2021The Wars of the Roses - First Day Cover

The Stamp Issue marks the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the defining battles of the Wars.The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE) were a series of fifteenth-century conflicts between the monarchy and the nobility of England, often referred to as an English civil war,for control of the throne of England, fought between Lacastrians (House of Lancaster), represented (at least historically) by a red rose, and Yorkists (House of York), represented by a white rose. The precise nature of the conflict may be difficult to categorise,but the competition prize was clear: the undisputed right to rule England. The 'wars' were finally won by the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII of England (r1485-1509 CE). Henry VII then reunited the tworival houses by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV in 1486 CE, thus creating the new Royal House of Tudor which started a period of English history seen as its Golden Age.