* 1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet ; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.

Following the decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard had married the younger daughter of the Earl of Warwick, Anne Neville, on 12 July 1472.

With the support of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (" The Kingmaker "), Edward defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles.

Warwick formed an uneasy alliance with the Lancastrian Queen Margaret of Anjou and restored her husband Henry VI to the throne in 1470, but, the following year, Edward IV returned from exile and defeated Warwick at the Battle of Barnet and the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury.

Formerly a key figure in the Yorkist cause, Warwick defected to the Lancastrians over disagreements about Edward's nepotism, secret marriage, and foreign policy.

Clarence lost faith in the earl when Warwick defected to the Lancastrians and married off his other daughter, Anne, to their prince in order to cement his new allegiance.

Nonetheless, when Warwick joined the Lancastrians, Exeter obeyed Margaret and served under the earl during the invasion of England.

When the Lancastrians retook England, Warwick ordered the duke to watch over Henry VI in London.

Faced with these challenges to his authority as Protector, York despatched his eldest son Edward to the Welsh Marches to contain the Lancastrians in Wales and left the Earl of Warwick in charge in London.

The Lancastrians withdrew to the north but were decisively defeated by Edward and Warwick at the Battle of Towton.

But the next year, Margaret was left despairing when Clarence and Warwick supported a French-backed Lancastrian invasion of England: although she, together with her mother Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York, attempted to reconcile Clarence and Edward IV, the rebellion continued, and on 2 October 1470 the Lancastrians were returned to power and Edward had fled to Margaret and Charles in Burgundy.

With the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (" The Kingmaker "), Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles.

As they closed with the Lancastrians, Warwick was met by a fierce barrage of arrows ; luckily for them, though, the rain had rendered the Lancastrian collection of cannon quite useless.

On 27 March the Earl of Warwick ( leading the vanguard ) forced a crossing at Ferrybridge, bridging the gaps ( the Lancastrians having previously destroyed it ) with planks.

Once the crossing was managed and the Lancastrians seen off, Warwick had his men repair the bridge while camp was established on the north side of the river.

Early next morning the Yorkists were ambushed by a large party of Lancastrians under Sir John Clifford and John, Lord Neville ( Warwick ’ s half-great-uncle ).

Following their marriage Clarence joined forces with Warwick and traitorously allied with the Lancastrians led by Margaret of Anjou, queen consort to Henry VI.

After a counter-rebellion, Edward defeated Warwick who eventually entered into a pact with the Lancastrians.

In late 1470, Warwick helped the Lancastrians depose the Yorkists and Henry VI returned briefly to the throne.

Believing that the Lancastrians were about to offer battle, Edward temporarily halted his army while the stragglers caught up and the remainder could rest after their rapid march from Windsor.

The Lancastrians knew they could retreat no further before Edward attacked their rear, and that they would be forced to give battle.

The Lancastrians lost the battle as cries of treason spread through their line, disrupting morale and causing many to abandon the fight.

Another suggestion was that York and his opponents had agreed a day for battle ( 6 January, the Feast of Epiphany ) after a Christmas truce, but when York moved into the open the Lancastrians treacherously attacked earlier than had been agreed, catching York at a disadvantage while many of his men were absent foraging for supplies.

After the battle of Hedgeley Moor, the Lancastrians failed to prevent the Yorkists from concluding peace negotiations with Scotland in 1463, and soon found that their northern base of operations was now threatened.

Presumably the Yorkist advance was at speed, as despite warnings by their own scouts the Lancastrians had little time to prepare for battle.

John Neville showed little of Edward's concilatory spirit, and had thirty leading Lancastrians executed in Hexham on the evening following the battle, including the unfortunate Duke of Somerset and Lord Roos.

Three hundred other Lancastrians were slain in the battle.

At the First Battle of St Albans on 22 May 1455, which was the first major battle of the Wars of the Roses, Richard of York and Neville the Kingmaker defeated the Lancastrians, killed their leader, Edmund Beaufort and captured King Henry VI.

