Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses ableist language common during the Elizabethan era to describe Richard’s curvature of the spine.

The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil conflicts fought in England from 1455 to 1487. During this period, the royal Plantagenet family was divided into two factions: the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The House of Lancaster were the descendants of John of Gaunt, the third eldest son of King Edward III. John of Gaunt’s son, Henry, usurped the throne from Edward III’s grandson and direct heir, Richard II, becoming King Henry IV.

This began a period of instability in England’s royal politics. King Henry IV’s son, Henry V, was a popular and successful monarch, but died young, leaving his infant son, Henry VI, to inherit the throne. Henry VI’s reign was a troubled period, as regents and advisors struggled for control over the monarchy. Once he became an adult, Henry VI was prone to periods of mental instability that further eroded his influence over the English nobility. His wife, Queen Margaret, became an effective but controversial figure in English politics when her husband was beset by episodes of mental illness.