A few days ago ended the civil war, which intermittently faced the members and supporters of the House of Lancaster against the House of York between 1455 and 1487, after the English were expelled from France. This was developed in England on the occasion of the succession to the throne between these two partisans. It received the name of the War between the Two Roses in reference to the roses that identified both contenders, the Lacncaster a red rose and the York a white rose. It was also called War between Cousins.
In the course of the Hundred Years’ War, the Plantagenet dynasty lost the support of the English people due to the defeats suffered by Richard IV against the knight Duguesclin. This favored the arrival of the family of Lancaster to the throne of England, whose first representative was Henry IV. After the war in France, and due to new military failures and loss of territories, the popular discontent turned against the Lancaster and his descendant Henry Vl (1422-1471).
As this last monarch suffered from periods of mental imbalance, he took over as regent his wife Queen Margaret of Anjou, of French origin. As the representatives of the York family objected, there were several disturbances, and the government remained in the hands of regents until the Parliament granted the title of “protector and defender of the kingdom” to Duke Richard of York. As the Lancasters opposed this appointment, there was a civil war that lasted thirty years, The War between the Two Roses.
This war was characterized by its extreme cruelty. It began the 22 of May in 1455 , when Ricardo, the Duke of York, confronted Enrique Vl, of the Lancaster house. Being the loser of Lancaster’s house, Ricardo defeated her again at the Battle of Northampton. The army of York, directed by Ricardo, helped by the treason between the leaders Lancaster, managed to capture to the king Enrique I, taking it prisoner to London. Ricardo was recognized king, but shortly after was killed in the battle of Wakefield, in December 1460. Ricardo was succeeded by his son Eduardo who proclaimed himself sovereign as Edward IV (1461-1483), ruling with great energy. Then the brother of the latter, Ricardo III, who committed numerous crimes and abuses, reason why the nobility supported Enrique Tudor, who defeated and killed the despot at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
The War of the Two Roses was won by Enrique Tudor, who was crowned as Henry VII (descendant of the Lancaster), initiating the Tudor dynasty. The new monarch, has put an end to the dynastic problems by marrying Isabel of York, daughter of Edward IV.