The long and bloody feud between the two noble English families, which went down in history under the name "War of the Scarlet and White Rose", brought to the throne a new royal dynasty - the Tudors. The war owes its romantic name to the fact that a white rose was depicted not on the coat of arms of one of the rival parties - the Yorks, but on the coat of arms of their opponents - the Lancaster - scarlet.

In the middle of the 15th century. England has gone through hard times. After being defeated in the Hundred Years War, the English nobility, having lost the opportunity to periodically plunder French lands, plunged into a showdown of internal relations. King Henry VI of Lancaster was unable to stop the feuds of the aristocracy. Sick (Henry suffered from fits of insanity) and weak-willed, he almost completely surrendered the reins of government to the Dukes of Somerset and Suffolk. The signal that foreshadowed the approach of serious turmoil was the uprising of Jack Cad, which broke out in Kent in 1451. The royal troops, however, managed to defeat the rebels, but the anarchy in the country was growing.

White starts but doesn't win.

Richard, Duke of York decided to take advantage of the situation. In 1451 he tried to increase his influence by opposing the king's almighty favorite, the Duke of Somerset. Members of Parliament who supported Richard of York even dared to proclaim him heir to the throne. However, Henry VI unexpectedly showed firmness and dissolved the rebellious parliament.

In 1453 Henry VI lost his mind as a result of a severe shock. This business is an opportunity for Richard to achieve the most important position - protector of the state. But the Disease receded, and the king again pressed the ambitious brother. Not wanting to part with dreams of the throne, Richard began to gather supporters for a decisive battle. Having entered into an alliance with the Earl of Salisbury and Warwick, who had strong armies, in the spring of 1455 he opposed the king. The war of the two roses has begun.

The first battle took place in the small town of St. Albans. The Earl of Warwick with his detachment went through the gardens from the rear and struck at the royal troops. This decided the outcome of the battle. Many of the king's supporters, including Sommerset, died, Henry VI himself was captured.

However, Richard's triumph did not last long. Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, who stood at the head of the Scarlet Rose supporters, managed to remove York from power. Richard rebelled again and defeated the Lancaster at the Battle of Blore Heath (September 23, 1459) and Northampton (July 10, 1460), and in the last battle, King Henry was again captured. But Margaret of Anjou, who remained at large, unexpectedly attacked Richard and defeated his troops at the Battle of Wakefill (December 30, 1460). Richard himself fell on the battlefield, and his head in a paper crown was displayed on the wall of York.

White wins, but not for long.

However, the war was far from over. Upon learning of the death of his father, Richard's son Edward, Earl of March, in the Welsh possessions of York forms a new army. The forces are gathering in the area of ​​Wigmore and Ice. On February 3, 1461, the two armies met in a decisive skirmish at Mortimer Cross (Herefordshire). Supporters of the White Rose have won an undeniable victory. Lancaster left the battlefield, losing 3,000 men.

Meanwhile, Queen Margaret of Anjou, with the only heir of Henry VI, Prince Edward, and a huge army was in a hurry to rescue her husband. Suddenly attacking the enemy, she defeats the White Rose supporter Earl of Warwick in St. Albans in February of the same year and frees her husband.

Inspired by victory, Margaret decides to unite with the army of Jasper Tudor and go to London. Earl March and Warwick are heading for the Allied camp in the Cotswolds. It was only by a miracle that the Scarlet and White managed to avoid a meeting, which would have been extremely undesirable, first of all, for Yorks. Entering London, the Queen's army began to loot and terrorize the townspeople. Eventually riots broke out in the city, and when March and Wovrik approached the capital, the Londoners happily threw open the gates for them. On March 4, 1461, Edward March was proclaimed King Edward IV, and on March 29 he dealt a crushing blow to the Lancaster at the Battle of Towton. The deposed king and his wife are forced to flee to Scotland.

Supported by France, Henry VI still had supporters in the north of England, but they are defeated in 1464, and the king is again imprisoned.

White Wins.

At this point, feuds begin in the White Rose camp. The Earl of Warwick, who leads the Neville clan, teams up with Edward's brother, the Duke of Clarence, and revolts against the newly-ascended king. They defeat the troops of Edward IV, and he himself is captured. But, flattered by tempting promises, Warwick lets the king go. Edward does not keep promises, and enmity between former like-minded people breaks out with new strength... On July 26, 1469, at Edgecote, Warwick defeats the royal army, commanded by the Earl of Pembroke, and executes the latter along with his brother Sir Richard Herbert. Now Warwick, through the mediation of King Louis XI of France, goes over to the Lancaster side, but only a year later he is defeated and dies in the Battle of Barnet.

