Wars of the Roses
dynastic civil war in England from 1455 to 1487 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) were a series of civil wars fought over the throne of England between supporters of the House of Lancaster, the Lancastrians, and supporters of the House of York, the Yorkists. Both houses were branches of the Plantagenet royal house and were related through King Edward III.
Wars of the Roses | |||||||
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Framed print after 1908 painting by Henry Payne of a scene from Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 1, where supporters of the rival factions pick either red or white roses | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
House of Lancaster Kingdom of Scotland Kingdom of France |
Supported by: Duchy of Burgundy | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Henry VI Baron Willoughby |
Edward IV # Viscount Lovell |
The wars began for several reasons, and historians have debated the one that was most important. King Henry VI was seen as a poor ruler by many of his people because of his lack of interest in politics and his mental illness (his French queen, Margaret of Anjou, often made key decisions instead). Also, England's defeat in the Hundred Years' War in France, economic problems after the war and problems with the feudal system of government were other causes.
The name of the Wars of the Roses, which was first used only in the 19th century, comes from the white rose symbol for the House of York and the red rose symbol for the House of Lancaster. However, the red rose symbol was not used until after the wars had ended, and most soldiers fought under the symbol of their local nobleman. At the time, they were called the "Civil Wars". The houses were named after the cities of Lancaster and York, but neither city played a big role during the war, and both houses owned land all over England and Wales.