Background
In the first pitched battle of the wars, the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, Richard of York had eliminated most of his rivals at court. He reaffirmed his allegiance to the King, Henry of Lancaster and was reappointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. However, Henry's Queen, Margaret of Anjou, suspected that Richard ultimately intended to supplant her infant son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales and become King himself. She continually plotted and agitated against Richard and the Nevilles, his chief supporters amongst the nobles.
Events were precipitated by some high-handed actions by Richard's nephew Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. Warwick held the post of Captain of Calais, and late in 1458, he had led ships from Calais in attacks on merchant ships from Lübeck and Spain, on obscure grounds of acknowledgement of English sovereignty in the Channel. Though these actions infuriated the royal court, they were popular among the merchants, particularly in London and Kent, as they removed competitors for English trade with Flanders. When Warwick was summoned to London to explain his actions before the King's council, there was violence between Warwick's retinue and the royal household. Warwick claimed that his life had been threatened, and he returned to Calais with any charges unanswered.
Margaret took this to be open defiance of Henry's authority. She had long before persuaded Henry to move the court from London to the Midlands, where her supporters had the most influence. They began mustering their forces, and summoned a council to be held in Coventry on 24 June. Richard of York, his brother in law Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury (Warwick's father) and Warwick himself feared that they would be arrested for treason if they went to their opponents' heartland, and refused to attend. They were quickly indicted for rebellion.
Richard's forces began the campaign dispersed over the country. Richard himself was at Ludlow in the Welsh Marches, Salisbury was at Middleham Castle in North Yorkshire and Warwick was at Calais. As Salisbury and Warwick marched to join Richard, Margaret ordered a force under James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley to intercept Salisbury. At the bloody Battle of Blore Heath, Audley's forces were routed.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Ludford Bridge
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