Yorkists. The three kings of England between 1461 and 1485 ( Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III) were so named because they were descended from Richard of York. The term is also applied to their retainers, recognizable on effigies by their collars of suns and roses; to their supporters during the Wars of the Roses; and to those who challenged Henry VII after 1485. Like the Lancastrians, the Yorkists were not a political party. Indeed, during the Wars of the Roses, most of the nobility and gentry bent with the wind, happy to be Lancastrian, Yorkist, or Tudor according to political circumstance and personal advantage.

Anthony James Pollard

Yorkist an adherent or a supporter of the House of York, especially in the Wars of the Roses. The term is recorded from the early 17th century.