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| coordinates = <!--Use the {{coord}} template -->
| result = Lancastrian victory
| combatant1 = [[File:Red Rose Badge of Lancaster.svg|20px]] [[House of Lancaster]]<br/>Supported by:<br>
| combatant2 = [[File:White Rose Badge of York.svg|20px]] [[House of York]]
| commander1 = {{unbulleted list|[[File:Beaufort_Arms_(France_modern).svg|20px]] [[Henry Beaufort,
| commander2 = {{unbulleted list|[[File:Arms of Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York.svg|20px]] [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Duke of York]]{{KIA}}|[[File:Arms of Edmund, Earl of Rutland.svg|20px]] [[Edmund, Earl of Rutland|Earl of Rutland]]{{Executed}}|[[File:
| strength1 = 18,000
| strength2 = 9,000
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The '''Battle of Wakefield''' took place in [[Sandal Magna]] near [[Wakefield]] 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 England|Henry VI]] of the [[House of Lancaster]] and his Queen [[Margaret of Anjou]] on one side, and the army of [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Richard, Duke of York]], the rival claimant to the throne, on the other.
For several years before the battle, the Duke of York had become increasingly opposed to the weak King Henry's court. After open warfare broke out between the factions and Henry became his prisoner, he laid claim to the throne, but lacked sufficient support. Instead, in an agreement known as the [[Act of Accord]], he was made Henry's heir to the throne, displacing from the succession Henry's and Margaret's 7-year-old son [[Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales|Edward, Prince of Wales]]. Margaret of Anjou and several prominent nobles were irreconcilably opposed to this accord, and massed their armies in the north. Richard of York marched north to deal with them, but found he was outnumbered.
Although he occupied [[Sandal Castle]], York sortied from the castle on 30 December. His reasons for doing so have been variously ascribed to deception by the Lancastrian armies, or treachery by some nobles and Lancastrian officers who York thought were his allies, or simple rashness or miscalculation by York.
==Background==
King Henry VI ascended the throne in 1422, when he was 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 officials and councillors who governed in Henry's name, mainly over the conduct of the [[Hundred Years' War]] with France. By the early 1450s, the most important rivalry was that between [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Richard, Duke of York]], and [[Edmund Beaufort,
York was not only the wealthiest magnate in the land,{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=109}} but was also descended through both his parents from King [[
York was appointed [[Chief governor of Ireland|Lieutenant of Ireland]], effectively exiling him from court, while Somerset increased his influence over the
Fearing arrest for treason, York and his most prominent allies, the Nevilles (York's brother in law, the [[Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury|Earl of Salisbury]] and his son, the [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick|Earl of Warwick]], later known as the "Kingmaker"), 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 [[Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]] (whose family, the Percys, had been involved in a [[
After the battle, York reaffirmed his loyalty to King Henry, who had been found abandoned in a shop in the town. He was reappointed Lord Protector and Lieutenant of Ireland. Margaret of Anjou 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
==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 once again feared indictment for rebellion by a Great Council dominated by his opponents.{{sfn|Goodwin|2012|p=116}} He and the Nevilles concentrated their forces near York's stronghold at [[Ludlow Castle]] in the [[Welsh Marches]] but at the confrontation with the much larger royal army 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.{{sfn|Weir|2015|p=230}}
York went to Ireland, where he had unchallenged support, while Salisbury, Warwick and York's eldest son [[Edward IV of England|Edward, Earl of March]], made their way to Calais, where Warwick was [[Constable of Calais|Constable]]. They narrowly forestalled the new [[Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset|Duke of Somerset]] who, with Trollope, had been sent to regain it.{{sfn|Weir|2015|pp=232–233}} Lancastrian attempts to reassert their authority over Ireland and Calais failed, but York and his supporters were declared traitors and [[attainder|attainted]]. 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.{{sfn|Seward|2007|pp=71–72}} The country remained in disorder.
In 1460, the Nevilles invaded England through a foothold they had already established at [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]] and rapidly secured London and the South of England where Warwick had popular support.
The Duke of York landed in [[Chester]] some weeks later and made his way to London with much pomp. Entering [[Parliament of England|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.{{sfn|Seward|2007|p=82}} 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.{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=142}} 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 [[Stafford]]. After many adventures with brigands and outlaws,{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=143}} they fled via [[Cheshire]] to [[Harlech Castle]] in North Wales, where they joined Lancastrian nobles (including Henry's half-brother [[Jasper Tudor]] and the [[Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter|Duke of Exeter]]) 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
At the same time, other Lancastrians were rallying in [[Northern England]]. Many of them, including the [[Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]] and Lords [[John Clifford, 9th Baron
===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. He tried to bring a train of artillery under "one called Lovelace, a gentleman of Kent"{{sfn|Clark|2016|p=229}} but bad weather forced the artillery to return to London.
