Editing Battle of Wakefield (section)

==Background==
King Henry VI ascended the throne in 1422, when he was only nine months old. He grew up to be an ineffective king, and prone to spells of mental illness. There were increasingly bitter divisions among the officials and councillors who governed in Henry's name, mainly over the conduct of the [[Hundred Years' War]] with France. By the early 1450s, the most important rivalry was that between [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Richard, Duke of York]], and [[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset|Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset]]. York argued for a more vigorous prosecution of the war, to recover territories recently lost to the French,{{sfn|Clark|2016|p=45}} while Somerset belonged to the party which tried to secure peace by making concessions.{{sfn|Rowse|1966|pp=111, 112}} York had been Lieutenant in France for several years and resented being supplanted in that office by Somerset, who had then failed to defend [[Normandy]] against French armies.{{sfn|Rowse|1966|pp=112, 119}}

York was not only the wealthiest magnate in the land,{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=109}} but was also descended through both his parents from King [[Edward III]], leading to calls that he be recognised as successor to the childless King Henry.{{sfn|Seward|2007|p=35}} His rival, Somerset, belonged to the [[Beaufort family]], who were distant cousins of King Henry. Originally illegitimate, the Beauforts had been made legitimate by an act of Parliament{{which|date=January 2024}} but were supposedly barred from the line of succession to the throne.{{sfn|Goodwin|2012|p=76}} However, there was always the possibility that this could be circumvented and the Beaufort line eventually produced King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and the [[Tudor dynasty]] (via Somerset's niece, [[Lady Margaret Beaufort|Margaret Beaufort]]).

York was appointed [[Chief governor of Ireland|Lieutenant of Ireland]], effectively exiling him from court, while Somerset increased his influence over the king. In 1452, York marched on London in an attempt to force Henry to dismiss Somerset from the government, but at this stage he lacked support and was forced to swear not to take arms against the king at [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]].{{sfn|Seward|2007|p=38}} Then in 1453, Henry VI suffered a complete mental breakdown. The [[Magnum Concilium|Great Council]] of peers appointed York [[Lord Protector]] and he governed the country responsibly, but Henry recovered his sanity after eighteen months and restored Somerset to favour. During Henry's madness his queen, [[Margaret of Anjou]], had given birth to a son, which dashed York's hopes of becoming king if Henry died.{{sfn|Weir|2015|p=177}}

Fearing arrest for treason, York and his most prominent allies, the Nevilles (York's brother in law, the [[Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury|Earl of Salisbury]] and Salisbury's son, the [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick|Earl of Warwick]], later known as the "Kingmaker"), finally resorted to armed force in 1455. At the [[First Battle of St Albans]], many of York's and Salisbury's rivals and enemies were killed, including Somerset, the [[Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]] (whose family, the Percys, had been involved in a [[Percy–Neville feud|long-running feud]] with the Nevilles) and [[Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron Clifford|Lord Clifford]].{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=136}}

After the battle, York reaffirmed his loyalty to King Henry, who had been found abandoned in a shop in the town. He was reappointed Lord Protector and Lieutenant of Ireland. Margaret of Anjou nevertheless suspected York of wishing to supplant her infant son, Edward, as Henry's successor, and the heirs of the Lancastrian nobles who were killed at St Albans remained at deadly feud with York.{{sfn|Rowse|1966|p=143}}