Who fought in the Battle of Wakefield?

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.

What two families fought the War of the Roses?

The Wars of the Roses were a series of bloody civil wars for the throne of England between two competing royal families: the House of York and the House of Lancaster, both members of the age-old royal Plantagenet family.

Who was fighting at the Wars of the Roses?

The Wars of the Roses were fought between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne. The wars were named many years afterward from the supposed badges of the contending parties: the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

Why did Lancaster and York fight?

The basic issue was who was the rightful king of England. Both Lancaster and York families were descendants of the Plantagenet. Both sides claimed the throne through descent from King Edward III. The nature of their competing claims is too complicated to trace here; but can be read in the posted link.

Who won the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross?

Edward, Earl of March
An important battle in the Wars of the Roses, which took place at a site near Wigmore in Herefordshire. The Yorkist forces led by Edward, Earl of March, won a major victory over the Earl of Wiltshire’s Lancastrian army.

What side was Wakefield on in the English Civil War?

The army’s victories, particularly at Naseby and Langport, gained parliament control of most of the rest of England. Near Wakefield, Sandal Castle on the edge of the town had remained a Royalist garrison throughout the war despite the town’s capture.

What caused war of the Roses?

What caused the conflict? In the simplest terms, the war began because Richard, Duke of York, believed he had a better claim to the throne than the man sitting on it, Henry VI. Ever since Henry II, the first Plantagenet, took power, kings struggled to keep a firm grip on the crown and not all of them succeeded.

Who had a better claim to the throne York or Lancaster?

The House of York did not have a superior claim to the throne than Lancaster; instead they did what other usurping dynasties before them had done – they allowed might to make right and came up with a justification to rubber stamp it.

What were the three suns of York?

The triple sun which occurred at Mortimer’s Cross was auspicious for Edward of York. The three suns were taken to represent him and his two brothers – the three sons of the Duke of York, claimant to the English throne, who had been killed just weeks previously.

Who won the Second Battle of St Albans?

Queen Margaret
Winner of the Second Battle of St Albans: The Lancastrians under Queen Margaret defeated the Yorkist army, re-capturing King Henry VI.

Who are the members of the Lancastrian family?

During the reign of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war broke out between rival claimants to the throne, dating back to the sons of Edward III. The Lancastrian dynasty descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, third son of Edward III, whose son Henry deposed the unpopular Richard II.

Who was the leader of the Lancastrian army?

The left-wing Lancastrian battle was commanded by the Earl of Devon and Lord Ralph Dacre, a Cumbrian magnate; while the overall commander of the army, Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, headed up the main battle in the centre with Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter.

How many Lancastrians died at the Battle of Tewkesbury?

The area between the battlefield and Tewkesbury Abbey became known as ‘the Bloody Meadow’. King Edward IV had won the battle that assured his grip on the English Throne. Casualties at the Battle of Tewkesbury: It seems likely that around 2,000 Lancastrians were killed in the battle and subsequent pursuit.

Where did the Lancastrians defeat Warwick in 1461?

Gathering forces in northern England, the Lancastrians surprised and killed York at Wakefield in December and then marched south toward London, defeating Warwick on the way at the Second Battle of St. Albans (February 17, 1461).

Who fought in the Battle of Wakefield? 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…