The Wars of the Roses were fought between?

Question

A.
England and France




B.
the king and Parliament




C.
the nobles and the middle class




D.
rivals for the English throne

Answer 1

D. Rivals for the English Throne.



The Plantagenet Dynasty were split into two houses, York and Lancaster, both sides were descended from Edward III.



Long before this war, Henry Bollingbroke usurped Richard II and became Henry IV. Because of this, the crown technically passed from the York side of the family to the Lancaster side. Henry IV was succeeded by Heny V who survived a Yorkist plot, known as the Southampton Plot, to usurp him in favour of the Earl of March, and bring the crown back to the York side.



That failed and Henry VI succeeded Henry V as King of England, and due to circumstances in the 100 Years War, became King of France. But Henry VI ended up losing the 100 Years War, and his reign was marred by his mental instability and incompetence.



There were many elements behind the causes of the war, social changes, newly unemployed soldiers returning from France, lots of powerful nobles, such as Richard Neville (the Kingmaker), a weak and weakening king struggling to hold on to the loyalty of his nobles, with his competence in doubt, and the House of York remembering the fate of Richard II.



In the end neither of them won, when Henry Tudor, who was of Lancaster descent, defeated Richard III of the House of York, at Bosworth, and married Elizabeth of York to unite both the houses...and that ended the Medieval era in England.

Answer 2

The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) were a series of civil wars fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. Both houses were branches of the Plantagenet royal house, tracing their descent from King Edward III. The name "Wars of the Roses" was not used during the time of the wars, but has its origins in the badges associated with the two royal houses, the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. The term itself came into common use only in the nineteenth century, after the publication of Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott. Scott based the name on a fictional scene in Shakespeare's play Henry VI Part 1, where the opposing sides pick different-coloured roses at the Temple Church. Although the roses were occasionally used as symbols during the wars themselves, most of the participants wore badges associated with their immediate feudal lords or protectors. The unofficial system of livery and maintenance, by which powerful nobles would offer protection to followers who would sport their colours and badges (livery) was one of the effects of the breakdown of royal authority which preceded and partly caused the wars. For example, Henry's forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon, while the Yorkist army used the symbol of a white boar. The Wars were fought largely by the landed aristocracy and armies of feudal retainers. Support for each house largely depended upon dynastic marriages with the nobility, feudal titles, and tenures. It is sometimes difficult to follow the shifts of power and allegiance as nobles acquired or lost titles through marriage, confiscation or attainture. For example, the Lancastrian patriarch John of Gaunt's first title was Earl of Richmond, the same title which Henry VII later held, while the Yorkist patriarch Edmund of Langley's first title was Earl of Cambridge.

Answer 3

B