Council of the Houses of York and Lancaster

Matthew Allana

roses@worldmun.org

Matthew Allana is a junior in Quincy House from Los Angeles, CA studying Economics with a secondary in Computer Science. Outside of WorldMUN, Matthew is involved in the Harvard Undergraduate Law Review, Harvard Open Data Project, and Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association. In his free time, Matthew enjoys watching TV at 3.5x speed, solving crossword puzzles, and building model planes.

Topic: Wars of the Roses, 1470

The Wars of the Roses — known at the time as the Civil Wars — were a series of intermittent conflicts fought over the English throne between 1455 and 1487. Pitting two rival factions of the Plantagenet dynasty — the House of Lancaster and the House of York — against each other, these wars altered the English political landscape, reshaped alliances, and generated a profound legacy that continues to shape modern Britain.

Our committee takes place in late 1470, following Henry VI’s return to the throne after nearly a decade of Yorkist rule under Edward IV. An extremely weak monarch, Henry presided over an unstable court of uneasy allies. In an attempt to transcend the petty squabbles that surround him, Henry has called together a council of all the major players in the Civil Wars (the delegates in this committee!), with the ultimate goal of ending the incessant fighting among the English nobility and returning the nation to peace for the first time in decades. Henry has promised safe passage to all the nobles whom he has invited, and they have all accepted his invitation out of respect for the institution of the monarchy, despite the fact that many nobles may not share Henry’s interests. The delegates (English nobles) to this committee (council of the warring houses) have therefore come together with the ostensible purpose of ending the Wars of the Roses, but many may have in mind differing goals that advance their self-interest. Let the intrigue commence!