White Rose of York

The White Rose of York ("Rosa alba") is the symbol of the House of York and has since been adopted as a symbol of Yorkshire as a whole.cite web |url=http://www.library.phila.gov/medieval/badge.htm|publisher=Free Library of Philadelphia|title=The Edward IV Roll|accessdate=2008-03-21 ]

History

Traditionally the origins of the emblem are said to go back to Edmund of Langley in the 14th century, the first Duke of York and the founder of the House of York as a Cadet branch of the then ruling House of Plantagenet.cite web |url=http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/yorkshirerose.htm|publisher=YorkshireHistory.com|title=The White Rose of Yorkshire|accessdate=2008-03-21 ] The actual symbolism behind the rose has religious connotations as it represents the Virgin Mary, who was often called the "Mystical Rose of Heaven".cite web |url=http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/yorkshirerose.htm|publisher=YorkshireHistory.com|title=The White Rose of Yorkshire|accessdate=2008-03-21 ] The Yorkist rose is white in colour, because in Christian liturgical symbolism, white is the symbol of light, typifing innocence and purity, joy and glory. [ws|"" in the 1913 "Catholic Encyclopedia"]

During the civil wars of the 15th century, the White Rose was the symbol of Yorkist forces opposed to the rival House of Lancaster, whose symbol was the Red Rose of Lancaster.cite web |url=http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/yorkshirerose.htm|publisher=YorkshireHistory.com|title=The White Rose of Yorkshire|accessdate=2008-03-21 ] The opposition of the two roses gave the wars their name: the Wars of the Roses. The conflict was ended by King Henry VII of England, who symbolically united the White and Red Roses to create the Tudor Rose, symbol of the Tudor dynasty. In the late Seventeenth Century the Jacobites took up the White Rose of York as their emblem, celebrating "White Rose Day" on 10 June, the anniversary of the birth of James III and VIII in 1688. Fact|date=March 2007

At the Battle of Minden on August 1, 1759, Yorkshiremen of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry's predecessor the 51st Regiment picked white roses from bushes near to the battlefields as a tribute to their fallen comrades who had died.cite web |url=http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/yorkshirerose.htm|publisher=YorkshireHistory.com|title=The White Rose of Yorkshire|accessdate=2008-03-21 ] They stuck the plucked white roses in their coats as a tribute. [cite web |url=http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/the_battle_of_minden/|publisher=HumanFlowerProject.com|title=The Battle of Minden|accessdate=2008-03-21 ] Yorkshire Day is held on this date each year.cite web |url=http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/yorkshirerose.htm|publisher=YorkshireHistory.com|title=The White Rose of Yorkshire|accessdate=2008-03-21 ]

ee also

*Wars of the Roses
*Red Rose of Lancaster
*Tudor Rose

References