Wars of the Roses
- Period
- 1455–1487
- Battles
- 19
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in the following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought for control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fought between supporters of the House of York and the House of Lancaster, two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit, through the female line, the Lancaster claim to the throne. The conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England.
Sources: Wikipedia — Wars of the Roses · CC BY-SA 4.0
Battles 19
1455
First Battle of St Albans
The First Battle of St Albans took place on 22 May 1455, at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, and traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal army commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Unusually, the battle was contested in the town of St Albans itself, with the bulk of the fighting taking place in the streets. Somerset was killed in the battle, and King Henry VI captured, clearing the way for a subsequent parliament to appoint Richard of York Lord Protector.
1459
Battle of Blore Heath
The Battle of Blore Heath took place during the English Wars of the Roses on 23 September 1459, at Blore Heath, Staffordshire. Blore Heath is a sparsely populated area of farmland two miles east of the town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, and close to the village of Loggerheads, Staffordshire.
1459
Rout of Ludford Bridge
The Rout of Ludford Bridge was a largely bloodless confrontation fought in the early years of the Wars of the Roses. It took place on 12 October 1459, and resulted in a setback for the Yorkists. Although this seemed to be a triumph for the rival Lancastrians at the time, they had thrown away their advantage within six months.
1460
Battle of Wakefield
The 'Battle' of Wakefield has traditionally been said to have taken place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield in northern England, on 30 December 1460. Recent research demonstrates that it was not a battle in the proper sense of a word, but a small-scale skirmish that resulted in the capture and subsequent deaths of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, his second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.
1460
Battle of Northampton (1460)
The Battle of Northampton was fought on 10 July 1460 near the River Nene, Northamptonshire. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster, his Queen Margaret of Anjou and their six-year-old son Edward, Prince of Wales, on one side, and the army of Edward, Earl of March, and Warwick the Kingmaker on the other. The battle was the first in which artillery was used in England.
1460
Battle of Sandwich (1460)
The Battle of Sandwich was a naval skirmish off the town of Sandwich on the 15 January 1460 during the Wars of the Roses. In it, Sir John Dynham, Sir John Wenlock, and the Earl of Warwick, Captain of Calais, on the Yorkist side, defeated a Lancastrian fleet and captured several of its ships. Little evidence and few details of the battle survive.
1460
Battle of Worksop
The Battle of Worksop was a skirmish during the Wars of the Roses, near the town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire on 16 December 1460, part of the campaign which led to the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December.
1461
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".
1461
Battle of Mortimer's Cross
The Battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought on 2 February, 1461 near Kingsland, Herefordshire, not far from the Welsh border. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing forces consisted of, on one side, an army led by Jasper Tudor and his father, Owen Tudor, as well as nobles loyal to King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster, his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and their seven-year-old son, Edward, Prince of Wales. On the other side, was the army of Edward, Earl of March. Some sources say it was fought on 3 February, and the exact location has been the subject of some speculation.
1461
Second Battle of St Albans
The Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461 during the Wars of the Roses in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
1461
Battle of Ferrybridge
The Battle of Ferrybridge, 28 March 1461, was a preliminary engagement between the houses of York and Lancaster before the larger battle of Towton, during the period now known as the Wars of the Roses.
1464
Battle of Hexham
The Battle of Hexham, 15 May 1464, marked the end of significant Lancastrian resistance in the north of England during the early part of the reign of Edward IV.
1464
Battle of Hedgeley Moor
The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 25 April 1464, took place during the Wars of the Roses. It was fought at Hedgeley Moor, north of the villages of Glanton and Powburn in Northumberland, between a Yorkist army led by John Neville, Lord Montagu and a Lancastrian army led by Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. The battle ended in a Yorkist victory.
1469
Battle of Edgcote
The Battle of Edgcote took place on 24 July 1469, during the Wars of the Roses. It was fought between a royal army, commanded by the earls of Pembroke and Devon, and a rebel force led by supporters of the Earl of Warwick.
1470
Battle of Losecoat Field
The Battle of Losecoat Field was fought on 12 March 1470, during the Wars of the Roses. Spellings of "Losecoat" vary, with "Losecote" and "Loose-coat" also seen.
1471
Battle of Tewkesbury
The Battle of Tewkesbury was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England. King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival House of Lancaster. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and many prominent Lancastrian nobles were killed during the battle or executed after it. The Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died shortly after the battle, likely murdered, although the official cause was stated as being of 'great melancholy'. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483.
1471
Battle of Barnet
The Battle of Barnet was a decisive Yorkist victory 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.
1485
Battle of Bosworth Field
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England and Wales in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by an alliance of Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first Welsh monarch of England from the House of Tudor by his victory and subsequent marriage to the de facto Yorkist heiress, Elizabeth of York. His opponent Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed during the battle, the last English monarch to fall in battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, making it one of the defining moments of English history.
1487
Battle of Stoke Field
The Battle of Stoke Field, which took place at East Stoke, Nottinghamshire, on 16 June 1487, may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims derived from descent from the houses of Lancaster and York. The Battle of Bosworth Field, two years previously, had established Henry VII on the throne, ending the last period of Yorkist rule and initiating that of the Tudors. The Battle of Stoke Field was the decisive engagement in an attempt by leading Ricardian Yorkists to unseat the King in favour of the pretender Lambert Simnel.
Earlier and later events nearby
- 1066Battle of Stamford Bridge
- 1215Magna Carta
- 1415Battle of Agincourt
- 1455–1487Wars of the RosesThis page
- 1642–1651English Civil War
- 1687Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
- 1688–1689Glorious Revolution
Who ruled this land
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