Second Battle of St Albans: Battle of the Roses

Margaret of Anjou Marches South

After their victory at the Battle of Wakefield on 30th December 1460, the Lancastrian army, led by Margaret of Anjou and Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, marched south towards London to consolidate their power. However, Queen Margaret did not have the funds to pay her troops, and south of the River Trent, they were permitted to rob, loot, rape, torture, and burn throughout the towns and villages in their path. According to Abbot Whethamstede:

“They robbed, despoiled and devastated, and carried off with them whatever they could come upon or discover, whether garments or money, herds of cattle or single animals or any other thing whatsoever, sparing neither churches nor clergy, monasteries nor monks, chapels nor chaplains.”

Warwick’s Defences at Bernard’s Heath

The Earl of Warwick, in London, organised the Yorkist forces and, together with his brother Sir John Neville and around 10,000 troops, marched north to St Albans on 12th February 1461. They established their defences north of the town at Bernard’s Heath using caltrops, spikes, and nets across paths and hedges.

The Lancastrian army, numbering around 15,000 men, learned of the Yorkist movements and headed west to Dunstable, where they defeated a small Yorkist force of 200 men led by a local butcher. They then marched through the night and reached St Albans from the south-west on 17th February 1461.

The Lancastrian Victory

The Lancastrians were initially attacked in the centre of the town by a contingent of Yorkist archers, but they bypassed this force and confronted the Yorkist rearguard at Bernard’s Heath, led by Sir John Neville, which was unprepared. Although the Yorkists fought well, they were overwhelmed by superior numbers and forced into flight.

Warwick himself was equally unprepared and could not adequately support Sir John Neville, who was captured by Lancastrian troops. Realising his army had been defeated, Warwick fought a rearguard action before retreating to Nomansland Common. He then headed north with 4,000 of his remaining soldiers to join his cousin, the Earl of March, in the Cotswolds following the recent Yorkist victory at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross.

Around 2,000 Yorkist troops and 1,000 Lancastrians were killed during the battle.

Map of the battle by James Henry Ramsay (1892)

Henry VI Reunited with Margaret

King Henry VI had been left on the battlefield by the retreating Yorkists and was guarded by two Yorkist knights, Lord Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyriell, both veterans of the Hundred Years’ War in France. The king was reunited with his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and their seven-year-old son, Edward of Lancaster, who, reportedly at his mother’s prompting, ordered the execution of the two Yorkist knights.

London Rejects the Lancastrians

Despite their victory, the Lancastrian army was unable to enter London. The citizens barred the gates because of the army’s reputation for robbing and pillaging the countryside. Margaret of Anjou also lacked siege artillery and therefore had little choice but to order a retreat northwards. This became a missed opportunity to seize control of the government.

The Earls of Warwick and March entered London on 27th February 1461 with 10,000 men and were welcomed as saviours. One Londoner wrote:

“Let us walk in a new vineyard and let us make a gay garden in the month of March with this fair white rose and herb the Earl of March.”

The Rise of Edward IV

On 3rd March 1461, the Council of the Yorkist Lords met at Baynard’s Castle and decided to offer the throne to Edward, Earl of March. Present at the meeting were the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Bourchier; the Bishop of Salisbury; the Earl of Warwick; George Neville, Bishop of Exeter; Lord Fauconberg; the Duke of Norfolk; Lord FitzWalter; Sir Walter Devereux; and other peers.

Three of Edward’s grandparents were direct descendants of King Edward III, strengthening his claim to the throne. Edward accepted the offer and was proclaimed King Edward IV on 4th March 1461. Although he sat upon the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, he refused to be formally crowned until he had defeated Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrian army in battle.

An Unexpected Legacy

One casualty of the Second Battle of St Albans was the Lancastrian knight Sir John Grey of Groby. His widow, Elizabeth Woodville, would later secretly marry Edward IV and become Queen of England.