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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.1042  Tuesday, 11 May 2004

From:           Norman Hinton <hinton@springnet1.com>
Date:           Tuesday, 11 May 2004 11:57:28 -0500
Subject: 15.1031 The Wars of the Roses
Comment:        Re: SHK 15.1031 The Wars of the Roses

The 2004 Britannica does not have an answer, but I thought this
paragraph might be of interest:

Fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne,
the wars were named many years afterward from the supposed badges of the
contending parties: the white rose of York and the red of Lancaster.

The OED has quotations identifying the various factors with white or red
roses from the 16th and 17th centuries, but it gives no source or
quotation for the phrase until Scott. (If there is an earlier source, it
won't be the first time the OED has been wrong.)

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