From 1455 to 1487, England was torn apart by a series of civil wars known as the War of the Roses.
The war was fought between two factions of the royal house Plantagenet over control of the throne of England.
The first faction was the Lancasters, who held the throne at the start of the war the other faction was the York family who questioned the Lancasters’
right to rule. The Lancasters used a red rose as their family symbol while the Yorks were associated with a white Rose, hence the name
War of The Roses. The war resulted in the extinction of the York and the Lancaster dynasties and ending the Plantagenet rule of England. Instead,
the Tudor family rose to power and took control of the throne as the next great dynasty of England.
The war was fought between two factions of the royal house Plantagenet over control of the throne of England.
The first faction was the Lancasters, who held the throne at the start of the war the other faction was the York family who questioned the Lancasters’
right to rule. The Lancasters used a red rose as their family symbol while the Yorks were associated with a white Rose, hence the name
War of The Roses. The war resulted in the extinction of the York and the Lancaster dynasties and ending the Plantagenet rule of England. Instead,
the Tudor family rose to power and took control of the throne as the next great dynasty of England.
In a Rolling Stone interview, George RR Martin admitted that the War of the Roses had a big influence on him during the early stages of the novels
and one can easily draw parallels between this English civil War and the War of the Five Kings which takes place from the end of the first
Song of Ice and Fire novel to the middle of the third. Furthermore, the some of the nobel houses and great lords that fought in the War of the Roses
really resemble some of Martin’s characters that we know and love (or hate) in the novels and TV show. Although, none of the characters are exactly
like their real life counterparts and George RR Martin intended it to be that way. As he said to Rolling stone:
and one can easily draw parallels between this English civil War and the War of the Five Kings which takes place from the end of the first
Song of Ice and Fire novel to the middle of the third. Furthermore, the some of the nobel houses and great lords that fought in the War of the Roses
really resemble some of Martin’s characters that we know and love (or hate) in the novels and TV show. Although, none of the characters are exactly
like their real life counterparts and George RR Martin intended it to be that way. As he said to Rolling stone:
At one point [I] thought of writing a Wars of the Roses novel. But the problem with straight historical fiction is you know what’s going to
happen. If you know anything about the Wars of the Roses, you know that the princes in the tower aren’t going to escape. I wanted to make
it more unexpected, bring in some more twists and turns. The main question was the dragons: Do I include dragons? I knew I wanted to
have the Targaryens have their symbol be the dragons; the Lannisters have the lions, the Starks have the wolves.
Should these things be literal here? Should the Targaryens actually have dragons? I was discussing this with a friend… and she said,
‘George, it’s a fantasy – you’ve got to put in the dragons.’ She convinced me, and it was the right decision. Now that I’m deep into it, I
With that being said, it’s now time to get to the fun comparisonscan’t imagine the book without the dragons.
