Although he had an evident interest in public affairs and a desire to try and reconcile his warring subordinates, his inability to prevent powerful individuals influencing him – each with their own agendas – caused him to make poor decisions that helped plunge his kingdom into anarchy.

Here are 15 facts about Henry VI, the last Lancastrian monarch.

1. He was the only son of Henry V

Following his heroic victory at Agincourt on 25 October 1415 King Henry V subsequently married Catherine of Valois, daughter of the French king Charles VI, in 1420.

A year later, on 6 December 1421, Catherine gave birth to a son, named after his father.

Henry V’s finest hour came at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415. Dan discusses the major English victory in the Hundred Years’ War with Tobias Capwell, Curator of Arms and Armour at The Wallace Collection. Listen Now

2. He was only nine months old when his father died

Henry V died on 31 August 1422, making his infant son the youngest person to ever succeed to the English throne.

For the next 15 years a regency council ruled for the young Henry. It was dominated by Henry V’s two brothers: John, Duke of Bedford (who oversaw the ongoing war in France) and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (who acted as Lord Protector and oversaw affairs at home).

Both Bedford and Gloucester proved capable leaders and administrators during the regency period.

3. During the early years of the regency, English power in France reached its zenith

Bedford’s victory at Verneuil on 14 August 1424 marked the high-tide of English power in France – described by English contemporaries as a second Agincourt.

It was during the regency of Henry VI that Joan of Arc rose to prominence.Watch Now

4. He was the only English king to be also crowned King of France

It occurred because of the Treaty of Troyes, agreed between Henry V and Charles VI in 1420: Henry would marry Charles’ daughter Catherine and both he and his sons would inherit the French throne following Charles’ death.

Thus, when Charles died in 1422 (only two months after Henry V), the infant Henry became the (disputed) successor to the French throne.

He was crowned King Henry VI of England at Westminster Abbey on 6 November 1429; two years later on 16 December 1431 he was also crowned King Henry II of France at Notre Dam in Paris.

5. He was controlled by powerful figures

The most prominent of these figures was Edmund Beaufort, 2^nd Duke of Somerset, and Margaret of Anjou, Henry’s wife. Many suspect Margaret and Edmund were lovers.

6. His reign saw the collapse of almost all English holdings in France

The Royal Council’s choice to appoint Beaufort as commander of the English forces in France proved highly unpopular – especially by the previous commander Richard, Duke of York, who had expected to have his posting renewed.

Somerset’s tenure was plagued by countless military failures and concessions: he surrendered Maine, then lost control of Normandy and finally Gascony following the disastrous Battle of Castillon (17 July 1453).

The Battle of Castillon.

7. He suffered a severe mental breakdown in August 1453…

News of the decisive English defeat at Castillon proved the final straw for Henry, who consequently suffered from a mental breakdown of some kind. For over a year he proved completely unresponsive to anything.

To avert the crisis, the ambitious Richard Duke of York was recalled to London and made Lord Protector – effectively regent.

8. …but he recovered a year later

Henry VI recovered from his insanity at around Christmas time in 1454. Edmund Clere wrote to his cousin John Paston to celebrate the news:

“Blessed be God, the King is well amended, and hath been since Christmas Day; and on Saint John’s Day [27th December] commanded his almoner to ride to Canterbury with his offering, and commanded the secretary to offer to Saint Edward.”

In hindsight however, many describe Henry’s recovery as a national disaster.

9. He was captured at the opening battle of the Wars of the Roses

Henry’s decisions following his recovery would help plunge his country into civil war: the Wars of the Roses. Having alienated the Duke of York and his followers, enmity between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians reached breaking point and hostilities erupted.

The opening engagement at St Albans on 22 May 1455 proved ill-fated for Henry and his army. York and his supporters gained a decisive victory, the Dukes of Somerset and Clifford – two of Henry’s most prominent allies – were killed in the fighting and a wounded Henry was captured.

10. He made a valiant attempt to reconcile his warring nobles

On 25 March 1458 Henry attempted to bring an end to the tumultuous civil war by organising a reconciliation event between prominent Yorkists and Lancastrians at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Although Henry’s attempt at reconciliation was genuine and initially successful, the peace gained at the ‘Loveday’ was short-lived; hostilities broke out again soon after.

