Why did the English Nobility fight the war of the roses?

Question

Okay, I need someone to explain this to me in the simplest way POSSIBLE.

Also, what was the outcome of this war?

Answer 1

It was a fight to see who would be king.

But don't forget that these people were not English.

When the Norman French invaded in 1066 and defeated the last English king, they occupied the country and never went home.

All the nobility and monarchs of this era were French and if you go to places like Crecy in France you will see monuments erected to these people such as the one of Edward III's wife Matilda.

Answer 2

Who else would fight it?

Both the White Roses and the Red Roses lost. The Tudors won. Surprise.

Answer 3

It goes back to Edward III and his wife since they had so many (13) children.  Various descendants of Edward III felt they had equal claims to the throne of England.  The Wars of the Roses were between the houses of Lancaster and York, but it was really a power play to see which branch of Edward III's family would rule.  

The way it ended was that Henry Tudor defeated Richard III on August 22, 1485 and through his marriage represented both houses.

The establishment of the Tudor line ended the fratricidal warfare which was mainly just between the aristocrats and their paid professional warrior retainers.  The common people were left out of the fighting for the most part which was a nice break for the majority of the people.  The wars wiped out a large number of the higher nobility leaving a number of vacancies for Henry VII and Henry VIII to fill.

If you want a bit more detail, the Wars of the Roses can be broken down into ten major battles over 30 years between 1455 (battle of St. Albans) and 1485 (the battle of Bosworth Field).  More than 80 title nobles were killed.  The actual warfare involved only some 13 weeks of these 30 years.  All the battles were fought by professionals.  Merchants. peasants, and common craftsmen were largely unaffected though business would have been very good for bow and arrow makers (Boyers and Fletchers).

Henry Tudor's mother was a great great granddaughter of Edward III through John of Gaunt so he was a Lancastrian but his wife Elisabeth was from the House of York.

Answer 4

It was two different sides of the Plantagenet family. When Edward III died, his eldest son (Edward the Black prince) had already died. The prince's son, Richard (Edward III's grandson) was only 10, but he was crowned king. Richard ruled for a number of years, but his rival Henry Bolingbroke was banished by Richard. Henry returned to England, defeated Richard and was crowned Henry IV.

The conflict continued, occasionally interrupted by the war with the French, until Henry Tudor, a descendant of John of Gaunt, Edward III's younger son, defeated Richard III at Bosworth field, and married the sister of the late Edward V, one of the Princes in the tower. This being a union of Lancaster (Henry) and York (his bride Elizabeth of York), their offspring united the family again.