War of roses

1. THE WAR OF THE ROSES
• The War of the Roses was a dynastic
struggle between the rival houses of
Lancaster and York.
• Each house used a rose as its symbol:
• Lancaster = Red rose
• York = White rose
• The war lasted sporadically from 1455
to 1487 as different claimants to the
throne aimed to usurp one another.

2. THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER

3. THE BATTLE OF TOWTON
• The largest, longest, and bloodiest
battle of the War of the Roses took
place outside of the town of Towton.
• During the battle, the armies of
Lancaster and York fought amidst a
blinding snowstorm and each suffered
huge casualties.
• As a result of this battle, the
Lancastrian king Henry VI was
usurped by the Yorkist king Edward IV.

4. THE BATTLE OF
BOSWORTH FIELD
The War of the Roses ended at the
Battle of Bosworth Field where the
Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor,
defeated the final Yorkist king, Richard
III.

5. THE BATTLE OF BOSWORTH FIELD
Henry Tudor (Henry VII) Richard III

6. SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III
• In William Shakespeare’s Richard III,
Shakespeare portrays Richard as a
hunchbacked, cowardly, and evil king.
• Shakespeare was writing the play during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Tudor monarch.
• The play culminates in Richard’s death on
Bosworth Field with the (in)famous lines:
King Richard:
A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!
Catesby:
Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.
King Richard:
Slave! I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die.