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
Wars of the Roses the Hundred Years' War, unfolding the structural problems of feudalism, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of King Henry VI which revived interest in Richard of York's claim to the throne. Historians disagree on which of these factors to identify as the main reason for the wars. With the Duke of York's death, the claim transferred to his heir, Edward, who later became the first Yorkist king of England, as Edward IV. He reigned from 1461, interrupted by a Lancastrian uprising and reinstallment of Henry VI in 1470 to 1471, until his sudden death in 1483. His son