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Chapter XV.<br />

THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD, 1460.<br />

Victorious Prince ofYork,<br />

BeforeIsee thee seated in that throne,<br />

Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,<br />

Ivow by heaven these eyes shall never close;<br />

This is the palaceof that fearfulking,<br />

And that the regal chair. Possess it, York,<br />

For this is thine, and not KingHenry's heir's.<br />

Shakespeare.<br />

HE first ofthe Battles ofthe Roses was at St.<br />

Albans in 1455, in which the Lancastrians<br />

were defeated. HenryVI.wastakenprisoner,<br />

and the Duke of York was placed at thehead<br />

of the governing power. There, however,<br />

was still much dissatisfactionin the country, and<br />

a Parliament was shortly afterwards held for the<br />

purposeof settling the vexed question as to who should<br />

be king. The result was that, after prolonged debates<br />

amongthe Parliamentarybody,it was finally agreed that<br />

as Henry had been recognised as king for more than<br />

thirty-eight years, he should continue to enjoy the title<br />

and privileges during the term of his natural life; and<br />

that if he died, or abdicated,or forfeited the Crown,it was

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