The First Battle of St Albans
Date: 21 May 1455
Victor: York
York Leadership: Richard, Duke of York; Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury; Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
Lancastrian Leadership: Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham; Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset; Thomas, 8th Lord Clifford
Notable Deaths: Thomas, 8th Lord Clifford; Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland; Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
In early February 1455 Henry VI recovered his health and the protectorate of the Duke of York came to an end. Parliament was disolved, York's ally, the Duke of Salisbury, was dismissed from the office of Chancellor and York's enemy, the Duke of Somerset, was released from the Tower.
As soon as York lost his position of power, a Lancastrian backlash against his supporters followed. The battlelines were soon drawn for the first battle of the Wars of the Roses. The Yorkists (the Duke of York, Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick) soon left London and the Lancastrians (King Henry and his queen, the Duke of Somerset, and the Percy family) consolidated their return to power.
The king met with his advisors on 21 April and it was decided that a council for all the nobles of the land would be held in May in Leicester to try to resolve the conflict. Instead of obeying the summons, York, Salisbury and Warwick travelled towards London with three-thousand men at arms. York was convinced that the council was a trap, and hoped to intercept the king on his way there. When they reached Hertfordshire, York issued a statement to the people declaring that they meant no harm to the king but were attempting to protect themselves from their enemies.
The king sent a letter to York stating that if he did not disband his army he would be regarded as a traitor. On receiving no reply, the Lancastrians left London on 21 May, with an army of about two thousand men. The king later received a letter from York, however, and in it York protested that he had not been invited to the king's meeting on 21 April and that only the removal of the Duke of Somerset from the king's intimate circle would appease the situation.
Early in the morning of 22 May the Lancastrian army, under the leadership of the Duke of Buckingham, reached the town at about the same time as the Yorkists. The conflict opened with an unsuccessful round of negotiations: York was resolute on having Somerset removed, and would not negotiate on this point; Henry would not listen to York's complaints of misgovernment. When the discussions broke down, the battle began.
York and Salisbury attacked first from the east through the streets, towards the Lancastrians in the market place. The Lancastrians, most of whom were expecting a peaceful outcome to the negotiations, were taken by surprise. They soon rallied to the defence and the Yorkists were pushed back. However, while York and Salisbury's troops engaged the Lancastrian defenders, the Earl of Warwick's men, crying a Warwick, a Warwick, were able to break into the market place and sever the Lancastrian line.
Hearing that the Yorkists had entered the town, the Lancastrians began to panic and flee, allowing the Yorkists to enter the town unimpeded. The remnants of the army tried to rally around the king, but Warwick ordered his men to attack them, with shocking results at such close range. The king was hit in the neck by an arrow and Buckingham was wounded in the face.
The conflict lasted only half an hour longer, and Lord Clifford, Henry Percy and Somerset were killed as they were attempting to fight their way out. The Earls of Devon, Dorset and Pembroke, as well as the Duke of Buckingham were captured, but spared.
On the day after the battle, York, Salisbury and Warwick escorted the king back to London. York was now effectively the ruler of England.
Although Somerset was now dead, the conflict between Lancaster and York seemed wider than ever. The Lancastrian faction still existed and were now more hostile than ever to York. That the battle took place at all was shocking to many people. Despite York's assurances that he had only the good of the kingdom at heart, he had taken up arms against his king, and was therefore deemed, by some, to be a traitor.
Word Count: 730
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