The reign of Henry IV lasted from 1399 to 1413. The hereditary heir to
the Crown on the death of Richard II was a child, Edmund Mortimer, Earl
of March, and he was detained a prisoner at Windsor Castle during the
whole of Henry's reign, and only liberated by Henry V in 1413. There
was at least one fight in Berkshire during the time of Henry IV. In
1400 an attempt was made by some of the nobles to fall on the King
at Windsor, but he was warned in time, and retired to London, and
when the insurgents reached Windsor, they entered the Castle without
opposition, searched for the King, but found he had gone. Meanwhile
he had raised a force in London, and came to attack the insurgent
nobles, who retreated, and a sharp encounter took place at Maidenhead
Bridge. The insurgents retired to Oxford and were eventually defeated.
James I, King of Scotland, was a prisoner at Windsor during most of
the last ten years of his long captivity, which ended by his release
in 1424. His book, The King's Quhair, was written at Windsor, and it
was at Windsor that he fell in love with Jane Beaufort, who afterwards
became his Queen.
Henry VI was born at Windsor in 1421, and became King when about nine
months old. He grew up weak in mind, and during his reign all England
was involved in the Wars of the Roses. Berkshire was during most of
the time held by the Lancastrian party, but in 1460 Newbury was taken
by the Earl of Wiltshire on behalf of the Yorkists. In the next year,
1461, the Duke of York obtained the Crown under the name of Edward IV.
Henry VI held several Parliaments at Reading, and Edward IV also
visited the Abbey, and it is recorded that in 1464 he made the first
public announcement of his marriage with Elizabeth Woodville at a
great Council of the Peers at Reading. The marriage was not popular,
and it was especially disliked by the Nevilles, the most powerful of
whom, Richard Earl of Warwick, subsequently defeated Edward's forces
and restored Henry VI, but Henry's renewed reign lasted only some six
months, for Edward defeated Warwick, who was killed, at the battle
of Barnet in 1471. Warwick and his brother the Marquis of Montagu,
also killed at Barnet, were both buried at Bisham Abbey in Berkshire.
The greater part of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle dates from
the reign of King Edward IV, and he was the first of our kings to
be buried there, 1483. The body of his rival Henry VI was removed to
Windsor from Chertsey Abbey in 1484. The beautiful Rutland Chapel in
St George's Chapel was built by Sir Thomas St Leger in memory of his
wife Ann, sister of Edward IV. St Leger was beheaded by Richard III,
but was buried in the chapel and a brass to himself and his wife
still remains on the wall there.
After the Wars of the Roses peace reigned in Berkshire for many a
long year, and the county no doubt increased in wealth and prospered
generally. A considerable part of the land was in the possession
of the Church, but in the days of King Henry VIII the whole of the
monastic institutions were swept away.
Owing to the dissolution of the monasteries a large part of the land in
Berkshire passed into the hands of the Crown. Some of it was granted
to Oxford colleges and much to private persons.
In 1544 three persons, Testwood, Filmer, and Peerson were burnt at
Windsor as heretics, and in 1556 Julius Palmer, Master of Reading
Grammar School, John Gwin, and Thomas Askew were burnt at the sandpits
near Newbury.
Elizabeth, before her accession in 1558, lived for some three years
at Sir Thomas Hoby's house at Bisham; indeed she was practically a
prisoner under the charge of Sir Thomas and his wife's sisters. When
she came to the throne Elizabeth like her predecessors lived a good
deal at Windsor, and we hear of visits by her to Reading, Englefield
House (Sir F. Walsingham) and other places. It was in her days that the
tragedy took place which made "Cumnor Hall" known all over the world,
though its celebrity is due more to Scott's novel Kenilworth than to
history. The real facts were, however, sufficiently tragic. Amy, the
daughter of Sir John Robsart, married Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards
Earl of Leicester, in 1550. Ten years later she was found dead, at
Cumnor Place, which had been recently purchased by Anthony Forster the
steward of Lord Robert. Foul play was suspected and it was suggested
that Dudley had reasons for wishing to get rid of his wife as she
stood in the way of higher ambitions. There were no "haunted towers
of Cumnor Hall" for Cumnor Place was not a large house. Now only a
few remains of walls are left on the site.
At the beginning of the Civil War Berkshire was generally Royalist,
and the county was the scene of much fighting during the whole war,
an account of which can be found in any History of England. The Earl
of Essex captured Reading after a siege in 1643, and on September
20th of the same year there was a hard-fought battle between Charles
and Essex near Newbury. Lord Falkland, who was on the King's side,
was killed at this battle, and a granite monument to his memory stands
on the high ground south of the town.
A second battle took place near Newbury on October 27th, 1644, when
the Royalists occupied a position near Shaw House between the rivers
Kennet and Lambourn. Earthworks, remains of this fight, may still
be seen at Shaw House. Donnington Castle, near by, held out for the
King until 1646, and Wallingford Castle fell into the hands of the
Parliament in the same year.
On February 8th, 1649, Charles was buried in St George's Chapel at
Windsor Castle.
Since the Civil War there has been only one small fight in Berkshire
and that was in 1688. On December 6th of that year William of Orange
reached Hungerford, and a force of 250 of his men came into conflict
with 600 of James's Irish troops at Reading. Superior discipline
enabled William's men to drive the Irish in confusion through the
streets into the market-place where they attempted to rally, but
being vigorously attacked in front, and fired upon at the same time
by the inhabitants from the windows, they fled with the loss of their
colours and 50 men, the conquerors only sustaining a loss of five.
There is not much to say of the history of the county since that
date, though, owing to the frequent residence of the Sovereign at
Windsor, many an event of the highest importance and interest has
taken place there.