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

There’s a tremendous amount of history to get through in “Henry 6,” but the production has fun catching the audience up on how the Wars of the Roses came about.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2024

The Tudor era begins with the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses, when the Lancastrian Henry Tudor marries Elizabeth of York and at last ends England’s decades-long civil war.

From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

The Anarchy in England preceded the Wars of the Roses by almost as many years as the action depicted in "House of the Dragon" precedes the events of "Game of Thrones."

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2022

But some of us are still playing catchup with her best work: the BBC’s 10-part Wars of the Roses drama, The White Queen, from 2013, in which she is fiercely affecting as Elizabeth Woodville.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 19, 2018

Doubtless there were Kentish pikes and blades, Kentish helmets and hauberks, at Cressy and Poitiers, at Agincourt, in the Wars of the Roses, and at Flodden.

From Canterbury by Canon Danks