First Battle of St Albans

First Battle of St Albans
Part of the Wars of the Roses
Date 22 May 1455 Location St Albans in Hertfordshire, England Result Decisive Yorkist victory
Belligerents
House of York	House of Lancaster
Commanders and leaders
Richard, Duke of York Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick	Henry VI (POW) Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset † Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (POW) Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland † Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon Thomas, Lord Clifford †
Strength
3,000-7,000	2,000
Casualties and losses
60	100

The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses.Richard, Duke of York and his allies, the Neville Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal army commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was killed. With King Henry VI captured, a subsequent parliament appointed Richard of York Lord Protector.

The incapacitation of Henry VI by mental illness in 1454 had led to the recall to court of Richard of York, his closest adult relative. Back in 1447, York had been assigned as Lieutenant of Ireland, basically in exile away from England, while his long time rival, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and favorite of the king, had been given the charge of Lieutenant of France. After Somerset's own failure in France, York unexpectedly returned to London with significant support not only from the nobility, most of whom saw the incompetence of Somerset's efforts in France, but also from the public. He presented himself as a champion of the law and kept urging the King to have Somerset tried and held accountable for his failures. York formed an armed force to force the issue in 1452, and after meeting with the council of war and the King, who desperately wanted to avoid a conflict, York's demands were agreed on. He disbanded his army as a result, but in no way did he expect to be arrested and held prisoner for three months. An execution was avoided as the King was nervous about arousing trouble; the Duke of York was very popular and an individual known as a man of honor. York was only released after he agreed to swear an oath at St. Paul's Cathedral that he would never again take up arms against the King.

After the English army led by Sir John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was routed in the Battle of Castillion, Henry VI suffered a complete mental breakdown and was unable to perform his royal duties. Somerset had attempted to take control of the country and sought to make himself Lord Protector. However, Somerset underestimated the Duke of York's influence and popularity, as many nobles on the council, including York's closest allies, his brother-in-law Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and Salisbury's son Richard, Earl of Warwick, were on York's side. And so York was given the appointment to govern England as Lord Protector and First Councillor of the realm while the king remained unfit. He used this position to move against his chief rival and express the bitterness which had accumulated over the years, and thus the Duke of Somerset was imprisoned. It was during this 14 months that the sides were clearly forming. There was conflict beyond that between the Dukes of York and Somerset; in fact, the two richest and most prominent families from the north, the Percys and Nevilles, were having their own conflicts. The Percys were, and still are to this day, the Earls of Northumberland; the Nevilles possessed both Salisbury and Warwick (received through the right of his wife) and they were one of the richest families in all England. The Nevilles were also related to the Duke of York by marriage, as the Duchess of York was Cecily Neville, the daughter and subsequently the sister of the Duke of Salisbury. Much of the fighting was over land and money, but both were clearly choosing sides, the Percys for Somerset and the Nevilles for York.

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Wikipedia