the English royal house descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, that ruled England from 1399 (Henry Ⅳ) until 1461 (the deposition of Henry Ⅵ) and again on Henry's brief restoration in 1470- 1. With the red rose as its emblem it fought the Wars of the Roses with the House of York; Lancaster's descendants, the Tudors, eventually prevailed through Henry Ⅶ's accession to the throne in 1485.