History Lesson: War of the Roses

Today I'd like to present an Anglo History Lesson. I'll be quick and concise, and not bore you to death! When you travel throughout the English countryside, say in Yorkshire or Lancashire, you may see something like this:

Pronounced "Ooze-fleet"

I don't just mean the strange town names. I mean the little symbol to the left of it. It is a rose. Well two roses in particular are fairly, and by fairly I mean very, famous. The Red Rose of Lancaster (or Lancashire), and the

White Rose of York (or Yorkshire). These roses were the symbols of the two sides of the family Plantagenet, that had claim to the English throne. As you can guess, there was a civil war about it! I don't have to tell you the obvious reason for its name, but I can tell you that it was also referred to as the Cousins' War. I might add a side note here: Philippa Gregory's series "The Cousin's War" novels are very good but not 100% accurate--historical fiction, but if you're interested in the families and who was who, I enjoyed them and would recommend them.

Just some facts now: it began in 1455 with the First Battle of St. Albans and didn't end until the year 1485 at Bosworth. A lot happened during these 30 years. The throne was taken over back and forth between sides, and many nobles became turncoats for whoever they felt they could benefit most from.

Richard III of York came to the throne after his brother Edward IV died and his heirs were deemed unfit for being crowned. You may have heard during this time, Edward IV's sons, Edward and Richard were locked away in the Tower [of London], which at the time was more of a stately safe house for royals, not the prison and center of torture that we think of today. They disappeared in the Tower and were never seen again, leaving the way open for Richard to become king. (Two skeletons of young boys were found centuries later under the steps, and many speculate who the murderer was, Richard III himself is a suspect.)

A few years later, Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian heir, came out of exile with an army and defeated Richard III and took the throne as his own, crowned Henry VII. I'm sure you can guess who his son is. He married Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York. (Her mother, Elizabeth Woodville, was often rumored to have dabbled in witchcraft.) With this union between Lancaster and York, England was at peace. The two roses together became the new symbol for England united. For a while anyways... but that's another history lesson. So, when you're in England and you see the red or white rose anywhere, you'll know what county you're in and why it's there.