The War of the Barons (1459-1461)

Question 1

23rd September 1459

Answer 1

Battle of Blore Heath

Question 2

12th/13th October 1459

Answer 2

Ludford Bridge (stand off) - Yorkist Lords flee England. York and his son Rutland go to Ireland. Salisbury, Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March (future IV) go to Calais.

Question 3

20th November 1459

Answer 3

Parliament of Devils

Question 4

January 1460

Answer 4

• Lancastrians couldn’t dislodge Yorkists from Calais. Duke of Somerset (2nd one) (appointed theoretically as Captain of Calais) unable to dislodge Warwick or Fauconberg (his uncle and his deputy commander) from Calais.
• Yorkist forces raid Sandwich (port in Kent) - recapturing ships belonging to Warwick - impounded there in the previous year
• They also seize Lord Rivers (commander of Lancastrian fleet) and his son Anthony Woodville - berated by Warwick and Salisbury for their ‘lowly lineage’.
• Warwick defeats Somerset at skirmish at Newham Bridge (within Calais Pale).

Question 5

March 1460

Answer 5

Warwick goes from Calais to Ireland and meets Richard, Duke of York. It is uncertain what was discussed but most likely a Yorkist raid.

Question 6

June 1460

Answer 6

Fauconberg leads Yorkist raid on Sandwich (port in Kent) - raid destroys Lancastrian fleet. Yorkist forces now occupy Sandwich - it is their bridgehead for their planned invasion.

Question 7

26th June 1460

Answer 7

Salisbury, Warwick and Edward, Earl of March sail from Calais to Sandwich. The Yorkist lords and their army march through Kent to London. The invasion is accompanied with propaganda. This stated they were loyal to the king, endangered by traitors of the king and they represent justice and the commonweal. The Duke of Suffolk and Edmund Beaufort - Duke of Somerset were dead so the Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl of Wiltshire and Viscount Beaumont were deemed ‘traitors’.

Question 8

10th July 1460

Answer 8

Battle of Northampton - Duke of Buckingham, Earl of Shrewsbury and Lord Egremont were murdered + Henry VI is captured by the Yorkist forces + Margaret of Anjou and Prince Edward fleed to Coventry.

Question 9

16th July 1460 and onwards

Answer 9

Salisbury, Warwick and March return to London with Henry VI. Regain control of the government. George Neville (Warwick’s brother) - Bishop of Exeter - becomes Chancellor. Viscount Bourchier (related to Nevilles) replaces Shrewsbury as treasurer. John Neville (another one of Warwick’s brothers) became Chamberlain - therefore controlled Henry VI’s royal household. Parliament is due to meet in October.

Question 10

September 1460

Answer 10

York returns to England from Ireland.

Question 11

October 1460

Answer 11

York approaches London - using the mannerisms of a King - Sword borne upright before him. He adopts the royal arms and drops Henry VI’s regnal year from documents + retains individuals without a clause reserving their allegiance to the King.

Question 12

10th October 1460

Answer 12

York arrives at Parliament - summoned to Westminster. Claims to be the rightful king. Nobility didn’t seem to agree with him - even Salisbury and Warwick’s support seemed feign and minimal.

Question 13

16th October 1460

Answer 13

York made to submit a formal case outlining his claim to the throne. This claim is thrown between judges and the lords tediously.

Question 14

25th October 1460

Answer 14

Act of Accord (compromise produced by the lords) - outlined that Henry VI would remain King but following his death the crown would pass onto York or if he was dead onto his heirs (his oldest son was Edward, Earl of March). This disinherited Henry VI’s son Edward Prince of Wales.

Question 15

October 1460

Answer 15

Lancastrian forces unite in northern England. Margaret of Anjou negotiates with James II (Scottish King) and guarantees his support - in return he would gain town Berwick-upon-Tweed. Duke of Somerset (Henry Beaufort) gathers his affinity at Hull along with those of other Lancastrian lords such as the Earl of Devon, Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland.

Question 16

December 1460

Answer 16

York and Salisbury lead a contingent of troops north from London to meet his threat (they claim to be acting in the name of Henry VI and to be heading north to restore order and stability). They base themselves at York’s castle at Sandal.

Question 17

30th December 1460

Answer 17

Battle of Wakefield - York, Rutland, and Salisbury’s son Thomas Neville are murdered. Salisbury is executed the next day.

Question 18

2nd-3rd February 1461

Answer 18

Battle at 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 19

17th February 1461

Answer 19

2nd 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.

Question 20

Late February 1461

Answer 20

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 21

27th February 1461

Answer 21

Edward and Warwick enter London.

Question 22

4th March 1461

Answer 22

Accession 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 I.

Question 23

11th March 1461

Answer 23

Fauconberg leads an advance north. Yorkists have been given a generous loan by London. Edward and Norfolk follow 3 days later, linking up with Warwick in the Midlands. The Yorkist army marches north to Pontefract seeking a decisive showdown with the Lancastrians.

Question 24

29th March 1461

Answer 24

Battle of Towton

Question 25

28th June 1461

Answer 25

Edward IV (19 years old) is crowned as King in Westminster Abbey