1450s in England

Events from the 1450s in England.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Henry VI

Events

• 1450
  • 9 January – Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester and Lord Privy Seal is murdered in Portsmouth by discontented unpaid soldiers.
  • 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 English 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]
  • 10 August – 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, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Henry Percy, 2nd Earl 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]
  • 23 October – Bonville–Courtenay feud in Devon: Thomas Courtenay, heir to the Earl of Devon, arranges the murder of lawyer Nicholas Radford.^[3]
  • 19 November – the Duke of York is reinstated as regent.^[2]
  • November–December – Bonville–Courtenay feud leads to continued rioting and rebellion in Devon^[2] including sacking of Exeter and the first battle of Clyst Heath (15 December).
  • 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.^[4][5]
  • 28 August – French raiders sack Sandwich, Kent.^[2]
• 1458
  • 25 March – The Love Day is staged. Formal reconciliation between Yorkists and Lancastrians takes place 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 of Devils, held at Coventry, condemns Yorkists as traitors.^[2]

Births

• 1450
  • William Catesby, politician (died 1485)
• 1451
  • 5 March – William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (died 1491)
  • 1 June – Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney, soldier, diplomat, courtier and politician (d. 1508)
  • 5 September – Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence (died 1476)
• 1452
  • 2 October – Richard III, king of England (killed 1485)
  • Approximate date – Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter and patron of education (died 1519)
• 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)
• 1455
  • 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)
  • Richard Grey, knight, half brother of Edward V (executed 1483)
  • Approximate date – Thomas West, 8th Baron De La Warr (died 1525)
• 1458
  • 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
  • 9 January – Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester (murdered)
  • 2 May – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, military leader (born 1396; murdered)
  • 10 June – William Tresham, lawyer, Speaker of the House of Commons (born 1404; murdered)
  • 4 July – James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele, soldier and politician (born c. 1395; murdered)
  • 28 July – Cecily Neville, Duchess of Warwick (born c. 1424)
  • 27 August – Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr, politician (born 1395)
• 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)
  • 18 September – Edmund Lacey, Bishop of Exeter (year of birth unknown)
• 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)