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Why did Richard, duke of York, take up arms against Henry VI at St. Albans?
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Wars of the Roses
Illustration depicting the Battle of Bosworth Field, with King Richard III on the white horse.
Richard, 3rd Duke of York, took up arms against Henry VI at the Battle of St. Albans in 1455 primarily as a measure of self-protection.1
Following the Kingās recovery from a period of mental illness in late 1454, Margaret of Anjou successfully persuaded her husband to dismiss York from his position as protector of the realm and restore his rival, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, to power. York became convinced that the Queen and Somerset were actively planning his destruction. Faced with this political marginalization and the threat to his safety, York mobilized his forces to challenge the Lancastrian leadership, resulting in the first military engagement of the Wars of the Roses.2341