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• Members of England’s royal family, the Plantagenets, were in conflict in the 1400s.
• The conflict was between two sides of the Plantagenet family - the House of York and the House of Lancaster. Both sides felt that they had a good claim to the throne and that they should rule.
• At the time they were referred to as civil wars. The red rose was associated with the Lancastrians and a white rose with the Yorkists. This conflict became known as the Wars of the Roses after the conflict had finished.
• The Wars of the Roses ended in 1485, following Henry Tudor’s victory over Richard III at Bosworth and his marriage to Elizabeth of York, which united the two families.

The Wars of the Roses was a conflict between two rival sides of the Plantagenet family. Both sides descended from King Edward III. One side of the family was called the House of Lancaster and the other, the House of York.

• The members of the House of Lancaster were descendants of John of Gaunt, who was the Duke of Lancaster and third surviving son of Edward III.
• The members of the House of York descended from Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, who was the fourth son of Edward III.

Both sides of the Plantagenet family claimed they were the rightful heir to the English throne, which led to conflict. This started between Henry VI, from the House of Lancaster and Richard, Duke of York’s dispute over who should be the rightful king of England.

In December 1421, Henry VI became King of England. He was only 9 months old. Until he was old enough to rule on his own, the country was governed by a council of nobles.

England was at war with France during Henry’s reign. In an effort to end the conflict between the two nations, Henry married Margaret of Anjou in 1445. She was the niece of the French king, Charles VII. This plan failed, as Henry was strongly criticised by English nobles for losing land in France that England had previously ruled.

Henry experienced severe mental health problems, which meant he was not able to rule the country on his own. Following a period of poor mental health, powerful English nobles decided that Richard, Duke of York should rule the country as Lord Protector in March 1454. Henry declared he was fit to rule the country again at the end of 1454.

• 1455 - The First Battle of St Albans
• 1460 - The Battle of Wakefield
• 1461 - The Battle of Towton
• 1471 - The Battle of Tewkesbury
• 1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field

In 1455, Henry VI called a meeting of leading nobles in Leicester. This was called a great council.

Richard was not invited. He suspected that Henry VI was planning to punish Richard’s supporters and stop him being a threat to his reign. Richard gathered troops and met the king and his advisers at St Albans. This became known as the First Battle of St Albans, which is considered by many historians to be the first battle of the Wars of the Roses.

Richard’s forces won the battle and he took control of the government, becoming Lord Protector again. He also secured his succession to the throne through the Act of Accord in 1460. This meant that Richard was now in line to become king ahead of Henry VI’s son.

After Richard took control of England, Henry VI went into hiding but he was then captured by noble families who supported Richard. Henry’s wife, Margaret of Anjou, raised her own army by forming an alliance with Scotland and France, to get power back for her husband and secure the throne for her son, Edward.

The First Battle of St Albans can be said to mark the start of a roughly 30-years long conflict over who should control England. On one side was Henry and Margaret’s family – the House of Lancaster. On the other side was Richard's family – the House of York. During the Wars of the Roses several key battles took place.

• In December 1460, the Lancastrian army and Richard’s Yorkist forces fought against each other outside Sandal Castle, near Wakefield.
• Richard of York and his eldest son, Edmund, were killed. Henry VI was restored to power.
• Richard’s other sons (Edward, George and Richard) continued fighting the War of the Roses to try and win the throne for the Yorkists.
• Following the Battle of Wakefield, Yorkists blocked Lancastrians from entering London. The Earl of Warwick, a powerful noble, crowned Edward - who was Richard the Duke of York’s, eldest surviving son - making him King Edward IV of England.

Warwick’s decision to crown Edward as King left England with two kings - Edward IV and Henry VI. This meant there would be further conflict to decide who would be the official King of England.

Edward IV and the Earl of Warwick marched north, and fought the Lancastrian army at Towton, near York in March 1461.

Towton was a victory for Edward IV and the Yorkist army. Some historians have said Towton was the most violent battle ever fought in England, with estimates of over 28,000 deaths. Many leading Lancastrians were killed and Henry VI fled to Scotland with Margaret and their son, Edward.

The Earl of Warwick abandoned his support of King Edward IV in 1470, after he resisted his attempts to form an alliance with France. Some historians also believe Warwick was angry that Edward married someone who was not a noble. Warwick switched sides and formed an alliance with Henry’s wife, Margaret, to put Henry back on the throne.

Warwick had the support of the French king, Louis XI, who provided ships, men and money. Warwick landed in England on the south coast and overwhelmed Edward’s supporters. Edward fled England and travelled to Flanders, which is now part of Belgium in Europe. Henry VI was briefly returned to the throne.

On 4 May 1471 there was a decisive battle for the Yorkists - the Battle of Tewkesbury.

• Edward IV returned to England from Flanders.
• He had gathered an army with support from some English nobles and his brother-in-law, Charles of Burgundy.
• The Lancastrian army was on their way to Wales to join another force when they were cut off by Edward’s army. Rather than escape they decided to fight.
• The Lancastrian forces were pushed back and defeated.
• King Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou’s only son, Edward, was killed on the battlefield.

Margaret was captured and paraded through London where she remained until the French king Louis XI ransomed her in 1475. Following his victory at Tewkesbury, Edward marched to London, arriving on 21 May. Henry VI died that evening. Many historians believe he was most likely killed on Edward’s orders. Edward IV ruled England until his death in 1483.

Edward IV died in 1483 and his son, also called Edward, became King Edward V. He was only twelve years old when he became king. His younger brother, Richard, joined him in the Tower of London to await Edward’s coronation. The two boys' uncle (their father Edward IV’s brother) Richard was Lord Protector for Edward V.

In June 1483, the princes' uncle, Richard announced that, the princes' father, Edward IV had not been legally married to his wife – the princes’ mother. This made the new king, Edward V and his brother Richard illegitimate and therefore meant that Edward should not be the king. The boys’ uncle, Richard, claimed that he was the heir to the throne and was crowned king instead, becoming Richard III. The two young princes disappeared and were never seen again.

Henry Tudor was a Lancastrian and when Richard III became king in 1483, Henry claimed he should be the King of England for these reasons:

• he had the support of both Yorkists and Lancastrians who were all keen to get rid of Richard III
• he was a descendant of Edward III and therefore had a claim to the throne

There were also arguments against Henry’s claim to the throne:

• he was descended through the female line, which meant he wasn’t a direct heir
• Henry’s great-grandfather was illegitimate, which meant he could not have a claim to be a legitimate descendant of a previous monarch

On 22 August 1485, Richard III and Henry Tudor faced each other at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor had the support of many rich and powerful people.

Initially, the powerful Lord Thomas Stanley and his brother, William, were undecided over who to support. The Stanley’s commanded a force of around 5,000 troops at Bosworth, so their decision over which side to support was crucial. The Stanleys waited until the last moment to decide to support Henry over Richard.

Many historians believe the Stanley's support was the deciding factor in the defeat of Richard III. It is believed the Stanleys thought a victory for Henry would help to increase their own wealth and power.

For most of the battle Henry and Richard’s forces fought head-to-head. At a crucial moment Henry’s standard bearer was killed and it looked like Richard might win. However, at this moment the army of Sir William Stanley attacked Richard. Stanley had previously been a supporter of Richard. Richard was killed and his forces fled.

Richard was the last English king to die on the battlefield. When his body was found many years later, it showed that he had eleven wounds that were certainly from the battle. He had received fatal blows to the skull and back along with injuries all over his body.After Richard’s death, Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII.