1441. Eleanor Cobham, duchess of Gloucester, prosecuted for witchcraft and treason, and condemned to do public penance. 1445. Maine and Anjou, the keys of Normandy, ceded to the queen's father on her marriage with Henry. 1447. Death of the duke of Gloucester,--said by most historians to have been assassinated. Death of his rival, Cardinal Beaufort. Edmund Beaufort, duke of Somerset, succeeded the duke of York as regent in France. 1449. =Normandy conquered by the French.= The duke of York appointed lieutenant of Ireland. 1450. The duke of Suffolk, the king's chief minister, banished for five years: he was intercepted, and beheaded at sea. =Jack Cade's insurrection.= Cade taken and slain. This rising was thought by some to have been instigated by the friends of the duke of York, who, as far as hereditary succession alone was concerned, had a better right to the throne than Henry. Richard was descended from Lionel, duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III., and Henry from John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, the fourth son. Henry, however, was unquestionably lawful sovereign of England. 1451. =Guienne conquered by the French.= 1452. Talbot, the veteran earl of Shrewsbury, one of the greatest commanders of the age, recovered Bordeaux, and other places in Guienne. 1453. Talbot defeated and slain at CHATILLON in Perigord (July 20). =Final loss of Guienne.= The king became insane. Birth of the Prince of Wales. 1454. York appointed protector; but a few months after, the king partially recovered, and revoked the duke's commission. 1455. BEGINNING OF THE WARS OF THE ROSES. The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at ST. ALBAN'S: the duke of Somerset was slain, and the king fell into the hands of the Yorkist faction (May 22). Renewal of his illness. =York made protector a second time, and with such powers as to give the protectorate a revolutionary character.= This was the first battle in what were called the "Wars of the Roses"--a name applied to them because the emblem of the Lancastrians was a red, and that of the Yorkists a white rose. Several causes combined to bring about the struggle. The principal were--1, the feeble and unwarlike character of the king; and 2, the resolute determination of the queen and the Somerset family that Henry should retain the crown, and that the succession should vest in his son. 1456. Recovery of the king and removal of the protector. 1458. Hollow reconciliation of the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. 1459. =Renewal of the Civil War.= The Lancastrians, under Lord Audley, defeated by the Yorkists, under the earl of Salisbury, at BLOREHEATH (Sept. 23). 1460. The Lancastrians, under the duke of Buckingham, defeated at NORTHAMPTON by the Yorkists, under the earl of Warwick (July 10). The duke of York defeated and slain by the queen's forces at WAKEFIELD GREEN (Dec. 31).