Towton Cross

Battle of Towton – the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil

The Battle of Towton , regarded as  “the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil”, was fought in a snow storm on Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, between the Lancastrian forces of King Henry VI and the Yorkist forces led by Edward, Earl of March.  It has been said that 28,000 men died that day, out of 50,000 to 100,000 soldiers.  The result was a Yorkist victory and Edward became king as Edward IV.

In 1996 a mass grave of fallen soldiers was found at Towton Hall.  Their remains have been studied by the University of Bradford.

Edward IV had planned to build a memorial chapel at Towton, but it was Richard III, who put this plan into action.  The chapel was nearly finished, when he was killed at Bosworth, and the chapel had been lost.  Or so it was thought.  In October 2013 it was revealed that scientists had found strong evidence of remains of the chapel.

In 2010 fragments of hand held guns and lead shot were found at the battle site, the earliest ever to be found.

References:

James Clark, ‘The Medieval Somme: forgotten battle that was the bloodiest fought on British soil’, The Conversation (13 July 2016).  URL:  https://theconversation.com/the-medieval-somme-forgotten-battle-that-was-the-bloodiest-fought-on-british-soil-62129 [last accessed 2 March 2020]

Helen Cox, ‘The Battle of Towton is alive and well in Yorkshire’, Herstory Writing & Interpretation..  Link “Towton” on URL:  http://helencox-herstorywriting.co.uk/articles/4539783477  [last accessed 2 March 2020]

T. Sutherland & A. Schmidt,’The Towton Battlefield Archaeological Survey Project:  An Integrated Approach to Battlefield Archaeology’, Landscapes, Vol.4, Issue 2 (October 2003), pp.15-25.  Available at URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238691750_The_Towton_Battlefield_Archaeological_Survey_Project_An_Integrated_Approach_to_Battlefield_Archaeology [last accessed 2 March 2020]

‘Richard III Towton chapel remains are ‘found’’, BBC News York & North Yorkshire (7 Oct 2013).  URL:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-24434795  [last accessed 2 March 2020]

A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society.

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Battles, Edward IV, Richard III, Towton, Wars of the Roses, Yorkshire

Death of Edward of Middleham, only son of Richard III and Anne Neville

Tags: Anne Neville, Richard III

Skirmish at Ferrybridge

On 28 March 1461, a skirmish at Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, was fought in the lead-up to the Battle of Towton.  Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker”), received an arrow wound to the leg.  John, Lord Clifford, (believed to be responsible for the death of Edward IV’s brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland) fell on the Lancastrian side.

Traditionally the skirmishes at Ferrybridge and Dintingdale (also on 28 March 1461) and the battle of Towton were seen as three separate battles, both in space and time.  However, Tim Sutherland argues, that these were rather three interconnected conflicts. He bases his analysis on archaeological finds and a new interpretation of the sources.

Reference:

Tim Sutherland, ‘Killing Time:  Challenging the common perceptions of three medieval conflicts – Ferrybridge, Dintingdale and Towton  — ”The Largest Battle on British Soil”’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, Vol.5 No.1 (2010). Available from URL:  http://www.towton.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/killing-time_tim_sutherland.pdf  [last accessed 2 March 2020]

A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society.

Tags: Battles, Lancastrians, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists, Yorkshire

Death of Mary of Burgundy, stepdaughter of Margaret of York (sister of Edward IV and Richard III).  More information on Mary here.

Tags: Burgundy, Margaret of Burgundy

Publication of William Caxton’s translation of Aesop’s Fables, printed at his workshop at Westminster.

Tags: Books

‘Love Day’ at St Paul’s. An attempt at reconciliation between the opposing Yorkists and Lancastrians, loyal to Henry VI, to resolve the feud resulting from the 1st Battle of St Albans (22 May 1455).   Then, on Lady Day (25 March), the King led a “love day” procession to St. Paul’s Cathedral, with Lancastrian and Yorkist nobles following him, hand in hand, among them Richard, Duke of York, with Queen Margaret of Anjou.

Tags: Henry VI, House of York, Margaret of Anjou, Richard Duke of York, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists

Birth of Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Rene, Duke of Lorraine and Anjou, and niece of King Charles VII of France, at Pont-à-Mousson, Lorraine.  Married to Henry VI of England.

Tags: Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou

Birth of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.  His first wife was Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy and stepdaughter of Margaret of York.  Maximilian was a strong supporter of “Perkin Warbeck” who might – or might not – have been Richard of York.

Rather than going to war, he sought to strengthen his country’s position by diplomatic marriages, which was summed up in the couplet:

Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube.
Nam quae Mars aliis, dat tibi diva Venus.

(Let others wage war, but thou, O happy Austria, marry; for those kingdoms which Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.)

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Holy Roman Empire, Perkin Warbeck

Birth of Cecily of York

Cecily of York

Birth of Cecily of York, third daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, at Westminster Palace on 20 March 1469.

Married (1) 1484 to Ralph Scrope of Upsall, union annulled  in 1486, after accession of Henry VII.

Married (2) before New Year’s Day 1488 to John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, half-brother of Henry VII’s mother Margaret Beaufort.  They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne.  Welles died on 9 February 1499.

Married (3) to Sir Thomas Kyme of Friskney (in Lincolnshire) in 1502 without Henry VII’s permission and she was banished from court and all her estates were confiscated, though some were returned later.  It is not clear whether they had any children.

Cecily died on 24 August 1507 at Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

References:

ODNB ‘Cecily, Viscountess Welles (1469–1507)’ [last accessed online 2 March 2020]

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville