Selecting the Roses.
On the following page we have a genealogical table of the family of Edward III. At the head of it we have the names of Edward III. and Philippa his wife. In a line below are the names of those four of his sons whose descendants figure in English history. It was among the descendants of these sons that the celebrated wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, called the wars of the roses, arose.
Genealogical Table of the Family of Edward III., Showing the Connection of the Houses of York and Lancaster.
Genealogical table of the descendants of Edward III.
| EDWARD III.==Philippa. | ||||||||||||
| Edward (The Black Prince). | Lionel (Duke of Clarence). | John (of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster). | Edmund (Duke of York). | |||||||||
| Richard II. | Philippa==Edward Mortimer. | Henry IV. | Richard==Anne. (See second Column.) | |||||||||
| Roger Mortimer (Earl of Marche). | Henry V. | |||||||||||
| Anne==Richard of York. (See fourth column.) | Henry VI. | Richard Plantagenet (Duke of York). | ||||||||||
| Edward (Prince of Wales). | ||||||||||||
| Edward IV. | George (Duke of Clarence). | Richard III. | ||||||||||
The character == denotes marriage; the short perpendicular line | a descent. There were many other children and descendants in the different branches of the family besides those whose names are inserted in the table. The table includes only those essential to an understanding of the history.
The roses.
These wars were called the wars of the roses from the circumstance that the white and the red rose happened in some way to be chosen as the badges of the two parties—the white rose being that of the house of York, and the red that of the house of Lancaster.
The four brothers.