At issue in Richard III is a shift taking place in the seat of power in England. The medieval arrangement whereby feudal lords controlled certain domains had been changing to a more centralized system whereby a single king controlled the whole land and could deploy armies. Under Richard III, the final maneuvers to achieve this shift occurred. The subsequent king, Henry VII (Henry Tudor), married Elizabeth of York, and in so doing brought together two warring factions. No longer would there be a jockeying for power between factionalized descendants of two houses (York and Lancaster). The fateful marriage would instead give rise to a long line of Tudor monarchs who reigned over an increasingly united kingdom. Richard III occurs just prior to the marriage, near the end of the civil strife between York and Lancaster.
A longstanding conflict, the strife between York and Lancaster became known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-85) after the families’ emblems. The white rose belonged to York; the red rose has been associated with the House of Lancaster.
On the Side of the House of York
Richard, duke of York
Edward, earl of March, later Edward IV
Edmund, earl of Rutland
Richard, duke of Gloucester (later Richard III)
Elizabeth of York (future wife of Henry Tudor)
On the Side of the House of Lancaster
Henry VI
Queen Margaret of Anjou (married to Henry VI)
Prince Edward
Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond (Henry VII, of the new Tudor dynasty)
Those Who Switched Sides
Richard Neville, earl of Warwick (from York to Lancaster)
Lady Anne Neville (from York to Lancaster to York; married Richard of Gloucester)
Elizabeth Woodville (from Lancaster to York; married Edward IV)
George, duke of Clarence (from York to Lancaster to York)
Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham (from York to Lancaster)
Robert Stanley, Lord Stanley (from York to Lancaster)
Although full-scale war did not erupt until the 1450s, the roots of the conflict date back to 1399, when King Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, son of the duke of Lancaster.
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