Margarita of Anjou just on the day of her defeat returns to her homeland from France. The Queen was shocked by the news from London, but her resolve did not leave her. Gathering an army, Margaret leads her to the Welsh border to join the army of Jasper Tudor. But Edward IV overtakes the Scarlet and defeats in the battle at Tewkesbury. Margarita is taken prisoner; the only heir to Henry VI fell on the battlefield; the latter died (or was killed) in captivity in the same year. Edward IV RETURNS TO LONDON AND BEFORE HIS DEATH IN 1483 RELATIVE QUIET RANKS IN THE COUNTRY.

White and scarlet roses on one coat of arms

A new drama unfolds with the death of the king. Edward's brother, Richard Gloucester, joins the power struggle. According to the law, the throne was to pass to the son of the deceased monarch - the young Edward V. Lord Rivers, the queen's brother, was anxious to have the coronation quicker. However, Richard managed to intercept Rivers with the young heir and his younger brother on his way to London. Rivers was beheaded and the princes were taken to the Tower. Later, the uncle apparently ordered the murder of his nephews. He himself takes possession of the crown under the name of Richard III. This act makes him so unpopular that the Lancaster regains hope. Together with the offended Yorks, they unite around Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, a distant relative of the Lancaster, who lived in France.

In August 1485, Henry Tudor landed at Milford Haven, passed unhindered through Waels, and linked up with his supporters. From their combined army, Richard III was defeated at the battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485. The usurper king was killed in this battle. Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty, ascended the English throne. Having married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth, the heiress of York, he combined scarlet and white roses in his coat of arms.

Source - Great Illustrated Encyclopedia

1455 - 1485 (age 30)

Presentation of an inaccurate scene in Temple Garden in Part I of Henry VI, where supporters of warring factions choose red and white roses

War of the Scarlet and White Rose- a series of armed dynastic conflicts between groups of the English nobility in 1455-1485 in the struggle for power between the supporters of the two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty - Lancaster and York. Despite the chronological framework of the conflict (1455-1485) established in the historical literature, some war-related clashes took place both before and after the war. The war ended with the victory of Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster, who founded the dynasty that ruled England and Wales for 117 years. The war brought significant destruction and disaster to the population of England, during the conflict died big number representatives of the English feudal aristocracy.

Causes of the war

The reason for the war was the dissatisfaction of a significant part of English society with the failures in the Hundred Years War and the policy pursued by the wife of King Henry VI, Queen Margaret and her favorites (the king himself was a weak-willed person, who also sometimes fell into madness). The opposition was led by the Duke Richard of York, who first demanded for himself a regency over the incapacitated king, and later - the English crown. The basis for this claim was that Henry VI was the great-grandson of John of Gaunt, the third son of King Edward III, and York was the great-grandson of Lionel, the second son of this king (in the female line, in the male line, he was the grandson of Edmund, the fourth son of Edward III). in addition, Henry VI's grandfather seized the throne in 1399, forcibly forcing King Richard II to abdicate, making the entire Lancaster dynasty questionable.

The fuel element was numerous professional soldiers who, after the defeat in the war with France, were out of work and, being in large quantities within England, posed a serious threat to royal power. War was a familiar craft for these people, so they willingly hired themselves to serve with the great English barons, who significantly replenished their armies at their expense. Thus, the authority and power of the king were significantly undermined by the increased military power of the nobles.

Names and symbols

Lancaster

Yorkies

The title "War of the Roses" was not used during the war. Roses were the hallmarks of the two warring parties. It is not known exactly who used them for the first time. If the White Rose, symbolizing the Mother of God, was used as distinctive sign even the first Duke of York Edmund Langley in the XIV century, then nothing is known about the use of Scarlet Lancastrians before the start of the war. Perhaps it was invented in contrast to the emblem of the enemy. The term came into use in the 19th century, after the publication of the story "Anna Geerstein" by Sir Walter Scott. Scott chose the title based on a fictional scene in Part I of William Shakespeare's Henry VI, where opposing parties choose their different colored roses in Temple Church.

