The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the Constitution in England, c. 1437-1509 (review)

124 Reviews similar metaphors, Canning's characterization of the middle ages as a seedtime (p. 187) recalling Ullmann's reiterated understanding of the period as soil or ground from which later periods would emerge (History, p. 227f). But w e m a y take this as providing additional reason for looking on the middle ages as having being an extraordinarily fertile period in the history of Europe, in ways this deeply impressive book helps us understand more clearly than ever before. John Moorhead Department of History University of Queensland Carpenter, Christine, The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the Constitution i England, c. 1437-1509 (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks), Cambridge University Press, 1997; cloth; pp. xv, 293; R.R.P AUS$95.00. Christine Carpenter's The Wars of the Roses offers an excellent overview politics of the fifteenth century. Her book combines a synthesis of previous work on this century and a reinterpretation of the period as a whole, and will undoubtedly become a central text in fifteenth-century studies. Carpenter examines the politics of fifteenth-century England, taking politics in the widest sense of the distribution of power in society. She begins with an overview of the system of government, describing the importance of the gentry as landowners in the counties, the role of the nobility in interceding between the king and the county powers, and the central authority of the king. These relations of power, what Carpenter calls the constitution of England at this time, were the context in which the Wars of the Roses were played out and Carpenter is right to emphasise them. The preliminary chapters which describe these power relations provide the background for the interpretations of particular reigns which come later in the book. The second half of The Wars of the Roses focusses on the details of court politics, proceeding chronologically through the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII. The turbulent political events of these years are thus set in the context of late-medieval frameworks of political thought. Carpenter offers both an outline of court politics during the years of conflict and a broader interpretation of power relations between the king, nobility and gentry in the fifteenth century. As the title suggests, the constitution and politics of England are as much under consideration as the details of the wars themselves. This reflective approach allows Carpenter to review existing historiography and to offer also a new interpretation of the changing balance of power between the monarchy and the nobility at this time. To give a single example, Carpenter evaluates the existing interpretations of Edward IV, noting that the search for causes for the downfall of Edward V Reviews 125 has meant that historians have looked at Edward IV's reign 'though the wrong end of the telescope' (p. 203). She argues that Edward IV has for this reason been read as either too weak (letting the nobles run out of control) or too strong (consolidating his power into too small a group) and she instead offers a new interpretation of his reign, one which takes into account the role of the nobility as intermediaries between the king and the counties. Again, Carpenter's analytical approach allows her to make sense of overall changes in the division of power between the king and the nobility between 1437 and 1509. She argues that there was a fundamental shift in the structure of power, with the gentry gaining readier access to the kings and with the nobility becoming less necessary as intermediaries between the counties and Westminster. She is thus able to examine the use of central authority in the reign of Henry VII not as evidence of his modernity but as a result of the changing balance of power in the counties. Her analysis of both court politics and the broader sphere of politics means that she is able to develop a major reinterpretation of existing readings of Edward IV, Henry VIII and the transition to the modern state. Carpenter develops a subtle interpretation of the Wars of the Roses and her approach presupposes a sophisticated readership. The audience is expected to have a detailed knowledge of the existing accounts...