The Battle of Wakefield took place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield, in West Yorkshire in
Northern England, on 30 December 1460. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses.
The opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to the captive King Henry VI of the
House of Lancaster, his Queen Margaret of Anjou and their seven year-old son Edward,
Prince of Wales on one side, and the army of Richard, Duke of York, the rival claimant
to the throne, on the other. The Duke of York was killed and his army was destroyed.
Background The House of Lancaster was established on
the throne of England in 1399, when Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of Lancaster, deposed
his unpopular cousin King Richard II, and was crowned Henry IV. Throughout his reign,
he was troubled by doubts over the legitimacy of his rule, and there were several revolts
against him. His son, Henry V inherited the throne after these had been suppressed, and
he enhanced the prestige of the dynasty by good government and victories over the French,
notably at Agincourt.
However, Henry V died in 1422 and his only son became King Henry VI when only nine months
old. He grew up to be an ineffective king, and prone to spells of mental illness. There
were increasingly bitter divisions among the regents and councillors who governed in Henry's
name, mainly over the conduct of the Hundred Years' War with France. By the late 1440s,
two opposing factions had formed behind Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and Richard
of York. York was Lieutenant in France for several years and resented being supplanted
in that office by Somerset, who had then failed to defend Normandy against French armies.
Richard of York was not only the wealthiest magnate in the land, but was also descended
from King Edward III's third son Lionel of Antwerp and fifth son Edmund of Langley, leading
to calls that he be recognised as successor to the childless King Henry. His rival, Somerset,
belonged to the Beaufort family who, like Henry, were descended from John of Gaunt,
Edward III's fourth son, though by his former mistress, Katherine Swynford. Although the
Beauforts were supposedly barred from succeeding to the crown by the Act of Parliament which
made the children of Gaunt and Katherine legitimate after their marriage, their line eventually
produced King Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty.
In 1452, Richard led a small army to Blackheath near London in an attempt to force Henry to
dismiss Somerset from the government, but at this stage he lacked support and was forced
to submit to arrest and take an oath of allegiance to the King at Old St Paul's Cathedral. Then
in 1453, Henry VI suffered a complete mental breakdown. The peers appointed Richard Lord
Protector and he governed the country responsibly, but Henry recovered his sanity after eighteen
months and restored Somerset to favour. During Henry's madness his Queen, Margaret of Anjou,
had given birth to a son, which dashed Richard's hopes of becoming king on Henry's death.
Fearing arrest for treason, York and his most prominent allies, the Nevilles , finally resorted
to armed force in 1455. At the First Battle of St Albans, many of York's and Salisbury's
rivals and enemies were killed, including Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland and Lord
Clifford.
After the battle, York reaffirmed his loyalty to King Henry, and was reappointed Lord Protector
and Lieutenant of Ireland. Queen Margaret nevertheless suspected York of wishing to
supplant her infant son, Edward, as Henry's successor, and the heirs of the Lancastrian
nobles who were killed at St Albans remained at deadly feud with York.
Events of the year preceding Wakefield After an uneasy peace during which attempts
at reconciliation failed, hostilities broke out again in 1459. Richard of York returned
from Ireland without leave and concentrated his forces near his stronghold of Ludlow Castle
in the Welsh Marches. At the confrontation which became known as the Battle of Ludford,
some of Warwick's contingent from the garrison of Calais, led by experienced captain Andrew
Trollope, defected overnight. York and the Nevilles promptly abandoned their troops and
fled. The next day, the outnumbered and leaderless Yorkist army surrendered.
York went via Wales to Ireland where he had support from the Irish Parliament, while Salisbury,
Warwick and York's eldest son Edward, Earl of March made their way via the West Country
to Calais, where Warwick was Constable. Lancastrian attempts to reassert their authority over
Ireland and Calais failed, but York and his supporters were declared traitors and attainted.
Only a successful invasion would restore their titles and property. Meanwhile, the victorious
Lancastrians became reviled for the manner in which their army had looted the town of
Ludlow after the Yorkist surrender at Ludford Bridge, and the repressive acts of a compliant
"Parliament of Devils", which caused many uncommitted peers to fear for their own property
and titles.
