House of Lancaster
Lancaster, House of, an English noble family that produced three of the Plantagenet kings of England: Henry IV (1399–1413), Henry V (1413–22), and Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71). The house received its name when Edmund Crouchback, second son of Henry III, was made first earl of Lancaster (1267). John of Gaunt, the fourth son of Edward III, became duke of Lancaster as a result of his marriage to the heiress of that house. John's son became Henry IV by deposing Richard II in 1399.
The Wars of the Roses (1455–85) were fought between the house of Lancaster and the rival house of York. Henry VII, the Lancastrian heir, ended the feud in 1486 by marrying Elizabeth of York. He was the first Tudor king.