Battle of Wakefield 1460
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1460 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Wars of the Roses | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 53.6801, -1.4922 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The 'Battle' of Wakefield has traditionally been said to have taken place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield in northern England, on 30 December 1460. Recent research demonstrates that it was not a battle in the proper sense of a word, but a small-scale skirmish that resulted in the capture and subsequent deaths of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, his second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.
For several years before the battle, the Duke of York – a descendant of two (both the second and fourth) of Edward III's surviving sons – had become increasingly opposed to the court of the mentally incapacitated Lancastrian King Henry VI (descended from Edward III's third surviving son) and his Queen, the formidable Margaret of Anjou. 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 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.
As the King’s Lancastrian supporters held Pontefract Castle, York made for his manor at nearby Wakefield.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Wakefield (revision 1370786203), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Capture of Wakefield 1643 · 0 km
- Battle of Leeds 1643 · 13 km
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643 · 14 km
- Battle of Ferrybridge 1461 · 15 km
- Battle of Sherburn in Elmet · 20 km
- Battle of Seacroft Moor 1643 · 20 km
Other battles of the Wars of the Roses
- First Battle of St Albans 1455
- Battle of Blore Heath 1459
- Rout of Ludford Bridge 1459
- Battle of Northampton (1460) 1460
- Battle of Sandwich (1460) 1460
- Battle of Worksop 1460
- Battle of Ferrybridge 1461
- Battle of Mortimer's Cross 1461
- Battle of Towton 1461
- Second Battle of St Albans 1461
All 20 battles of the Wars of the Roses →
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