The thirty year struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne which ended in 1485 when Henry Tudor established the Tudor dynasty as Henry VII. The series of battle was not known as the 'Wars of the Roses' (after the emblems of the protagonists - the white and red roses of the houses of Lancaster and York) until quite some time after they had finished.
The battles such as Barnet, Bosworth Field, St Albans and Towton were conducted very much along medieval lines with armies of between 2,000 and 10,000 men. The struggle was between the rival houses relying on local levies and neither the Yorkists nor the Lancastrians could wage war in the manner of Charles I and parliament during the English Civil War (1640-1645) who could rely on public sentiment large and enthusiastic armies financed by national taxation and supplemented by plunder. Neither side could afford to alienate the nation by devastating the land, imposing heavy taxation to support the warfare or interrupt the trade which generated the country's wealth.
Places were removed from the theatres of battle, particularly the great cities of London, Bristol and Norwich, were ready enough to accept the outcome of each battle and the change of ruler. The social disorder and disruption which thirty years of instability, occassionally erupting into warfare was such that the strong Tudor monarchy which followed was popular for the order which it brought to the kingdom.
The battle was fought on Easter Sunday, 1471. Warwick arrived with a train of artillery and Edwards forces, having arrived in darkness, took up their position so close to Warwick's that they could hear his soldiers talking. Edward ordered his Yorkist soldiers to be very quiete so as not to be discovered and Warwick's cannon shot over their heads throughout the night.
The battlefield was covered by a heavy mist in the morning which, with the smoke from the gunfire, produced a heavy smog and very low visibilty. The two sides fought at close quarters with their swords.
| Rebellion of Lambert Simnel |
Many consider Battle of Stoke (the rebellion of Lambert Simnel) in 1487 as the last battle of the Wars of the Roses.
| 1399.Sep.30+ | | Deposition of Richard II, last Plantagenet king of England, by
Henry, Duke of Lancaster who ruled as Henry IV (-1413)
The imprisoned Richard was murdered, the first casualty of the Wars of the Roses | | BAAAGBXD BAAAGEEV BAAAGCCV BAAAGDJC BAAAGEEW BAAAGEEX BAAAGEEY BAAAGEGA | | 1429 | | Henry VI crowned king of England at Westminster | | BAAAGCRH BAAAGEFR | | 1453 | | England lost all its French possessions excepting Calais | | BAAAGCCR BAAAGCRH BAAAGCRG BAAAGBKY | | 1454.Mar | | King Henry VI lost his reason and Richard of York became Protector | | BAAAGCRH BAAAGCRG | | 1454.Nov | | King Henry VI recovers and Richard of York is deposed as Protector. Queen Margaret of Anjou persuades the king to dissolve Parliament and raise an army tocrush those she percieves as his opponents
One of the contributing factors to the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses | | BAAAGCRH BAAAGCRG | | 1455.May.22 | | Battle of St Albans, the first battle of the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster (supporting Henry VI) and York
Richard of York regained his position as protector and was promised the succession by Henry VI | | BAAAGCRH BAAAGCRG BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ | | 1457.Jan.28 | | Birth of Henry Tudor (the future King Henry VII), earl of
Richmond, to Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort. | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGEIB | | 1459.Sep.23 | | Battle of Blore Heath; Yorkists under the Earl of Salisbury defeat a Lacastrian force | | BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ BAAAGCRH | | 1459.Oct.12 | | Duke of York flees to Ireland as Lancastrians advance on the fortress at Ludlow
The earl of Warwick escapes to Calais | | BAAAGCCR BAAAGCRH | | 1460.Dec.30 | | Battle of Wakefield (Yorkshire); between royalist forces and supporters of the Duke of York | | BAAAGCRH BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ | | 1471.Apr.14 | | Henry VI defeated at the Battle of Barnet and incarcerated in the Tower. The Earl of Warwick slain | | BAAAGCRH BAAAGCRG BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ | | 1483.Apr.09 | | Death of King Edward IV (1461-) at night in Westminster | | BAAAGEFR BAAAGEIV | | 1483.Apr.20 | | Edward IV interred at Windsor
| | | | 1483.May.01 | | Gloucester and Buckingham arrest Earl Rivers, the Kings half-brother Richard Grey, and take custody of Edward V
The Queen may have sort sanctuary at Westminster Abbey with Richard Duke of York
| | BAAAGEFJ BAAAGEFR | | 1483.Jun.22 | | Edward V, Prince of Wales, the uncrowned son of Edward IV denounced as a bastard and illegible to the English throne by the cleric Ralph Shaaat St Paul\\\'s cross on behalf of Gloucester
| | BAAAGBKA BAAAGEHI | | 1483.Oct | | Henry, Earl of Richmond, attempts to invade England but returns to Brittany after Buckingham\\\'s Rebellion fails
| | BAAAGBRG | | 1484 | | Death of Richard IIIs son
Edward, Earl of Warwick, the son of George Duke of Clarence or John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, made have been made Richard IIIs heir | | BAAAGCQF | | 1485 | | Henry VII becomes monarch by
battle establishing the House of Tudor and ending the Wars of the Roses | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBTJ BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ BAAAGEIB | | 1485.Aug.08 | | Henry, Earl of Richmond, (later Henry VII)
landed at Mill Bay in Milford Haven, Pembrokshire, Wales, and started his advance to London
| | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGBKA BAAAGDKN | | 1485.Aug.22 | | Battle of Bosworth Field: Lancastrian Henry, Earl of Richmond, (later Henry VII) defeats and kills Richard III (last of the Plamtagenet Kings) and the Yorkists
John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, flees the battlefield but is captured later | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGCQF BAAAGBRG BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ BAAAGEIB | | 1485.Oct.30 | | Henry VII crowned king of England | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGBRH BAAAGEIB | | 1485.Nov | | Henry VIIs title recognised
by parliament | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBXJ | | 1487.Jun.16 | | Battle of Stoke: Lambert Simnel claiming to be the son of George, Duke of Clarence, gathers support in Ireland, which had favored the Yorkists and lands in the West Country. Henry VII crushes the rebels
Considered by some to be the last battle of the Wars of the Roses | | BAAAGBRG BAAAGBKD BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ |
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