Battle of Barnet, Hertfordshire, defeat of Warwick and his brother Montagu, who both fell in the battle. Richard is said to have been in command of the vanguard.
Read more about a possible different location for the battle here.
Tags: Barnet, Battles, Edward IV, Hertfordshire, Richard III
Edward IV dies at Westminster, buried at St Georges Chapel, Windsor. It is assumed that he named his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as Lord Protector of England during his son Edward’s minority.
Tags: Edward IV, Richard III
Towton Cross
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.
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
Death of St Cuthbert at Inner Farne Island, off the coast of Northumberland. He is venerated at Durham Cathedral.
He must have had special relevance for Richard III, as the statutes for his college at Middleham, which it has been suggested Richard might have written himself, state that one of the stalls for the priests should be named for St Cuthbert. St Cuthbert’s was one of the principal feast days to be celebrated at Middleham.
Melhuish, Joyce M., The College of King Richard III, Middleham. Richard III Society (nd)
Rollason, David & Dobson, R.B., ‘Cuthbert [St Cuthbert] (c.635–687)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ]Oxford University Press, 2004 [last accessed online 2 March 2020]
Sutton, Anne F. & Visser Fuchs, Livia, The Hours of Richard III. Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd (first published 1990, paperback 1996)
Dorothea Preis
Tags: Middleham, Richard III, Saints
Death of Richard III’s wife Anne Neville at Westminster, probably of tuberculosis. She was buried at Westminster Abbey, but the location of her grave is unknown. It is often said that Richard openly wept at her funeral, though the origin of this assumption is unclear. There is a plaque for her at Westminster Abbey donated by the Richard III Society. Unfortunately it does not get mentioned in the audio guide, so you have to look out for it.
The illustration on the left is from the in memoriam card which accompanied the wreath for Queen Anne’s tomb at Westminster in 2007. (© Richard III Society)
Tags: Anne Neville, Richard III
Edward IV and his brother Richard (later Richard III) arrive back in England on their return from exile in Burgundy, landing at Ravenspur.
Tags: Edward IV, Richard III
Edward IV leaves Burgundy to return to England and win back his throne. He is accompanied by his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III)
Tags: Burgundy, Edward IV, Richard III
Elizabeth Woodville and her daughters leave sanctuary at Westminster Abbey and are reconciled with Richard III.
Facial Reconstruction of Richard III (used by permission of the Richard III Society)
A press conference at the University of Leicester was specially convened on 4 February 2013. At 10h40 (local time) it was announced that the human remains found during the archaeological dig in the area of Leicester’s Greyfriars were those of King Richard III.
The identification was based on a wealth of scientific evidence, including radiocarbon dating, radiological evidence, DNA and bone analysis and archaeological results.
In conclusion to a presentation of the various strains of evidence, Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the Search for Richard III, said: “It is the academic conclusion of the University of Leicester that the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in August 2012 is indeed King Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England.” *
You can watch and listen to the whole press conference again at http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2013/february/watch-or-listen-to-the-richard-iii-press-conference-online
* ‘University of Leicester announces discovery of King Richard III’, University of Leicester (4 Feb 2013). URL: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2013/february/university-of-leicester-announces-discovery-of-king-richard-iii [last accessed 1 Feb. 2020]
