1450s in England

1450s in England:

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Events from the 1450s in England.

Incumbents

Monarch - Henry VI

Events

• 1450
  • 7 February - John de la Pole marries Lady Margaret Beaufort.
  • 15 April - Hundred Years' War: French defeat the English at the Battle of Formigny.^[1]
  • 2 May - Execution of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, while he is being sent into exile, being blamed for English losses in the Hundred Years' War.^[1]
  • 6 June–12 July - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Jack Cade leads a rebellion in Kent and Sussex against war taxes.^[1] On 29 June, William Ayscough, Bishop of Salisbury and confessor to the King, is dragged from mass at Edington Priory in Wiltshire and murdered by rebels.
  • 12 August - Hundred Years' War: Cherbourg surrenders to the French, allowing France to take control of all of Normandy.^[2]
  • September - Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York marches an army to London and attacks alleged traitors in the royal government.^[2]
  • Extension of Great Malvern Priory begins, with exceptional stained glass windows.^[2]
• 1451
  • June - At the insistence of Parliament, Henry cancels all land grants made during his reign.^[2]
  • 30 June - Hundred Years' War: Bordeaux surrenders to the French.^[2]
  • 21 August - Hundred Years' War: Bayonne surrenders to the French, ending British rule in Gascony.^[2]
  • September - The Duke of York refuses a royal summons to answer for breaking the peace.^[2]
• 1452
  • February - The Duke of York calls for armed resistance to King Henry VI.^[2]
  • 1–3 March - Supporters of the Duke of York confront the royal army at Dartford. The Duke yields and is pardoned.^[2]
  • 21 July - John Kemp enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 22 October - Hundred Years' War: John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury re-captures Bordeaux; England regains control of much of Gascony.^[2]
• 1453
  • March - Parliament grants Henry generous taxes and condemns past rebels.^[2]
  • 17 July - Hundred Years' War: At the Battle of Castillon, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed.^[1]
  • July - The King becomes mentally unstable; his cousin Richard, Duke of York acts as regent.^[1] The king will be unaware of the birth of his only son, Edward, on 13 October.
  • 24 August - Fighting in the north between the families of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and the Earls of Northumberland.^[2]
  • 19 October - The Hundred Years' War comes to a close, with the French recapture of Bordeaux leaving the English retaining only Calais on French soil.^[1]
• 1454
  • 15 March - Edward of Westminster invested as Prince of Wales.^[2]
  • 23 April - Thomas Bourchier enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury, an office he will hold for almost 32 years.
  • June - The Duke of York suppresses a rebellion led by Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter in the north of England.^[2]
  • December - Henry VI recovers from his mental instability; the Duke of York is dismissed as regent.^[1]
• 1455
  • May - Garrison at Calais mutinies over pay arrears.^[2]
  • 22 May - Wars of the Roses: Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York defeats the army of Henry VI at the First Battle of St Albans; Henry is captured.^[1]
  • 19 November - The Duke of York is reinstated as regent.^[2]
  • November–December - Rioting and rebellion in Devon.^[2]
  • Earliest known reference to knitting in England.^[2]
• 1456
  • 25 February - Richard of York dismissed as regent for the second time.^[2]
  • April - Calais mutiny ends when wool merchants agree to back the garrison's pay.^[2]
  • 17 August - Court moves to Coventry; Kenilworth Castle strengthened as the King's principal residence.^[2]
• 1457
  • 1 January - Osmund of Salisbury (died 1099) is canonised, the last English saint created until the 20th century. His remains are translated from Old Sarum to Salisbury Cathedral on 23 July.^[3][4]
  • 28 August - French raiders sack Sandwich, Kent.^[2]
• 1458
  • 25 March - Formal reconciliation between Yorkists and Lancastrians at St Paul's Cathedral, London.^[2]
  • 15 July - Foundation of Magdalen College, Oxford.
  • May - Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick defeats a Spanish fleet in the English Channel.^[2]
• 1459
  • 23 September - Wars of the Roses: At the Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire, Yorkists under Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury defeat a Lancastrian force.^[2]
  • 12 October - Wars of the Roses: Lancastrian victory at the Battle of Ludford Bridge. Following the battle, the Duke of York flees to Ireland.^[2]
  • 10 November - Parliament, held at Coventry, condemns Yorkists as traitors.^[2]

Births

• 1450
  • William Catesby, politician (died 1485)
• 1451
  • 5 September - Isabella Neville, Duchess of Clarence (died 1476)
• 1452
  • 2 October - Richard III, king of England (killed 1485)
• 1453
  • 13 October - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne (killed 1471)
  • Approximate date - Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (died 1501)
• 1454
  • 4 September - Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, politician (executed 1483)
• 1456
  • 11 June - Anne Neville, queen of Richard III (died 1485)
• 1457
  • 28 January - King Henry VII of England (died 1509)
  • George Nevill, Duke of Bedford (died 1483)
  • Approximate date - Thomas West, 8th Baron De La Warr (died 1525)
• 1458
  • Richard Grey, half brother of Edward V of England (died 1483)
  • Approximate date - Thomas Docwra, Grand Prior of the English Knights Hospitaller (died 1527)
• 1459
  • Edward Poynings, Lord Deputy of Ireland to Henry VII (died 1521)

Deaths

• 1450
  • 2 May - William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, military leader (born 1396)
  • 14

 27 August - Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr, politician (born )

• 1451
  • John Lydgate, monk and poet (born 1370)
• 1452
  • 26 May - John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury (year of birth unknown)
  • Nicholas Close, bishop (year of birth unknown)
• 1453
  • 17 July - John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, military leader (year of birth unknown)
  • 24 December - John Dunstaple, composer (born 1390)
• 1454
  • 22 March - John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 1380)
  • Robert Wingfield, politician (born 1403)
• 1455
  • 22 May (at the First Battle of St Albans)
    • Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, politician (born 1393)
    • Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, commander (born 1406)
    • Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford (born 1425)
• 1456
  • 1 November - Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, father of King Henry VII of England (born c. 1430)
• 1459
  • 23 September - James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley (born c. 1398) (killed in battle)
  • 5 November - John Fastolf, soldier (year of birth unknown)

References

1. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 182–183. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
2. Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 125–128. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
3. "Bishops of Salisbury". British History Online. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
4. Swanson, R. N. (1995). Religion and Devotion in Europe, c. 1215-c. 1515. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37950-4.

See also