After confusion in the early morning mist, in which the Yorkists seem to have ended up fighting each other, the Lancastrians won the battle.

The battle is also known as Battle of Losecoat Field ( or Losecote Field ), supposedly because the defeated Lancastrians when fleeing threw off the distinguishing clothing.

However, the Lancastrians instead made a swift move north by night, passing within of Edward's army.

The Tudors otherwise rejected or suppressed other religious notions, whether for the Pope's award of Fidei Defensor or to prevent them from being in the hands of the common laity, who might be swayed by cells of foreign Protestants, with whom they had conversation as Marian exiles, pursuing a strategy of containment which the Lancastrians had done ( after being vilified by Wat Tyler ), even though the phenomenon of " Lollard knights " ( like John Oldcastle ) had become almost a national sensation all on its own.

There are two main sides you can choose, this being the Lancastrians or Yorkists.

This was an impolitic appeal, for it denoted hopes of the House of York being again in the ascendant, which the Lancastrians, flushed with recent victory, regarded as impossible.

The students were bowled out for 151, leaving a target of 32 which was chased down by Mark Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe, and the Lancastrians won by ten wickets.

His marriage to the widowed Lady Grey took place secretly and though the date is not accepted as exactly accurate is traditionally said to have taken place ( with only the bride's mother and two ladies in attendance ) at her family home in Northamptonshire on 1 May 1464, just over three years after he had taken the English throne subsequent to leading the Yorkists in an overwhelming victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton.

Unlike the other principal Lancastrian commanders, Wenlock had deserted the Lancastrian cause after the First Battle of Saint Albans, only to revert to the Lancastrians when he was deprived of the Lieutenancy of Calais.

One near-contemporary source ( Gregory's Chronicle ) claimed that 2, 500 Yorkists and 200 Lancastrians were killed, but other sources give wildly differing figures, from 2, 200 to only 700 Yorkist dead.

York had abandoned not only his troops but also his wife Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, his two younger sons and his daughter, who were found standing at the Ludlow Market Cross when the Lancastrians arrived.

John Neville, later to be 1st Marquess of Montagu, led a modest force of 3, 000-4, 000 men, routed the rebel Lancastrians.

English castles, including Kenilworth, did not play a decisive role during the Wars of the Roses ( 1455 – 85 ), which were fought primarily in the form of pitched battles between the rival factions of the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

It was difficult at first to determine Margaret's intentions, as the Lancastrians had sent out several feints which suggested that they might be making directly for London, but Edward's army set out for the West Country within a few days.

Nearby was Sodbury Hill, an Iron Age hill fort which was an obvious strategic point for the Lancastrians to seize.

The Lancastrians were forced to abandon some of their artillery, which was captured by Yorkist reinforcements following from Gloucester.

The main strength of the Lancastrians ' position was provided by the ground in front, which was broken up by hedges, woods, embankments and " evil lanes ".

Deprived of Warwick's support, the Lancastrians suffered their final defeat at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, which marked the downfall of the House of Lancaster and the ascendancy of the House of York.

Meanwhile, the victorious Lancastrians became reviled for the manner in which their army had looted the town of Ludlow after the Yorkist surrender at Ludford Bridge, and the repressive acts of a compliant " Parliament of Devils ", which caused many uncommitted peers to fear for their own property and titles.

English castles did not play a decisive role during the Wars of the Roses, fought between 1455 and 1485, which were primarily in the form of pitched battles between the rival factions of the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

" Most significant however is Act 5, Scene 1, where the entirety of Clarence's return to the Lancastrians is taken from True Tragedy, which completely replaces the depiction of the scene in 3 Henry VI.

Henry V restored Hotspur's son, the second Earl, to his family honours, and the Percies were staunch Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses which followed, the third Earl and three of his brothers losing their lives in the cause.

It was the starting point of the first England-Australia landplane service, which took three days in Avro Lancastrians ( modified Lancaster bombers ).