First Battle of St Albans 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 King Henry VI captured, a subsequent parliament appointed Richard of York Lord Protector. The incapacitation of Henry VI by mental illness in 1454 had led to the recall to court of Richard of
The Wars of the Roses (adaptation) into a single piece for a performance at The Old Vic in 1923 as part of the celebrations for the tercentenary of the "First Folio". In 1957, also at The Old Vic, Douglas Seale directed a production of the trilogy under the title "The Wars of the Roses". Adapted by Barry Jackson, the trilogy was again altered to a two-part play; "1 Henry VI" and "2 Henry VI" were combined (with almost all of "1 Henry VI" eliminated) and "3 Henry VI" was performed in a shortened version. John Barton's adaptation would divide the plays up in a new way.