Actually, seems the long and short of it is that two branches of the royal house of Plantagenet, Lancaster and York, fought in a series of dynastic wars competing for the thrown. There Heraldic badges symbols were roses associated with, Lancaster – white and York – red. Several episodes between 1455 and 1485 were fought – and resulted in social and financial troubles. The victory went to a remote Lancastrian, Henry Tudor. The House of Tudor ruled England and Wales from August 22, 1485 until March 24, 1603. What happened was Henry of Bolingbroke had established the House of Lancaster on the throne in 1399, when he died his cousin Richard II was crowned as Henry IV. Then, Bolingbroke’s son Henry V maintained the family’s hold on the crown, but when Henry V dies in 1422, his heir was the infant Henry VI. The Lancastrian claim to the throne descended from John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of York, who could claim descent from Edward’s second and fourth surviving sons, Lionel of Antwerp and Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York.. He held several important offices of state and quarreled with prominent Lancastrians at court and with Henry VI’s queen, Margaret Anjou. So basically was a big dispute as to who had claim to the thrown after the death of King Henry V and the first formal battle occurred in 1455 at the Battle of St. Albans between supporters of York and Lancaster. Very interesting read.
1. Wars of the Roses – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses
Submitted by Karen E.
billericabillericay 