Portraits of monarchs from the Wars of the Roses in court records

This image, one of the few to depict Henry VI in the plea rolls, shows the notoriously pacifist king in full armour with an upturned sword. This is probably a comment on the civil war brewing in England at the time, in the aftermath of the Battle of Blore Heath.

Political imagery can often be seen in the royal portraits found on the plea rolls from this time.

Alongside a depiction of Henry VI here we find a ragged staff, the heraldic symbol of Richard, earl of Warwick (known as ‘The Kingmaker’). The inclusion of this symbol demonstrates Warwick’s presence as the power behind the throne.

This scene depicts the coronation of Edward IV after the deposition of Henry VI. Again, Warwick’s ragged staff is prominent, perhaps even more so than the image of the king himself, highlighting his ongoing presence at court.

Edward IV is shown walking and pointing in this image. He holds a sceptre and wears a short tunic and a scalloped cloak, with a belt and gloves.

This image of a woman holding a posy is of an unknown individual, but may be intended to depict Elizabeth Woodville, who would secretly marry Edward IV and become queen that year.

The king here is depicted in a full-length portrait, holding a sword in one hand and an orb in the other, in a large decorated letter ‘P’.

The letter ‘P’ here is formed of two men fighting with clubs, an image that would appear again in Henry VIII’s reign on multiple occasions. The king here is a small figure within the letter, while hunting dogs also feature in the imagery.

No contemporary images of Edward V or Richard III appear in the plea rolls, although we do see heraldic imagery and extensive decoration in the rolls from their reigns.

One of the most impressive of these is Richard III’s heraldic device, a boar, from the first year of his reign. It forms a letter ‘P’ that contains the Yorkist device of a sun in splendour.