Fulk FitzWarin at the time of his death in 1197. Whittington Castle lies on the English side of Offa's Dyke, which during the Norman era and before was the border between England and Wales. The site was fortified as a castle by William Peverel in 1138, in support of Empress Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I (1100–1135), in her struggle (known as The Anarchy) for the throne against King Stephen (1135–1154), grandson of William the Conqueror. In the late 1140s the lordship of Whittington, like Oswestry and Overton ceased to be part of England and became part of the Kingdom of
Wars of the Roses reigned for 78 days as Edward V, but was then deposed by his uncle, who became Richard III. The final victory went to a relative and claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, son of Henry VI's half-brother Edmund Earl of Richmond, who defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. After assuming the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth