The name given by later historians to the series of civil wars fought between the families of Lancaster and York for control of the English throne from 1455 to 1485. The label came from the emblems of the two belligerent houses, the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.
The war was precipitated originally by the total inability of Henry VI (Lancaster) to rule and the genuine concerns of different parties for the welfare of the country. It ended up with his overthrow and, eventually, the establishment of the Tudor dynasty by Henry VII on the throne of England, with the reigns of Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III in between. Notable battles of the war include:
22 May 1455 - Battle of St Albans.
23 Sept 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath.
13 Oct 1459 - Battle of Ludlow Bridge.
10 July 1460 - Battle of Northampton.
30 Dec 1460 - Battle of Wakefield.
2 Feb 1461 - Battle of Mortimer's Cross.
17 Feb 1461 - Second Battle of St Albans.
28 Mar 1461 - Battle of Ferrybridge.
29 Mar 1461 - Battle of Towton.
25 Apr 1464 - Battle of Hedgeley Moor.
15 May 1464 - Battle of Hexham.
26 Jul 1469 - Battle of Edgcote.
12 Mar 1470 - Battle of Empingham.
14 Apr 1471 - Battle of Barnet.
4 May 1471 - Battle of Tewskesbury.
22 Aug 1485 - Battle of Bosworth
The fact that the Wars of the Roses became a popular and visible subject of the English cultural consciousness is largely due to the works of William Shakespeare who wrote during Elizabethan times.
Further Reading:
Peter Ackroyd, The History of England, II: Tudors. London: Pan, 2013.
Dan Jones, The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors. London: Faber & Faber, 2014.
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