Battle of Tewkesbury 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 prisoner in the Tower of London , died or was murdered shortly after the battle . Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483 . Background . The term , the " Wars of the Roses " , refers to the informal heraldic badges of the two rival houses of Lancaster and York which had been contending for power , and ultimately for the throne , since the late 1450s . In 1461 the Yorkist claimant , Edward , Earl of March , was proclaimed King Edward IV and defeated the supporters of the weak , intermittently insane Lancastrian king Henry VI at the Battle of Towton . Lancastrian revolts in the far north of England were defeated in 1464 , and the fugitive King Henry was captured and imprisoned the next year . His Queen , Margaret of Anjou , and their thirteen - year - old son Edward of Westminster , were exiled and impoverished in France . Edward IV ' s hold on the throne appeared temporarily to be secure . Edward IV owed his victory in large measure to the support of his cousin , the powerful Earl of Warwick . They became estranged when Edward spurned the French diplomatic marriage that Warwick was seeking for him and instead married Elizabeth Woodville , widow of an obscure Lancastrian gentleman , in secret in 1464 . When the marriage became public knowledge , Edward placed many of his new queen ' s family in powerful positions that Warwick had hoped to control . Edward meanwhile reversed Warwick ' s policy of friendship with France by marrying his sister Margaret to Charles the Bold , the Duke of Burgundy . The embittered Warwick secured the support of Edward IV ' s brother George , Duke of Clarence , for a coup , in exchange for Warwick ' s promise to crown Clarence king . Although Edward was imprisoned briefly , Clarence was unacceptable as monarch to most of the country . Edward was allowed to resume his rule , outwardly reconciled with Warwick and Clarence . Within a year , he accused them of fresh treachery and forced them to flee to France . Readeption of Henry VI . With no hope of a reconciliation with King Edward , Warwick ' s best hope of regaining power in England lay in restoring Henry VI to the throne . Louis XI of France feared a hostile alliance of Burgundy under Charles the Bold and England under Edward . He was prepared to support Warwick with men and money , but to give legitimacy to any uprising by Warwick , the acquiescence of Margaret of Anjou was required . Warwick and Margaret were previously sworn enemies , but Margaret ' s attendants ( in particular Sir John Fortescue , formerly Chief Justice during Henry VI ' s reign ) and Louis eventually persuaded her to ally the House of Lancaster with Warwick . At Angers , Warwick begged her pardon on his knees for all past wrongs done to her , and was forgiven . Prince Edward was betrothed to Warwick ' s younger daughter Anne . ( The marriage was eventually solemnised at Amboise on 13 December 1470 but may not have been consummated , as Margaret was seeking a better match for Edward once he was King . ) Finally , they swore loyalty to Henry VI on a fragment of the True Cross in Angers Cathedral . However , Margaret declined to let Prince Edward land in England or to land there herself until Warwick had established a firm government and made the country safe for them . Warwick landed in the West Country on 13 September 1470 , accompanied by Clarence and some unswerving Lancastrian nobles , including the Earl of Oxford and Jasper Tudor , the Earl of Pembroke . As King Edward made his way south to face Warwick , he realised that Warwick ' s brother John , Marquess of Montagu , who had up till then remained loyal to Edward , had defected at the head of a large army in the North of England . Edward fled to King ' s Lynn where he took ship for Flanders , part of Burgundy , accompanied only by his youngest brother , Richard of Gloucester , and a few faithful adherents . In London , Warwick released King Henry , led him in procession to Saint Paul ' s cathedral and installed him in Westminster palace . Warwick ' s position nevertheless remained precarious . His alliance with Louis of France and his intention to declare war on Burgundy was contrary to the interests of the merchants , as it threatened English trade with Flanders and the Netherlands . Clarence had long been excluded from Warwick ' s calculations . In November 1470 , Parliament declared that Prince Edward and his descendants were Henry ' s heirs to the throne ; Clarence would become King only if the Lancastrian line of succession failed . Unknown to Warwick , Clarence secretly became reconciled with his brother , King Edward . Edward ' s landing and the death of Warwick . With Warwick in power in England , it was Charles of Burgundy ' s turn to fear a hostile alliance of England and France . As an obvious counter to