Act of Accord

The Act of Accord was passed by the English Parliament on 25 October 1460,^[1] three weeks after Richard, Duke of York had entered the Council Chamber and laid his hand on the empty throne. Under the Act, King Henry VI of England was to retain the crown for life but York and his heirs were to succeed, excluding Henry's son Edward of Westminster. Henry was forced to agree to the Act.

Far from ending the Wars of the Roses, it split the kingdom further, as it was unacceptable to Henry's queen, who saw her son disinherited, while retaining a large body of Lancastrian supporters. In the immediate aftermath, the Lancastrians defeated and killed York in December 1460 (even though the Act had made it high treason to kill him), but they were in turn defeated in spring 1461 by York's son Edward, who then became king.^[2]

In the same parliament (on 31 October), York was made Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall and Lord Protector of England.^[3]

See also

• House of Plantagenet

Notes

Further reading

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Act of Accord

• Britain Express: The Act of Accord
• Full text of the Act, from Davies, John S., An English Chronicle of the Reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI, folios 208-211 (from Googlebooks, retrieved 15 August 2012)
• Warwick the Kingmaker, Hicks, Michael; Oxford 1998

Wars of the Roses
Red Rose of Lancaster White Rose of York Tudor Rose
Key figures	Monarchs of England Henry VI Edward IV Edward V Richard III Henry VII Lancastrian Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence Yorkist Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent Thomas Neville, Viscount Fauconberg
Battles	Lancastrian victories Battle of Ludford Bridge Battle of Wakefield Second Battle of St Albans Battle of Ferrybridge (Indecisive) Battle of Edgecote Moor Battle of Bosworth Field Battle of Stoke Field Yorkist victories First Battle of St Albans Battle of Blore Heath Battle of Sandwich Battle of Northampton Battle of Mortimer's Cross Battle of Ferrybridge (Indecisive) Battle of Towton Battle of Hedgeley Moor Battle of Hexham Battle of Lose-coat Field Battle of Barnet Battle of Tewkesbury
See also	Act of Accord Percy–Neville feud Issue of Edward III of England
Book:Wars of the Roses Category:Wars of the Roses Portal:England / Monarchy