War of the Roses - Essay Example

War of the Roses The war of the roses remains a historic event in England. The war was fought for the throne ofEngland. Supporters of two rival branches to the royal family propagated the war. The royal families to the house of Plantagenet included the York and the Lancaster. The sporadic episodes of the war lasted between 1455 and 1485 (Hicks 99). There were other wars that were fought prior and after the war of the Roses. The major reason to the wars bases on the financial and social upheavals together with the mental infirmity and the weak rule exhibited by King Henry VI.

The war of the roses lasted a very long time with both sides fighting for the throne through fights and propagation of propaganda. At the end of the war, at the Battle of the Bosworth Files, Lancastrian claimant emerged with victory. Henry Tudor defeated the Richard III, the last Yorkist king to rule. Henry Tudor decided to marry Elizabeth of York at the end of the battle. The marriage united the two houses since Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward IV. The house of Lancaster had been established on the throne by Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399 when he ousted his cousin Richard II.

Various reasons contributed to the conflict that resulted to the wars. First, both conflicting houses were direct descendants to King Edward III. Secondly, Henry VI, the then ruling King from the Lancastrians brought very unpopular nobles around him. The unpopular nobles did not please the other people, hence conflict began. Thirdly, the civil unrest of the majority of the population following several years of previous wars ignited a vehement desire within the people to want to fight again. Fourthly, several powerful lords existed with their private armies.

Lastly, the mental illness of Henry VI prompted several factions to have the desire to rule. The beginning of the wars was marked by brief civil unrest with rebellions led by Richard. The wars escalated into massive struggles from 1461 to 1471 between the support of Henry and the supporters of Edward IV, son to Duke Richard. The name of the war arose due to the badge used by the house of York (white rose) and the red rose assumed by Henry VII, the first Tudor King. The wars involved about sixty weeks of extensive campaigns across England with substantial fights in various fights including Wales, Ireland and Calais.

Other places that experienced major causalities of war included London and York. Both fighting sides relied on the knights and foreign mercenary companies for support. Most troops relied on the traditional tactics. The opposing English side sometimes used the longbow-men. Sometimes, field artillery would be deployed including long hand –gunners. Insufficient campaigns reduced the social and economic impact of the war. Leaders had to keep winning the trust of the civilians. Many kings and elites had a custom of investing standing forces mainly for domestic conflict and sometimes for fortification.

The war did not produce prevalent destruction and multiple recessions. Participants did not have a lot of resources for extensive and prolonged warfare. The attempts by the dynastic rebellions to oppose Henry VII, after the victory over Richard III got hampered because there was not a convincing Yorkist person to occupy the position of King. A lot of opposition arose since lots of money was used to run the court system. Works cited