaret Was Out For Blood Richard and War were forced to flee England immediately Richard would go to Ireland while War took Richard's eldest son Edward the Earl of March to France Edward now 17 and tall and strong had grown up beside his father during his rise to power and was now seen as a political leader in his own right he would be named by the lancasters alongside his father Richard and Warick as traitors their lives were now forfeit along with all of their lands and money with

Nothing Left to Lose Richard knew that there was only one option left on the table invade England and take the throne by force it would take a full year but war and Edward were able to amass a force of nearly 10,000 men to finally fight back against Margaret and the lancasters they would invade England and land on June 26th 1460 once they landed it was clear that the people of England were already on their side war and Edward were basically able to march all the way to London un opposed Ed when

Edward and war finally caught up to the lancasters at the Battle of Northampton they crushed them one of the Lancaster commanders even switched to the York side in the middle of the battle and allowed war and his men directly into the camp where King Henry V 6th was staying he would be a hostage of the Yorks once again in custody Henry was ready to agree to any York demands but this time Richard of York would not be s satisfied with just anything he was coming for the crown in October of 1460 th

e act of Accord was passed which stated that following King Henry's death the throne would pass to Richard the York family had turned their fortunes around in just one generation from nearly being destroyed by King Henry V to placing themselves on the English Throne Edward was now second in line behind his father and was sure to become king of England himself one day it was now too dangerous for them to be together now 18 years old Edward was given command of his own Army he was sent to Wales to

put down opposition to the York claim while his father Richard and younger brother Edmund would remain in London Margaret avanu would flee North to Scotland and to no one's surprise she had a plan in Scotland Margaret was able to negotiate both French and Scottish support against the Yorks when news reached Richard that Margaret had raised an army he immediately left to contain the threat hoping to finally defeat her once and for all in December of 1460 Margaret's Force came head-to-head with R

ichards at a main York Castle near Wakefield stepping out into the cold York would have immediately seen that Margaret's forces outnumbered him nearly two to won whether it was impatience or hubris Richard still believed that they could win but at the Battle of Wakefield the yorkist suffered a catastrophic loss Richard of York along with his son Edmund were killed Edward just 18 had only recently been given his first command ever he was now the fourth Duke of York patriarch of his family and and

the air apparent to the English Throne it was now up to him to finish what his father had started and Avenge the deaths of his family Edward would March South and decisively defeat Henry VI 6 stepfather Owen tutor at the Battle of mortimer's cross it would turn out to not just be a physical defeat but a symbolic one as well as Dawn broke on the field what we now know to be a meteorological phenomenon called parhelion occurred giving the appear appearance of a trio of sons rising over the battle

field Edward used the moment to convince his troops that this was a sign the Holy Trinity evidence that he was chosen by God to be king although Margaret would defeat War at the Second Battle of St Albin and King Henry VII was returned to the Lancaster troops the lancasters remained incredibly unpopular with the people of England when they marched to take back London they were denied and traed Edward wisely used this moment to reunite with Warick and March on London himself the two were not deni

ed entry and were instead met with crowds of people who saw this tall and imposing figure as the physical and metaphorical opposite of King Henry's mental and bodily Frailty he would be crowned King Edward IV King of England on March 4th 1461 but Edward knew that the true crown of of England could only be won on the battlefield by defeating Margaret aanu the combined armies of Edward and Warick were finally ready to face the Red Queen on March 29th 1461 60,000 men faced each other more than half

of them flying the red rows of the lancasters and the other half flying the white rows of the Yorks before the battle both sides had agreed that no Porter would be given to the losing side the Battle of ton would end up the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil as the battle began so did Howling blizzard heavy wind caused arrows to be ineffective making hand-to-hand combat the only way to fight King Edward IV and his men clashed with the landcasters and fought off wave after

wave but after hours of fighting the the lancasters began to push them back the York men began to panic realizing they were fighting for their very lives as the York Army's Left Flank began to fall into disarray it was King Edward who took command saving them from being overtaken but they knew they couldn't last long it was now only a matter of time but just as it began to look hopeless a fresh York Force crested over the battlefield and ran Jed into the Lancaster flank delayed by the snow the n

orfol had nearly missed the entire battle to the exhausted Lancaster forces the battle quickly turned into a nightmare men began to flee taking off their armor just to run faster which only made them more vulnerable in the end the fighting lasted 10 hours and nearly 20,000 men would die on that snowy field the white rose of the Yorks won that day but the river surrounding the battlefield ran Lancaster red for several days after with their Force decimated King Henry V 6 and Margaret were forced t

o flee yet before he left England he made sure to alienate himself by calling many of his allies who had just fought and died for him traitors King Edward would go on to Pardon many of the Nobles that had fought against him and helping solidify his claim as king he had won his crown Avenged his father and ended King Henry V 6 Reign for his part the Earl of War who had been instrumental in helping the young Edward become king became the most powerful Noble in England maybe even more powerful than

the king himself he would become known as the king maker Warick began to attempt negotiations with France knowing that France would now be Edward's biggest challenge to overcome it would take 3 years before they accepted and nearly a year of War's active negotiations after that before the two countries finally agreed to peace the agreement proposed that Edward would marry an of France the daughter of the French King Louis VI 11th there was just one issue Edward ivth was already married earlier

that Year Edward had met a woman named Elizabeth Woodville and was absolutely in rced by her claimed by contemporaries to be the most beautiful woman on the island of Britain she and Edward would secretly marry soon after to the shock and rage of many of Edward's advisers and especially Warick embarrassed and betrayed War couldn't believe Edward's impulsive stupidity France was now offended and worst of all now everyone knew that Edward was his own man and not under the thumb of wari which reduc

ed War's influence greatly the two men's relationship would never recover from this and over the years it just got worse but anytime anyone brought up concerns about War's loyalty Edward dismissed them this was the man who had practically raised him and fought tirelessly not only for him but for his father as well he wouldn't betray him unbeknown to Edward by 1467 Warick was plotting actively seeking someone who could replace Edward he looked no further than Edward's younger brothers Richard the

Duke of gler was incredibly loyal to Edward so he wouldn't do but George the Duke of Clarence was very much like Edward although George had always supported his brother's claim to the throne he had also always been jealous of Edward and his personal ambition made it so that he could not refuse an offer to become King George and War would betray Edward in 1469 when under the guise of a rebellion in the north the two men would go to France to negotiate support from the fren for George and for the

ir coup but the negotiations did not go as War had planned Louis VI 11th not only refused George as Edward's replacement he offered to help only if Henry V 6th was reinstated as king and only if War would Ally with none other than Margaret of vju when news reached war that Edward had discovered his betrayal he was forced to agree to all terms War had not just betrayed the York line but every man who had ever fought for him all in the pursuit of more power in order to cement the alliance and to t

est George's loyalty to his brother Margaret and King Louie of France told War to invade England first before they would be willing to join him on September 13th 1470 George and Warick invaded England staging an uprising in the north and attacking separately they scattered the king's Army and quickly surrounded London and the king with no other options King Edward was forced to flee he took with him his younger brother Richard the only man he felt he could trust less than a month later the Old K

ing Henry V 6 was back on the throne of England once again and just as War had wanted he was now indisputably the power behind the English throne but what war didn't foresee was that everyone around Henry VI 6 hated him for good reason he had killed most of their fathers or brothers and had even betrayed George by not giving him the throne he promised that hatred would cause internal disputes that would eventually leave War completely isolated meanwhile Edward IV was not gone from England for lo

ng he was still supported by much of the nobility who had fought and won for him and soon enough he had gathered an army of his own Edward would invade England and quickly take back London with his older brother back in power George begged for forgiveness and Edward graciously gave it to him with George gone and Margaret's forces still in France Warick was left truly alone but he was still powerful in his own right and he believed he had the upper hand on Edward he would hold Edward off on his o

wn and crush him when Margaret's forces finally arrived but what war didn't know is that a storm was keeping Margaret's troops in France and they had not even left on the foggy morning of April 14th 1471 Edward and Warick met as enemies for the first time whether it was the battle against his old allies or his anger that Margaret hadn't shown up work was clearly on edge and his patience for the battle to begin quickly ran out he would send out his men before the fog had even cleared and end this

once and for all this would prove to be a catastrophic mistake in the fog his men ended up attacking each other and coupled with Edward's real Attack it quickly turned into a massacre Richard Neville the Earl of War the king maker was struck off his horse and killed in the fry Margaret would arrive in England the same day that Warg died and upon the news of his death she almost left England but her son now 17 convinced her to fight her Army would March through extremely hot weather for nearly a

