9 Things You Should Know About the Wars of the Roses

On May 22, 1455, Richard, Duke of York engaged the forces of King Henry VI of England at the First Battle of St. Albans. The clash is now considered the traditional start date of the Wars of the Roses, a 30-year period of sporadic warfare and constant political intrigue between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster, both of whom laid claim to the English throne. Their intermittent struggle resulted in the capture, disappearance or death of scores of English nobles and would-be kings, and eventually gave rise to a new royal dynasty that ruled for more than a century. Five hundred sixty years after it began, learn nine key facts about the bloody feud that permanently altered the course of British history.

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