Gone Medieval

The Wars of the Roses: The Origins

Listen on

Episode notes

The Wars of the Roses is a complex and fascinating period of English history that dominates the second half of the 15th century and leads to the rise of the Tudor dynasty. It’s often characterised as a dynastic struggle between Lancaster and York, but it was much more than that.


In this first part of three special episodes, Matt Lewis details the origins of the conflict and how it erupted into open war. Episodes 2 and 3 will explore the events of the conflict, but this is a chance to get to grips with how, and why, it all began.


The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. The Producer was Rob Weinberg. It was edited and sound designed by Annie Coloe.


For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Monday's newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.



See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.