Although roses were sometimes used as symbols during the war, most members used symbols associated with their feudal lords or protectors. For example, Henry's forces in Bosworth fought under the banner of the red dragon, while the York army used Richard III's personal symbol, the white boar. Evidence of the importance of rose symbols rose when King Henry VII, at the end of the war, combined the red and white roses of the factions into a single red and white Tudor Rose.

The main events of the war

The confrontation turned into an open war in 1455, when the Yorkists celebrated victory in the First Battle of St. Albans, shortly after which the English Parliament declared Richard of York to be the protector of the kingdom and heir to Henry IV. However, in 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield, Richard of York was killed. The White Rose Party was led by his son Edward, who was crowned in London in 1461 as Edward VI. In the same year, the Yorkists won victories at Mortimer Cross and at Towton. As a result of the latter, the main forces of the Lancastrians were defeated, and King Henry VI and Queen Margaret fled the country (the king was soon captured and imprisoned in the Tower).

Active fighting resumed in 1470, when the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence (younger brother of Edward IV), who had gone over to the Lancastrian side, returned Henry VI to the throne. Edward IV fled to Burgundy with his other brother, the Duke of Gloucester, from where they returned in 1471. The Duke of Clarence again went over to his brother's side - and the Yorkists won victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury. In the first of these battles, the Earl of Warwick was killed, in the second, Prince Edward, the only son of Henry VI, died - which, together with the death (probably murder) of Henry himself that followed in the Tower of the same year, was the end of the Lancaster dynasty.

Edward IV - the first king of the York dynasty - reigned peacefully until his death, which followed unexpectedly for everyone in 1483, when his son Edward V became king for a short time. However, the royal council declared him illegitimate (the late king was a great female hunter and besides his official wife, he was secretly betrothed to one - or more - women; in addition, Thomas More and Shakespeare mention rumors circulating in society that Edward himself was not the son of the Duke of York, but a simple archer), and Edward IV's brother Richard Gloucester was crowned the same year as Richard III.

His short and dramatic reign was filled with struggles with overt and covert opposition. In this struggle, the king was initially favored by luck, but the number of opponents only increased. In 1485, Lancastrian forces (mostly French mercenaries) led by Henry Tudor (the female great-grandson of John of Gaunt) landed in Wales. In the battle that took place at Bosworth, Richard III was killed, and the crown passed to Henry Tudor, who was crowned as Henry VII - the founder of the Tudor dynasty. In 1487, the Earl of Lincoln (nephew of Richard III) tried to return the crown to the Yorks, but was killed at Stoke Field.

Results of the war

While historians are still debating the true extent of the impact of the conflict on medieval English life There is little doubt that the War of the Roses led to a political upheaval and a shift in the established balance of power. The most obvious outcome was the collapse of the Plantagenet dynasty and its replacement by the new Tudors, who changed England in next years... In the following years, the remnants of the Plantagenet factions, left without direct access to the throne, dispersed to different positions, as the monarchs constantly pitted them against each other.

Karl the Bold

The War of the Scarlet and White Rose actually drew a line under the English Middle Ages. She continued the changes in feudal English society initiated by the Black Death, which included the weakening of the feudal power of the nobility and the strengthening of the position of the merchant class, as well as the rise of a strong, centralized monarchy under the leadership of the Tudor dynasty. The accession of the Tudors in 1485 is considered the beginning of the New Age in English history.

On the other hand, it has also been suggested that the horrific impact of the war was exaggerated by Henry VII in order to extol his achievements in ending it and bringing about peace. Of course, the effect of the war on traders and laboring classes was much less than in the protracted wars in France and elsewhere in Europe, which were filled with mercenaries with a direct interest in continuing the war.

Louis XI

Although there were several long sieges, they were in relatively remote and sparsely populated areas. In highly populated areas that belonged to both factions, opponents, in order to prevent the collapse of the country, sought a quick solution to the conflict in the form of a general battle.

The war was disastrous for the already waning influence of England in France, and by the end of the struggle there were no possessions left except Calais, and ultimately lost during the reign of Mary I. Although later English rulers continued to campaign on the continent, the territory of England did not increased. Various European duchies and kingdoms have played important role in the war, especially the kings of France and the dukes of Burgundy, who helped the Yorks and Lancaster in their fight against each other. By giving them military establishment and financial assistance, as well as offering refuge to the defeated nobility and applicants, they thereby wanted to prevent the emergence of a strong and united England, which would become their adversary.

