York was a branch of the English royal family of Plantagenet. The House of York won the English throne from the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485). Members of the House of York ruled England for most of the period from 1461 to 1485.
Richard, Duke of York, the leader of the Yorkist party, was the richest nobleman in England. He was descended through his mother from the third son of King Edward III. Henry VI, the reigning king, was descended in a line of males from Edward III’s fourth son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Because the Duke of York was descended from an older son, he claimed that he had a better right to the throne than Henry VI.
Open warfare broke out in 1455, when Henry VI was defeated at the first battle of St. Albans. In December 1460, the Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield. But, the following year, King Henry’s forces were decisively beaten, and York’s oldest son was crowned Edward IV, the first Yorkist king. Edward lost his throne in 1470 but regained it in 1471 after the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. He ruled until his death in 1483. He was succeeded by his 12-year-old son, Edward V. Shortly afterward, the boy’s uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, seized the crown as Richard III. He imprisoned Edward and his younger brother. The boys were never heard of again.
In 1485, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, a descendant of the House of Lancaster, defeated and killed Richard III at Bosworth Field. He was crowned Henry VII, first ruler of the Tudor dynasty. Henry married Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth, and so at last united the rival houses of Lancaster and York.
