First Battle of St Albans a moment of indecision for Richard of York but a powerful victory for the Neville faction in the Neville-Percy feud. Burley, Elliott & Watson, The Battles of St Albans, Pen & Sword, 2007, First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal army commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was killed. With
The Wars of the Roses (adaptation) the grounds that the "Henry VI" plays "are not viable as they stand," arguing they needed to be adapted "in the interests of audience accessibility." As an example of the alterations, in the original text, the character of the Duke of Exeter appears only in "1 Henry VI", whereas in "The Wars of the Roses", he appears throughout all three plays, as a constant ally of Henry VI and the House of Lancaster. Numerous characters were also removed, such as Warwick's father, the Earl of Salisbury, a major character in "2 Henry VI", and some of the battle scenes were