First Battle of St Albans

The First Battle of St Albans took place on 22 May 1455, at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, and traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal army commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Unusually, the battle was contested in the town of St Albans itself, with the bulk of the fighting taking place in the streets and a tavern being used as a redoubt. Somerset was killed in the battle, and King Henry VI captured, clearing the way for a subsequent parliament to appoint Richard of York Lord Protector.

The incapacitation of Henry VI by mental illness in 1454 led to the recall to court of Richard of York, his closest adult relative. In 1447, York had been appointed Lieutenant of Ireland, and had essentially been in exile from England. His long-time rival, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, the favourite of the king, had been given the Lieutenancy of France. After Somerset's failure in France, York unexpectedly returned to London with significant support not only from the nobility, most of whom saw the incompetence of Somerset's efforts in France, but also from the public. He presented himself as a champion of the law and urged the king to have Somerset tried and held accountable for his failures. He also wished to be recognised as heir presumptive to the English throne while Henry VI was childless.

York formed an army to force the issue in 1452, and after meeting with the council of war and the king, who desperately wanted to avoid a conflict, York's demands were agreed to. York disbanded his army as a result, but was soon arrested and held prisoner for three months. An execution was avoided, as the king was nervous about arousing trouble; the Duke of York was very popular and known as a man of honour. York was released only after he had agreed to swear an oath at St Paul's Cathedral that he would never again take up arms against the king.

After the English army, led by Sir John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, was routed in the Battle of Castillon, Henry VI suffered a complete mental breakdown and was unable to perform his royal duties. Somerset had attempted to take control of the country and sought to make himself Lord Protector. However, Somerset underestimated the Duke of York's influence and popularity, as many nobles on the council (including York's closest allies, his brother-in-law Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and Salisbury's son Richard, Earl of Warwick) were on York's side. Thus, York was given the appointment to govern England as Lord Protector and First Councillor of the realm while the king remained unfit. He used that position to move against his chief rival, express the bitterness which had accumulated over the years, and have the Duke of Somerset imprisoned. During those 14 months, both sides of the conflict were forming. There was also conflict between the Dukes of York and Somerset, members of the two richest and most prominent families of the north, and the Percys and Nevilles, who were having their own conflicts. The Percys were Earls of Northumberland; the Nevilles possessed both Salisbury and Warwick (received through the right of their wives), and they were one of the richest families in all England. The Nevilles were also related to the Duke of York by marriage, as the Duchess of York was Cecily Neville, the sister of the Earl of Salisbury. Much of the fighting was over land and money. Both families were clearly choosing sides, the Percys for Somerset and the Nevilles for York.

By Christmas 1454, King Henry had recovered from his illness, which removed the basis for York's authority. Somerset was released and restored to his former position of power. Having reconvened the court at Westminster by mid-April 1455, Henry and a select council of nobles decided to hold a great council at Leicester. York and his closest allies anticipated that Somerset would bring charges against them at the assembly. They gathered an armed retinue and marched to stop the royal party from reaching Leicester by intercepting it at St Albans.

On 18 May, news reached the king and the Duke of Somerset in London that York and his allies had raised a retinue and were marching south to London down the Great North Road. On Somerset's instructions, Cardinal Thomas Bourchier wrote to them to order them to disband. The Duke of York and the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury authored a letter at Royston on 20 May to insist that they were loyal to the king and had only brought their forces as protection from their enemies. Whether York intended to march on London or capture the king on the road to Leicester is unknown, but Somerset called his allies to St Albans and left London on 21 May, likely for fear of the pro-Yorkist London. Marching to St Albans with their own retainers, the Yorkists wrote a letter directly to the king on 21 May from Ware, where they turned off the Great North Road and began the approach to St Albans. On the night of 21 May, the king and Somerset were at Watford while the Yorkists were camped on the road between Ware and St Albans.

The Lancastrian army of 2,000 troops arrived at St Albans first, with Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, in command, and proceeded to defend it by placing troops along the Tonman Ditch and at the bars in Sopwell Lane and Shropshire Lane. The reassignment of Buckingham from Somerset as commander of the army had been a last-minute decision by Henry VI, whether from fear of Somerset's past failures or of animosity towards the Duke of York. The 3,000-strong Yorkist army arrived and camped in Keyfield to the east. Lengthy negotiations ensued, with heralds moving back and forth between the rival commanders. After a few hours, it was believed in the Yorkist camp that King Henry VI knew nothing of the letters of negotiation.

The Duke of York had made his intentions clear and wanted Somerset punished, then executed. In a message to Henry VI, he stated: