The Society - History

The Battles of the Wars of the Roses

Highlights

Battle Date	Victor	Location	Leaders Black = York Red = Lancaster	Casualties or subsequently executed
1st Battle of St Albans 22 May 1455		Fought in the town of St Albans, Hertfordshire	Duke of York, earl of Warwick King Henry VI with the dukes of Buckingham and Somerset, the earl of Northumberland and Lord Clifford	Duke of Somerset Earl of Northumberland Earl of Dorset Lord Clifford c. 100 men in total
Blore Heath 23 September 1459		Site crosses A53, Newcastle-under-Lyme to Market Drayton road, about 3 miles east of the latter, Staffordshire	Earl of Salisbury Lords Audley and Dudley	Lord Audley Sir William Troutbeck Sir Hugh Venables Sir John Donne c. 2000 Lancastrians Yorkist casualties minimal
Ludford Bridge 12-13 October 1459		South of Ludlow, bridge crossing the River Teme, Shropshire	Duke of York, earls of Salisbury, Warwick, March and Rutland King Henry VI with the duke of Buckingham	None
Northampton 10 July 1460		Immediately south-east of Northampton and north of Delapré Abbey	Earls of Warwick and March King Henry VI with duke of Buckingham, earl of Shrewsbury and Lord Grey of Ruthyn	Duke of Buckingham Earl of Shrewsbury Lord Egremont Lord Beaumont c. 300 men in total
Wakefield 30 December 1460		Sandal, about 1.5 miles south-east of Wakefield, West Yorkshire	Duke of York with the earls of Salisbury and Rutland The duke of Somerset, the earls of Northumberland and Devon, and the lords Clifford and Roos	Duke of York Earl of Salisbury (ex) Earl of Rutland Sir Thomas Neville Sir Thomas Harrington Sir Thomas Parre Sir Hugh Mortimer Sir John Mortimer
Mortimer’s Cross 2/3 February 1461		Approx. 4.5 miles north-west of Leominster, Hereford & Worcester, to the right of the A4410	Earl of March Sir William Hastings Sir William Herbert Walter Devereux Earls of Pembroke and Wiltshire Owen Tudor and Sir John Throckmorton	Owen Tudor (ex) Sir John Throckmorton (ex)
2nd Battle of St Albans 17 February 1461		The town of St Albans, Barnard’s Heath and Sandridge, Hertfordshire	Earls of Warwick and Arundel Duke of Norfolk, Lord Montagu Queen Margaret Duke of Somerset	Lord Bonville (ex) Sir Thomas Kyriell (ex)
Towton & Ferrybridge 29 March 1461		Between Towton and Saxton to the right of the B1217, North Yorkshire	King Edward IV, duke of Norfolk, earl of Warwick, Lord Fauconberg Duke of Somerset, earl of Northumberland, Lord Clifford	Lord Fitzwalter Earl of Northumberland Earl of Devon (ex) Earl of Wiltshire (ex) Lord Clifford Lord Dacre Sir Andrew Trollope
Hedgeley Moor 25 April 1464		Approximately 6 miles south-east of Wooler, Northumberland	John Neville, Marquess of Montague Duke of Somerset with Lords Roos and Hungerford and Sir Ralph Percy	Sir Ralph Percy
Hexham 15 May 1464		OS site known as Hexham Levels is 2 miles south-east of Hexham, Northumberland. Alternative site about one mile north-east near Swallowship Hill	John Neville, Marquess of Montagu Duke of Somerset with Lords Roos and Hungerford	Duke of Somerset (ex) Lord Roos (ex) Lord Hungerford (ex) Sir Philip Wentworth Sir William Tailboys
Edgecote 26 July 1469		Site known as Danes Moor south-east of Edgcote which is 5.5 miles north-east of Banbury, Oxfordshire	Earl of Pembroke Earl of Devon Sir Richard Herbert ‘Robin of Redesdale’ Sir Henry Neville	Sir Thomas Vaughan Earl of Pembroke (ex) Earl of Devon (ex) Sir Richard Herbert (ex) Sir Henry Neville
Empingham aka Lose-cote Field 12 March 1470		2.5 miles north-east of Empingham, Rutland and just east of the Great North Road (A1)	King Edward IV Sir Robert Welles Sir Thomas de Launde Richard Wauren	Sir Robert Welles (ex) Sir Thomas de Launde (ex) Richard Wauren (ex)
Barnet 14 April 1471		Close to Hadley Wood about 1 mile north-east of Barnet, formerly in Middlesex	King Edward IV Dukes of Gloucester and Clarence Sir William Hastings Earl of Warwick Earl of Oxford Marquess of Montagu	Lord Say and Sele Earl of Warwick Marquess of Montagu Lord Cromwell Sir Humphrey Bourchier
Tewkesbury 4 May 1471		About 0.5 miles south of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire	King Edward IV Dukes of Gloucester & Clarence Sir William Hastings Edward Prince of Wales Duke of Somerset	Edward Prince of Wales Duke of Somerset (ex) Earl of Devon Lord Wenlock John Beaufort Sir John Delves Sir Robert Whittinhgham
Bosworth 22 August 1485		Traditional site about 4.5 miles north-west of Hinckley between the villages of Sutton Cheney and Shenton, Leicestershire	King Richard III, Duke of Norfolk Earl of Northumberland Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond Earl of Oxford Jasper Tudor Lord Stanley Sir William Stanley	King Richard III Duke of Norfolk William Catesby (ex) Sir Richard Radcliffe Sir Richard Brackenbury Sir Robert Percy William Brandon
Stoke 16 June 1487		East Stoke 5 miles south-west of Newark, Nottinghamshire	Earl of Lincoln Martin Schwartz Thomas FitzGerald King Henry VII Earl of Oxford Lord Strange	Earl of Lincoln Martin Schwartz Thomas FitzGerald

There is a brief summary of each of the battles. A variety of sources have been used to write these summaries but readers should be aware that sources for some of the battles are scant and in some instances virtually non-existent. Consequently much of what is written about the battles, both here and in other secondary sources, is to some extent, conjecture based on what is available. These battles, perhaps more than any other aspect of this period of history, demonstrate the difficulties any historian faces in trying to recapture the past and emphasise the need to read as many contemporary and near contemporary sources as possible, in order to provide an hypothesis of what actually happened.

The coats of arms represent some of those who took part in the battle, and have been drawn by Geoffrey Wheeler.

The ‘further reading lists’ include books and articles specific to each battle and these lists should be used in conjunction with the main and biographical bibliographies. For example, the books written about Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, by Michael Hicks and Paul Murray Kendall both contain descriptions of the battles in which he was involved. Similarly, A.H. Burne’s Battlefields of England contains individual chapters on several of the battles. Books are shown in italics and articles in inverted commas.

NB: The Society’s Barton Library holds copies of many of the books, papers and leaflets listed below and is thus a unique source for material on this period in history.