The Battle of Wakefield and the death of Richard duke of York:-

 The Battle of Wakefield and the death of Richard duke of York:-

On this date in 1460 the Battle of Wakefield was fought between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. Richard Plantagenet, the 3rd duke of York had left London in early December and spent Christmas at his Castle of Sandal near Wakefield. It was a major battle of the early years of the wars, ushering in a new and far more brutal period of fighting where no prisoners were taken. Until that point it had been usual to spare and ransom those of noble blood captured during battle.

On the 24th of October 1460 the Act of Accord was ratified naming the duke of York as the heir to the throne, after Henry VI's death. This disinherited the King's own young son, Edward of Westminster. The King was mentally unstable, his illness probably being passed through his Mother Katherine of Valois whose own Father King Charles VI had been famously mad.

Like his grandfather before him, Henry VI found his court divided by factions vying for power during his bouts of madness. The duke of York, Richard had a good claim to the throne through his Mother Anne Mortimer who was the daughter of Roger Mortimer 4th earl of March. Roger in turn was the son of Philippa of Clarence, the only child of Lionel of Antwerp, the second surviving son of Edward III. Henry VI's own claim to the throne came through his grandfather Henry IV, who had usurped the throne from Richard II in 1399. 

Henry IV, the son of John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster was the third surviving son of Edward III. Moves had been made during Edward III's own lifetime by Gaunt to bar Philippa from transmitting her claim to the throne to her young son with a suggestion of adopting the French Salic law.

Richard II was the only surviving child of Edward of Woodstock 'The Black Prince', the eldest son of Edward III. Roger Mortimer, 4th earl of March, although never named as such was therefore the heir apparent to Richard II by descent from the second son of Edward III, Lionel. However Roger had been killed in Ireland in 1399, leaving behind his son Edmund the 5th earl of March, as his heir. There was nobody who seriously thought to press the claim of the boy when Richard II was overthrown; however he and his younger brother were to spend the next fourteen years in honourable captivity. When Edmund 5th earl of March died in 1425 he was childless, his younger brother dead, so the only son of his eldest sister inherited everything including the claim to the throne. This was Richard duke of York who had also inherited the dukedom of York at the death of his childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, 2nd duke of York, at Agincourt in 1415.

This claim would probably have never been pressed by York in the later years of his life had he been better treated by the Lancastrian government who seem to have always viewed him and his Mortimer blood with suspicion. The loss of major land in France, and those lands ceded back to the French by Henry VI as part of the agreement at his wedding to Margaret of Anjou, who was the niece of the Queen Consort of France, Marie of Anjou.

After the 1450 rebellion of Jack Cade, who may have been something to do with Richard duke of York, the political climate in England was explosive. In 1453 Henry VI had entered into a catatonic state which he did not recover from for over a year. York was the natural candidate as Lord Protector and he would fulfil this role and govern the country well. Margaret of Anjou did not really play a direct part in politics at this point, and the blame for the outbreak of war cannot be laid on her; this blame lies squarely with her husband Henry VI and his corrupt councillors, mainly his Beaufort kin who were over indulged and unpopular.

The relationship between the Beauforts and the house of York was ice cold and had been since the early 1440's in France when York was acting as the King's Lieutenant. This was despite the fact that York's Mother-in-law, who he appeared to have got on well with, was Joan Beaufort, the youngest illegitimate child of John of Gaunt and his mistress and eventual third wife Kathryn Swynford.

York's brother in law, Richard Nevill, earl of Salisbury and his powerful son, Richard Nevill earl of Warwick at first remained loyal to Henry IV but were – foolishly - pushed into the camp of York by Henry VI's highhanded treatment of them during the Percy-Nevill feud which gained momentum during the 1450's, culminating in 1453 when Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont attacked the bridal party of Sir Thomas Nevill near Sheriff Hutton Castle. The plan had probably been to assassinate the Nevills but if there was indeed a fight, it probably more accurate to call it a skirmish.

This brought on a period of violent acts on both sides, both led by the younger and easily angered sons of the families, Egremont and John Nevill. Another battle, at Stamford Bridge in the same year pushed the Nevill family into siding with York in his own woes with the Beauforts. In 1455 at the battle of Saint Albans, both Edmund Beaufort duke of Somerset and Henry Percy, duke of Northumberland were killed, no doubt targeted by their Yorkist enemies. It would perhaps be fair to call these deaths political assassinations.

Understandably the sons of Percy and Beaufort vowed to kill the Yorkist lords in revenge. The Queen, fearing York's power and protecting the rights of her own son became their leader, in the absence of any real leadership from her husband the King. Margaret of Anjou must be seen in a sympathetic light; although she was instrumental in pushing the Yorkist in to outright rebellion in 1458/9 she was a woman in a violent world of men, trying to defend the rights of her child and husband. If Henry VI had been a stronger man, better able to rule, she, like York, would never have been put in a position of being forced to defend by attacking.

After the battles of Blore Heath and Ludford Bridge in 1459, the duke of York, his sons Edward earl of March and Edmund earl of Rutland along with the earl of Salisbury and his son the earl of Warwick fled abroad. The Nevills and the earl of March fled to Calais where Warwick was captain, and York with Rutland to Ireland where he was the earl of Ulster; and loved by the Irish who indeed even hung a messenger from the King demanding they hand York over. They were all attainted as traitors at the Parliament of the Devils in late 1459, the writs of which had already been sent out prior to the battle of Ludford Bridge. This suggests that the Lancastrian faction had already decided upon a course of action and was probably hoping that, at the time of sitting, the men attainted would already be dead. The decision to flee into exile robbed the Lancastrians of this opportunity.

