Also in 1453, Henry VI was for the first time overcome with mental illness and could not run the country. A powerful nobleman called Richard, Duke of York persuaded the other nobles to make him "Lord Protector". That meant that he would run the country until the king recovered.
While York ran the country, he locked his enemy Somerset in the Tower of London. Henry recovered in 1454 and began to run the country again. He let Somerset out and gave him back his position. York and his supporters then became afraid that the king and Somerset would have them executed.
York decided that he could protect himself was only by defeating the king in battle. He raised an army of many people who were unhappy with Henry and Margaret, which led to the First Battle of St Albans in 1455. That was the first to be fought between the Yorkists, who supported York, and the Lancastrians (who supported Henry). York won with the help of the Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Henry was found hiding in a leather shop, taken prisoner and was again overcome with mental illness. Somerset and some of the king's other key supporters were killed in the battle. York was again made Lord Protector.
The next year, Henry recovered. York let him go back to running the country and was put in charge of running Ireland. Henry and Margaret knew that they could not get rid of Richard easily. For the next few years, both sides wanted to stop a war from breaking out but could could not agree on several things. York wanted to be the next king after Henry died, rather than Henry and Margaret's newborn son, Edward. Margaret would not allow that and so Henry moved to Coventry, where he had more support.
A more serious war broke out in 1459 and started because Warwick had attacked other country's ships during his time in charge of Calais. Henry asked Warwick to meet to explain what he doing, but Warwick refused. Soon enough, York and Warwick started putting together an army. They were stopped at the Battle of Ludford Bridge and fled England. Henry and the Lancastrians now had control. They ordered that York and Warwick were to be executed if they were found.
The peace did not last long. York and Warwick returned and raised an army and won the Battle of Northampton. For the second time, Henry was captured after he was overcome with mental illness. York was made Lord Protector for the third time.
York then announced that he wanted to take the throne for himself. Many of his supporters thought that was a step too far and so thet agreed that Henry would still be king, but York, not Henry's son, would be the next king.
York then travelled to the north of England to attack the remaining Lancastrians. That led to a disaster, and York lost the Battle of Wakefield at the end of 1460 and was killed. His son Edward the became leader of the Yorkists. The next year saw mixed results for both sides. Edward defeated a Lancastrian army at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross, but the Lancastrians won the Second Battle of St Albans where Henry escaped. In London, Edward was met with a lot of support, announced that he wanted to take the throne ans defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. That was the bloodiest battle that was ever fought on British soil.
After Towton, Edward was in control of England and was crowned as Edward IV in June 1461. Over the next few years, he and his allies put down small Lancastrian rebellions. Henry was again captured in 1465.
Fighting broke out again in 1469 when Edward's most powerful supporter, the Earl of Warwick, switched sides. Warwick was furious that Edward had married Elizabeth Woodville, a common woman. Many people also thought that was wrong since kings were then expected to marry the daughters of noblemen or other kings. Warwick led a rebellion against the king. The country was left in confusion. At one point Warwick captured Edward and so he had captured two kings.
Warwick soon let Edward go and then supported making Henry king again. Warwick believed that he could run the country while Henry was on the throne. He also arranged for Henry's son to marry Warwick's daughter Anne Neville. Edward could not raise an army to fight and so he fled the country in 1470. Henry VI then became the ruler again. Warwick's role in bringing Edward and then Henry to power led to him being nicknamed "Kingmaker".
Henry's return did not last long. Warwick planned to help France invade Burgundy, which helped Edward find soldiers. Edward returned in 1471 and won two grear victories over the Lancastrians. The first was the Battle of Barnet in which Warwick was killed. The second was the Battle of Tewksbury in which Margaret was taken prisoner and her son was killed.
Edward IV took the throne again and Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He died one month later, and historians think Edward had him murdered since that left the Lancastrians without a leader.
There was little fighting for the next 12 years. Margaret was released in 1475, went back to France and died in 1482.
Edward IV ruled until his sudden death in 1483. Just before dying, Edward had said that his 12-year old son should become king as Edward V, and Edward's brother Richard would be "Lord Protector". Richard would run the country until Edward V became an adult.
Edward V was the king for 78 days before Richard took the throne for himself. He was crowned as Richard III. The young Edward and his brother disappeared a few months later while they were living in the Tower of London. Many people thought Richard had ordered the boys to be killed, and some historians agree. That caused many Yorkists to turn against Richard III.
Richard managed to win against a rebellion by his old friend, the Duke of Buckingham. Henry Tudor, a distant relative of Henry VI who returned to England, became the leader of the rebellions and created a new Lancastrian army. In the Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard III was killed, and his army was defeated. Henry took the throne as King Henry VII, the first king of the House of Tudor.
The Battle of Bosworth Field is often seen as the end of the war. However, there was another great battle two years later, but Henry VII stopped a rebellion and brought peace to the country.
Henry told people that he was bringing the two houses together. Thar made him marry Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York. He also started the Tudor rose symbol, with a red rose and white rose joined together.
Matchbook
A matchbook is a small cardboard container that holds a quantity of matches inside and has a coarse striking surface on the exterior.
A flap on the front is lifted to access the matches, which are attached to the interior base in a comb-like pattern and must be torn away before use. (In the matchbox, by contrast, the matches are arranged loosely in the interior tray.)
Matchbooks are often covered with advertising logos or various artistic decorations, and they have served as collector's items and free souvenirs.
Friedrich Kellner Diary
The Diary of Friedrich Kellner is a journal written during the Second World War. The author, August Friedrich Kellner, was a justice inspector in the courthouse in Mainz. He was also a political activist for the Social Democratic Party of Germany between 1918 and 1933. After Hitler banned the party, the family moved to Laubach.
When Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland in September 1939, Kellner began his secret diary. He named his diary "Mein Widerstand," which means "My Opposition." In the diary, he wrote down what he saw and heard about what happened in Nazi Germany. He wrote it so that people later would know about it.
The diary has ten volumes, with a total of 861 pages. There are 676 dated entries. Included in the diary are more than 500 newspaper clippings.
The English translation of the diary was published in 2018 by Cambridge University Press under the title, "My Opposition: The Diary of Friedrich Kellner -- A German against the Third Reich".