The Wars of the Roses. (Henry VI, Edward IV, V)

There are few wars in world military history that have almost poetic names. One of them was the War of the Scarlet and White Rose. It took place in England in the second half of the fifteenth century and is dated from 1455 to 1485, and sometimes 1487 is considered the date of its end.

Causes of the conflict and its characteristics

In 1453, the 117-year-old Hundred Years' War between England and France came to an end. King Henry VI Lancaster of England lost it and lost all his possessions in continental Europe except the small town of Calais. His policies were not supported by the aristocracy, the more so as the king was under the influence of the queen and her minions.

The leader of the opposition to the ruling Lancaster dynasty was Duke Richard of York. Like Henry VI, he was a descendant of Edward III, who had ruled England in the mid fourteenth century. Oil was also thrown onto the flames by the soldiers who had been out of work at the end of the Hundred Years' War.

Roses were not always used as a symbol during the war. The Lancastrians fought under a banner with a red dragon, while the Yorks fought under a flag of a white boar.

Armies were made up of members of the feudal aristocracy and their servants. Members of the lower social classes who joined the ranks of the infantry - archers and halberdiers. The cavalry was mainly used for movement and the warriors fought on foot. Both sides used firearms in this war.

Key events and outcome

Richard Yorke won the first battle in 1455, and the English parliament declared him heir, but five years later he died, and in 1461 his son was crowned in London, and went down in history as King Edward IV.

In 1470 he was overthrown by Henry VI and the Earl of Warwick, and the following year, 1471, Edward VI returned to the throne. In the battles of 1471, the Earl of Warwick and Prince Edward of Lancaster died, and soon afterwards Henry VI himself died, which in effect marked the end of this dynasty.

Edward IV ruled England until 1483. On his death, Edward V, who entered English history as one of only three uncrowned kings, inherited the throne. His reign was short. By an act of Parliament, he was deprived of his right to the throne. As a result, the male Plantagenet line Richard III (brother of the late Edward IV) took the throne. In 1485 he was opposed by Henry Tudor. He triumphed at Bosworth and was crowned Henry VII Tudor, launching a new dynasty. Already after his coronation, in 1487, he defeated the Earl of Lincoln, York's last supporter.

Richard III. Henry VII- the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty.

The Tudors are the most famous English royal dynasty, their name remaining at the forefront of European history thanks to films and television. Of course, the Tudors wouldn’t feature in the media without something to grab people’s attention, and the Tudors — Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, only broken by the nine-day rule of Lady Jane Gray — comprise two of England’s most famous monarchs, and three of the most highly regarded, each with plenty of fascinating, sometimes inscrutable, personality.

The Tudors are also important for their actions as much as their reputations. They ruled England during the era when Western Europe moved from the medieval to the early modern, and they instituted changes in government administration, the relationship between crown and people, the image of the monarchy and the way people worshiped. They also oversaw a golden age of English writing and exploration. They represent both a golden age (a term still in use as a recent film about Elizabeth I showed) and an era of infamy, one of the most divisive families in Europe. Origins of the Tudors The history of the Tudors can be traced back to the thirteenth century, but their rise to prominence began in the fifteenth. Owen Tudor, a Welsh landowner, fought in the armies of King Henry V When Henry died, Owen married the widow, Catherine of Valois, and then fought in the service of her son, Henry VI. At this time, England became divided by a struggle for the English throne between two dynasties, Lancastrian and York, called The Wars of the Roses. Owen was one of Henry VI’s Lancastrians; after the battle of Mortimer’s Cross, a Yorkist victory, Owen was executed. Taking the Throne Owen’s son, Edmund, was rewarded for his family’s service by being raised to the Earl of Richmond by Henry VI. Crucially for his later family, Edmund married Margaret Beaufort, great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, a tenuous but vital claim to the throne. Edmund’s only child Henry Tudor led a rebellion against King Richard III and defeated him at Bosworth Field, taking the throne himself as a descendant of Edward III. Henry, now Henry VII, married the heir to the House of York, effectively ending the Wars of the Roses. There would be other rebels, but Henry stayed secure. Henry VII Having defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, gained parliamentary approval and married a member of his rival family, Henry was crowned king. He took part in diplomatic negotiations to secure his position, making agreements at both home and abroad, before instituting a reform of government, increasing royal administrative control and improving the royal finances. He began using the Star Chamber in Westminster Palace to hear cases and appeals to provide people with access to justice. On his death, he left a stable kingdom and a wealthy monarchy. He had fought hard politically to establish himself and his family against the doubters and bring England together behind him. He has to go down as a major success but one totally overshadowed by his son and grandchildren.