11. He was captured a second time

It followed the Lancastrian defeat to the forces of York’s son Edward at the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460.

12. Henry was temporarily restored to the English throne on 3 October 1470

The defection of ‘the Kingmaker’ Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, to the Lancastrian cause in 1470 shifted the pendulum of power in English politics. Edward IV fled into exile and Henry was once again restored as king, albeit in name only – the real power lay with Warwick.

13. His only son died at the Battle of Tewkesbury

The murder of Prince Edward. One version of events states he was taken to Edward IV and executed after he remarked, “I came to recover my father’s heritage.”

On 4 May 1471 Edward and his Yorkists won a decisive victory against Queen Margaret and her Lancastrians at Tewkesbury.

What followed was a massacre, The fleeing force attempted to cross the river Severn and reach safety, but the Yorkists, in hot pursuit, cut down large swathes of them in a meadow by the riverbank – today known as ‘the Bloody Meadow.’

It was during this rout that Henry’s only son, Edward Duke of Westminster, was discovered by Edward IV’s brother the Duke of Clarence, and swiftly beheaded.

14. Henry met his end on 23 May 1471 in the Tower

Some say he died out of grief after he learned of the death of his son at Tewkesbury; others believe he was murdered on the orders of King Edward IV. Archaeological study of Henry’s skull suggests he suffered a violent end, adding further credence to the latter belief.

Likely in an attempt to blacken his name, the Tudor polymath Thomas Moore claimed Richard III personally carried out the murder.

15. He formed the historical basis for one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays

Shakespeare’s trilogy of plays, ‘Henry VI’, is set during the lifetime of Henry; the Lancastrian monarch is a central character:

“Would I were dead, if God’s good will were so; For what is in this world but grief and woe?”

It was first performed on 3 March 1592.

16. (Bonus) Henry VI is very similar to the monarch who succeeded Alexander the Great

The similarities between Henry VI and Philip Arrhidaeus III, the man who was crowned king in the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s death, are staggering. Both suffered from mental impairments that hindered their ability to rule effectively; both were easily controlled by more powerful, ambitious figures.

Both oversaw the descent of their kingdom from its zenith into a bloody civil war; both were later murdered; both were the last of their royal dynasties to assume the kingship.

Philip III as pharaoh on a relief in Karnak

A solemn procession on 24 March 1458 marked the culmination of King Henry VI’s personal attempt to prevent civil war following the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455.

Despite the public display of unity this effort – instigated by a peace-loving ‘simple-minded’ monarch – was ineffective. The Lords’ rivalries ran deep; within a few months petty violence had broken out, and within the year York and Lancaster faced each other at the Battle of Blore Heath.

Growing factionalism

English politics had become increasingly factional throughout Henry VI’s reign.

His ‘catatonic’ illness in 1453, which effectively left the government leaderless, exacerbated tension. Richard Plantagenet the Duke of York, the king’s cousin, himself with a claim to the throne, was appointed Lord Protector and First Councillor of the Realm.

King Henry VI, who organised the Loveday in an attempt to pacify his nobility, which by 1458, had divided down clear partisan lines into armed camps.

When the King returned to health in 1454 the protectorship of York and his powerful Neville family allies ended, but partisanship within government did not.

York, increasingly excluded from the exercise of royal power, questioned Henry VI’s ability to perform royal duties due to his infamously gentle nature and persistent illness.

In May 1455, possibly fearing an ambush by his enemies under the Duke of Somerset’s command, he led an army against the King’s Lancastrian army and staged a bloody surprise attack at the First Battle of St Albans.

The personal enemies of York and the Nevilles – the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford – perished.

Relatively minor in military terms, the insurgency was important politically: the King had been captured and after escorting him back to London, York was appointed Protector of England by parliament a few months later.

Richard, Duke of York, leader of the Yorkist faction and bitter enemy of the King’s favourites, the Dukes of Suffolk and Somerset, whom he believed had excluded him from his rightful position in government.

