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Queen Margaret of Anjou (March 23, 1430 – August 25, 1482) was the wife of Henry VI and a prominent figure in the War of the Roses. But she was no bit part player; Margaret had grown up with powerful women who knew how to wield real political power. So when Henry descended into bouts of mental illness, she took a leading political role, determined to secure the throne for their son, Edward of Westminster. This brought her into direct conflict with Richard, Duke of York, whose ambitions for the crown ignited the Wars of the Roses. Margaret proved a fierce and determined leader, personally commanding forces, negotiating alliances abroad, and earning a reputation for courage and ruthlessness. She was central to major battles such as Wakefield, where York was slain, and the second Battle of St Albans, where she recaptured Henry, but the Lancastrians were crushed at Towton in 1461, forcing her into exile. She allied with Warwick after his break with Edward IV, sealing the pact by marrying her son to Warwick’s daughter Anne Neville, and briefly restored Henry VI to the throne in 1470, but her cause collapsed after Warwick’s death and the Lancastrian defeats at Barnet and particularly at Tewkesbury in 1471, where her son was killed. Broken by her son’s death and her husband’s murder soon after, Margaret was captured and held in England before being ransomed by her cousin Louis XI of France in 1475. She spent her last years impoverished in Anjou, dying at the age of 52. She left behind letters that reveal her as an active intercessor in governance, and her turbulent life inspired William Shakespeare, who made her one of his most vivid and enduring characters in the history plays, depicting her as the “she-wolf of France” and prophetess of Lancaster’s downfall. This is one of a number of streets laid out in the mid-19thCentury commemorating the Battle of Barnet during the War of the Roses.