York's and Salisbury's army 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]].{{sfn|Dockray|Knowles|1992|p=8}} He had probably underestimated both the numbers of the Lancastrian army in the north and the degree of opposition he had provoked by his attempt to seize the throne. On an earlier expedition to the north during his first protectorship in 1454, he and the Nevilles had easily subdued a rebellion by the Percys and the Duke of Exeter.{{sfn|Clark|2016|pp=120–125}} In 1460, not only had almost every other northern peer joined the Lancastrian army, but York's nominal supporters were also divided. The Nevilles were one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the North and in addition to controlling large estates, the Earl of Salisbury had held the office of [[Lord Warden of the Marches#Warden of the Eastern March|Warden of the Eastern March]] for several years. However, in the [[
The Lancastrians were still being reinforced. On 16 December, at the [[Battle of Worksop]] in [[Nottinghamshire]], York's vanguard clashed with Somerset's contingent from the West Country moving north to join the Lancastrian army, and was defeated.{{sfn|Warner|1972|p=49}}
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==Battle==
[[File:SandalCastleMotte.jpg|right|thumb|The remains of the [[motte-and-bailey|motte]] of Sandal Castle]]
On 21 December, York reached his own fortress of [[Sandal Castle]] near Wakefield. He sent probes towards the Lancastrian camp at Pontefract {{convert|9|mi
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 [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]]
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 that reinforcements sent by Warwick had arrived. By another contemporary account, [[William Worcester]]'s ''Annales Rerum Anglicorum'', John Neville himself obtained a Commission of Array from Richard of York to raise 8,000 men to fight on York's side under the Earl of Westmoreland.{{sfn|Goodwin|2012|p=145}} Having gathered this force and enticed York to leave the castle to rendezvous with him, John Neville then defected to the Lancastrians.{{sfn|Dockray|Knowles|1992|p=10}}
Another suggestion was that York and Somerset had agreed a truce during Christmas until 6 January, the [[
The simplest suggestion was that York acted rashly.{{sfn|Rowse|1966|
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:
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===Casualties===
One near-contemporary source (''Gregory's Chronicle'') claimed that 2,500 Yorkists and 200 Lancastrians were killed, but other sources give wildly differing figures, from 2,200 to only 700
The Duke of York was either killed in the battle or captured and immediately executed. Some later works support the folklore that he suffered a crippling wound to the knee and was unhorsed, and he and his closest followers then fought to the death at that spot;{{sfn|Sadler|2011|p=60}} others relate the account that he was taken prisoner (by one Sir James Luttrell of Devonshire), mocked by his captors and beheaded.{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=187}}
His son [[Edmund, Earl of 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 second son [[Thomas Neville (died 1460)|Sir Thomas Neville]] also died in the battle.{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=144}} Salisbury's son in law [[William Bonville, 6th Baron Harington|William, Lord Harington]], and Harington's father, William Bonville, were captured and executed immediately after the battle. (The Bonvilles had been engaged in a [[Bonville–Courtenay feud|feud]] with the Earl of Devon and the Courtenay family in Devon and Cornwall.) Salisbury himself escaped the battlefield but was captured during the night, and was taken to the Lancastrian camp. 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.{{sfn|Dockray|Knowles|1992|p=14}} The mob may have been led by the "Bastard of Exeter", an illegitimate son of the Duke of Exeter.{{sfn|Seward|2007|p=83}}
Among the "commoners" in York's army who were killed was John Harrowe, a prominent [[Worshipful Company of Mercers|mercer]] of London, described as a "captain of the foot".{{sfn|Seward|2007|p=83}}
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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{{sfn|Ross|1974|p=32}} and failed to occupy the city. Warwick and Edward of March reoccupied London, and within a few weeks, Edward of March was proclaimed King Edward IV.
At the first Battle of St Albans, York had been content with the death of his rivals for power. At Wakefield and in every battle in the Wars of the Roses thereafter, the victors would eliminate not only any opposing leaders but also their family members and supporters, making the struggle more bitter and revenge driven.{{sfn|Hicks|
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]]. A cross in memory of York's son, Rutland, was erected at the Park Street end of [[Kirkgate (Wakefield)|Kirkgate]] in Wakefield.{{sfn|Weir|2015|p=256}} Archaeologist Rachel Askew suggests that the memorial cross to the Duke of York may be fictional as the late
==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, 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.{{sfn|Higginbotham|2010}}
The battle is said by some to be the source for the mnemonic for remembering the traditional colours of the [[rainbow]], [[ROYGBIV|Richard Of York Gave Battle in Vain]],{{sfn|Surdhar|2013|p=56}} and also the mocking [[nursery rhyme]], "[[The Grand Old Duke of York]]",{{sfn|Swinnerton|2005|p=149}} although this much more likely refers to the eighteenth-century
"Dicky's Meadow", a well-known Northern expression, is commonly believed to refer 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, as in "If you do that you'll end up in Dicky's Meadow." However, the first known usage of that phrase did not appear until the 1860s, around 400 years after the battle took place.{{sfn|Tréguer|2016}}
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==References==
{{refbegin|indent=y}}
* {{cite journal |last=Askew |date=22 February 2016 |first=Rachel |title=Biography and Memory: Sandal Castle and the English Civil War |journal=[[European Journal of Archaeology]] |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=48–67 |doi=10.1179/1461957115Y.0000000012 |s2cid=161996975 }}
* {{cite book|last=Churchill|first=Winston|
* {{cite book |last=Clark |year=2016 |first=Karen L. |title=The Nevills of Middleham: England's Most Powerful Family in the Wars of the Roses |publisher=The History Press |place=[[Stroud]] |isbn=978-0-7509-6365-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Goodwin |year=2012 |first=George |title=Fatal Colours: Towton 1461... England's most Brutal Battle |publisher=Phoenix |place=London |isbn=978-0-7538-2817-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Haigh |year=1995 |first=Philip A. |title=Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses |publisher=Alan Sutton |place=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7509-0904-4 |
* {{cite book |last=Haigh |year=1996 |first=Philip A. |title=The Battle of Wakefield 1460 |edition=illustrated |publisher=Sutton |place=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7509-1342-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hicks |first=Michael |authorlink=Michael Hicks (historian) |title=The Wars of the Roses |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-300-17009-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Dan |authorlink=Dan Jones (writer) |title=The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2014 |isbn=
* {{cite book |last1=Opie |first1=I. |last2=Opie |first2=P. |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2nd| year=1997}}
* {{cite book |last=Ross |first=Charles |authorlink=Charles Ross (historian) |title=Edward IV |publisher=University of California Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-413-28680-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Rowse|first=A. L.|title=Bosworth Field & the Wars of the Roses|
* {{cite book |last=Sadler |first=John |
* {{cite book|last=Seward|first=Desmond|authorlink=Desmond Seward|title=A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses|publisher=Constable and Robin|location=London|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84529-006-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofwa0000sewa_n3b4}}
* {{cite book |last=Surdhar |first=Christina |title=Bloody British History: York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxATDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT56 |access-date=29 December 2017 |date=2 September 2013 |publisher=History Press |isbn=
* {{cite book |last=Swinnerton |first=J. |title=The History of Britain Companion |publisher=Robson |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-86205-822-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Warner|first=Philip |title=British Battlefields: The North |publisher=Osprey |year=1972 |isbn=0-00-633823-2}}
* {{cite book| last=Weir| first=Alison|
{{refend}}
==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.richardiii.net/downloads/Ricardian/essay_wakefield.pdf |last1=Dockray |first1=Keith |last2=Knowles |first2=Richard |title=The Battle of Wakefield |publisher=Richard III Society |date=1992 |access-date=30 June 2009}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/posts/the-death-of-edmund-earl-of-rutland/ |title=The Death of Edmund, Earl of Rutland |date=17 February 2010 |first=Susan |last=Higginbotham
* {{cite web |url=https://wordhistories.net/2016/06/22/origin-of-dickys-meadow/ |title=Origin of the Lancashire phrase 'in Dicky's meadow' |first=Pascal |last=Tréguer |date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Word Histories |access-date=28 December 2017}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090318160722/http://wars-of-the-roses.com/content/battles/wakefield.htm wars-of-the-roses.com]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120123114946/http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/CultureAndLeisure/Castlesandmuseums/Castles/Sandal/Visitor_information.htm Sandal Castle]
* [http://richarddukeofyorkfuneral.org.uk/ A journey following the funeral route of Richard, Duke of York, killed 1460, reburied at Fotheringhay 1476] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423131614/http://richarddukeofyorkfuneral.org.uk/ |date=23 April 2017 }}
{{Wars of the Roses}}
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[[Category:Battles involving Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1460]]
[[Category:Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York]]
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