Decisive battle at Wakefield

Despite more than 500 years passing since the bloody struggle for England's crown took place, there is still enough physical evidence in place to help recreate Yorkshire's fascinating heritage.

This week, the City of Wakefield, around an hour's drive from Wharfedale, povides the setting for one of the major dramas of the period.

THE battle of Wakefield contrasts with the battle of Towton - fought a year later and which I wrote about a few weeks ago - in two major respects.

Firstly, Wakefield was a victory for the Lancastrians and secondly the battle itself arose from a series of misunderstandings and mistakes by both sides.

Indeed what little documentary evidence exists of the actual course of the fighting seems to suggest that it began as a minor skirmish on December 30, 1460, with some of the protagonists not joining the fray until hours later when it had developed quite by chance into a pitched battle.

It was fought around the now ruined Sandal Castle, the Wakefield seat of Richard, Duke of York.

Richard decided to take up arms against his cousin, the Lancastrian Henry VI, when his power and influence at court was snubbed by the weak and temporarily mad ruler.

They both claimed descent from King Edward III but Henry owed his regency to the usurpation of the crown by his grandfather Henry IV, who deposed another weak and ineffectual King, Richard II.

After some indecisive battles starting with St Albans in 1455, Richard took Henry prisoner, but his immediate claim to the throne was not supported by other powerful barons and clergy.

As a compromise Richard came up with the Act of Accord which decreed that Henry would remain as King but on his death, the crown would pass to Richard not his own son.

Henry, whose attitude throughout the whole 30-year period of the Wars of the Roses seemed to be 'anything for a quiet life,' readily accepted the Act of Accord but his formidable wife, Margaret of Anjou, had other ideas.

When her husband was taken captive at the battle of Northampton she escaped and began to gather forces in the north.

These included Clifford, Percy and Salisbury who were all seeking vengence for the deaths of their three fathers at St Albans at the hands of the Yorkists.

Margaret was the perfect foil to her weak husband and insisted that only over her dead body would her young son Edward lose his inheritance.

Richard, now with the crown inches from his grasp, marched North to face those who would prevent him lifting it onto his head upon the death of Henry VI.

Richard's problems began on the way north when his force of around 6,000 was ambushed, but the army fought its way through to Sandal Castle, on a promentory dominating the surrounding Calder Valley.

The Lancastrians, whose base was at Pontefract Castle, surrounded Richard's stronghold with a much larger force.

Lacking seige artillery, the Lancastrians had no way of penetrating the walls of the castle and, until reinforcements arrived, Richard could not risk an engagement outside the security of the walls.

During this stalemate Richard spent a miserable Christmas cooped up inside while his enemies sent him insulting messages accusing the brave and honourable baron of being a coward, unable to summon the courage to face a woman in open battle, although Margaret was elswhere at the time.

Accounts of the fighting are very sketchy. What is beyond doubt is that the castle was not victualled for a prolongued seige.

While awaiting reinforcements Richard was forced to despatch foraging parties into the surrounding countryside.

With thousands of bloodthirsty Lancastrians camped at various places in the vicinity this proved to be a somewhat risky business.

On the morning of December 30 Richard spotted an attack on one of his foraging parties. Mustering what forces he could, he foolishly abandoned the sanctuary of the castle to help them out.

During the ensuing melee, things went from bad to worse as the alarm was raised in the various Lancastrian camps. One by one forces joined the fray until Richard's force was completely surrounded by a much more formidable enemy.

Further help from the castle had little effect as the battle turned into a rout. The brave Richard died fighting after ordering his son, the Duke of Rutland to flee.

But the teenager got only as far as the bridge in the centre of Wakefield where Clifford caught up with him and stabbed him to death.

Following the battle, Richard's head, adorned with a paper crown, was impaled on a spike on Micklegate Bar in York: 'So York can overlook York,' Lancastrians quipped.

It was a joke that soon turned sour for the victors. Their own decomposing heads would replace the Yorkists three months later following the battle of Towton, where one of Richard's other sons, Edward, later King Edward IV, was the victor.THE battle of Wakefield contrasts with the battle of Towton - fought a year later and which I wrote about a few weeks ago - in two major respects.

Firstly, Wakefield was a victory for the Lancastrians and secondly the battle itself arose from a series of misunderstandings and mistakes by both sides.

Indeed what little documentary evidence exists of the actual course of the fighting seems to suggest that it began as a minor skirmish on December 30, 1460, with some of the protagonists not joining the fray until hours later when it had developed quite by chance into a pitched battle.

It was fought around the now ruined Sandal Castle, the Wakefield seat of Richard, Duke of York.

Richard decided to take up arms against his cousin, the Lancastrian Henry VI, when his power and influence at court was snubbed by the weak and temporarily mad ruler.

They both claimed descent from King Edward III but Henry owed his regency to the usurpation of the crown by his grandfather Henry IV, who deposed another weak and ineffectual King, Richard II.

After some indecisive battles starting with St Albans in 1455, Richard took Henry prisoner, but his immediate claim to the throne was not supported by other powerful barons and clergy.

As a compromise Richard came up with the Act of Accord which decreed that Henry would remain as King but on his death, the crown would pass to Richard not his own son.

Henry, whose attitude throughout the whole 30-year period of the Wars of the Roses seemed to be 'anything for a quiet life,' readily accepted the Act of Accord but his formidable wife, Margaret of Anjou, had other ideas.

When her husband was taken captive at the battle of Northampton she escaped and began to gather forces in the north.

These included Clifford, Percy and Salisbury who were all seeking vengence for the deaths of their three fathers at St Albans at the hands of the Yorkists.

Margaret was the perfect foil to her weak husband and insisted that only over her dead body would her young son Edward lose his inheritance.

Richard, now with the crown inches from his grasp, marched North to face those who would prevent him lifting it onto his head upon the death of Henry VI.

Richard's problems began on the way north when his force of around 6,000 was ambushed, but the army fought its way through to Sandal Castle, on a promentory dominating the surrounding Calder Valley.

The Lancastrians, whose base was at Pontefract Castle, surrounded Richard's stronghold with a much larger force.

Lacking seige artillery, the Lancastrians had no way of penetrating the walls of the castle and, until reinforcements arrived, Richard could not risk an engagement outside the security of the walls.

During this stalemate Richard spent a miserable Christmas cooped up inside while his enemies sent him insulting messages accusing the brave and honourable baron of being a coward, unable to summon the courage to face a woman in open battle, although Margaret was elswhere at the time.

Accounts of the fighting are very sketchy. What is beyond doubt is that the castle was not victualled for a prolongued seige.

While awaiting reinforcements Richard was forced to despatch foraging parties into the surrounding countryside.

With thousands of bloodthirsty Lancastrians camped at various places in the vicinity this proved to be a somewhat risky business.

On the morning of December 30 Richard spotted an attack on one of his foraging parties. Mustering what forces he could, he foolishly abandoned the sanctuary of the castle to help them out.

During the ensuing melee, things went from bad to worse as the alarm was raised in the various Lancastrian camps. One by one forces joined the fray until Richard's force was completely surrounded by a much more formidable enemy.

Further help from the castle had little effect as the battle turned into a rout. The brave Richard died fighting after ordering his son, the Duke of Rutland to flee.

But the teenager got only as far as the bridge in the centre of Wakefield where Clifford caught up with him and stabbed him to death.

Following the battle, Richard's head, adorned with a paper crown, was impaled on a spike on Micklegate Bar in York: 'So York can overlook York,' Lancastrians quipped.

It was a joke that soon turned sour for the victors. Their own decomposing heads would replace the Yorkists three months later following the battle of Towton, where one of Richard's other sons, Edward, later King Edward IV, was the victor.

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