Execution of William Catesby by Henry Tudor.  Catesby was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Richard III and Speaker of the House of Commons of the Parliament of 1484.  He fought for Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and was one of very few men of note who were executed afterwards.  It has been suggested that he expected a different treatment from the Stanleys because in his will he asks them “to pray for my soul as ye have not for my body, as I trusted in you.”

Tags: Battles, Contemporaries

Remember before God

Richard III

King of England

and those who fell at Bosworth Field

having kept faith.

22 August 1485

Loyaulte me lie.

(Text:  Richard III memorial plaque in the Church of St James, Sutton Cheney

Illustration on the left:  King Richard III,  © Andrew Jamieson, http://www.jamiesongallery.com/ (used with permission)

On the right:  The Church of St James, Sutton Cheney, where the Richard III Society commemorates King Richard III in its annual memorial service in August. It is said that Richard III heard his last Mass at this church.)

Tags: Battles, Bosworth, Henry Tudor, Richard III

Battle of Edgecote Moor (actually Danes Moor in Northamptonshire), a battle of the Warwick Rebellion.

In the North, one of the captains of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (“The Kingmaker”), calling himself Robin of Redesdale (actually a trusted Neville captain, Sir William Conyers) started a rebellion against Edward IV, which was supported by Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III.  Edward IV was at Nottingham, where he hoped to meet up with Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon, and William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.

Apparently Devon and Pembroke quarreled on the way, with Pembroke continuing on his own, encountering the rebels near Banbury.  Pembroke, his brother Sir Richard Herbert as well as Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers (Elizabeth Woodville’s father), and his son John were taken prisoner and executed on Warwick’s orders without trial.

Tags: Battles, Edward IV, Nevilles

Battle of Castillon, Aquitaine, the last battle of the 100 Years’ War between the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet for the French throne.  John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and father of Eleanor Talbot (Butler), is killed.

Bibliography:  John Ashdown-Hill, Eleanor – The Secret Queen. The History Press, 2009  ISBN 978-0752448664 (hardback)

Illustration:  The Death  of John Talbot at the Battle of Castillon, by Charles-Philippe Larivière (1798-1876)

Tags: Battles

Battle of Northampton, where John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, and half-brother of Eleanor Talbot (Butler), met his death on the Lancastrian side.  Yorkist victory.

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

Battle of Stoke Field, Nottinghamshire, between the Yorkists on behalf of “Edward VI” and the Tudor government troops.  On the Yorkist side, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, a nephew of both Edward IV and Richard III, was killed.  He had been considered heir to the throne of Richard III after the death of Edward of Middleham.  It is not quite clear who “Edward VI” actually claimed to be.  According to Tudor sources he was said to pretend to be Edward, the son of George, Duke of Clarence.  As the real Edward was locked up in the Tower, this was impossible.  There is no surviving evidence who his own supporters said he was.

Bibliography:  Smith, G, ‘Lambert Simnel and the King from Dublin’. The Ricardian, Vol. X, No.135 (December 1996) , pp. 498-536.

Tags: Battles

Market Place in St Albans, where the first battle was fought (© D Preis)

First Battle of St Albans – fighting on the market place

On 22 May 1455 the first Battle of St Albans, Hertfordshire, between the Yorkist forces under Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and the Lancastrian forces of Henry VI under Edmund, Duke of Somerset, who fell in the battle.  Henry VI was captured.  The battle was won by the Yorkists.

This is the first battle in what became known as the Wars of the Roses, with the white rose standing for York and the red for Lancaster (Henry VI).  This battle is unique among all the battles of the Wars of the Roses in that it was entirely fought in the streets of the town and not in a field.  Walking around the market area of St Albans today, you can still see the outline of the area in medieval times with its half-timbered houses and the narrow and winding alleyways.  One can’t help wondering what the town’s citizens made of this. And not to forget that not even six years later on 17 February 1461, the armies were back for a second battle.

You can read more on the first Battle of St Albans on Karen’s blog and on Dottie Tales.

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, St Albans

Battle of Hexham, Northumberland, the end of Lancastrian resistance (under Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset) to Edward IV in the north of England.  The Yorkists were led by John Neville (later 1st Marquess of Montagu) and Somerset was wounded and then executed.  Henry VI fled and was later found wandering helplessly around Lancashire.

Tags: Battles

Jack Cade’s Rebellion – Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI

Tags: Battles