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

It belonged to Lady Margaret Beaufort, who played a major role in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars for the English throne.

From New York Times ● May 26, 2024

In the 15th century, the befuddled derangement of the English King Henry VI — possibly a hereditary schizophrenia — helped to light the fuse of the Wars of the Roses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2024

The visuals are so rich that audiences will often remember the wonderful costumes, forgetting the the bloody details of the Wars of the Roses or the shady political machinations of royal court.

From Salon ● May 31, 2021

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

The internal effects which the changes had on the commerce of the time are hidden from us by the disturbing influences of the Wars of the Roses.

From The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896 by William Arthur Shaw