The post-war period was also a funeral march for the standing baronial armies that fueled the conflict. Henry VII, fearing further struggle, kept the barons under tight control, forbidding them to train, hire, arm, and supply armies so that they could not start a war with each other or the king. As a result, the military power of the barons diminished, and the Tudor court became the place where baronial quarrels were resolved by the will of the monarch.

On the battlefields, scaffolds and in prison casemates, not only the descendants of the Plantagenets perished, but also a significant part of the English lords and chivalry. For example, in the period from 1425 to 1449, before the outbreak of war, many noble lines disappeared, which continued throughout the war from 1450 to 1474. The death in battles of the most ambitious part of the nobility led to a decrease in the desire of its remnants to risk their lives and titles.

Editorial staff:

1) Makeeva Tatiana

2) Stolyarova Alexandra

3) Zhiratkova Ksenia

4) Sergey Stolyarov

year 2012

Confrontation between the Scarlet and White Roses.
In the middle of the 15th century, a difficult time began in the life of Britain. The economic difficulties were compounded by the defeat in the Hundred Years War. In addition, the number of dissatisfied with the king in the lower strata of society multiplied. Which led to the peasant uprising in 1450-1451. These reasons served as a pretext for the start of a bloody internecine war, which lasted another 30 years.
Subsequently, this war was called the War of the Scarlet and White Rose. This name was due to the symbolism of the main opposing forces, originating from one royal dynasty of Plantagenets. The ruling dynasty of Lancaster, headed by Henry VI, whose coat of arms adorned with a scarlet rose, competed with another noble English dynasty - the Yorks. The coat of arms of this dynasty was a white rose. Henry VI and the Lancaster dynasty were largely supported by Wales, Ireland and many of the barons of northern Britain. The York dynasty, on the other hand, enlisted the support of the feudal lords in the richer southeastern part of England.
Under the rule of the scarlet rose dynasty, the dukes of Suffolk and Somerset had great power. The Duke of York Richard, who was the brother of King Henry VI, returned from exile in 1450. Seeing the state of affairs, he tries to weaken the influence of these dukes with the help of parliament. But the king dissolves parliament. Taking advantage of the temporary clouding of the mind of Henry VI, in 1453 Richard became the de facto ruler of England, receiving the title of Protector. After a while, reason returns to the king. Not wanting to part with power, Duke Richard enlists the support of the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury.
Soon, the rivalry between the scarlet and white roses develops into an open confrontation. In May 1455, the first battle of St. Albans took place. The king's troops were outnumbered and defeated. In the years 1459-1460, several more battles took place, in which the initiative passed either to the supporters of the Lancaster or to the supporters of the Yorks. In the summer of 1460, the Battle of Northampton took place, in which the Yorkies were victorious again. As a result of the battle, King Henry VI was captured, and Richard became his heir and protector to the throne. Not wanting to put up with this, the wife of the king, Margaret of Anjou, gathers supporters loyal to the crown and six months later defeats the troops of the white rose in the battle of Wakefield. In this battle, Richard dies and his son Edward takes his place.
After several small battles at Mortimers Cross, St. Albans, Ferribridge, the largest battle of the entire War of the Scarlet and White Roses takes place. At Towton on March 24, 1461, from 30 to 40 thousand people came together on each side. Edward of York inflicted a crushing defeat on the Red Rose army, defeating most of the Lancaster army. After some time he was crowned, proclaimed king of England by Edward IV. Margarita of Anjou and her husband retreated to Scotland. But after several defeats, Henry VI was again captured.
In 1470, active hostilities resumed. The king's younger brother, the Duke of Clarence, and his former ally, the Earl of Warwick, revolt against Edward. After spending a short time in captivity, Edward IV fled to Burgundy, under the protection of his son-in-law Charles the Bold. The Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick, with the assistance of King Louis XI of France, return the crown to Henry VI, swearing an oath of allegiance to him.
Returning a year later with an army hired by Charles the Bold, Edward IV enlists the support of the traitor Clarence and gains the upper hand at the battles of Barnet (March 12) and Tewkesbury (April 14). Warwick is killed at Barnet, and Henry's only son, Prince Edward, is at Tewkesbury. After a while, Henry VI himself dies. Thus the Lancaster family is interrupted.
Edward IV's reign remains calm and battles abate. But after his death in 1483, brother Richard Gloucester, having caught Edward's son of illegitimacy, usurped the throne, taking the name of Richard III. Soon, Henry Tudor, a distant relative of the Lancaster dynasty, landed in 1485 with an army of French mercenaries on the shores of Britain in the Wales region. Defeated by Henry Tudor, Richard III himself dies in battle. And Henry is proclaimed the ruler of England by Henry VII. Another attempt by the Yorks to recapture the throne ends in defeat at the Battle of Stoke Field. This event ended the War of the Scarlet and White Roses.

