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Essay War of the Roses A level
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3 essays for OCR A level war of the roses unit 5 and 2 others. A star Example essay, use as an example to get grade A/A*.
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‘Using these sources in their historical context, assess the view that theoutbreak of hostilities was caused by the rivalry of York and Somerset.
The years leading up to the Battle of St Albans was full of unrest in Britain in 1455, highlighted by
two key individuals: Richard, Duke of York, and the Duke of Somerset. Source B supports the view
that the outbreak of the hostilities was caused by the rivalry between York and Somerset. However,
this view is contradicted by source A, C and D which challenges the idea of the conflict being caused
merely because of the feud between the duke of York and Somerset.
Source B was written by an Italian Historian living in England during the early Tudor times. The
source is more likely to be reliable as it was written during the post-war period between 1507 and
1513, so the writer must have experienced the events that had initially led to the conflicts being
caused. ‘He thought nothing better suited to his purpose than to stir up hatred against the duke of
somerset’ supports the view that the outbreak of the hostilities was caused by York as the quote is
clearly presenting to us that York had competition against Somerset. Moreover, the historian is
giving a more radicalised viewpoint, as we can interpret that the source is more of an opinion then it
is of the actual incident, and it is clear that the historian is favouring somerset as they are trying to
make it appear that York was the only one who was stirring up hatred. However, it is also arguable
that the reason for the outbreak to even occur was simply because the duke of York was trying to
claim the throne. This is shown through ‘he had conceived an outrageous lust for the crown’ and this
reason is quite reliable as the source even states how Richard, duke of York was an heir to the
throne as ‘he had descended on his mother’s side’.
Source A was reported by a monastic chronicler in the late 1450s and it looks back at the causes of
the civil war. The reason to why it may have been written is to provide a record of events that
eventually led to the outbreak. ‘Made him to stink in the king’s nostrils’ is showing that there was
open rivalry between the king and the duke of York, because of the reason that the duke of York
‘was striving to gain the kingdom into his hands’. Although this source, may confirm that the
outbreak of the hostilities was not caused by the rivalry between York and Somerset, it has a few
reliability issues. The reason for this is because of the language used in the source, which is
suggesting that the writer may be favouring York as they state that there are certain people that are
trying to sabotage York’s reputation, whilst also trying to turn the king against him by accusing York
of treason. Through assumption, one of the individuals that are trying to create divisions between
the king and York, could possibly be Somerset, because of the pre-event when York actually accused
Somerset of treason and locked him in the tower.
Source C is a contemporary chronicle, written by a clergyman in 1462. This means that the sources
reliability is enhanced because a clergyman is a male minister or a religious leader, usually in
Christianity, so it is more likely that the sources description is true. The source is describing the duke
of York as protectorate, during the king’s mental illness. ‘York governed the entire kingdom of
England well and honestly for a whole year and miraculously pacified all rebels’ is demonstrating
that York was a better governor of the land then king Henry VI actually was. However, is it arguable
that the source cannot be trusted completely because of the author favouring yet again York and the
belief that Somerset was intending to destroy him, this can be proved in the source through
‘Somerset was conspiring to destroy York’ It even states in the source that the author is writing from
a Yorkist viewpoint. This is supporting the view that the outbreak of the conflict was caused because
of the rivalry between York and Somerset.
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