War of the Roses

The Battle of St Albans

May 22, 1445

After the Yorkists’ dismissal from power in early 1455, they travelled north to gather their private armies and wait. In May York received summons to attend the king’s council, but expecting a trap, he instead marched south with an army of several thousand men. The king, determined to intercept York before he reached the city, set out with a slightly smaller army on 21st of May. Alarmed by York’s sudden proximity, Henry occupied the fortified town of St Albans at 9 o’clock in the morning the nex

The war of the roses

Period: May 22, 1445 to Jun 16, 1487

this was a series of civil wars fought in medevil england

The Battle of Blore heath

Sep 23, 1459

After the Duke of York’s second Protectorate (ending 1456) Queen Margaret had not forgotten his claim to the throne and started gathering support against the Yorkist Lords. In 1458 the Queen stopped supplies and funds being sent to the Earl of Warwick, who resorted to pirate raids against both enemy and friendly shipping to pay his troops (which raised his popularity with the now rich garrison and with the commoners at home, who thought of him as a swashbuckling hero. At the time Londoners were

The Battle of Northampton

Jul 10, 1460

The Yorkist cause seemed finished after the previous disaster at Ludford Bridge. Some of the Yorkist commanders, the Earls of Warwick, Salisbury and March (Edward) reached Calais on 2 November 1459, where Warwick found his Uncle Lord Fauconberg. Meanwhile York and Edmund, Earl of Rutland retired to the relative safety of Ireland. On the English mainland, the Lancastrians were quick to exploit the Yorkist flight; Sir James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland and Sir Hen

The Battle of Wakefield

Dec 30, 1460

On 7 October, Parliament recognized the Duke of York’s stronger claim to the throne and agreed that Henry VI should rule England until his death when the crown would pass to York. King Henry agreed to this but his fugitive wife and child certainly did not; no sooner was the Act of Accord passed than Queen Margaret marched south with an army of twenty thousand men under the command of the Duke of Somerset. In a desperate position, York resorted to sending his eldest son, the Earl of March, to ta

The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross

Feb 2, 1461

After spending Christmas in Gloucester, Edward, Earl of March heard of his father’s death and started preparations to fall back on London. But then, news of the Earl of Pembroke’s hostile army caused him to change his plans. In order to block Pembroke’s advance and stop him from joining up with Queen Margaret’s main army, Edward marched north with his five thousand men to Mortimer’s Cross where he crossed the River Lugg and drew up in battle order. It was still early morning when Edward arrived

The Second Battle of St Albans

Feb 17, 1461

With Margaret and her army of more than twenty thousand men just a few days away, Warwick finally set out from London with his own smaller army on 12 February 1461. He reached St Albans on the 13th and spent the next three days laying traps and other defensives devices around the town. Bad intelligence led the Earl to believe Margaret was still some miles away. Unfortunately she was not, and on 17 February, after marching straight through the night, Margaret passed through St Albans’ open gates

The Battle of Ferry Bridge

Mar 28, 1461

After proclaiming himself king, Edward IV gathered together a large force and marched north towards the Lancastrian position behind the Aire River. On 27 March the Earl of Warwick (leading the vanguard) forced a crossing at Ferrybridge, bridging the gaps (the Lancastrians having previously destroyed it) with planks. In the process he lost many men, both to the freezing winter water and to the frequent hail of arrows coming from a small but determined Lancastrian force on the other side. Once the

Battle of Towton

Mar 29, 1461

The Battle of Towton was the bloodiest ever fought on British 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 plateau between the villages of Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire (about 12 miles southwest of York and about 2 miles south of Tadcaster). Part of the reason so many died is perhaps because in the parley before the battle both sides agreed that no quarter wou

The Battle of Hedgeley Moor

Apr 25, 1464

In mid April 1464, Sir John Neville was marching North to attend meetings with Scottish envoys at Newcastle. His popularity meant that supporters flocked to his banner throughout the journey and by the time he left Newcastle, he was in charge of an army numbering five of six thousand men. At Hedgley Moor on the 25th of April he met a rebel force, consisting mainly of Lancastrians the King had pardoned, returned to their true colours. The Duke of Somerset commanded the Lancastrians and amongst t

The Battle of Hexam

May 15, 1464

The Lancastrians quickly regrouped after the battle of Hedgley Moor and marched south a second time. King Edward was hurrying north with his own army, but hearing of the Lancastrian’s proximity, the audacious Lord Montagu instantly set out to meet them with his own modest force. On the morning of 15 May 1464, the Duke of Somerset roused his men from their slumber with the news that Montagu was swiftly approaching. The Lancastrians took up positions to the south of Hexam, with their backs to th

The Battle of Edecote Moor

Jul 26, 1469

Amazingly, the Earl of Warwick, the one man who strove so hard and gave so much to put Edward IV on the throne would come to be in open rebellion against him by 1469. Obviously, eight years after the great victory at Towton, things had changed. Despite Warwick's growing discontent with Edward and his new government, nobody though they would come to blows. However in Warwick's mind the motives were plentiful enough to merit war. In the years after Towton, the running of the country was mainly l

The Battle of Losecote Field

Mar 12, 1470

It took King Edward IV slightly more than a year to return to full power, after his capture at the Battle of Edgecote Moor. Once again the Earl of Warwick found himself in a similar position to that he had know before Edgecote, unable to influence, or even exercise any control over the King. Warwick still intended to place the King’s brother, George Duke of Clarence (who also happened to be Warwick’s son-in-law) on the throne. Then, Warwick was quite sure the country would be run the way he want

The Battle of Barnet

Apr 14, 1471

The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV. On 14 April 1471 near Barnet, then a small town north of London, Edward led the House of York in a fight against the House of Lancaster, which backed Henry VI for the throne. Leading the Lancastrian army was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, who played a crucial role in the

The Battle of Tewkesbury

May 4, 1471

The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, King Edward IV. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward, Prince of Wales, and many prominent Lancastrian nobles were killed during the battle or were dragged from sanctuary two days later and immediately executed. The Lancastrian King, Henry VI, who was a

The Battle of Bosworth Field

Aug 22, 1485

In 1483, the mighty warrior king, Edward IV died leaving to his 12-year-old son the crown of England. Edward’s will declared his brother, the experienced Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as Protector of his heir and realm until the young King could be crowned. Meanwhile though, the former Queen’s unpopular relations, the Woodvilles, made a pre-emptive coup in a bid to hang on to their former power and influence and seized the Royal treasury and fleet while making efforts to have the young prince cro

The Battle of Stoke

Jun 16, 1487

The Battle of Stoke Field (16 June, 1487) was the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was to be the last engagement in which a Lancastrian king faced an army of Yorkist supporters, under the pretender Lambert Simnel. However, there is some dispute whether the Battle of Stoke Field was the last battle in the Wars of the Roses, as a number of historians consider the Battle of Bosworth, two years previously, as the real last remaining battle in the Wars of the Roses. Despite being the fi