The country remained in disorder, increased by piratical raids launched by the Nevilles
from Calais. In 1460, the Nevilles invaded England through a foothold they had already
established at Sandwich and rapidly secured London and the South of England where Warwick
had popular support. They then advanced north to engage Henry's and Margaret's army in the
Midlands. At the Battle of Northampton, part of the Lancastrian army defected and the rest
were decisively defeated. For the second time, Henry was captured on the battlefield. He
was taken to London, and confined in the Bishop of London's palace while the Nevilles appointed
themselves and their relatives and in-laws to most of the offices of state.
The Duke of York landed in Chester some weeks later and made his way to London with much
pomp. Entering Parliament, he attempted to claim the throne, but was met with stunned
silence. Even his close allies were not prepared to support such a drastic step. Instead, after
the House of Lords had considered his claim, they passed the Act of Accord, by which Henry
would remain King, but York would govern the country as Lord Protector. Henry's son was
disinherited, and York or his heirs would become King on Henry's death. The powerless
and frightened Henry was forced to assent.
Lancastrian moves When the Battle of Northampton was fought,
Queen Margaret and her seven-year-old son Edward had been at Eccleshall Castle near
Coventry. In the aftermath of the battle, after many adventures with brigands and outlaws
they fled into Cheshire and subsequently to Harlech Castle in North Wales, where they
joined Lancastrian nobles who were recruiting armies in Wales and the West Country. They
later proceeded by ship to Scotland, where Margaret gained troops and other aid for the
Lancastrian cause from the Queen and Regent, Mary of Guelders, in return for the surrender
of the town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed.
At the same time, other Lancastrians were rallying in Northern England. Many of them,
including the Earl of Northumberland, Lords Clifford and Ros and John Neville of Raby
had estates and influence in the north. They were joined by the Duke of Somerset and the
Earl of Devon, who brought their forces from the West Country. Northumberland, Clifford
and Somerset were the sons of York's and Salisbury's rivals who had been killed at St. Albans.
The Lancastrian forces mustered near Kingston upon Hull, and were said to number 15,000.
A substantial part of these forces encamped at Pontefract began pillaging York's and Salisbury's
estates nearby.
York's response Faced with these challenges to his authority
as Protector, York despatched his eldest son Edward to the Welsh Marches to contain the
Lancastrians in Wales and left the Earl of Warwick in charge in London. He himself marched
to the north of England on 9 December, accompanied by his second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland,
and the Earl of Salisbury. His force was said by some to number 8,000 to 9,000 men, but
by others to be only a few hundred strong, as York intended to recruit local forces with
a Commission of Array.
York had probably underestimated the numbers of the Lancastrian army in the north, which
was still being reinforced. On 16 December, at the Battle of Worksop in Nottinghamshire,
York's vanguard clashed with a contingent from the West Country moving north to join
the Lancastrian army, and was defeated.
Battle On 21 December, York reached his own fortress
of Sandal Castle near Wakefield. He sent probes towards the Lancastrian camp at Pontefract
9 miles to the east, but these were repulsed. York sent for help to his son Edward, but
before any reinforcements could arrive, he sortied from the castle on 30 December.
It is not known for certain why York did so. One theory was later recounted in Edward Hall's
chronicle, written a few decades after the event, but partly from first-hand sources,
and the contemporary Burgundian Jean de Waurin's chronicle. In a stratagem possibly devised
by the veteran Andrew Trollope, half the Lancastrian army under Somerset and Clifford advanced
openly towards Sandal Castle, over the open space known as "Wakefield Green" between the
castle and the River Calder, while the remainder under Ros and the Earl of Wiltshire were concealed
in the woods surrounding the area. York was probably short of provisions in the castle
and seeing that the enemy were apparently no stronger than his own army, seized the
opportunity to engage them in the open rather than withstand a siege while waiting for reinforcements.
