First Battle of St Albans

Overview

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. 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.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The First Battle of St Albans, fought at St Albans some 22 miles north of London, traditionally marks the opening engagement of the Wars of the Roses. Richard, Duke of York, allied with the Neville Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal Lancastrian army that was numerically inferior, with Yorkist forces numbering between 3,000 and 7,000 against approximately 2,000 Lancastrian troops. The battle carried immediate political consequences: Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was killed in the fighting, and King Henry VI was captured. These outcomes directly cleared the way for a subsequent parliament to appoint Richard of York Lord Protector, representing a decisive shift in the balance of power between the two rival factions at the outset of the conflict.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (8)