Editing Kenilworth Castle (section)

===15th century===
[[File:Model of Kenilworth Castle in 1575-80 trimmed.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|A reconstruction of Kenilworth Castle, as it would have appeared around 1575–80]]
Many castles, especially royal castles, were left to decay in the 15th century; Kenilworth, however, continued to be used as a centre of choice, forming a late medieval "palace fortress".<ref>Pounds, p.256–7.</ref> [[King Henry IV of England|Henry IV]], John of Gaunt's son, returned Kenilworth to royal ownership when he took the throne in 1399 and made extensive use of the castle.<ref name="Pettifer, p.257."/> [[King Henry V of England|Henry V]] also used Kenilworth extensively, but preferred to stay in the Pleasance, the mock castle he had built on the other side of the Great Mere.<ref name="Pettifer, p.257."/> According to the contemporary chronicler [[John Strecche]], who lived at the neighbouring [[St Mary's Abbey, Kenilworth|Kenilworth Priory]], the French openly mocked Henry in 1414 by sending him a gift of [[tennis ball]]s at Kenilworth.<ref name=WalsinghamPreestClarkP399>Walsingham, Preest and Clark, p.399.</ref> The French aim was to imply a lack of martial prowess; according to Strecche, the gift spurred Henry's decision to fight the [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt campaign]]. The account was used by [[Shakespeare]] as the basis for a scene in his play ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]''.<ref name=WalsinghamPreestClarkP399/>

English castles, including Kenilworth, did not play a decisive role during the [[Wars of the Roses]] (1455–85), which were fought primarily in the form of pitched battles between the rival factions of the [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrians]] and the [[Yorkists]].<ref>Pounds, p.249.</ref> With the mental collapse of [[King Henry VI]], [[Margaret of Anjou|Queen Margaret]] used the Duchy of Lancaster lands in the Midlands, including Kenilworth, as one of her key bases of military support.<ref>Carpenter 1997, p.142.</ref> Margaret removed Henry from London in 1456 for his own safety and until 1461, Henry's court divided almost all its time among Kenilworth, [[Leicester Castle|Leicester]] and [[Tutbury Castle]] for the purposes of protection.<ref>Emery 2000, p.200.</ref> Kenilworth remained an important Lancastrian stronghold for the rest of the war, often acting as a military balance to the nearby castle of [[Warwick Castle|Warwick]]. With the victory of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] at [[Battle of Bosworth Field|Bosworth]], Kenilworth again received royal attention; Henry visited frequently and had a [[Real tennis|tennis court]] constructed at the castle for his use.<ref name="Morris 2010, p.45."/> His son, [[Henry VIII]], decided that Kenilworth should be maintained as a royal castle.<ref name="Morris 2010, p.45."/> He abandoned the Pleasance and had part of the timber construction moved into the base court of the castle.<ref name="Morris 2010, p.45."/>