Aftermath of the First Battle of St Albans

York’s victory at St. Albans hadn’t brought him any permanent increase in power.

His Second Protectorate was short-lived and Henry VI ended it early in 1456. By then his male heir, Prince Edward, had survived infancy and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, emerged as a major player in the Lancastrian revival.

By 1458, Henry’s government urgently needed to deal with the unfinished problem that the Battle of St Albans had created: younger magnates craved revenge on the Yorkist lords who had killed their fathers.

Noblemen of both parties recruited large retinues of armed followers. The ever-present threat of a power grab by their French neighbours also loomed large. Henry wanted to bring the Yorkists back into the fold.

The King’s attempt at reconciliation

Taking the initiative, the Loveday – a common form of arbitration in medieval England, more often used for local matters – was intended to be Henry’s personal contribution to a lasting peace.

The English peerage was summoned to a great council in London in January 1458.  To prevent a violent outbreak between the gathered retinues, concerned city officials maintained an armed watch.

The Yorkists were lodged within the city walls and the Lancastrian Lords remained outside. Despite these precautions, Northumberland, Clifford, and Egremont tried unsuccessfully to ambush York and Salisbury as they rode from London to nearby Westminster.

The King mediated over long and acrimonious discussions. These deliberations were carried out through intermediaries. Henry’s councillors met the Yorkists in the City, at the Blackfriars, in the mornings; in the afternoons, they met the Lancastrian lords at the Whitefriars on Fleet Street.

The settlement eventually accepted by all parties called for York to pay Somerset 5,000 marks, for Warwick to pay Clifford 1,000 marks and for Salisbury to forgo fines previously levied for hostile actions against the Nevilles.

The Yorkists were also to endow the abbey at St Albans with £45 per year for masses to be sung in perpetuity for the souls of the battle dead. The only reciprocal undertaking by a Lancastrian was Egremont’s payment of a 4,000 mark bond to maintain peace with the Neville family for ten years.

Blame for St Albans had been placed squarely on the Yorkist Lords.

Symbolic significance of pomp and ceremony

The agreement was announced on 24 March, sealed on the same day with a solemn procession to St Paul’s Cathedral for a mass.

Members of the two factions went hand in hand. Queen Margaret was partnered with York, and other adversaries were paired off accordingly, the sons and heirs of noblemen killed at St Albans with the men responsible for their fathers’ deaths.

Henry’s Queen, Margaret of Anjou, who by the end of the 1450s had become a political force in her own right and an implacable enemy of the Duke of York.

The procession was also important as a public relations campaign meant to reassure Londoners that war, which had disrupted trade and daily life in the capital, was over.

A ballad composed to commemorate the event described the public display of political affection:

At Paul’s in London, with great renown,

On our Ladyday in Lent, this peace was wrought.

The King, the Queen, with Lords many one …

Went in procession …

In sight of all the commonality,

In token that love was in heart and thought

Religious symbolism, such as the start point of Westminster Abbey and the timing of the event on Lady’s day, which marks the Virgin Mary’s receipt of the news she would bear child, highlighted the mood of reconciliation.

Short-lived stability

The Loveday proved to be a temporary triumph; the war it intended to prevent was merely deferred. It had failed to resolve the key political issue of the day- the exclusion of York and the Nevilles from government.

Henry VI retreated politically once again and Queen Margaret took the helm.

Less than two months after the short-lived peace accord, the Earl of Warwick directly flouted the law by engaging in casual piracy around Calais, where he had been virtually exiled by the Queen. He was summoned to London and the visit descended into a brawl. Following a close escape and retreat to Calais, Warwick refused orders to return.

Margaret officially accused the Earl of Warwick, the Duke of York, and other Yorkist nobility of treason in October 1459, decrying the duke’s “most diabolical unkindness and wretched envy.”

Each side blaming each other for the outbreak of violence, they prepared for war.

The Lancastrians were initially better prepared and Yorkist leaders were forced into exile after abandoning their armies at Ludford Bridge. They returned from a short exile and captured Henry VI at Northampton 10 July 1460.

