Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland was accomplished. In December, the king rallied sufficiently to resume control of government, and York's protectorate was terminated. With Somerset back at the centre of power, civil war seemed imminent. In May 1455, Northumberland was travelling with the king and Somerset to a great council at Leicester, when the party was intercepted by York and the Nevilles. On 22 May 1455, at the First Battle of St Albans, the royal forces clashed with the forces loyal to the Duke of York, in what has been described as the first battle of the Wars of the Roses. The battle was a
Wars of the Roses Battle of Northampton. York returned to the country and for the third time became Protector of England, but was dissuaded from claiming the throne, though it was agreed that he would become heir to the throne (thus displacing Henry and Margaret's son, Edward of Westminster, from the line of succession). Margaret and the remaining Lancastrian nobles gathered their army in the north of England. When York moved north to engage them, he and his second son Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrian army advanced south and released Henry at the Second Battle of