Dynastic conflict between the houses of York and Lancaster, taking place from roughly 1455 and ending at the Battle of Bosworth Field, 22 August 1485. At Bosworth, Henry Tudor defeated Richard III (the last king of England to die in battle); he later married into the house of York. In 1487 an impostor named Lambert Simnel claimed to be Edward, duke of Warwick, and the nephew of Edward IV. He succeeded in having himself crowned in Dublin as Edward VI. In England he was supported by the earl of Lincoln. At Stoke Simnel's followers met the king, Henry VII, whose forces won the day. With surprising leniency, Simnel was not executed but given a job in the royal kitchens.
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.