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Roses, Wars of the

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• Roses, Wars of the
• Wars of the Roses

The most protracted and sanguinary civil war in English history, fought out during the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III. between the adherents of the noble houses of York and Lancaster—rival claimants for the throne of England—whose badges were the white and the red rose respectively; began with the first battle of St. Albans, in which Richard, Duke of York, defeated Henry VI.'s forces under the Duke of Somerset; but not till after the decisive victory at Towton did the Yorkists make good their claim, when Edward (IV.), Duke of York, became king. Four times the Lancastrians were defeated during his reign. The war closed with the defeat and death of the Yorkist Richard III. at Bosworth, 1485, and an end was put to the rivalry of the two houses by the marriage of Henry VII. of Lancaster with Elizabeth of York, 1486.