The War of the Roses an Overview

Introduction:
The War of the Roses is the name given to the collection of battles between the houses of Lancaster and York and the political intrigues that filled the gaps between. The name is derived from the symbols of the opposing factions:

Lancaster:
York:

The War Of the Roses can appear at first glance as a Civil War; with different factions fighting the crown. But it is not truly civil as they were never really about the "people" versus the "government/monarchy". Instead they are about rival noble families who believed they had; or the people they supported had, a better claim to the throne than who ever was sat on it at the time.

Having said that there was obviously a reason for it kicking off; after all challening the crown was a dangerous activity, the starting point can be found in the rule of Henry VI. He surrounded himself with advisors who proved to be less than able and certainly less than popular. Henry's preferrence for religion to war resulted in the loss of the all the lands in France. Add to this a ready availability of fighting men (and no foreign wars to entertain them), unhappy populace and a rival house with almost if not an equal claim to the thrown and you are fair set for war bloody.

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses

Kings:

Battles:
Below is a list of the "Official" battles that took place between the houses of York and Lancaster; many smaller disputes between land owners would have been settled under the claim that it was in the name of one house or the other. This provided a form of legitimacy to what would otherwise be seen as civil unrest.