Wars of the Roses Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster, associated with a red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, but there was related fighting before and after this period between the parties. The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles following
The Rose of Castille and Elvira's bravura aria ("Oh no! By fortune blessed"), concludes the opera to general rejoicing: she will now be the Rose of Castille as well as the Queen of León. James Joyce's "Ulysses" contains a number of references to "The Rose of Castille" (many more than to "The Bohemian Girl" or "The Maid of Artois"). The most notable is in the Aeolus section, where Lenehan answers his own riddle, "What opera is like a railway line?", with ""The Rose of Castille". See the wheeze? Rows of cast steel." In addition, Manuel's aria, "'Twas rank and fame that tempted thee" is