In the second half of the 15th century, Great Britain was shocked by a terrible Civil War between the supporters of the two branches of the Plantagenet ruling dynasty - Lancaster and York. Since, going into battle, the Lancastrian supporters attached to their armor scarlet rose, and the York symbol was White flower, for the bloody events of 1455-85 with light hand Walter Scott got the poetic name "The War of the Scarlet and White Rose".

Background and causes of the conflict

In 1413-22, Henry V Lancaster ruled Great Britain. He was one of greatest commanders of his time and a talented ruler. Like his predecessors, Henry V fought the French on the fields of the Hundred Years War. In this case, Henry V has achieved great success. He not only incorporated part of the French possessions into his state and married the French princess, Catherine of Valois, but also insisted that in the future his son and Catherine became the king of both powers.

However, fate played a cruel joke with the English king. At the age of 35, he died of an illness, and his heir - Henry VI, who received the throne at the age of one year - as an adult, was not only deprived of his father's talents, but also mentally ill.

Henry VI was rapidly losing control over the French lands on which the troops were operating under the leadership of Jeanne D'Arc. In 1453, the Hundred Years War ended with the loss of all English possessions on the continent, with the exception of the city of Calais. However, the internal affairs of the mad king were not much better. After defeat in the Hundred Years War, the nobles decided that Henry VI, whose mental health in last years seriously shaken, needs a regent. So it was decided to make the king's cousin - Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. This proposal frightened the queen, Margaret of Anjou, who believed that Richard would push her and Henry's son Edward out of the throne. During periods of her husband's madness, the country was ruled by Margarita herself - an educated and domineering woman, however, she was not very popular among the British. Therefore, Margaret's protests did not meet with the support of the nobles (a powerful party of large feudal lords had formed around the Duke of York by that time) and Richard Plantagenet received the title of Protector.

By 1455, Henry VI's condition had improved significantly and he decided to return to independent rule. Margaret insisted that the York party be expelled from the Royal Grand Council. The Duke of York was not ready to give up his high title, therefore, having enlisted the support of the powerful Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, he gathered an army to take back the throne by force.

Thus, the reasons for the war of the Scarlet and White Roses were:

• the results of the Hundred Years War, which not only led to economic collapse, but also hit hard on the authority of the royal power;
• peasant uprisings of 1450-51;
• the attitude of the British towards the Frenchwoman Margaret of Anjou;
• political instability associated with the state of health of the English king;
• the crisis of patrimonial land tenure caused by outdated feudal systems;
• the presence of different branches of the Plantagenet dynasty, who fought for power.

IN broad sense, the War of the Scarlet and White Rose was not just a clash between different representatives of the royal family, but, rather, between two lifestyles and economic systems. The reigning king and his wife were supported by the northern barons - convinced conservatives, whose possessions were located in the most economically backward region of the country, and the inhabitants of the economically developed south-east of England - merchants, artisans and the most progressive nobles - spoke for Yorks.

Course of events

The first military clash between Yorks and Lancaster took place in May 1455 at St Albans. The army of Henry VI turned out to be smaller and weaker, so the victory remained with the White Rose. Many high-ranking Lancaster supporters fell in this battle. The victory allowed the head of the White Rose to declare himself Lord High Constable of England and heir to Henry VI. Small skirmishes between the two parties continued until 1460, when the Yorks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Lancasters at Northampton. The king was captured by the Yorks, so Richard York was able to enter London without hindrance. However, the struggle was continued by Margarita of Anzhuyskaya, who escaped captivity. Through her efforts, the Lancastrian supporters were able to defeat the Yorks at Wakefield in the same year. In this battle, Richard York died without receiving the coveted English crown.

After the death of the Duke of York, his eldest son, Edward, became the head of the White Rose. In 1461, the new king inflicted several defeats on the Lancasters. The most ambitious was the Battle of Towton, as a result of which Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower, and Margaret of Anjou and her son were forced to flee the country. After the victory, Edward of York was crowned in London under the name of Edward IV, bypassing the legitimate heir to the throne. By decree of the new king, Lancaster himself and their supporters were declared treason.