month causing severe fatigue in her men before she and Edward could finally face each other on May 4th 147 1 after a month of marching and years of leadup the actual battle was over quickly and decisively with Edward's forces destroying Margaret's tired men easily Margaret's only son Edward the Prince of Wales was killed in the battle by George the Duke of Clarence and Margaret who was inconsolable over the death of her son was taken prisoner at last the Lancaster Army was truly defeated there

was only one thing left to do on May 21st 1471 King Edward IV's Victorious Army re-entered London and he was proclaimed King Edward IV of England once again that very same day Henry VI 6 would die mysteriously as a prisoner in the Tower of London the Royal House of Lancaster died with him the Yorks would finally rule England but Edward's peace would be shortlived King Edward I Force's Brothers George and Richard's relationships had begun to sour the two had always been very different from each o

ther Richard had been extremely loyal to Edward and was now one of his most trusted advisers George had been forgiven for his betrayal but was still jealous of the trust Edward put into Richard he would act out in the coming years even taking the Law into his own hands murdering one of his wife's servants after his wife died unexpectedly George's attitude that he was above the law was infuriating to Edward Edward soon learned that George had been spreading rumors that Edward's marriage to Elizab

eth Woodville was illegitimate and it was the final straw he would arrest and personally prosecute his brother stating that he was unnatural Loy and treasonous over the years and years of conflict Edward's only natural allies had been his own family and George had betrayed even that basic level of trust George was privately executed on the 18th of February 1478 it was only after this harrowing time that King Edward would finally find peace after nearly A Century Of War dominating England Edward

had come out the victor he would spend the rest of his life relishing in that Victory Edward and Elizabeth would go on to have 10 children with two boys to continue the York line on April 9th 1483 King Edward ivth died suddenly at just 40 years old after years of hard partying and excess in his will he entrusted the rule of his land to his brother Richard who would become Lord protector until his son son was able to rule but Richard who had always been loyal to Edward had other plans for the boy

s and for the crown of England our next episode will cover Richard III and the princes in the tower so what did Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville really look like currently there are no contemporary portraits of either Edward or Elizabeth so what we are left with are copies made from Originals we do have some pretty good descriptions of them both which I'll be using to inform my Recreations alongside the portraits let's start with Edward we know that he was a very tall man Edward's remains were

exed in 1789 and they measured almost 64 which was gigantic for this time this examination also revealed some long brown hair which matches his portraits Edward was considered extremely handsome in his youth although it was remarked upon that his looks faded quickly because of his hard partying lifestyle Sir Thomas Moore says that Edward was of body Mighty but in his latter days with over liberal diet somewhat corpulent and Burly but nevertheless not uncomely regardless of his looks Edward was a

lways considered likable and charismatic as we know from the history this really worked to his political Advantage because King Henry the 6 was seen as so weak these were the kings that actually fought and won their crowns in battle so Edward's height and strength were huge advantages for Edward's Recreation I'm going to use this portrait which is generally agreed upon to be the most accurate and shows him in his early 30s now let's move on to Elizabeth Woodville as I said no contemporary portra

its of Elizabeth exist outside of some stained glass images and some manuscript illustrations in this famous portrait of which there are several versions with slightly different features we see her blonde hair peeking out from the headdress and beautiful light brown eyes some historians even believe she may have had light gray or even light green eyes which have darkened with the varnish on this image now Elizabeth's story has been quite romanticized obviously she must have been stunningly beaut

iful to convince the king to marry her as a woman far below his rank but based on descriptions from her life she probably was very beautiful according to the beauty standards of the period a Burgundian chronicler called Elizabeth the most beautiful woman in England saying that the king had chosen her because of this very great Beauty there's also a quote that she had heavy LED eyes like those of a dragon which is an amazing description but may not have been written at the time she was alive what

's really cool about this main portrait of Elizabeth is that it shows a collision of fashion trends from all over Europe she's wearing a style of gown similar to those of The Burgundian Court which was her sister-in-law's residence and one of the most famously influential courts of the time in terms of Politics as well as fashion the style of her gown is referred to as a transitional dress meaning it Bridges the gap between the v-neck Burgundian gowns and the square necked gowns we see later on

the tutors Elizabeth is also wearing a variation of the henin head dress henin were this pretty crazy style of headdress popular during this time they would use wire to shape a giant Veil over the head and they could take many shapes we also see a trend all the way from Florence Italy which was now booming during the Italian Renaissance Elizabeth's hairline in this portrait has been plucked or shaved back so let's take a look at the faces of king Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville now [Music] [Mu

sic] [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you so much for watching and we'll see you for the next video