The young king Edward V was declared illegitimate in 1483. His uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester took the throne as Richard III. Soon afterwards, Edward V and his younger brother Richard, the Princes in the Tower, disappeared. Many people believe they were murdered by their uncle.

Elizabeth never named a successor. However, her chief minister Sir Robert Cecil had corresponded with the Protestant King James VI of Scotland, great-grandson of Margaret Tudor, and James's succession to the English throne was unopposed. There has been discussion over the selected heir. It has been argued that Elizabeth would have selected James because she felt guilty about what happened to his mother, her cousin. Whether this is true is unknown for certain, for Elizabeth did her best to never show emotion nor give in to claims. Elizabeth was strong and hard-headed and kept her primary goal in sight: providing the best for her people and proving those wrong who doubted her while maintaining a straight composure. When Arthur, Prince of Wales, died in 1502, his tomb in Worcester Cathedral used both roses; thereby asserting his royal descent from both the houses of Lancaster and York. [5] The fifth marriage was to the young Catherine Howard, niece of the Catholic Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Catherine was promoted by Norfolk in the hope that she would persuade Henry to restore the Catholic religion in England. Henry called her his "rose without a thorn", but the marriage ended in failure. Henry's infatuation with Catherine started before the end of his marriage with Anne when she was still a member of Anne's court. Catherine was young and vivacious, but Henry's age made him less inclined to use Catherine in the bedroom; rather, he preferred to admire her, which Catherine soon grew tired of. Catherine, forced into a marriage to an unattractive, obese man over 30 years her senior, had never wanted to marry Henry, and allegedly conducted an affair with the King's favourite, Thomas Culpeper, while Henry and she were married. During her questioning, Catherine first denied everything but eventually she was broken down and told of her infidelity and her pre-nuptial relations with other men. Henry, first enraged, threatened to torture her to death but later became overcome with grief and self-pity. She was accused of treason and was executed on 13 February 1542, destroying the English Catholic holdouts' hopes of a national reconciliation with the Catholic Church. Her execution also marked the end of the Howard family's power and influence within the English court. [23] This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Henry took the throne as Henry VII and, as promised, married Elizabeth of York in January 1486. The emblem of the new dynasty was the Tudor Rose which was created from the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York.a Crowned hawthorn bush with the cypher H.R. (recalling the story after Bosworth, when the crown was found under a hawthorn bush) [14] Result – A decisive Lancastrian victory. Richard, Duke of York, Edmund, Earl of Rutland and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury were killed. Elizabeth was also associated with Minerva (or Pallas Athena), the Classic virgin-goddess of war and defender of the state. Although prepared for war, Queen Elizabeth I preferred peace and came to stand for peacefulness and wisdom. She was also the patron of arts and crafts, especially wool, and of trade and industry, including shipbuilding. Other symbols used in portraits of Queen Elizabeth I After – Richard of York became Protector of England and ran the country with little problem for three years until Henry VI regained his mental faculty and resumed personal rule in 1459. He dismissed Richard Duke of York, without offering him any position in government. York responded by taking up arms against the king. Battle of Blore Heath 23rd September 1459

