THE BATTLES THAT SHAPED THE WARS OF THE ROSES

ST ALBANS (FIRST), 22 MAY 1455

Yorkist victory

2,000 Lancastrians v 7,000 Yorkists

Negligible casualties

The clash that marked the start of the Wars of the Roses was no pitched battle, but a skirmish through the narrow streets of St Albans, the result of years of simmering rivalry between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions in the English nobility, and five months after Henry VI’s first episode of mental illness.

In April 1455, a recently recovered Henry called for a great council at Leicester. Richard, Duke of York and his allies the Earl of Salisbury and the Earl of Warwick were summoned, but with the king in the power of their enemies, the Yorkist lords suspected this council would be used to brand them as traitors.

The Yorkists marched to intercept the royal retinue, reaching St Albans early on 22 May. By the time the Lancastrians arrived shortly before 10am, York and his host had already established a camp east of the city. Attempts by Henry at a peaceful resolution unsurprisingly got nowhere – York’s principal demand was the punishment of the Duke of Somerset, who was a favourite of Henry VI and his queen, Margaret of Anjou. It was never going to happen. The Yorkists abandoned diplomacy first, with York and Salisbury launching assaults up the narrow lanes, both of which were repulsed with heavy losses. Warwick – showing the first glimmers of the prowess