Wars of the Roses

American  

noun

English History.

1. the civil struggle between the royal house of Lancaster, whose emblem was a red rose, and the royal house of York, whose emblem was a white rose, beginning in 1455 and ending with the accession of Henry VII in 1485 and the union of the two houses.

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Wars of the Roses British  

plural noun

1. the conflicts in England (1455–85) centred on the struggle for the throne between the house of York (symbolized by the white rose) and the house of Lancaster (of which one badge was the red rose)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Wars of the Roses

The broad-strokes treatment, by turns suspenseful and rollicking, works well in an outdoor summer Shakespeare presentation that makes the Wars of the Roses seem Spielberg-ian in intrigue and suspense.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2024

Some of her most unmissable episodes revolve around the 15th century Wars of the Roses, which inspired the “Game of Thrones” author George R.R.

From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2022

Shakespeare's dramatic rendering of the infamous Machiavellian-style politics during the Wars of the Roses in his series of history plays gave "Game of Thrones's" creator, George R.R.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2022

I’m writing a war story, essentially — the Wars of the Roses.

From Time ● Jul. 13, 2017

The Wars of the Roses had broken the power of the feudal barony, and the middle class Englishman had become the most important political element in the nation.

From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Herbert Eugene Bolton