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The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, the Houses of Lancaster and York. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, although there was related fighting before and after this period. The conflict resulted from social and financial troubles that followed the Hundred Years' War, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of Henry VI, which revived interest in the alternative claim to the throne of Richard, Duke of York. The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, who defeated the last Yorkist king, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth Field. After assuming the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heiress of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled England and Wales until 1603. ==Name and symbols== The name ''Wars of the Roses'' refers to the Heraldic badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. ''Wars of the Roses'' came into common use in the nineteenth century, after the publication of ''Anne of Geierstein'' by Sir Walter Scott.〔Goodwin, introduction p. xix〕〔During Shakespeare's time people used the term ''Civil Wars'': cf. e.g., the title of Samuel Daniel's work, the ''First Four Books of the Civil Wars''〕 Scott based the name on a scene in William Shakespeare's play ''Henry VI Part 1'', set in the gardens of the Temple Church, where a number of noblemen and a lawyer pick red or white roses to show their loyalty to the Lancastrian or Yorkist faction respectively. The Yorkist faction used the symbol of the white rose from early in the conflict, but the Lancastrian red rose was apparently introduced only after the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth, when it was combined with the Yorkist white rose to form the Tudor rose, which symbolised the union of the two houses;〔Goodwin, introduction p.xxi〕 the origins of the Rose as a cognizance itself stem from Edward I's use of ''a golden rose stalked proper.''〔Boutell, C. ''The Handbook to English Heraldry'', London 1914, p. 228〕 Often, owing to nobles holding multiple titles, more than one badge was used: Edward IV, for example, used both his Sun in splendour as Earl of March, but also his father's Falcon and Fetterlock as Duke of York. Badges were not always distinct; at the Battle of Barnet, Edward's 'sun' was very similar to the Earl of Oxford's Vere star, which caused fateful confusion.〔Cokayne, G.E. (ed. H.A. Doubleday, H.A.), ''The Complete Peerage'', London 1945, pp. 240–1〕 Most, but not all, of the participants in the wars wore livery badges associated with their immediate lords or patrons under the prevailing system of bastard feudalism; the wearing of livery was by now confined to those in 'continuous employ of a lord', thus excluding, for example, mercenaries.〔Bellamy, J.G., ''Bastard Feudalism and the Law'', Padstow 1989, pp. 19〕 Another example: Henry Tudor's forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon,〔Boutell, C. ''The Handbook to English Heraldry'', London 1914, p. 229〕 while the Yorkist army used Richard III's personal device of a white boar.〔Boutell, C. ''The Handbook to English Heraldry'', London 1914, p. 264〕 Though the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchies had little to do with these cities. The lands and offices attached to the Duchy of Lancaster were mainly in Gloucestershire, North Wales and Cheshire, while the estates and castles that were part of the Duchy of York were spread throughout England, though many were in the Welsh Marches.〔Rowse, p. 109〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wars of the Roses」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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