The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) was called that because the two factions in conflict, the House of Lancaster and the House of York, had as their royal emblems a red rose and a white rose, respectively. Edward IV of the House of York first ruled England in 1461-1470. He was forced to flee the kingdom in the face of a Lancastrian army, but he regained the throne the following year and reigned until 1483. As Shakespeare's play "Richard III" begins, Edward's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, mocks the fact that Edward had regained the throne ("Now is the winter of our discontent/ Made glorious summer by this sun of York..."), for he himself longed for power. When Edward died in 1483, he was briefly succeeded by his young son Edward V, until Gloucester seized the throne and became Richard III. But in two years, Richard was killed in battle between York and Lancaster forces in 1485. He was succeeded by Henry VII of Lancaster--whose victory and subsequent marriage to Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York ended the War of the Roses. Henry was the first Tudor monarch. Did you get all that? whew!.... And now for the reason for this long post, LOL: Edward IV was born on April 28, 1442.
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