Salisbury's wife Alice was also attainted, but, a strong and able woman, she fled and made her way to York in Ireland where her son Warwick collected her after travelling to Ireland to meet with his uncle the following May. York's own wife Cecily and younger children, Margaret, George and Richard were placed in custody under Cecily's older sister Anne, the duchess of Buckingham. The following July 1460, Salisbury, Warwick and March returned from Calais and sailed into Kent from where they marched to London with popular support. This culminated with the Battle of Northampton where the duke of Buckingham was killed and King Henry captured. Margaret of Anjou escaped with her son Prince Edward.

In September, York himself landed in England, his wife Cecily rushing to meet him. But this time he came to England carrying the arms of Lionel of Antwerp and the Mortimers rather than those of Edward of Norwich and the house of York. In short, he came to claim the throne. This must have been discussed with Warwick during their meetings in Ireland a few months before and it must have been decided upon as the best course of action. They could not trust the word of Henry VI and especially not his Queen; they had already been attainted as traitors and had nothing left to lose. Warwick could hardly have been ignorant of York's plans.

Unfortunately they had misjudged the political mood badly. There was no support for York to take the throne, and when he demanded it rightfully pointing out that Henry IV, V and IV were all usurpers he was asked why he had waited so long to claim the throne. He answered quite calmly that yes he had waited, but it did not matter because the truth did not die or rot. It quite simply remained the truth. After much passing around and arguing it was decided that York and his heirs would take the throne after the death of Henry VI who remain King for the rest of his life. This brings us back to the Act of Accord above mentioned. However, Queen Margaret of Anjou was made of sterner stuff and would not give in as easily as her husband had.

The northern lands of York and Salisbury had been deprived of their lords since late 1459 and had been the subject of pillage by the Lancastrians still roaming the northern parts of the country. In December York took his second son Edmund earl of Rutland and his nephew Edward Bourchier, by his sister Isabel, to Sandal Castle. With them went the earl of Salisbury, his younger son Sir Thomas Nevill and his son-in-law William Bonville, Lord Harrington and Bonville's Father, also called William Bonville and a small army. They arrived at Sandal shortly before Christmas and may have agreed a truce over the festive period with the Lancastrians at the nearby Pontefract Castle, led by Henry Beaufort, duke of Somerset, Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland and John Clifford.

Many scholars have questioned why York left the relative safety of Sandal Castle on the morning of 30th December, knowing that reinforcements were on the way with his son Edward earl of March. The usual explanation is that a foraging party of the duke’s was attacked by the Lancastrians and with half of their forces hid, York underestimated their numbers until it was far too late. However for the duke to risk a battle over a foraging party, then a member of that party must have been somebody very important to him, like his son Edmund.

Despite assertions that he was rash; this is not altogether fair. York, although prone to explosions of Plantagenet temper was actually known to keep his own counsel much of the time and far from rash, he tended to be cautious. One must remember that it took over ten years and being pushed to the point of breaking before he claimed the throne, he preferred flight to fight in 1459 and was no fool. It is fashionable by modern historians to play down the achievements of the duke of York; indeed he is often forgotten; overshadowed by his famous sons, Edward IV and Richard III. But in his youth York was an able commander in the dying years of the Hundred Years War with France who took the sound advice of his captains and put the French King to flight in a minor battle. York, although no great politician, was no fool.

Regardless of the reasons he left the castle that day, he was most probably duped. This could have been under men wearing the colours of York or one of his supporters, such as Warwick. It is almost definite that he was not aware of the true extent of Lancastrian numbers as two large forces were hidden in woodlands either side of the castle. The best thing to do, despite the lack of provisions, was to sit tight and await reinforcements. The Lancastrians were aware of this fact and were desperate to draw the Yorkists into open battle. Supposedly they taunted the duke, accusing him of cowardice hiding behind his castle walls too afraid to face the Queen. {She was not present but York did not know that}.

Whatever truly happened, York decided to fight and it was a decision that proved fatal. The Yorkists charged down the hill, onto the open space of fields between Sandal Castle and Wakefield, deep into the ranks of the Lancastrians. Unfortunately, they had unwittingly charged straight into a trap for no sooner had they attacked, the two concealed forces hiding in the woodland either side of castle joined the battle, cutting off the castle from the Yorkists. The effect of this trap was like a “deer in a buck stall.”

All might have not been lost had not Lord Nevill, the older half-brother of the earl of Salisbury, joined the battle with around 8,000 men whom had been raised for the Yorkists. However, Nevill declared for the Lancastrians and joined the fight against York and his allies. There would be no real chance of escape and York must have known that he was going to die. He may well have ordered his son Edmund to flee. That York died bravely has never been contested. He fought to the last, his men trying to protect him until they too succumbed. Although not mentioned in any contemporary account, local legend states that he fought with his back to three willow trees and it was there that he died, making his last stand, surrounded by his men who had died trying to protect him. A memorial to him was erected soon after the battle but was destroyed later on. A modern memorial stands today, a little south of the original.

York's son Edmund was caught by John Clifford trying to claim sanctuary and was killed. Salisbury escaped the battle but was caught during the night, to be executed the following day. His son Sir Thomas, son-in-law William Bonville and the latter's Father were all killed during the battle as was York’s nephew Edward Bourchier. 

Apparently the body of York was retrieved and mutilated before being mocked; an action that shocked everybody. The heads of York, Rutland, Salisbury and Sir Thomas Nevill were placed on spikes above Micklegate Bar in York, a paper crown adorning York’s head with a placard reading “Let York overlook York.” The heads remained there until they were removed by York's eldest son, Edward IV a few months later. The battle of Wakefield may have ended the life of Richard duke of York but it also paved the way for his son to be crowned King just three months later.

HG3

{All pics taken by HG3}