Wars of the Roses: What happened and how did it start?

The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought between 1455 and 1487 for the English throne. The battles were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, those of Lancaster and York.

The name Wars of the Roses comes from the badges used by the two sides, the red rose for the Lancastrians and the white rose for the Yorkists. At the time, the wars were better known as the Wars of the Cousins as both the Lancastrians and Yorkists descended from the same family.

The battles have found themselves back in the spotlight thanks to the bestselling book series A Fire of Wind and Ice, on which the hit television show Game of Thrones is based. The author, George RR Martin, says that though his tale of medieval intrigue and war draws from a range of historical sources, it clings "closest" to the Wars of the Roses, reports the Guardian.

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How did they start?

"The Wars of the Roses might never have happened if not for the tenuous state of English politics in the 1450s," says History.com. With the realm still reeling from its defeat in the last phase of the Hundred Years' War with France, the country dived into an economic recession that sent legions of unemployed soldiers flooding into the countryside.

The Lancastrian King Henry VI was deemed unable to rule due to a mental health problem that often rendered him "catatonic". The issue came to a head when Richard, Duke of York was made Protector of the Realm during one of Henry's episodes but was reluctant to step down once the king had recovered. This set the two factions on a path for war that culminated in 1455's Battle of St Albans, the first armed confrontation between York and Lancaster-aligned armies.

How many battles were there?

In total there were 17 battles between 1455 and 1487, with each side claiming the throne on more than one occasion. In fact, the wars resulted in five different rulers in the span of only 25 years, three of whom were killed or executed by their rivals, says historian Matthew Lewis.

The wars also saw one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil, when, in March 1461, the Yorkist forces of Edward IV met Margaret of Anjou's Lancastrians near the village of Towton. Margaret was the Lancasters' most skilled strategist, having taken on the role following her husband Henry VI's ill health. The battle involved up to 80,000 men. Nearly half were estimated to have become casualties before the Yorkists won.

How did it end?

The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, who went on to become Henry VII after defeating the last Yorkist king, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Upon assuming the throne, Henry married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heiress of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two factions. Their son became the famed Tudor king Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth, became one of the most well-known monarchs.