Wars of the Roses

English baronial wars of the 15th century during which the rival houses of York and Lancaster struggled for supremacy. The name, derived from the supposed selection of roses as badges, the adherents of York wearing the white roses, those of Lancaster red, is probably a later romantic attribution. The wars had their beginning in the reign of Henry VI and at least their precipitating cause in the character of the King, subject as he was to recurring fits of insanity and dominated by the Beauforts and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, who, together, formed the core of the Lancastrian party.

Henry was the grandson of Henry IV, who had deposed Richard II and a great-grandson of John of Gaunt, third son of Edward III. A better claim to the throne was that of Richard of York, a descendant of both the second and fifth sons of Edward III, who until the birth of Prince Edward in 1453, was the King's heir presumptive. That his claim continued to be pressed and received support after that date was due principally to the weakness of the King and the incapacity of the Lancastrian government both at home and abroad. From 1453 to 1454, while the King was suffering from insanity, Richard of York was protector, but when the King recovered Richard's opponents were soon back in office. The first episode of the war was, therefore, the subsequent armed demand of the Yorkist lords, headed by the Neville family, the earls of Salisbury and Warwick, that the Lancastrians be removed from the King's council. His refusal led to the battle of St Albans, on 22 May 1455, where the Yorkists were victorious and the King became their prisoner. Richard of York was again protector from 1445 to 1446, was again dismissed when the King recovered his sanity, but there was relative peace until 1459 when the Yorkists again defeated the King's forces at Blore Hill on 23 September. This was reversed at Ludlow and Yorkist leaders were forced to flee abroad.

In 1460 Warwick landed in England, entered London, won an important victory, and captured the King again at Northampton. After a brief period of negotiation, trouble broke out once more. Richard was defeated and killed at Wakefield on 30 December 1460 and Warwick defeated at the second battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461. But York's son, Edward Earl of March, had won the battle of Mortimer's Cross on 2 February 1461; he now joined Warwick and marched to London where he was proclaimed king as Edward IV, following up his victory with a decisive victory at Towton on 29 March. After three years of desultory fighting, Queen Margaret was forced to flee to France, the Lancastrian forces having been defeated at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham (25 April and 8 May 1464).

Edward reigned peacefully for a few years, until in 1470, Warwick turned against him, together with much of the Neville faction, and he (Edward) was forced to flee to France. There he made his peace with Queen Margaret and the following year invaded England and briefly restored Henry IV to the throne. Edward took refuge in Burgundy, whence he returned with an army which defeated and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471, a victory he followed up with the defeat of Queen Margaret at the battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, capturing the Queen and killing her son, Edward. For some years after peace reigned, with the Yorkists supreme. After Edward IV's death in 1483, his brother Richard, appointed regent to the young Edward V, declared him and his younger brother illegitimate and seized the throne as Richard III. Soon Richard's quarrels with the most powerful of the barons and growing popular suspicion resulting from the disappearance of his two nephews gave new hope to the Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, son of Margaret Beaufort. The final struggle in the Wars of the Roses thus took place at the battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Richard was killed and Henry Tudor became king as Henry VII, uniting the houses of York and Lancaster by his marriage with Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV.

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