Other accounts suggested that, possibly in addition to Trollope's deception, York was
fooled by some of John Neville of Raby's forces displaying false colours into thinking either
that reinforcements sent by Warwick had arrived, or that the northern Nevilles under the Earl
of Westmoreland, John Neville's older brother and the most senior peer in the family, were
prepared to support him. Another suggestion was that York and his opponents had agreed
a day for battle after a Christmas truce, but when York moved into the open the Lancastrians
treacherously attacked earlier than had been agreed, catching York at a disadvantage while
many of his men were absent foraging for supplies.
The simplest suggestion was that York acted rashly. For example, historian John Sadler
states that there was no Lancastrian deception or ambush; York led his men from the castle
on a foraging expedition, and as each Lancastrian contingent joined in the fighting, York's
army was outnumbered and overwhelmed.
The Yorkists marched out of Sandal Castle down the present-day Manygates Lane towards
the Lancastrians located to the north of the castle. It is generally accepted that, as
York engaged the Lancastrians to his front, others attacked him from the flank and rear,
cutting him off from the castle. In Edward Hall's words:
... but when he was in the plain ground between his castle and the town of Wakefield, he was
environed on every side, like a fish in a net, or a deer in a buckstall; so that he
manfully fighting was within half an hour slain and dead, and his whole army discomfited.
The Yorkist army was surrounded and destroyed.
Casualties One near-contemporary source claimed that
2,500 Yorkists and 200 Lancastrians were killed, but other sources give wildly differing figures,
from 2,200 to only 700 Yorkist dead.
The Duke of York was killed in the fighting. His son Rutland attempted to escape over Wakefield
Bridge, but was overtaken and killed, possibly by Clifford in revenge for his father's death
at St Albans. Salisbury's fourth son Sir Thomas Neville, and his son in law William, Lord
Harington, also died in the battle. Salisbury himself escaped the battlefield but was captured
during the night, and was taken to the Lancastrian camp and beheaded. Although the Lancastrian
nobles might have been prepared to allow Salisbury to ransom himself, he was dragged out of Pontefract
Castle and beheaded by local commoners, to whom he had been a harsh overlord.
Aftermath After the battle the heads of York, Rutland
and Salisbury were displayed over Micklegate Bar, the western gate through the York city
walls, the Duke wearing a paper crown and a sign saying "Let York overlook the town
of York".
The death of Richard of York did not end the wars, or the House of York's claim to the
throne. The northern Lancastrian army which had been victorious at Wakefield was reinforced
by Scots and borderers eager for plunder, and marched south. They defeated Warwick's
army at the Second Battle of St Albans and recaptured the feeble-minded King Henry, who
had been abandoned on the battlefield for the third time, but were refused entry to
London and failed to occupy the city. Meanwhile, Richard of York's eldest son Edward, Earl
of March, had defeated the Welsh Lancastrians at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. Having
lost possession of Henry, Warwick could no longer claim to be acting on his behalf and
Edward of March was proclaimed King Edward IV of England. The Lancastrians withdrew to
the north but were decisively defeated by Edward and Warwick at the Battle of Towton.
A monument erected on the spot where the Duke of York is supposed to have perished is positioned
slightly south of the more likely spot where an older monument once stood, but which was
destroyed during the English Civil War.
The battle in literature and folklore Many people are familiar with William Shakespeare's
melodramatic version of events in Henry VI, Part 3, notably the murder of Edmund of Rutland,
although Edmund is depicted as a small child, and following his unnecessary slaughter by
Clifford, Margaret torments his father, York, before murdering him also. In fact, York was
killed during the battle, and Rutland, at seventeen, was more than old enough to be
an active participant in the fighting. Margaret was almost certainly still in Scotland at
the time.
The battle is said by some to be the source for the mnemonic for remembering the traditional
colours of the rainbow, Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain, and also the mocking nursery
rhyme, The Grand Old Duke of York although this much more likely refers to the eighteenth
century duke, son of George III.
"Dickie's Meadow", a well-known Northern expression, possibly refers to Sandals Meadow where the
battle of Wakefield took place and where Richard met his end. The common view held that Richard
was ill-advised to fight here. The expression is usually used to warn against risky action.
It is a moot point how early the expression arose, and whether through folk memory or
local history.