The War of the Roses“Do not have a furnace for your enemy so hot that you burn yourself.” (Mabillard 1). The Wars of the Roses was a boiling furnace, it caused many changes for England from rebellions and the overthrow of numerous kings and queens, to new dynasties and caused England to change for the better with ambition and thus become what it is today . the Roses began in England in the 1400s with a series of wars (Griffiths 1). Started with attacks and rebellions from 1455 to 1487, it goes through three different phases; the first phase, from 1455 to 1464, began as a rivalry, the second phase, from 1469 to 1471, was more of a war between factions, rather than a rivalry, and the last phase, from 1483 to 1487, was a real own dynastic warfare (Phillips 1). Involving the House of York and Lancaster, York had the emblem of the white rose and Lancaster had the emblem of the red rose. Due to the weakness of the English forces and government and Henry IV's assassination attempts (Griffiths 1), war broke out between Wales and Scotland which lasted for two conflicting years (Lunt 260). King Henry IV retained power in 1399 (Griffiths 1). He was very ambitious and caused a rebellion during his reign, which all started when he celebrated his first Christmas (Lunt 259-260). During his reign, the commons established precedents that guaranteed the privileges of free speech and arrest. This declaration helped them have a say in political and local matters (Lunt 270). After the reign of Henry IV ended, Henry V accepted power (Phillips 1). Once crowned in 1413, he controlled most of the English army, which needed a reliable army at the time (Lunt 261). After King Henry V, in 1455 he was appointed King Henry VI, but he lacked... .... middle of paper ...... asty from the complete end of Lancaster and York, transforming England into a very superpower ambitious and vigorous. Works Cited Griffiths, Ralph A. "Wars of the Roses." Advanced World Book. World Book, 2014. Web. January 27, 2014. Greaves, Richard L. “Tudor, House of.” Advanced World Book. World Book, 2014. Web. 6 February 2014. Lunt, W. E. History of England. 4th ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1957. Print. Pizzo, W. William. England. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1997. Print.Mabillard, Amanda. “Famous Quotes from Shakespeare's Henry VIII.” Famous quotes from Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Amanda Mabillard, December 5, 2011. Web. February 24, 2014. Phillips, Charles and Alan Axelrod. “The War of the Roses”. Encyclopedia of Wars. vol. 2. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2005. Ancient and Medieval History Online. File, Inc. Web Facts. January 29. 2014.