Less than 100 years after the Black Death, England was again uprooted by dramatic upheaval. The Wars of the Roses, fought between the two powerful houses of York and Lancaster, pitted families against each other. The series of conflicts – which took place between 1455 and 1485 – spanned multiple different reigns, involved numerous foreign kingdoms, and heralded changes in English politics, social order and battlefield technology. In this first episode of our two-part series, we’re joined by Curator of Collections and Interiors Dickon Whitewood to discuss what the Wars of the Roses were, how they started and the early battles that ended with Yorkist triumph.

To discover more about medieval warfare, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/medieval/war