History

• Battle of Towton


  29 March 1461
• After the acceptance of Edward as the King, Margaret and Henry escaped North to gather the Lancastrian forces they could
• The Battle of Towton was the bloodiest ever fought on English soil, with casualties believed to have been in excess of twenty thousand (perhaps as many as thirty thousand) men
• The battle took place on a snowy 29 March 1461 (Palm Sunday) on a plain between the villages of Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire, 12 miles south of York and near the River Cock
• One of the reasons so many died is perhaps because in the parley before the battle both sides agreed that "no quarter" (no mercy) would be given or asked, as they hoped to end it there and then
• It is estimated that fifty thousand, or perhaps even eighty thousand, men fought, including twenty-eight Lords (almost half the peerage), mostly on the Lancastrian side
• The casualties were around forty-eight thousand for the Lancastrians and thirty-six thousand for the Yorkists
• This is one of the few battles in English history where the fighting was so violent that the front lines were frequently forced to stop and move the bodies to be able to get at each other
• The Battle


  1. The two armies were both divided into three battles (divisions)

  2. Four hours were spent as the huge masses of men massed up in the wintry conditions and awaited the final stragglers

  3. Lord Fauconberg took the initiative as the wind changed direction and blew the snow into the Lancastrians' faces

  4. Fauconberg led his archers forth and sent a rain of arrows into the massed Lancastrian ranks

  5. Visibility was bad and with the wind blowing in their faces the returning volley of Lancastrian arrows fell way short of their targets

  6. Fauconberg ordered his men to retrieve some of the enemy arrows in the turf before them, while leaving some as obstacles for the oncoming Lancastrian

  7. The weight of numbers pushed the Yorkists back initially, but the Earl of Warwick and Edward both fought in the front ranks to encourage their men

  8. As the hours passed the Yorkist found themselves giving more and more ground until they came close to Towton Wood

  9. Two hundred spearmen launched a surprise attack on the Yorkist left flank

  10. The Earl of Norfolk arrived with several thousand fresh men

  11. The Yorkists fought on with sheer determination for about an hour, when very suddenly the Lancastrian line broke and thousands of men fled the field
• The Rout (chaotic retreat of soldiers)

  1. Far more men died in the rout that in the battle

  2. Several bridges over neighbouring rivers broke under the weight of the armed men, plunging many into the freezing water

  3. Those stranded on the other side either drowned in the crossing or were cornered by the pursuers and killed

  4. Some of the worst slaughter was seen at Bloody Meadow where it is said men crossed the River Cock over the bodies of the fallen

  5. All the way from Towton to Tadcaster the fields were full of bodies

  6. The fleeing men made easy targets for horsemen and foot soldiers killed many men who had dropped their weapons and thrown off their helmets to breathe more freely

  7. At Tadcaster some men made an unsuccessful stand and were killed

  8. The rout lasted all night and into the morning beyond when remnants of the army arrived in York in total panic
• Margaret, Henry and Somerset fled north to Scotland, while those Lancastrian lords who were killed or dispossessed were forced to make peace with Edward IV
• After the battle of Towton, Edward adopted a policy of wooing his old enemies, attempting to freeze Margaret out
• Treaties with France and Scotland were made and Margaret and her son Prince Edward fled to France for safety
• Henry stayed in hiding in safe houses in Northern England, but was betrayed in July 1465, and taken to London, a prisoner in the Tower
• Battle of Barnet


  April 14, 1471
• Barnet


  Yet another in a long line of bloody battles we call the Wars of the Roses, staged between the houses of Lancaster and York as they struggled for the crown of England
• Barnet owed as much to personal enmity between Warwick and Edward as it did to policies or alliances
• Warwick fought to return Henry VI to the throne
• At the time of the battle, Edward held Henry in the Tower of London
• The Battle


  1. Warwick's men were already in position when Edward's army arrived from Europe on the night of April 13

  2. Edward disposed his troops in the dark, intending to repel an expected attack at dawn

  3. Edward misjudged the distance between his men and the enemy, and drew up much closer to Warwick than he intended

  4. The Lancastrian artillery kept up a constant barrage during the night, but overshot the mark almost completely, so Edward's army was intact when the dawn came

  5. The thick fog of morning made it impossible to see clearly, and in the half-light Warwick's left and centre mistook the other, first for enemy troops, then for traitors

  6. The damage they did to each other was decisive, for until then the fight had been in Warwick's favour

  7. Warwick himself was killed on the field, and his forces retreated quickly
• Casualty figures are unreliable, but it seems likely that 500 Yorkist and 1000 Lancastrians perished
• Barnet marked the end for the Earl of Warwick "the Kingmaker", the most powerful baron of his time
• For Edward IV, Barnet was just the first act in his desperate attempt to wrestle back the throne
• News came that Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI's queen, had landed in the west
• Only a desperate march by Edward's men prevented her from reaching allies near Wales, and forced her into battle at Tewkesbury
• Battle of Tewkesbury


  May 4, 1471
• Queen Margaret landed at Weymouth from France ready to join forces with the King Warwick
• She hadn't progressed very far before she learned of Warwick's defeat at the Battle of Barnet
• Despite the loss of their leader, the Lancastrians gathered fresh troops and marched towards Gloucester
• Edward IV had let his soldiers go after Barnet, but he quickly called up fresh men and sped to intercept Queen Margaret and Somerset before they could cross the Severn at Gloucester
• Somerset's Lancastrian army was forced to enter Bristol for supplies and extra arms, which caused a delay that proved fatal
• When Somerset arrived at Gloucester he found the gates closed against him, so the Lancastrians struggled on to Tewkesbury
• The Battle


  1. Somerset's men actually outnumbered Edward's army by some 2000 men

  2. Neither side had any reserve, but threw all their men into the fight

  3. Somerset led some of his men on a flanking manoeuvre, but they were pushed back fiercely

  4. Some reports claim that Somerset became enraged because promised support from Lord Wenlock had not arrived and when he eventually returned to his lines he split Wenlock's skull in rage

  5. The Lancastrians were demoralized by their failure, and when King Edward attacked the centre of their lines, they put up only a token resistance despite their numerical advantage

  6. The Yorkist advance pushed Somerset's men back on the town and the river, where many drowned trying to escape

  7. No mercy was given, and as many as 2000 Lancastrians may have died, compared to about 500 of King Edward's men

  8. The most vital loss was Prince Edward (the last legitimate descendant of Henry IV & Queen Margaret's son)
• Somerset and his principle aides were tried and executed
• Queen Margaret heard the news of her son's death and the disaster on the battlefield and fled, but was captured and brought before Edward IV at Coventry
• She remained a prisoner for four years until sometime released by King Louis of France and allowed to return to her home country
• Edward's comprehensive victory at Tewkesbury stilled the voices of opposition-at least for a time
• The country was weary of war, and for the next 12 years Edward ruled in (relative) peace
• To make sure the peace lasted, it is likely that Edward IV had Henry VI killed in the Tower of London
• Arthur Tudor, first son of Henry VII & Elizabeth of York married Catherine of Aragon (A Spanish princess) in 1501 when they were both 15 years old