Battle of Wakefield

Battle of Wakefield
Part of the Wars of the Roses
Date 30 December 1460 Location Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England Result Lancastrian victory
Belligerents
House of Lancaster Supported by: Kingdom of Scotland	House of York
Commanders and leaders
Duke of Somerset Earl of Northumberland Earl of Devon Baron Clifford Baron Neville Baron Ros Andrew Trollope	Duke of York † Earl of Rutland  Earl of Salisbury
Strength
18,000	9,000
Casualties and losses
200	700–2,500

Wakefield

St. Albans

Ludford Bridge

Mortimer's Cross

Northampton

London

Harlech

Kingston upon Hull

Berwick upon Tweed

Worksop

York

Calais

Coventry

Chester

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Locations:

– Battle of Wakefield; – other battles; – other places

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 the House of Lancaster and his Queen Margaret of Anjou on one side, and the army of 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, 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. He was killed and his army was destroyed. Many of the prominent Yorkist leaders and their family members died in the battle or were captured and executed.