By the end of that year, Richard Duke of York found himself marching north to deal with Margaret of Anjou and several prominent nobles who opposed the Act of Accord, which displaced young Prince Edward and named York heir to the throne. In the ensuing Battle of Wakefield, the Duke of York was killed and his army destroyed.

Within two years of the Loveday procession, most of the participants would be dead. The Wars of the Roses would rage on for nearly three more decades.

Plucking the Red and White Roses by Henry Payne

By the Autumn one figure could tolerate the stasis no longer. Forced into a political corner, Richard, Duke of York, believed that the only solution to the current crisis was for him to finally cross his Rubicon and put forward his own, better, claim to the Throne of England.

And so in Autumn 1460 Richard rode into Parliament, put his hand on Henry VI’s throne and stated that he was claiming the Throne for the House of York.

Richard, himself a grandson of the great warrior king Edward III, believed that this was his only option to alleviate the current political stasis.

Triggering civil war

But it proved an unwise move. Claiming the Throne was a drastic step and this shocked even York’s own supporters for several reasons.

The first was the ‘unconventional’ route York had chosen to make this proclamation. York’s supporters had already warned him that he could not yet make this claim for the kingship – in their eyes Richard first needed to assume clear control over Henry’s government.

The second shock was such a direct attack on Henry VI himself. This was a time when the Church dominated secular life: when people considered a king to be God’s anointed – chosen to rule by God. Defying a king was defying God’s appointment.

This dilemma was only increased by the fact that Henry’s father and predecessor had been Henry V. Deposing this much-loved legendary warlord’s son was far from popular. York could not simply hope to topple a king with such strong religious and secular links.

Henry VI also had time on his side. Richard did have a better claim to the throne, but by 1460 Lancastrian rule was embedded within English society. Ever since Henry Bolingbroke had forced Richard II to abdicate in 1399 a Lancastrian monarch had ruled the country. Changing a dynasty that had ruled for several (medieval) generations was far from popular.

York’s attempt to claim the Throne of England shocked friend and foe alike. In the Parliamentary settlement that followed – the Act of Accord – an agreement was reached. Henry VI would remain as king, but Richard and his heirs were named Henry’s successors.

The Lancastrian dynasty were pushed, well and truly, down the line of succession; the Yorkists were back in the royal picture.

The agreement polarised England like never before. Furious at seeing her son cut out from the succession, Queen Margaret of Anjou started recruiting troops. It was the trigger for civil war.

Richard of York, claiming the throne of England, 7 October 1460. Image shot 1896. Exact date unknown.

Trouble in Yorkshire

Two months later Richard headed north. Civil disturbances had broken out on his Yorkshire estates and Henry VI’s heir marched with a small force to quell this unrest.

After an arduous journey on 21 December 1460 Richard and his army reached Sandal Castle, a strong Yorkist bastion near Wakefield.

There they remained for over a week, spending Christmas within the stronghold. But while Richard and his men were resting within the Castle a large approaching enemy force was spotted.

It was a Lancastrian army loyal to Henry VI’s queen, Margaret of Anjou. From the Lancastrian stronghold, Pontefract Castle, this force had marched to catch Richard and his army by surprise as they recuperated behind the walls of Sandal Castle.

The Lancastrians looking for blood

Vengeance-seeking commanders dominated the top tier of the Lancastrian army. Two prominent generals had lost fathers at the First Battle of St Albans and now sought revenge against Richard and his family.

First there was Henry Beaufort, commander of the Lancastrian army and the son of York’s fallen arch-enemy Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.

Second there was John Clifford, one of Henry’s senior subordinates. Like his commander-in-chief, John’s father had also perished during the First Battle of St Albans.

Despite being outnumbered Richard decided to fight. Why he decided to leave the safety of Sandal’s defences with an outnumbered force to fight a pitched battle remains a mystery.

Several theories have been touted: miscalculation, too few provisions to withstand a siege or some element of Lancastrian deception are all candidates for the explanation. The truth, however, remains unclear. What we do know is that York gathered his men and sallied out for battle on Wakefield Green, below the stronghold.

The remains of the motte of Sandal Castle. (Credit: Abcdef123456 / CC).

The Battle of Wakefield: 30 December 1460

The fight did not last long. As soon as York’s army descended onto the plain, the Lancastrian forces closed in from all sides. Chronicler Edward Hall described Richard and his men becoming trapped – ‘like a fish in a net’.

Quickly surrounded Richard’s army was annihilated. The Duke himself was killed during the fighting: wounded and unhorsed before his enemies dealt him the death blow.

He was not the only prominent figure to meet his end. The Earl of Rutland, Richard’s 17 year old son, also died. As he tried to escape over Wakefield Bridge the young nobleman had been overtaken, captured and killed – probably by John Clifford in revenge for his father’s death at St Albans 5 years earlier.

The Earl of Salisbury was another prominent Yorkist casualty of Wakefield. Like Rutland he was captured after the main battle. Although the Lancastrian nobles might have been prepared to allow Salisbury to ransom himself due to his substantial wealth, he was dragged out of Pontefract Castle and beheaded by local commoners – to whom he had been a harsh overlord.

Aftermath

Margaret of Anjou was determined to send a strong message to the Yorkists after the Lancastrian victory at Wakefield. The Queen ordered the heads of York, Rutland and Salisbury to be impaled on spikes and displayed over Micklegate Bar, the western gate through the York city walls.

Richard’s head had a paper crown as a mark of derision, and a sign that said:

Let York overlook the town of York.

Richard, Duke of York, was dead. But Lancastrian celebrations would prove short-lived. York’s legacy lived on.

The following year Richard’s son and successor Edward would win a decisive victory at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. Marching down to London, he was crowned King Edward IV, later going on to win his most famous victory: the bloody Battle of Towton.

Richard may have died without laying hands on the kingship, but he paved the way for his son to fulfil this aim and secure the English Throne for the House of York.

Richard, Duke of York is often considered an ambitious war monger who dragged England into the Wars of the Roses in his relentless pursuit of the crown worn by his second cousin once removed, Henry VI.

The truth is very different.

York’s early years

Born in 1411, York was orphaned in 1415. His mother Anne Mortimer died shortly after his birth and his father, Richard, Earl of Cambridge was executed by Henry V for treason as he prepared to leave for the Agincourt campaign.

After his father’s death, York became a ward of the crown and was placed into the care of Robert Waterton.

Waterton also had custody of some of the most famous prisoners taken at the Battle of Agincourt, including Marshal Boucicaut, Charles Duke of Orleans, and Arthur, son of the Duke of Brittany.

A depiction of the imprisonment of Charles, Duke of Orléans, in the Tower of London from a 15th-century manuscript. The White Tower is visible, St Thomas’ Tower (also known as Traitor’s Gate) is in front of it, and in the foreground is the River Thames.

It is tempting to see these men, sat around a fire in the evening, telling an impressionable boy stories of what happens to a country cursed with a weak king, threatened with invasion, and torn apart by factions.

As he grew, York watched Henry’s uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and his great-uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester indulge in a rivalry that was a precursor to the Wars of the Roses as Henry VI showed himself weak and disinterested in ruling. It must have rung alarm bells.

Richard’s inheritances as a threat

Richard’s uncle Edward, Duke of York was killed at Agincourt, his title passing to his young nephew, along with his crippling debts.

In 1425, Richard also acquired the rich inheritance of his maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. The Mortimer family were problematical, since they arguably held a better claim to the throne than the Lancastrian kings.

Richard represented a convergence of inheritances that meant he was perceived as a threat even before he became politically active.

On 8 May 1436, aged 24, Richard was appointed lieutenant-general of France after the death the previous year of Henry VI’s uncle John, Duke of Bedford. Bedford had been regent, and Richard held watered down powers, but performed the role well during his one-year commission.

He returned to England in November 1437, unpaid and having used his own money to fund efforts in France.

When York’s successor died, he was reappointed to the office in July 1440. He served until 1445, when he was surprised to find himself replaced with Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.

Henry VI (right) sitting while the Dukes of York (left) and Somerset (centre) have an argument.

Opposition to the House of Lancaster

It was the beginning of a bitter personal feud between the dukes. By now, York was owed more than £38,000 by the crown, equivalent to over £31 million in today’s money.

Willingly or otherwise, York also became associated with Henry VI’s last remaining uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who began to name York first amongst those he believed were being unfairly excluded from power.

In 1447, Humphrey fell victim to his nephew’s paranoia. Henry became convinced his fifty-six-year-old childless uncle meant to steal his throne. Humphrey was arrested and suffered a stroke, dying in custody a few days later.

The face of a popular desire to pursue war with France, Humphrey’s death caused his supporters to turn to York. For the first time, opposition to the increasingly unpopular government of Henry VI had a focus outside the House of Lancaster.

York was sent to Ireland as lieutenant. His tenure was cut short by Cade’s Rebellion in 1450, a populist revolt that saw London stormed by men of Kent. Rumours abounded that York was behind the uprising, but his return may well have been born of a sense of duty.

As the senior nobleman and heir presumptive to the king, his responsibility was to help keep law and order, but he was viewed with ever-increasing suspicion and excluded from power.

A failed attempt to force himself on the government in 1452 at Dartford led to an embarrassing arrest, more suspicion and deeper exclusion.

York as Lord Protector 1453

When Henry had a mental breakdown and became incapacitated in 1453, his wife Margaret of Anjou made a bid for power, but the misogynistic lords turned instead to York, appointing him Lord Protector.

York’s rule was moderate and inclusive, though Somerset was imprisoned in the Tower. When Henry suddenly recovered at Christmas 1454, he immediately excluded York again, undid most of his work and freed Somerset.

If Henry’s illness was a crisis for England, his recovery was to prove a disaster.

First Battle of St Albans

When Henry tried to move to the Midlands in 1455, York gathered an army and marched south. Despite writing letters each day explaining where he was and that he meant Henry no harm, York received no response.

He reached Henry at St Albans, with the king’s army inside the town and the gates barred. York had around 6,000 men and the king’s army only numbered about 2,000, but most of the nobility were firmly on Henry’s side.

At 7 o’clock on the morning of 22 May, York’s army arrayed on Key Fields outside St Albans. A parlay failed and hostilities began just after 11 o’clock.

Finding the gates heavily fortified, the Earl of Warwick eventually broke into some gardens and made his way to the market square, unleashing his archers on the king’s unprepared forces. The distraction allowed York to breach the gates and a vicious slaughter ensued in the streets.

Edmund Beaufort, York’s rival, was killed. Henry himself was wounded by an arrow in the neck. When York found the king, he fell to his knees and pledged his loyalty before seeing to it that Henry’s wound was treated.

A modern day procession as people celebrate the Battle of St Albans.

Road to the Wars of the Roses

York took control of the government again for a time as Protector, but it was short-lived. His financial reforms threatened those who had prospered under Henry’s slack rule.

The First Battle of St Albans is often seen as the violent birthing of the Wars of the Roses, but it was not a dynastic dispute at this point. The real rivalry was between York and Somerset over the right to advise the weak king.

York would not claim the throne until 1460, when he had been backed into a corner and left with nothing to lose.

York’s second eldest son, Edmund, was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, 1460

It came after a decade of opposition to the regime which was less about his burning ambition and more about the responsibility he felt to help see the kingdom properly governed.

He had done all he could to avoid it before eventually igniting the Yorkist claim to the throne.

Matt Lewis is an author and historian of the middle ages with a focus on the Wars of the Roses. He has written books covering The Anarchy and the Wars of the Roses as well as biographies of Henry III, Richard, Duke of York, and Richard III.

His books also include The Survival of the Princes in the Tower. Matt can be found on Twitter (@MattLewisAuthor), Facebook (@MattLewisAuthor) and Instagram (@MattLewisHistory).

Richard Duke of York, by Matt Lewis, published by Amberley Publishing (2016)

He was an able administrator and a charismatic commander with several powerful friends; yet his power, lineage, ambition and fame also ensured he gained some mighty enemies, holding deep-felt enmity that, ultimately, proved resolvable only by the sword.

Here are ten facts about Richard, Duke of York.

