Wars of the RosesThe Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars fought between sup
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (whose heraldic symbols were the “red” and the “white” rose, respectively) for the throne of England. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1485, although there was related fighting both before and after this period. The final victory went to a relatively remote Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, who defeated the last Yorkist king Richard III and married Edaward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York to unite the two houses. The House of Tudor subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years. With their heavy casualties among the nobility, the wars are thought to have continued the changes in feudal English society caused by the effects of the Black Death, including a weakening of the feudal power of the nobles and a corresponding strengthening of the merchant classes, and the growth of a strong, centralised monarchy under the Tudors. It heralded the end of the medieval period in England and the movement towards the Renaissance. Pictured: Painting by Henry Payne in 1908 of the Temple Garden scene in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part One. Source 1 | 2 -- source link
#england#history