As far as we know, medieval England was never invaded by ice zombies, or terrorized by dragons,

but it was shaken by a power struggle between two noble families spanning generations

and involving a massive cast of characters with complex motives and shifting loyalties.

If that sounds familiar, it's because the historical conflicts known as the Wars of the Roses served as the basis for much of the drama in Game of Thrones.

The real life seeds of war were sown by the death of King Edward III in 1377.

Edward 's oldest son had died before his father, but his ten year old son, Richard II,

succeeded to the throne ahead of Edward 's three surviving sons.

This skipping of an entire generation left lingering claims to the throne among their various offspring,

particularly the Lancasters, descended from Edward 's third son, and the Yorks, descended from his fourth son.

The name of the ensuing wars comes from the symbols associated with the two families :

the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.