STREET BATTLES AS ROYALS GO TO WAR
There were two battles of St Albans during the Wars of the Roses. The first, in May 1455, marked the beginning of the wars, which were fought between the mentally unstable Lancastrian King Henry VI and his cousin Richard of York, later to become Richard III. The first battle took place when Richard and the Earl of Warwick marched south to face Henry in St Albans. The Lancastrians, led by the Duke of Buckingham, had assembled an army of 2,000. The Yorkist forces, numbering 3,000-6,000, initially suffered heavy casualties, but Warwick managed to confront the Lancastrian reserves in Market Place, forcing the Lancastrians to flee. Henry was wounded when he and his bodyguard were attacked by Warwick’s longbowmen, and he was escorted to London, where Richard took on the role of Lord Protector. Buckingham was killed, and a plaque on the Skipton Building Society in St Peter’s Street marks the spot. The second battle was in February 1461, when Henry, reinstated as King, with Richard as his heir, had been captured at Northampton. The Queen, Margaret of Anjou, led the Lancastrian cause. After victory at the Battle of Wakefield, the Lancastrians marched towards London. Warwick had his army entrenched on Watling Street just north of St Albans, but the Lancastrians steered past them into the town. Although they faced Yorkist archers and some bloody street fighting, they won control. Warwick withdrew his forces, but left Henry behind. He is said to have been discovered under a tree, singing.