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Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England
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Historical SummaryMuch of the misery and tumult of the civil war known as the Wars of the Roses was, no doubt, due to the fact that the king was not strong enough or harsh enough to force the great nobles to behave themselves. The piety, simplicity, and kindliness of Henry VI, as described by Blakman, would have been most estimable in a private man but were unsuitable to a king, at that time.
BLAKMAN, De Virtutibus et Miraculis Henrici Sexti, in F. H. Durham, English History from Original Sources, Vol. III, pt. 2, p. 79. World History IV.
THE WARS OF THE ROSES
178. A Contemporary Description of Henry VI
He was like another Job — a simple, upright man, fearing the Lord God above all, and avoiding evil. He never used any one deceitfully, nor spoke falsely to any man. He would never wittingly do any man harm. In church or oratory he never indulged himself by sitting on a seat, or by walking to and fro, as is the manner of worldly men during divine service, but always with his head bare, and his royal limbs seldom erect, but continually making genuflexions before the book, with eyes and hands raised he sought inwardly to repeat the prayers, epistles, and gospels of the mass with the celebrant. Also he would allow no one to enter the church with swords or spears, or to converse there.
Concerning his humility in his gait, raiment, and demeanor, he was wont from a youth to wear broad shoes and boots like a farmer. Also his cloak was long, with a round hood such as a burgess wears, and his tunic reached below his knees, all dove colored, and he avoided anything fanciful.
Once when he was coming through Cripplegate, seeing the quarter of a man set over the gate there, he asked what it might be. And his lords told him that it was the quarter of a traitor who had been false to the king’s Majesty. The king said: "Take it away. I will not that any Christian man be so cruelly used for me." Also four noble gentlemen convicted of treason, and lawfully condemned therefor, he piously released, giving them charter of pardon for their speedy liberation.
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Chicago: "The Wars of the Roses," Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England in Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, ed. Edward Potts Cheyney (1861-1947) (Boston: Ginn, 1935, 1922), 296–297. Original Sources, accessed April 1, 2025, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=CT4Z5MFDMRR1ZDY.
MLA: . "The Wars of the Roses." Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, in Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, edited by Edward Potts Cheyney (1861-1947), Boston, Ginn, 1935, 1922, pp. 296–297. Original Sources. 1 Apr. 2025. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=CT4Z5MFDMRR1ZDY.
Harvard: , 'The Wars of the Roses' in Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England. cited in 1922, Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, ed. , Ginn, 1935, Boston, pp.296–297. Original Sources, retrieved 1 April 2025, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=CT4Z5MFDMRR1ZDY.
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