Lancastrians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People who supported the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses in England ; inhabitants or natives associated with the city or county of Lancaster in northwestern England ; members or followers of a historical dynasty or faction linked to Lancaster heritage
2. Individuals aligned with the Lancastrian faction in the English civil conflicts of the 15th century ; residents living in or originating from the Lancaster region ; adherents to the political or genealogical lineage connected to the House of Lancaster
3. Supporters of the Lancastrian cause against the Yorkists in medieval English history ; those hailing from the geographical area called Lancaster ; persons affiliated with the royal or noble family descending from Lancaster lineage

Etymology: The Lancastrians were the supporters of the House of Lancaster, the branch of the royal family whose emblem was the red rose, and they fought the House of York, whose emblem was the white rose, in the long dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the Roses. The name comes from Lancaster, the English place and the title held by the dukes who founded the line, to which the suffix "-ian" was added to mean a follower or person associated with that house. The suffix itself has a long journey behind it. It descends from an ancient Italic adjective ending that formed words meaning "belonging to" or "of," and it passed through Latin into French and then English, where it became one of the most productive ways of turning a place or person's name into an adjective or noun. Lancastrian therefore follows the same pattern as words like "Victorian" or "Elizabethan," giving a group identity from the name of a ruling house.