The Wars of the Roses were an English
civil war between the
House of Lancaster and the
House of York, which was allowed to begin by the
weak rule of
Henry VI. Although the wars used to be seen as decades of endless conflicts, it is now acknowledged that there were only several years of fighting during the period. Most of the people of England remained unaffected during the period.
The Wars of the Roses are so known because of the emblems of the two noble houses principally involved - the red rose of Lancaster, and the white rose of York. They were not contemporaneously called "the Wars of the Roses".
This is more of a metanode than anything else, the details of the conflicts are noded in the bold write-ups below.
It all started with Cade's rebellion, which hilighted the weaknesses of Henry VI to the ambitious Richard Duke of York.
The madness of King Henry VI was the reason this rebellion was allowed to happen. A weak King is never good for the country, and so -
The Battle of St. Albans was the first of the wars, fought in 1455 during a brief period of Henry's sanity.
The Battle of Blore Heath followed in 1459.
In June 1460, the Duke of Warwick and Edward Earl of March landed in Sandwich, England with 2,000 men, having sailed from Calais to launch The Yorkist Invasion.
The Battle of Towton followed in the next year. This was to be the bloodiest battle ever on English soil.
Edward IV's reign began in 1461, and he immediately took action to consolidate his power.
Edward's ill-advised marriage fueled The disaffections of the Duke of Warwick; these would cause him considerable problems.
The Battle of Empingham was Edward's first major challenge in his reign.
King Richard III came to power after The usurpation of Edward IV in 1483.
Henry VII came to power in 1485, following the Battle of Bosworth.
The last battle of the Wars of the Roses was that of Henry VII versus the supporters of Lambert Simnel in 1487, at Stoke.
Perkin Warbeck was the last Yorkist worry for Henry VII, but it ended without major conflict.
However, stupot notes that the Wars of the Roses are still fought every May between the Universities of York and Lancaster: albeit as a weekend of sport.