The War of the Roses

As many of you probably know, my individual play for my Shakespeare class was Richard III.  This play was one of many plays dealing with the fights between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, two branches of the Plantagenet family, over the throne of England.  I just finished reading a book called "Crown Duel," and in it a girl and her brother are plotting to overthrow a corrupt king.  They claim to be fighting on behalf of all the people of the kingdom, but the girl eventually finds out that most of the commoners don't care.  In fact, most of the people just want to be left alone, eking out an existence until the king raises the taxes too high.  This got me thinking.  Although the girl in the book truly believes that she is doing what is best for the people, not caring about power, it doesn't matter to the subjects.  I believe this was also true in Richard III's time.  The people of England did not care who was on the throne, so long as they were left in piece.  Although war seems noble to others, the commoners who lived in times of  war were hit the hardest.  Their men were forced to fight in the armies, their food was used to supply the armies, and their homes and fields were destroyed in the battles of war.  I can see why the peasants at that time were sick of the fighting, and did not care who was sitting on the throne, if they could provide stabilization and peace to the country.