WI: Lancastrian royal family captured after Towton

[Tyler96]

So, what if Yorkist forces managed to capture Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou and Edward of Westminster before they fled to Scotland following the battle of Towton?

What does Edward IV do? I presume out-and-out execution would cause too much disquiet (though Edward is still enraged by the death of his family members, and didn't always make the best decisions *cough* Elizabeth Woodville *cough*).

What will Somerset, Exeter et al. do- I mean exile and attainder are likely, but can either stir up much trouble?

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

So, what if Yorkist forces managed to capture Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou and Edward of Westminster before they fled to Scotland following the battle of Towton?

What does Edward IV do? I presume out-and-out execution would cause too much disquiet (though Edward is still enraged by the death of his family members, and didn't always make the best decisions *cough* Elizabeth Woodville *cough*).

What will Somerset, Exeter et al. do- I mean exile and attainder are likely, but can either stir up much trouble?

Well, he got hold of Henry VI and locked him up in the Tower. So, maybe he just sends them all there, and separates Edward of Westminster from his parents a la Louis XVII. Or he includes young Edward in his court, makes him companion to the duke of Gloucester (they're of an age, really). Sort of defanging the snake by forcing Westminster to be serve the new royal family a la Bloody Mary and Princess Elizabeth.

 

[Velasco]

Definitively separating the royal couple (preferably attempting to ransom Margaret of Anjou with her continental relatives), imprisoning Henry VI and castrating Edward Westminster would be the wisest options, IMHO.

Edward IV can then marry the young and fertile Margaret Beaufort, the Lancastrian heiress, ending the War of the Roses, either sending off her young son to a life of religion or neutralizing him as a threat by annexing him to one of the many York girls then available.

 

[JonasResende]

Definitively separating the royal couple (preferably attempting to ransom Margaret of Anjou with her continental relatives), imprisoning Henry VI and castrating Edward Westminster would be the wisest options, IMHO.

Edward IV can then marry the young and fertile Margaret Beaufort, the Lancastrian heiress, ending the War of the Roses, either sending off her young son to a life of religion or neutralizing him as a threat by annexing him to one of the many York girls then available.

Most people think it likely that because of her age and slight frame at the time of Harry Tudor's birth, Maggie B. was rendered barren - since no records survive of her ever conceiving another child. Hardly to be regarded as fertile. Also, she was such a staunch Lancastrian her marrying Edward IV seems unlikely. Also there are still several other male Beauforts surviving - like the 3e & 4e Dukes of Somerset, as well as the Earl of Dorset.

IDK about castrating Edward of Westminster though - although, you can't just shove him in a monastery (same for Harry Tudor), cause every revolt caused by dissatisfaction with EdIV's rule will have him as a figurehead. He's likely to end up in an Earl of Warwick scenario dying under the axe after a length sojourn in the Tower.

 

[Mikestone8]

"Fatal illness" for Edward of Westminster, soon followed by bad attack of "pure displeasure and melancholy" for Henry VI.

 

[JonasResende]

"Fatal illness" for Edward of Westminster, soon followed by bad attack of "pure displeasure and melancholy" for Henry VI.

I think that that is truly the most likely scenario. And EdIV would get a cash injection by ransoming Marguerite to the king of France/Naples.

 

[Velasco]

Most people think it likely that because of her age and slight frame at the time of Harry Tudor's birth, Maggie B. was rendered barren - since no records survive of her ever conceiving another child. Hardly to be regarded as fertile. Also, she was such a staunch Lancastrian her marrying Edward IV seems unlikely. Also there are still several other male Beauforts surviving - like the 3e & 4e Dukes of Somerset, as well as the Earl of Dorset.

IDK about castrating Edward of Westminster though - although, you can't just shove him in a monastery (same for Harry Tudor), cause every revolt caused by dissatisfaction with EdIV's rule will have him as a figurehead. He's likely to end up in an Earl of Warwick scenario dying under the axe after a length sojourn in the Tower.

All her contemporaries would see is a rich young widow and heiress of the blood royal with a healthy male son. Her marriage would not be hers to decide and OTL she was happy to go with the flow when necessary - Cecily Neville was, after all, a Lancastrian scion herself.

The male Beauforts were from a junior line and secondary to Margaret in terms of the succession.

 

[mcdnab]

Margaret Beaufort was not single in 1461 - she married Sir Henry Staford second son of the Duke of Buckingham in 1457 and he did not die until 1471.
She isn't an option in this scenario.
As to the rest - Henry dispatched to his prayers in the tower and his son farmed out to some loyal Yorkist peer or consigned to the tower with his father.
Dignified household arrest for the Queen - as in OTL after the failure of the readaption when she was packed off to her old friend the Duchess of Suffolk (mother in law of Edward IV's sister) after a short stint in the tower.
Imprisoning women for a long period was pretty rare at this period and considered dishonourable (however much of a thorn said woman was) - during the 1450s when the Lancastrian's captured Cecily Duchess of York and her younger children she was treated quite well.

 

[Velasco]

Margaret Beaufort was not single in 1461 - she married Sir Henry Staford second son of the Duke of Buckingham in 1457 and he did not die until 1471.
She isn't an option in this scenario.

Childless unions are easily annulled - especially when the husband is a subject fighting against his rightful King on the losing side. Henry Stafford could otherwise be executed or forced into a religious life if he objected to the said annulment.