Between which two houses was the War of the Roses fought?

The Wars of the Roses were fought between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. Both were branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, and their supporters competed for control of the English throne during the second half of the 15th century.

The conflict began in 1455, when political tensions surrounding the weak Lancastrian king Henry VI erupted into open fighting. Yorkist forces later placed Edward IV on the throne, but the crown changed hands several times before Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485. Fighting and political unrest continued until roughly 1487.

The name comes from the later association of Lancaster with a red rose and York with a white rose. Historians caution that the symbolism was not always used as neatly during the actual wars as later popular tradition suggests. Henry VII helped cement the imagery by adopting the Tudor rose after his victory and marriage to Elizabeth of York.

The Tudor house was the eventual outcome of the conflict, not one of its original two principal sides. Henry Tudor’s victory created the Tudor dynasty and united the rival claims through his marriage.