1459-61

Question 1

Introduction:

Answer 1

Between 1459 and 1461 the Wars of the Roses really do get bloody. If you were beginning to think one battle in eight years (St Albans, 1455) can hardly be called a war, and that the Wars of the Roses seem quite tame and lacking that gory bloodshed you were expecting, the events of 1459-61 will soon put you right. 7 battles in 18 months including the bloodiest ever fought on English soil. The political manoeuvrings of 1450-59 were consumed by warfare. The struggle was becoming dynastic. The Crown changed hands. In March 1461, when the dust settles and the spilling of blood eases, the new king of England is a strapping 18-year-old who played no part in the struggles of the 1450’s

Question 2

1459

Answer 2

• 23^rd September: Battle of Blore Heath
• 12^th/13^th October: Stand-off at Ludford Bridge
• 20^th November: Parliament of Devils

Question 3

1460 - January

Answer 3

• Lancastrian attempts to dislodge the Yorkists from Calais fail. Somerset (son) had been appointed Captain of Calais by Henry VI in October 1459, but despite constant skirmishes, was unable to dislodge Warwick or Fauconberg, Warwick’s uncle and deputy commander
• Yorkist forces raid Sandwich (in England), recapturing shops belonging to Warwick that had been impounded (taken into custody of the law) there the previous year. The raiding party also captured Lord Rivers (commander of the Lancastrian fleet) and his son, Anthony Woodville, who are brought back to to Calais and berated by Warwick and Salisbury for their apparently ‘lowly lineage’
• Warwick defeated Somerset in a serious skirmish at Newham Bridge (within the Calais Pale)

Question 4

1460 - March

Answer 4

Warwick sails from Calais to Ireland where he meets Richard, duke of York. Exactly what is discussed is open to conjecture, although clearly a Yorkist invasion of England was almost certainly at the top of the agenda. It was probably agreed that the invasion would be launched from Calais, and that it would be led by the Yorkist lords who had taken refuge there, namely Salisbury, Warwick and Edward, earl of March (York’s eldest son and heir)

Question 5

1460 - June

Answer 5

Fauconberg leads a second Yorkist raid on Sandwich. This raid destroys a Lancastrian fleet being readied to make an assault on Calais. Indeed, this is more than just a raid: Yorkist forces now occupy Sandwich making it a bridgehead for their planned invasion

Question 6

1460 - 26^th June

Answer 6

Salisbury, Warwick and the earl of March (Edward) sail from Calais to Sandwich. The Yorkist lords and their army march through Kent to London (could have been kept out of London, but they had the Londoner’s support) . Their invasion is accompanied by a barrage of propaganda claiming that: they are entirely loyal to the king; their lives are endangered by traitors about the king; they stand for justice and the commonweal; one of Cade’s manifestos from 1450 is reissued - the ‘Articles of the Commons of Kent’ [Grummit asserts that this reveals ‘the constitutional poverty of the Yorkist position’]. With Suffolk and Edmund, duke of Somerset long gone, the new ‘traitors’ appear to have been the earls of Shrewsbury, Wiltshire and Viscount Beaumont

Question 7

1460 - 10^th July

Answer 7

• Battle of Northampton. The Yorkist forces march north from London, their ranks increased by a determined recruiting campaign in the south, especially Kent, and London. Many of the landed estates the Yorkist lords possess (confiscated by the Parliament of Devils) are further north and west, so too far away for troops to be raised for this march north. Seven bishops, including the archbishop of Canterbury, accompany the Yorkist army. They are sent ahead to petition the king to allow the Yorkist lords to speak with him (in order to overturn the parliament of devils), but this attempt fails, possibly due to the intervention of Buckingham
• The Lancastrian army is led by the duke of Buckingham and the earl of Shrewsbury. Henry VI is also among this army. It almost certainly outnumbers the Yorkist army. Lord Grey of Ruthin betrays the Lancastrian army, enabling a Yorkist victory. Buckingham, Shrewsbury and Lord Egremont are killed. Henry VI is captured by the Yorkists. Margaret of Anjou and Prince Edward flee north, having remained in Coventry during the battle

Question 8

1460 - 16^th July onwards

Answer 8

Salisbury, Warwick and March return to London with Henry VI (either to get to a place where they could overturn the Parliament of Devils or set the scene for York). They set about taking control of government once again: Warwick’s brother George Neville, bishop of Exeter, becoming chancellor; Viscount Bourchier replacing the slain Shrewsbury as treasurer; and John Neville (another of Warwick’s brothers) becoming chamberlain, and therefore controlling Henry VI’s royal household. Writs are issued for a parliament to meet at Westminster in October

Question 9

1460 - September

Answer 9

York returns to England from Ireland

Question 10

1460 - October

Answer 10

York approaches London with all the majesty of a king, a sword borne upright before him. He adopts the royal arms, drops Henry VI’s regnal year from documents, and retains individuals (keeps people in his service) without a clause reserving their allegiance to the king

Question 11

1460 - 10^th October

Answer 11

York arrives at the parliament summoned to Westminster. Entering Westminster Hall, he lays his hand on the throne and announces his claim to be the rightful king. This does not go down well with the nobility. Even Warwick and Salisbury do not appear fulsome in their support. On 16 October York is made to submit a formal case outlining his claim: the lords pass the matter to the judges who protest that it is a matter for the lords; the lords turn to the sergeants of law who pass it back to the lords - no one wants the responsibility of making a decision!

