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The 1st Battle of
St Albans (22 May 1455)
The Return
from France
Sir Bertine Entwistle
returned to England in 1450 when the English
were expelled from their long occupation of
France. Bertine, having lost his own estates and
titles in France and following Henry Vs death,
now transferred his loyalties to Henry’s son,
Henry VI, his wife Margaret of Anjou, and the
king’s principal ally the Duke of Summerset.
During his time in France
and after the English victories, Sir Bertine had
held estates and the titles Viscount Briquebec
of Normandy and Lord of Hambye, but now returned
to England for the last time. He went to live back in his
native Lancashire. Around this time it is said he built his “New
Hall”, later called Lower House, now submerged
under the Wayoh Reservoir.
It is said by some that both the
feeble King Henry VI and his Queen Margaret
visited Sir Bertine at his home in Lancashire
around this time, to seek his advice and
counsel.
Lancaster v
York - The Wars of the Roses
The conflict that divided
the English aristocracy for 3 decades
(1455-1487) came to be known as the “Wars of
the Roses”. Although this phrase was not used
until much later, the idea that a red rose
represented Lancashire and a white rose
Yorkshire was given wider credence by William
Shakespeare and his historical plays.
The outbreak of open
warfare between the Lancastrians and the
Yorkists came about when Henry VI recovered his
senses after a severe mental breakdown. This had
followed England’s humiliating defeat in
France – widely believed to be the result of
Henry’s and his chief ally, Edmund Beaufort,
the Duke of Summerset’s weak and incompetent
leadership.
During the King’s illness
England had been ruled by a council of nobles
led by Richard, Duke of York, appointed
Protector during the King's illness, the richest
magnate in the land and, many argued, the
rightful heir to the throne. However, Henry's French
Queen Margaret who aspired to be Protector, hated York because of his
ambitions for the throne, and therefore his
challenge to her newborn son Edward's accession.
However, there was uncertainty as to whether
Henry was young Edward's father. York was in fact
declared protector in 1454.
The Road to
War
Richard Duke of York despised the
duke of Summeret because of the
favouritism shown to him by the King, despite
Sumerset's incompetence. He thought that
Summerset was largely responsible for the
debacle in France and should be removed from his
position and tried for treason. Richard had the support of the earls of
Salisbury and Warwick, both members of the
powerful northern Neville family.
Margaret, on
the other hand, supported Summerset and gained the support for the
King
of two influential northern noblemen, Lord
Clifford (Thomas Clifford 7th Lord of
Skipton) and Henry Percy, Earl of
Northumberland. The Percys and the Nevilles had
been feuding for generations.
When one considers that
Skipton is but a day’s horse ride from
Entwistle, it is highly likely that Sir Bertine
Entwistle and his supporters were a part of the
Clifford retinue, which in turn was part of
Northumberland’s at St Albans.
Richard now found himself
being excluded from influence as Henry and Margaret
regained their hold on power and, expecting the
worst, he withdrew to the north to take council
with his supporters and muster his men.
Richard’s suspicions were confirmed when
Summerset called a “great council” in
Leicester (packed with his own supporters),
where presumably he intended to enforce
Richard’s submission.
Instead of attending,
Richard marched south in full force and at full
speed to encounter the royal party at St Albans
[1],
on 22 May 1455. This was to become the time and
the scene of the first battle of the famous Wars
of the Roses - the 1st Battle of St Albans.
Henry and his followers,
knowing the support that Richard might muster in
London, had no choice but to march out to meet
Richard's army. The armies were destined to meet
at the neutral and unsuspecting town of St.
Albans, which suffered greatly by the custom of
the victors pillaging the spoils after
battle.
The 1st Battle
at St Albans
The Lancastrians including
Summerset, Northumberland, Clifford and Sir
Bertine [2] among many other nobles and ranks
barricaded themselves in the streets of the town
of St Albans, with the Yorkist army (3,000
troops to the 2,000 on the Lancastrian side)
ranged in the fields outside.
The Yorkists protested
their own loyalty to the King but Richard
insisted on the hand-over of Summerset and his
henchmen. This the Lancastrians refused after 4
hours of negotiations They emphasised the presence of their
puppet monarch by hoisting the royal standard.
Richard retorted by
storming the barricades. Whilst the bulk of the
Lancastrian force were surprised and fully
occupied by the speed of Richard's attack,
Warwick took the reserves and broke through into
the main street from behind the Lancastrian
fighters by taking a path through the back lanes
and gardens. This manoeuvre so surprised the
Lancastians that the whole army soon fell. The
battle became a route and most of the nobles on
the Lancastrian side were slain, including
Sumerset who is said to have been cut down by
Warwick himself. Henry himself was spared and
Richard regained his Lord Protector role.
Most of the nobles on the
Lancastrian side found their resting place in
the Abbey Church (Catherderal) at St Albans,
whilst just three nobles were taken to St
Peter’s Church – Bertine was one. Sir
Bertine Entwistle was buried along with two of
Northumberlands retinue, Ralf and Ralf Babthorpe
(father & son) [3] in the crypt of St Peter’s.
In the battle 800 men were
said to have fallen on the Lancastrian side
including: the Duke of Sumerset, the Earls of
Stafford and Northumberland, Thomas, Lord
Clifford of
Skipton, Sir Robert Vere, Sir William
Chaimberlain, Sir Richard Fortesque, Sir Ralf
Ferriers , Sir Bertine Entwisle and many more
esquires and gentlemen.
Final
Resting Place
Sir Bertine
was mortally wounded in the shoulder on the day
of the battle and died 6 days later on the 28th
of May 1455.
Over Bertine’s remains in
St Peters Church was placed an effigy in brass with
the following inscription in old English
letters:
“Here lyeth Sir Bertine
Entwiysell, Knight, who was born in
Lancastersyre, and was Viscount and Baron of
Brickbeke in Normandy, a Baylife of Contentin,
who died the xxviii. Maie, in the yeare of our
Lorde God MCCCCLV. On whose Sowle Jesu have
Mercie. Amen.”
Alas, the memorial is no
longer in place, lost when the church was
repaired after a fire, though it is thought the
three bodies remain under the knave floor. A drawing
of the original brass is reproduced in
Grimshaw’s The Entwis(t)le Family
Sir Bertine Entwissel 1396
– 28th May 1455
[1] The author visited St
Albans summer 2001. It is a fascinating and
beautiful city and of particular interest to
Entwistles - well worth a visit. Although
nothing remains to mark Sir Bertine's final
resting place it's fascinating to see the cathedral,
St Peter's at the top of the main street, the
local museums, and just to stand and look
at some of the buildings which were actually in existence at
the time of the battle - to think that Bertine
actually looked at those self same buildings on
that fateful day in 1455 - though granted, he
probably didn't have a great deal of interest in
the architecture, having a few more pointed and
pressing things on his mind ! [2]
Both the Earl of Northumberland (Henry Percy)
and the 8th Lord of Skipton (Thomas Clifford) had
much in common with Sir Bertine Entwistle and
were no doubt well known to each other.. Apart
from their geographical (north of England) links
and their allegiance to the Lancastrian cause,
all three families had strong links through the
occupation of France, all three had close ties
to Henry V himself, and of course, all three
were killed on the same day at St. Albans. John
Clifford (1388-1422), Thomas' father was
probably well known to Bertine. He took part
in the siege of Harfleur and the Battle of
Agincourt and he received the surrender of
Cherberg. He was killed at the siege of
Meaux in 1422. Henry Percy (1414-1455), like
Bertine, was educated in France and was a
personal friend of Henry V. Percy was King
Henry's General Warden of the Marches throughout
his reign and the French campaigns, through to
the early years of Henry IV. He was no doubt
well known to Bertine Entwistle. [3]
The Babthorpe family were probably long-time
associates of the Entwistles. The on-line
Agincourt Honour Role lists Robert and Thomas
Babthorpe indicating that the Babthorpe family
fought at Agincourt along side Bertine (listed
as France, B'tram de, and probably Bertine's
brother William ( Entwessell, William). Like Sir
Bertine, Sir Robert Babthorpe was granted estate
in France following their success at Agincourt. "During
the War of the Roses (1455-85) Dunstanburgh was
a bastion of the Red Rose of Lancaster, as could
be expected - its constable, Sir Ralph Babthorpe
was, in fact, killed at the Battle of St.Albans
in 1455. Even after the disastrous Battle of
Towton in 1461 the castle remained a centre of
Lancastrian operations and, indeed, hopes. In
1462 Henry VI's queen, Margaret of Anjou, landed
in Northumberland with a considerable
Lancastrian force and is said to have used
Dunstanburgh as her base for operations in the
North over the ensuing months. Having occupied
Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh and Alnwick the
Lancastrians were thereafter thrown back on the
defensive as the Yorkists lay siege to all three
in November 1462. Dunstanburgh was the last to
fall, with honour, under a huge 10,000-man
siege; Sir Ralph Percy swearing allegiance to
Edward IV and continuing to hold the castle for
the Yorkists. Come 1463 and Sir Ralph - in
typical Percy style - once more switched sides
only to meet his death in defeat at the Battle
of Hedgeley Moor in April 1464. After another
Lancastrian reverse at the Battle of Hexham in
May, the Earl of Warwick took Dunstanburgh for
the Yorkists for the second time on 24th June
1464" From Issue 3 of the
North-Easterner - Winter-Spring 1995. |
