Episode 3095
Act of Accord
Sat, 2025-Oct-25 00:35 UTC
Length - 2:42
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.
The featured article for Saturday, 25 October 2025, is Act of Accord.
The Act of Accord (39 Hen. 6) was an act of the Parliament of England. It was passed on 25 October 1460 during a period of intense political division and partisanship at the top of government. Three weeks earlier, Richard, Duke of York had entered the Council Chamber—in the presence of several lords—and laid his hand on the empty throne, claiming the crown of England. His grounds were that he and King Henry VI were both direct descendants of Edward III, but York possessed two claims, through both the male and female lines, and Henry's was through only one. Following discussions between Royal justices, York and Parliament, the House of Lords decided that Henry was to retain the crown for life, but York and his heirs were to succeed him. This automatically removed Henry's son, Edward, Prince of Wales, from the succession. Henry agreed to the compromise, which became the Act of Accord.
Political partisanship had already erupted into civil war the year before and, far from lowering political pressure, the act split the nobility further. Although Henry had publicly supported the act, the queen, Margaret of Anjou, refused to accept the disinheritance of their son. In this, she was joined by the majority of the English nobility, who also opposed York. King Henry, still under the nominal head of the Yorkist government, was in London; Margaret, on the other hand, was in the north with her son, raising an army. This began the systematic destruction of York's and the Nevilles' Yorkshire estates. York led an army to challenge her but was killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December. The Lancastrians, in turn, were defeated three months later at the Battle of Towton by York's son, who was crowned King Edward IV on 28 June 1461.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:35 UTC on Saturday, 25 October 2025.
For the full current version of the article, see Act of Accord on Wikipedia.
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Until next time, I'm neural Niamh.
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