22 May 1455
Wars of the Roses begin

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The savage struggle for power between the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose) ignites when Richard, duke of York, engages the royal troops at the battle of St Albans. The rivalry between the crown and nobles starts when Henry VI becomes mentally ill in 1454 and Richard is named 'Protector of the Realm'. But, over the next few years, Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou, is the Lancastrian force to be reckoned with as she sees off the Yorkist challenge: Duke Richard is killed at the battle of Wakefield in 1460.

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