House of Lancaster

The Wars of the Roses

John Jenkins Design

THE LANCASTRIAN ARMY

 

 

Having not fought in any battles, Henry Tudor was not regarded as much of a warrior. Chroniclers of the period found him more interested in commerce and finance. Having spent the first fourteen years of his life in Wales and the next fourteen in Brittany and France, Henry Tudor was therefore unfamiliar with the arts of war and a stranger to the land he was trying to conquer. But he was known as being strong and decisive.

Henry recruited several experienced veterans on whom he could rely for military advice and the command of his armies, most notably John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, who was Henry's principal military commander.