Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars in 15th-century England, as rival barons fought for the crown. That crown also ruled Wales, Ireland, and dwindling parts of France, while Scotland was independent. In late medieval England, the Norman "feudal" system of strict male primogeniture began to be replaced by a cash economy. The more land you held, the richer you were, the more troops you could recruit, and so you won more land. The grandest barons might overshadow the king himself, and scheme to supplant him.

Knights in armour, spearmen and bowmen, poxy peasants, great castles with towers and drawbridges and dungeons: these were the cinematic scenery of these Wars. Behind the scenes, social and technological changes were occurring that would eventually sweep them all away into history. The final battle ended not just the Wars, but the 1000-year period in Britain and Ireland that we call the Middle Ages, heralding the English Renaissance.