Historic%20Yorkshire
Historic%20Yorkshire
Historic%20Yorkshire
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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