However, Edward IV could not find a common language about his subjects. The king was distinguished by a tough disposition, which led to the fact that many of his supporters chose to go to the Lancaster camp. Among the defectors were the king's younger brother, the Duke of Clarence, and the experienced schemer, Earl Warwick, who was nicknamed "the kingmaker" by his contemporaries.

In 1470, Lancaster, with the support of new allies, opposed Edward IV. The young king was driven out to Burgundy. Meanwhile, Warwick was able to free and return Henry VI to his original place. The Lancaster king, whose mental state by that time was completely shaken, did not participate in state affairs in any way; the powerful Earl of Warwick had real power at court. The Kingmaker planned to replace the mad king of the Lancaster family with his younger brother, George, in the future. To this end, the Earl of Warwick implemented another intrigue: provoking the opponents of the Lancasters into the next performance, he persuaded Henry VI to move on a deliberately disastrous punitive campaign. The king fell into a trap and the cunning count took him to one of his castles, ostensibly for protection. In fact, to take prisoner. Henry VI realized too late that his former ally had betrayed him, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Meanwhile, Edward IV gathered a new army, made peace with the Duke of Clarence, and resumed the fight for the throne. In 1471, he managed to inflict several serious defeats on the Lancasters. In one of them, the Earl of Warwick was killed. But the real disaster awaited the Lancasters at Tewkesbury. After the battle, this place received the name "bloody meadow". In this battle, not only almost all Lancaster supporters were destroyed, but also the only heir of Henry VI - Prince Edward. Margaret of Anjou and the young widow of the prince who died on the battlefield were captured by Edward IV. Henry VI survived his son by only a few days. Soon after the York victory in the "bloody meadow" it was announced that Henry VI Lancaster had died of grief upon learning of the death of his son. Both historians and contemporaries of those events had every reason not to believe in the version that explained the death of the former king by natural causes. It is likely that Edward IV decided to get rid of the last legitimate contender for the English crown.

For a while, relative calm reigned in England. But in 1483 Edward IV of York died. By law, the throne was succeeded by his young son under the name Edward V of York. However, this decision was opposed by the boy's uncle - Richard Gloucester - one of the younger brothers of the deceased king. He declared his brother's sons illegitimate and ordered the boys to be sent to the Tower. Historians know nothing more about their further fate. Apparently, the princes were slain and secretly buried at the behest of their uncle. So Richard III of Gloucester became the new English king. The new king took up aiming internal order however, he had to face strong opposition from the Yorks and the seemingly completely broken Lancaster.

The power to resist returned to the Scarlet Rose camp after being led by Henry Tudor, grandson of Catherine of Valois and nephew of Henry VI. After the death of Henry V, Catherine of Valois was still a young woman, so she soon began a secret affair with a Welsh nobleman, Owen Tudor. From this relationship, the couple had six children, including the father of Henry Tudor.

In August 1485, Henry Tudor, who had lived almost his entire life in France, set out with an army across the English Channel and landed on the English coast. Richard III met him at Bosworth Field. During the battle, many of the nobles left the camp of Richard III, defecting to his opponent. The king himself was killed and Henry VII Tudor was proclaimed the new ruler of England. In 1487, one of Richard Gloucester's nephews tried to overthrow Henry VII from the throne, but this attempt failed. So, the civil war in England ended with the nominal victory of the Scarlet Rose, but in fact with the suppression of the Plantagenet dynasty.

Results of the War of the Scarlet and White Rose in England

Henry VII managed to establish peace in the country. He married the daughter of Edward IV, as if combining the Scarlet and White roses together. However, the war ended, rather, due to the fact that the country was finally drained of blood, and only the most insignificant representatives of them remained from the huge noble clans, who were not capable of a serious struggle for power. The thirty-year conflict has led to a variety of consequences:

• the establishment of the power of the Tudors;
• the complete eradication of the oldest and most distinguished English noble families. Although the Scarlet and White Roses were represented by compatriots, many of whom were related, the clashes between the two sides were marked by great bloodshed. Noble clans were slaughtered completely, including women, old people and children. No one was taken prisoner, the enemy was destroyed in the bud;
• England's complete renunciation of claims to French lands;
• strengthening of the merchant class, which took the place of the nobility and became the main social support of the Tudors.

The tragic events of the 15th century, replete with almost detective plot twists, became a source of inspiration for many authors: William Shakespeare with his plays "Henry VI" and "Richard III", Walter Scott and George Martin.

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