Their marriage united the two warring houses once and for all, and it was around this time that Henry VII introduced the Tudor Rose, which combined the red rose of Lancaster with the white rose of York. The Tudor Rose was adopted as the national emblem of England, and was a symbol of peace and unity in the period following the long civil war. Hawthorn bush: Woodward, who recites the story that after the battle of Bosworth the golden circlet of King Richard's helm was found in a hawthorn bush, and with this Lord Stanley crowned King Henry on the battlefield Numerous feature films are based on Tudor history. [43] [44] Queen Elizabeth has been in special favorite for filmmakers for generations. According to Elizabeth A. Ford and Deborah C. Mitchell, images of Elizabeth I move: "fast-forward across film history, unforgettable, iconic images: the stately bearing; the red wigs; the high forehead; the long, aristocratic nose; the alabaster makeup; the pearl-drop earrings; the stiff, ornate ruffs; the fingers dripping with jewels; and the gowns, with yards and yards of white satin, purple velvet, gold, and silver ornamented and sparkling with rubies, diamonds, and more pearls. Even a schoolchild would be hard-pressed to mistake her for any other monarch." [45] The circle of ruff extends from Elizabeth’s face like the Sun’s rays. She is shown as the centre and source of warmth, beauty, and goodness. Colour schemeHeraldic badges are distinctive to a person or family, similar to the arms and the crest. But unlike them, the badge is not an integral component of a coat of arms, although they can be displayed alongside them. Badges are in fact complete and independent and can be displayed alone. Furthermore, unlike the arms and crest, which are personal devices that could only be displayed by the owner, the badge could be easily borne by others, in the form of a cognizance or livery badge, to be worn by retainers and adherents. Badges are displayed on standards and personal objects, as well as on private and public buildings to show ownership or patronage. [1] History [ edit ] The White Rose en Soleil (imposed on a sun in splendour) of the House of York, on the livery colours blue and murrey of the Yorkist dynasty, surrounded by the royal motto ' Dieu et mon droit'. From a manuscript (1478-1480) of the Speculum historiale belonging to King Edward IV of England. In the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485), Henry VII, of the House of Lancaster, took the crown of England from Richard III, of the House of York. He thus brought to an end the retrospectively dubbed " Wars of the Roses". Kings of the House of Lancaster had sometimes used a red or gold rose as a badge; and the House of York had used a white rose as a badge. Henry's father was Edmund Tudor, and his mother was Margaret Beaufort from the House of Lancaster; in January 1486 he married Elizabeth of York to bring the two factions together. (In battle, Richard III fought under the banner of the boar, [1] and Henry under the banner of the dragon of his native Wales.) The white rose versus red rose juxtaposition was mostly Henry's invention, created to exploit his appeal as a 'peacemaker king'. [2] The historian Thomas Penn writes: Henry’s father had united the warring factions of the north, each of which had a rose for its emblem – the Red Rose for Lancaster, the White Rose for York. I would expect to find both these roses at Henry’s Hampton Court, as well as another ancient rose associated with medieval English Kings, a beautiful red and white rose, Rosa gallica versicolor, possibly named in honour of the Fair Rosamund, mistress of Henry II., and better known today as Rosa Mundi.

These roses from the 16th Century are worthy rivals of any rose bred since. We continue to grow them for their form, their colour, their scent, their good health, their ease of maintenance, their historic associations, but - above all - for their beauty. Henry V died of dysentery in 1422, leaving his nine month-old son, Henry VI, to rule the country. Throughout the new King Henry’s minority, England was controlled by regents. Even as an adult, the King was in no state to rule. Not only was he a weak and ineffective leader, but Henry VI also displayed many signs of mental illness. He often succumbed to bouts of insanity, and failed to recognise his son, Prince Edward, who was born in 1453. The Wars of the Roses is the name given to a series of conflicts in the fifteenth century fought between the members of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. It was called the Wars of the Roses because the House of Lancaster was represented by the red rose and the House of York was represented by the white rose.

Background to the Wars of the Roses

a b c Thomas Jones Pierce (1959). "OWAIN TUDOR ( c. 1400 - 1461 )". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Our story begins in the 13th century, when the the rose introduced in England as a royal emblem by Eleanor of Provence, the wife of King Henry III. Eleanor used the golden rose of Provence as her badge while she was Queen Consort, and the emblem was later adopted by her son, Edward I. However, it wasn’t until the 15th century, during the period of conflict between the Houses of York and Lancaster, that the rose rose to prominence as the floral badge of England. a b c Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 13". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University. [ dead link] The poppy has more recently been attributed a symbolic meaning. When WW1 broke out in the summer of 1914, trenches started to be dug and soldiers started to walk across fields and farmland in their thousands, trampling anything living underfoot. This desecrated many landscapes across Europe, but particular conditions in 1915 led to something beautiful appearing from the wastelands.