The Wars of the Roses ended Plantagenet rule and established the Tudor dynasty that governed England until 1603.
Key Facts
- Duration
- 1455 to 1487
- Rival houses
- House of Lancaster vs House of York
- Decisive battle
- Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485
- Tudor dynasty rule ended
- 1603
- First battle
- First Battle of St Albans, 1455
- Concluding battle
- Battle of Stoke Field, 1487
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Socio-economic strains from the Hundred Years' War and bastard feudalism under powerful noble duchies destabilised England. The mental instability of the Lancastrian King Henry VI revived his cousin Richard, Duke of York's claim to the throne, prompting armed confrontation between the Houses of Lancaster and York, both cadet branches of the Plantagenet dynasty.
A series of battles and campaigns fought from 1455 to 1487 for control of the English throne. Key engagements included the Battle of Towton, the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, and the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where Henry Tudor defeated and killed Richard III. The conflict saw multiple changes of rule and the extinction of Lancaster's male line by 1471.
Henry Tudor became King Henry VII and united the warring houses by marrying Elizabeth of York, founding the Tudor dynasty. The remaining Yorkist opposition was crushed at Stoke Field in 1487. The Tudor monarchy subsequently ruled England until 1603, overseeing the close of the medieval period and a significant consolidation of royal power.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, Henry Tudor (Henry VII).
Side B
1 belligerent
Richard, Duke of York, Edward IV, Richard III.