Act of Accord

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Citation	39 Hen. 6
Territorial extent	England
Dates
Royal assent	25 October 1460
Commencement	7 October 1460
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Act of Accord was an act of the Parliament of England which was passed on 25 October 1460 during a period of intense political division and partisanship at the top of government. Three weeks earlier, Richard, Duke of York had entered the Council Chamber—in the presence of several lords but the absence of the king, Henry VI—and laid his hand on the empty throne. York claimed the crown of England. His grounds were that, while he and Henry were both direct descendents of Edward III, York possessed two claims, through both the male and female lines, while Henry's was through only one. Following much discussion—in which the king's serjeants-at-law and justices claimed that under the act, Henry was to retain the crown for life, but York and his heirs were to succeed him. This automatically removed Henry's son, Edward, Prince of Wales, from the succession. Henry agreed the compromise.

Political partisanship had already erupted into civil war the year before, and, far from lowering political pressure, the act split the nobility further. Notwithstanding that her husband had publicly supported it, the agreement was unacceptable to the queen, Margaret of Anjou, who refuse to accept the disinheritance of her son. In this she was joined by the majority of the English nobility who also opposed York. Margaret, in the north with her son, immediately raised an army and began destroying Yorkist estates. York led an army to challenge her but was defeated at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December. They were, in turn, however, defeated three months later at the Battle of Towton by York's son Edward, Earl of March, who was subsequently crowned King Edward IV.