Battle of Towton

The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire. Yorkist forces decisively defeated Lancastrian supporters of Henry VI, securing the English throne for Edward IV. Fought for ten hours between an estimated 50,000 soldiers from both sides in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, it was "probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil".^[4]

Henry VI succeeded his father, Henry V, when he was nine months old in 1422, but was a weak, ineffectual and mentally unsound ruler, which encouraged the nobles to scheme for control over him. The situation deteriorated in the 1450s into a civil war between his Beaufort relatives and his wife, Queen Margaret, on one side, with those of his cousin Richard, Duke of York, on the other.

In October 1460, Parliament named York as Henry's successor, but the Lancastrians refused to accept the disinheritance of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. In December, their army defeated and killed York at Wakefield. His eldest son Edward now declared himself king, and marched north with his own forces. On reaching the battlefield, the Yorkists found themselves heavily outnumbered, since levies under the Duke of Norfolk had yet to arrive. However, Yorkist archers under Lord Fauconberg took advantage of the strong wind to outrange their enemies, provoking the Lancastrians into abandoning their defensive positions. The ensuing combat lasted hours, exhausting the combatants. The arrival of Norfolk's men reinvigorated the Yorkists who routed their foes.

Many Lancastrians were killed while fleeing, with several high-ranking prisoners executed, while Henry fled the country, leaving Edward to rule England. In 1929, the Towton Cross was erected on the battlefield to commemorate the event. Various archaeological remains and mass graves related to the battle have been found in the area.

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