1. He had royal blood

Richard had multiple connections to the English warrior-king Edward III. He was the king’s great-grandson through his father Richard, Earl of Cambridge; meanwhile through Anne de Mortimer, his mother, Richard was the great-great-great-grandson of the same king.

2. He served in France during the tail-end of the Hundred Years War

In May 1436 Richard became the commander of the English forces in France at a time when England’s power in the continent was waning – the glory days of Agincourt and Verneuil seemed a distant memory.

Although his posting was dominated by administrative tasks, he did take the field on several occasions and gained some success. His highlight was briefly lifting the Siege of Pontoise in 1441.

During his commands (1436-37 & 1441-45), Richard maintained England’s control over Normandy and stabilised English losses on the continent.

3. Richard had a famous rivalry with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset

It began when he was replaced by Somerset as commander of the English forces in France in 1445 – York had expected Henry VI’s council to reappoint him.

York deemed Somerset responsible for the military failures that soon followed in France, particularly Somerset’s decision to surrender Maine to France.

4. He was sent to Ireland…

Somerset’s surrendering of Maine proved too much for York, as soon after this event Henry VI’s council appointed him Lieutenant of Ireland, far away from the ongoing struggle for France. The role made him chief authority on the Emerald Isle, but it also removed him from the political theatre of the Hundred Years War.

York gained a lot of support among prominent Irish nobles during his time on the island – support he was sure to count on in the coming years.

5. …but he did not stay there for long

On 7 September 1450, as unrest in England brewed and English control of Normandy collapsed, York landed on Anglesey and started gathering supporters to overthrow Henry VI’s unpopular, disaster-ridden government – spearheaded by Somerset.

Over the next two years, he made two bids for power to destroy Somerset. Both attempts proved unsuccessful.

6. Henry’s mental breakdown offered York opportunity

On 17 July 1453 the final, decisive clash of the Hundred Years War occurred at Castillon, Gascony. The French forces gained a decisive victory and eradicated English authority in the region (Calais remained the only bastion in English hands).

The Battle of Castillon.

News of the disaster soon reached the ill Henry VI in England and it appears this contributed heavily to a severe mental breakdown he suffered in August that year.

As it became clear the king would not recover quickly, the council appointed York ‘Protector of the Realm’ – effectively regent of the kingdom.

7. He resoundingly defeated the royal Lancastrian army at St Albans

Following Henry’s recovery at Christmas 1454, his subsequent removal of York as Lord Protector and the restoration of Somerset to royal favour, hostilities erupted between the Crown (the Lancastrians) and York’s supporters (the Yorkists). The first clash occurred on 22 May 1455 at St Albans.

The battle was a resounding victory for York and his followers. The decisive moment occurred when Richard Neville, Duke of Warwick outflanked the Lancastrians and forced them to flee.

The battle’s death toll was low, but it did include some notable commanders on the Lancastrian side, including Somerset. The Yorkists also captured Henry VI and York resumed his position as Lord Protector.

8. He was killed at the Battle of Wakefield

Five years later in late 1460, Lancastrian loyalists began to gather in the north to oppose York – who was then a de facto ruler of the country.

York marched with an army to face this new threat, arriving at his stronghold of Sandal Castle in late December 1460 with a significantly smaller army than his Lancastrian counterparts.

Little is known about the ensuing battle at Wakefield, but the Duke was successfully enticed out from the safety of Sandal Castle and ambushed. In the subsequent skirmish his forces were massacred, and both the Duke and his second eldest son, Edmund Plantagenet were killed.

The Murder of Rutland by Lord Clifford. York’s second eldest son, Edmund, was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, possibly by the Lancastrian Lord Clifford (pictured here), who sought revenge for the death of his own father at St Albans five years earlier.

9. York’s defeat helps us remember the colours of the rainbow

The mnemonic ‘Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain’ refers to York’s bizarre sortie from Sandal Castle and his subsequent death at Wakefield.

10. Two of his sons went on to be kings of England

These were York’s eldest surviving son, Edward (Edward IV) and also his youngest: Richard.

Although York was king in all but name during his time as Protector, he never acquired the title of king himself.

