THE WAR OF THE ROSES

• The War of the Roses was a dynastic struggle

between the rival houses of Lancaster and
York.
• Each house used a rose as its symbol:
• Lancaster = Red rose
• York = White rose

• The war lasted sporadically from 1455 to

1487 as different claimants to the throne
aimed to usurp one another.
THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER
 TIMELINE
Antecedents of the War of the Roses
•1399 – Plantagenet King Richard II, confiscated Lancaster’s ancestral lands
-Henry of Lancaster, Richard’s cousin, deposed and killed king Richard II
and assumed the crown as Henry IV. Lancastrian dynasty started.
•1413 – Henry V succeeded his father. Successful reign, he also became King of France
•1422 – Henry V died of dysentery. His untimely death was thought to be the real starting point of the War of
the Roses as he left his nine –month son as the sole heir to the throne. House
•1422-1450 – Henry VI reign:
- Reign dominated by nobility Of
-Weak minded
Lancaster
-Corrupt and incompetent administration
-He lost France in the 100 Years War
-He let $ went down the drain due to the war with France and due to the King and Queen’s luxurious lives
 TIMELINE
Yorkist
• 1450 – Henry VI declined into madness, hence, the Yorkist challenged the crown and Richard,
Protectorate
Duke of York, was declared Lord Protector. 2 years later, Richard was killed in a battle against
the Lancastrians leaving his son Edward as Lord Protector and future King (Edward IV)
• 1461- Edward IV was declared King.
• Queen Margaret (Margaret of Anjou’s, Henry VI’s wife) marched on London but people closed its gates
to her. After a battle in Yorkshire, Edward IV was declared King, Lancastrians were defeated. The
Yorkist could succeed to the throne not because they had a better claim, but because King Henry VI was
unpopular, weak, and unsuccessful. House
• 1471 – Henry VI and his son died: His son was killed in battle and he died few weeks after that because
of “pure displeasure and melancholy”, they said. But it’s much more likely that he was murdered in the Of
Tower of London.
York
• 1461-1483 – Edward IV’s successful reign. He restored the prestige of monarchy after Henry VI’s
disaster. Financially successful, he appointed professionals (lawyers, merchants) to sensitive positions
instead of barons or favourites. His council included knights, gentlemen, attorneys, not just landed
magnates.
 TIMELINE
• 1483 – Edward IV died suddenly: His 12-year son, Edward, became King Edward V.
• His realm was to be administered by a Regency Council as it happened with all the kings who
weren’t old enough to rule on their own. His council was dominated by his uncles; the most
prominent was Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Edward IV’s brother)
• Richard accussed Edward IV (famous for his sexual escapades) of having promised to marry
another woman before Elizabeth Woodville which invalidated the marriage, fact that left House
Richard, duke of Gloucester as the sole heir to the throne.
Of
• Parliament declared the late King’s marriage invalid (probably, fearing the consequences of
another period ruled by a small boy and his council). York
• 1483 – Richard, Duk of Gloucester was crowned as Richard III
•The princes Edward and Richard were sent to the Tower of London, and steadily disappeared from public
view. Somehow they died but their deaths remain one of the great murder mysteries in English history. Richard
III remains te most likely suspect but there is no clear evidence that can prove so.
 TIMELINE
• Richard III’s ruthless ascent to the throne divided the Yorkist
affinity.
• Subsequent Tudor propaganda pictured him as a hunchbacked
House
monster but historians say that he just had one shoulder slightly
Of higher than the other, no more than that.

York • Shakespeare would picture him as hunchbacked to show the evil

nature he was famous for.
 THE BATTLE OF
BOSWORTH FIELD
The War of the Roses ended at the Battle of
Bosworth Field where the Lancastrian
claimant, Henry Tudor (future King Henry
VII), defeated the last Yorkist king, Richard
III.

House of Tudor started

 SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III
• In William Shakespeare’s Richard III,
Shakespeare portrays Richard as a
hunchbacked, cowardly, and evil king.
• Shakespeare was writing the play during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Tudor monarch.
• The play culminates in Richard’s death on
Bosworth Field with the (in)famous lines:
King Richard:
A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!
 THE BATTLE OF BOSWORTH FIELD

Henry Tudor (Henry VII) Richard III