Question 12

1460 - 25th October

Answer 12

Act of Accord. Flailing about for a solution, the lords come up with a compromise. Henry VI is to remain king, but on his death the crown will pass to York (if he’s still alive, being older than Henry) or to York’s heirs (his eldest son being Edward, earl of March). This, the Act of Accord, disinherits Henry’s son Prince Edward

Question 13

1460 - Later October

Answer 13

Lancastrian forces muster in northern England. Margaret negotiates with the Scottish king, James II, securing his support by promising him the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Somerset (Henry, son of Edmund…) returns from the continent and musters his affinity at Hull, along with those of other Lancastrian lords including the earls of Devon, Northumberland and Westmorland

Question 14

1460 - December

Answer 14

York and Salisbury lead a contingent of troops north from London to meet this threat; officially, they claim to be acting in the name of Henry VI and heading north to restore order and stability. York, Salisbury and their troops base themselves in York’s castle at Sandal (in Yorkshire, not far from the town of Wakefield)

Question 15

1460 - 30^th December

Answer 15

Battle of Wakefield. York and Salisbury leave the safety of Sandal Castle (may have thought that there was a Christmas truce), take to the field and are confronted by the Lancastrians. It’s a fatal mistake. The Lancastrians heavily outnumber them. The Yorkists are defeated and forced to retreat. York is killed in battle, along with his son, Rutland, and Salisbury’s son, Thomas Neville. Salisbury is captured, taken to Pontefract Castle and executed the next day. The heads of York and Salisbury are staked on Micklegate Bar, a gateway into the city of York, a paper crown placed on York’s head in mockery of his claim to be king

Question 16

1461 - 2^nd/3^rd February

Answer 16

Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. Edward, earl of March, had been sent to Wales and the Marches in December 1460 to raise troops from his father’s estates. Hearing of his father’s death and the Lancastrians beginning to march south, Edward prepares to intercept them. However, receiving news that a Lancastrian force under the earls of Pembroke and Wiltshire is on the march in Wales, he turns his army around, confronts this Lancastrian force at Mortimer’s Cross (Herefordshire) and comprehensively defeats it. Pembroke and Wiltshire escape; Owen Tudor (Henry VI’s step-father) is captured and executed

Question 17

1461 - 17^th February

Answer 17

• Second Battle of St Albans. Warwick had been left to guard London in December 1460. With the Lancastrian army now advancing towards London, Warwick raises a substantial force and preparing to meet the Lancastrian marches to St Albans. There is serious noble support for the Yorkists, Warwick being accompanied by the duke of Norfolk, the earls of Arundel and Suffolk, and six other lords including Warwick’s uncle, Fauconberg. It’s a distinctly chivalric leadership with some distinguished veterans from the Hundred Years War. Warwick takes Henry VI with him to add legitimacy to his army, that they are fighting in the name of the king
• The Lancastrian army includes the dukes of Somerset and Exeter, the earls of Devon, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Northumberland, Westmorland and five other lords. Also present is Prince Edward (Henry VI’s son)
• Warwick takes up a defensive position in St Albans; the Lancastrians attack, thus reversing the roles in the First Battle of St Albans. The Yorkists were defeated, possibly being outnumbered, possibly due to poor dispositions and organisation. Warwick and most of the Yorkist leadership managed to escape capture. Henry VI was retaken by the Lancastrians

Question 18

1461 - Late February

Answer 18

The Lancastrians advance on London. There is no Yorkist force blocking their way, the capital apparently there for the taking. However, the city authorities bar the gates and refuse entry to the Lancastrians. Margaret attempts to negotiate entry, but news that Edward, now accompanied by Warwick, is heading towards London leads to the collapse of negotiations. The Lancastrians withdraw to Yorkshire

Question 19

1461 - 27^th February

Answer 19

Edward and Warwick enter London

Question 20

1461 - 4^th March

Answer 20

Accession (taking the crown) of Edward IV. An assembly of the people is called on 1 March and affirms that Edward should be king instead of Henry VI (quite who these ‘people’ were is uncertain, probably prominent citizens of London). On 4 March the ‘people’ confirm this outside St Paul’s Cathedral. The Yorkist legal argument is that Henry VI has forfeited the crown by breaking the Act of Accord with the killing of Richard, duke of York. [Edward was acclaimed as king, but wasn’t crowned - not yet. However, from this moment he is known as Edward IV]

Question 21

1461 - 29^th March

Answer 21

Battle of Towton. Palm Sunday, icily cold, bitterly windy, snowstorms… the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. In a vicious, tightly fought, brutally merciless struggle the Yorkists eventually prevail. The worst Lancastrian casualties are suffered as they flee the battlefield. Overall, possibly 28,000 men are killed in this momentous engagement. Margaret, Prince Edward and Henry VI flee north towards Scotland but the Lancastrian cause is all but destroyed on the field of battle. It is victory at Towton that confirms the 18-year-old Edward IV as king

Question 22

1461 - 28^th June

Answer 22

Edward IV (now aged 19) crowned as king in Westminster Abbey