Troops commanded by Richard, Duke of York, resoundingly defeated a Lancastrian royal army commanded by the Duke of Somerset, who was killed in the fighting. King Henry VI was captured, leading to a subsequent parliament appointing Richard of York Lord Protector.

It was the day that launched a bloody civil war that would last more than 3 decades: the Wars of the Roses.

Here are ten facts about the battle:

1. The battle between the Duke of York and the Duke of Somerset began long before 1455

When Henry VI had suffered a mental breakdown, Somerset had tried to become Lord Protector. However, York was given the appointment to govern England as Lord Protector and First Councillor of the realm due to his considerable popularity.

York used this position to move against his chief rival, and Somerset was imprisoned. When Henry recovered, Somerset was released and restored to his former position of power.

Having reconvened the court by mid-April 1455, Henry and a select council of nobles decided to hold a great council at Leicester. York and his allies anticipated that Somerset would bring charges against them at this assembly, so they gathered an armed retinue and marched to stop the royal party from reaching Leicester, intercepting them at St Albans.

Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (Variant). The inescutcheon of pretence showing the arms of the House of Holland, Earls of Kent, represents his claim to represent that family, derived from his maternal grandmother Eleanor Holland (1373-1405), one of the six daughters and eventual co-heiresses to their father Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (1350/4-1397). Credit: Sodacan / Commons.

2. There were initial attempts at negotiations

For several hours before the battle, heralds moved back and forth between the two commanders, with the Duke of York demanding that the Duke of Somerset – who was responsible for military failures in France and was York’s longtime rival – be handed over for execution. In an act of surprisingly decisive kingmanship, Henry refused.

3. Despite eventually losing, the Lancastrians were well prepared for battle

The 2,000 strong army under the command of the Duke of Somerset arrived in St Albans first and set about organising its defences, which resulted in some initial heavy casualties for the larger Yorkist force.

4. The Lancastrians assumed the negotiations would be peacefully resolved

Despairing of a peaceful solution, after many hours of talks Richard decided to attack. The bulk of Henry’s forces were surprised, having expected a peaceful resolution similar to the one at Blackheath in 1452. However, the two Yorkist frontal assaults made no headway and initially resulted in heavy casualties among their men.

5. A surprise attack paved the way for Yorkist victory

It was a small force led by the Earl of Warwick that marked the turning point in the battle. They picked their way through small back lanes and rear gardens, then burst into the town’s market square where the Lancastrian forces were relaxing and chatting. Warwick quickly ordered his men to charge the main body of Henry’s army, who were being held there in reserve. The Lancastrian defenders, realizing they were outflanked, abandoned their barricades and fled the town.

6. The Duke of Somerset sought refuge at the Castle Inn

Knowing full well that York would never let him live, when the battle began to turn in Yorkist favour Somerset sought refuge at the Castle Inn. When Yorkists surrounded the building, Somerset decided to fight his way out. He valiantly charged onto the main street and over the bodies of his defenders, killing four men before eventually being struck down.

In Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2 York says the following:

Credit: Alec Latham / Commons.

7. Longbowmen were responsible for capturing the King

Warwick’s longbowmen rained arrows onto Henry’s bodyguard, killing Buckingham and several other influential Lancastrian nobles and wounding the king. Henry was later escorted back to London by York and Warwick.

8. The Battle of St Albans led to the Earl of Warwick’s lasting fame

The sudden attack and bravery displayed by the 27-year-old launched his illustrious military career and would help earn him the nickname ‘The Kingmaker’.

Coat of arms of Warwick, the Kingmaker. Credit: Ipankonin / Commons.

9. The King’s capture resulted in York becoming Proctor of England

With the King captured, the battle paved the way for York to be appointed as Protector of England by Parliament a few months later.

Title page of The Whole Contention Between the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster published by William Jaggard and Thomas Pavier in 1619.

10. Shakespeare’s historic play Henry VI, Part 2 ends with the conclusion of this battle

In it, Margaret of Anjou persuades the distraught King to flee the battlefield and head to London. The play ends with York, Edward, Richard, Warwick and Salisbury setting out in pursuit of Henry, Margaret and Clifford.