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The War of the Roses and Shakespeare

Decent Essays

There are two sides to every issue. The Wars of the Roses went from 1455-1485 AD, which were fought between the Lancastrians and the Yorks. The Lancastrians was a house descended from John of Gaunt, this sides symbol was a Red Rose. The York's was a house descended from the second and fourth son of Edward III, their symbol was a White Rose. Shakespeare wrote a play about Richard III, taking place three months after the Wars of the Roses ended. Shakespeare’s play is summing up Richard doing anything and killing whoever he had to so he could get to the throne. This play was full of drama and gore. Shakespeare generally does a good job of explaining historical information, but not everything was accurate about Richard III. The Wars of the Roses was caused for a number of different reasons. Some of the causes were social and financial problems as a result of the Hundred Years War, descendants of King Edward III fighting for the throne, and disgust over the Lancastrian ruler King Henry VI, who was mentally unstable. General information about the Wars of the Roses was that it was a battle between two families both wanting the throne, each family was represented with a rose. The wars occurred over the course of thirty years. From 1455-1460 Richard of York and his sponsors fought against Margaret of Anjou acting inlace of her husband Henry VI. On December 30, 1460 Richard of York was killed in the Battle of Wakerfield. The descendants of Edward the III that caused the civil

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