artofmonarchy

Kings and Queens of England

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Queen of England

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The House of Plantagenet had ruled England from 1154 until the death of Richard III until the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Symbolically, the two roses became advocates for the House of York and Lancaster. These two subsequent Houses are cadet branches of the House of Plantagenet.

Let's start with the White Rose of York. It has been claimed that the Yorkist Rose was White in colour due to Christian Liturgical Symbolism, the colour White was the symbol of light, innocence, purity, joy and glory. Also, the White Rose was supposedly first used by Edmund of Langley, First Duke of York, Fourth surviving son of Edward III. In addition, it is also believed that the White Rose was chosen as a symbol of the Virgin Mary - who in turn was known as the 'Mystical Rose'.

In contrast the Red Rose of Lancaster had a different but similar history to the White Rose of York. The Red Rose was first adopted as a heraldic device by the First Earl of Lancaster; Henry IV of England advocated this as one of his badges - he was the first King of the House of Lancaster. Moreover, it is suggested that the Red Rose of Lancaster comes from King Edward I and his Gold Rose Badge, yet other members of the Royal Family used different abbreviations of this badge.

With this is mind both the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster have become symbolic with the so called 'War of The Roses', which is also named the 'Cousin's War'. Adrian Ailes has considered that the House of Lancaster Red Rose 'probably owed its popular usage to Henry VII, who quickly responded to the pre-existing Yorkist White Rose in an age when signs and symbols could speak louder than words.' The idea of this emblems were used as propaganda for generations to come. Henry VII used them to create the Tudor rose when he beat Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field and subsequently married Elizabeth of York. Also, William Shakespeare may have indirectly coined the term 'War of the Roses' within his play Henry VI, in a scene where he depicts members of both Houses choosing said colour roses from a garden. Therefore, it can be noticed that modern historians have attached the White and Red Roses to these Houses.

In retrospective, the White Rose of York is now used as an emblem for Yorkshire, and the Red Rose of Lancaster is used as the same. These two Roses are important to the history that has been embedded within our minds. We will never know if the House of York and House of Lancaster used these roses as symbols. They became important after, Henry VII used them together to strengthen his claim. Maybe they were adapted by historians to coin the Term the War of the Roses. Due to the influence that the combined rose has, The Tudor Rose, this two roses became symbols of their retrospective Houses, Yorkshire and Lancashire. They became apart of history, they have a meaning other than just being a flower, they represent England.

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Catherine Aragon: 7 Pregnancies, 1 Surviving Child.