The Late Medieval period starts with the crowning of Henry II (1154-89) as the king of England.  Henry II was the son of Queen Maud and Geoffrey of Anjou.  Henry II razed many of the castles that had sprung up during the anarchy of the civil war before his reign.  The reign of Henry II was also marked by his attempts to gain state control over the church, which had extended its influence during the civil war.

During the Late medieval period the church was very powerful in England and across Europe.  There were many crusades during this period where European Christians partook in crusades to reclaim the holy land.  The crusades were very costly and took money and also the leaders of the countries away for long periods of time.

There were also problems in England.  There were wars with Wales and Scotland and internal wars amongst the barons and kings of England.  There was fighting in France which became known as the ‘Hundred Years War’.

It was during the Late Medieval period that there were out breaks of plague.  It is thought that it originated in the Far East and was bought to Europe on a trading ship.  It arrived in England sometime around 1348.  The plague killed 30-40% of the entire population and gave extremely high death rates in isolated communities like monasteries.  It is estimated that around two thirds of the clergy died within a year.

The plague subsided by 1350, but there were further out breaks in 1361-62, 1369, 1379-83 and 1389-93.  There were also later breakouts in the 15th century.  It was not until the 17th century that the end to serious plague outbreaks was no more.

The Late Medieval period starts to come to the end with ‘The War of the Roses’ and The Princes in the Tower’.  The king Henry VI had bouts of madness and during this time the country was ruled by reagents.  The reagents did not do well in the Hundred Years War and England lost all of her possessions in France apart from Calais.  Anarchy reigned in England and nobles gathered their own armies and battled for supremacy.  The 30 year war, called ‘The War of the Roses’ was fought between the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose).  The war decimated both houses in their struggles to claim the throne.  Henry IV abdicated in 1461 and the ruler became Edward IV of the house of York.  When Edward died it was Richard, the duke of Gloucester who acted as reagent to Edward V, who was only 12 at the time.

Richard had Edward V and his younger brother put in the tower of London under the pretence of it being for their own protection.  Richard had ‘The Princes in the Tower’ declared illegitimate.  He then had himself declared king, but things came apart with the disappearance of the princes and the rumour that he had ordered their murders.  Whether Richard had the princes killed is open to debate.  In the 17th century workmen found the bones of two boys which may have been the remains of the missing princes.  It is possible that the Princes were killed by Henry the earl of Richmond, who also claimed the throne.

It all came to the ‘Battle of Bosworth Field’.  Here Henry defeated Richard and was crowned King.  This marked the end to the ‘War of the Roses’ and the crown had passed from the Plantagenet line to the new House of Tudor.