Grown to this faction in the Temple garden,
Shall send, between the Red Rose and the White,
A thousand souls to death and deadly night. “
– Warwick; Henry IV, Part one, Act II, scene IV.
This quote was taken from the play Henry IV in which Warwick states that he believes that the War of the Roses will be a deadly civil war between to English families of nobility. The term “War of the Roses” refers to the civil war conflicts in England that lasted from 1455-1487. The 30 years of war that took place were more destructive than the 100 years’ war that had just been resolved. Instead of the battles being between the French and English, this war was a Civil war between the nobility of York and the nobility …show more content…
The struggle between these two factions ended abruptly at the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. When after the House of York and the House of Lancaster were all weary from battling in the hot fields, a third party arose. Henry Tudor, a Welsh prince, stepped in to fight King Richard III because of a blood debt to Henry VI. Eventually the House of York forfeight the fight. Henry Tudor then obtained control of both the house of York and Lancaster, the white and red roses, and united them by taking the princess of York as his bride. This was an astounding political move because it united the York’ and Lancaster’s together. None of them achieved the end goal that they were fighting towards (the Crown of England), but were ultimately made allies by the King of Wales taking the crown instead. Henry Tudor and Queen Elizabeth had a son and named him Henry VIII. This child would then go to marry and have a daughter who would then become Queen Elizabeth I, the respected monarch who ruled during the time of Shakespeare’s early years in playwriting. Now the insignia that is used for York and Lancaster is no longer split between a white or red rose. The rose is the pink rose to signify peace between the two houses of