CONTINENTAL MERCENARIES (WAR OF THE ROSES 3)

The Wars of Roses is a civil war that took place in England intermittently in the years 1455-1485. Many historians treat it as a kind of extension of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). The parties to the conflict were primarily two great noble families: the Yorks, who had a white rose in their coat of arms, and the Lancasters, who had a red rose in their coat of arms. The initiator of the war was the York family, and the main goal was to indirectly seize the English throne through tutelage over the mentally ill King Henry VI. One of the key characters in all this drama was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as the Kings Maker. In 1460, he overthrew Henry VI, and in his place he appointed King Edward IV of the York family. However, a feud quickly arose between the Yorks and the King of the Kings, which caused the latter to turn to the side of his recent opponents, leading to the temporary overthrow of Edward IV. In 1470, Edward IV had to flee England, but he quickly returned and regained the throne of England, which he had remained in his hand until his death in 1483. After his death, the fighting resumed, which finally ended in 1485 with the seizure of power by Henry VII of the Tudor family. During the War of the Roses, as many as 18 battles were fought, the first of which was fought at St. Albans in 1455. Undoubtedly, the bloodiest battle was the Battle of Towton in 1461, during which from 20 to maybe even 30,000 people died. people, making it one of the bloodiest battles in the history of medieval England. The last one was the Battle of Bosworth, which was fought on August 22, 1485 and led to the defeat of the army commanded by Richard III of the York family.