Warwick , he supplied King Edward with money ( 50 , 000 florins ) , ships and several hundred men ( including handgunners ) . Edward set sail from Flushing on 11 March 1471 with 36 ships and 1200 men . He touched briefly on the English coast at Cromer but found that the Duke of Norfolk , who might have supported him , was away from the area and that Warwick controlled that part of the country . Instead , his ships made for Ravenspurn , near the mouth of the River Humber , where Henry Bolingbroke had landed in 1399 on his way to reclaim the Duchy of Lancaster and ultimately depose Richard II . Edward ' s landing was inauspicious at first ; the ships were scattered by bad weather and his men landed in small detachments over a wide area on 14 March . The port of Kingston - upon - Hull refused to allow Edward to enter , so he made for York , claiming rather like Bolingbroke that he was seeking only the restoration of the Duchy of York . He then began to march south . Near Pontefract Castle he evaded the troops of Warwick ' s brother Montagu . By the time Edward reached the city of Warwick , he had gathered enough supporters to proclaim himself King again . The Earl of Warwick sent urgent requests for Queen Margaret , who was gathering fresh forces in France , to join him in England . He himself was at Coventry , preparing to bar Edward ' s way to London , while Montagu hastened up behind the King ' s army . Edward however , knew that Clarence was ready to turn his coat once again and betray Warwick , his father - in - law . He marched rapidly west and joined with Clarence ' s men who were approaching from Gloucestershire . Clarence appealed to Warwick to surrender , but Warwick refused to even speak to him . Edward ' s army made rapidly for London , pursued by Warwick and Montagu . London was supposedly defended by the 4th Duke of Somerset , but he was absent and the city readily admitted Edward . The unfortunate and by now feeble Henry VI was sent back to the Tower of London . Edward then turned about to face Warwick ' s approaching army . On 14 April , they met at the Battle of Barnet . In a confused fight in thick fog , some of Warwick ' s army attacked each other by mistake and at the cries of " Treachery ! " his army disintegrated and was routed . Montagu died in the battle , and Warwick was cut down trying to reach his horse to escape . The Tewkesbury campaign . Urged on by Louis XI , Margaret had finally sailed on 24 March . Storms forced her ships back to France several times , and she and Prince Edward finally landed at Weymouth in Dorsetshire on the same day that the Battle of Barnet was fought . While Margaret sheltered at nearby Cerne Abbey , the Duke of Somerset brought news of the disaster at Barnet to her . She briefly wished to return to France , but Prince Edward persuaded her to gamble for victory . Somerset and the Earl of Devon had already raised an army for Lancaster in the West Country . Their best hope was to march northwards and join forces with the Lancastrians in Wales , led by Jasper Tudor . Other Lancastrian forces could be relied upon to distract King Edward ; in particular , a fleet under Warwick ' s relation , the Bastard of Fauconberg , was preparing to descend on Kent where the Nevilles and Warwick in particular had always been popular . In London , King Edward had learned of Margaret ' s landing only two days after she arrived . Although he had given many of his supporters and troops leave after the victory at Barnet , he was rapidly able to muster a substantial force at Windsor , just west of London . It was difficult at first to determine Margaret ' s intentions , as the Lancastrians had sent out several feints which suggested that they might be making directly for London , but Edward ' s army set out for the West Country within a few days . On 30 April , Margaret ' s army had reached Bath , on its way towards Wales . She turned aside briefly to secure guns , reinforcements and money from the city of Bristol . On the same day , King Edward reached Cirencester . On hearing that Margaret was at Bristol , he turned south to meet her army . However , the Lancastrians made a feint towards Little Sodbury , about north - east of Bristol . Nearby was Sodbury Hill , an Iron Age hill fort which was an obvious strategic point for the Lancastrians to seize . When Yorkist scouts reached the hill , there was a sharp fight in which they suffered heavy casualties . Believing that the Lancastrians were about to offer battle , Edward temporarily halted his army while the stragglers caught up and the remainder could rest after their rapid march from Windsor . However , the Lancastrians instead made a swift move north by night , passing within of Edward ' s army . By the morning of 2 May , they had gained the safety of Berkeley Castle and had a head start of over Edward . King Edward realised that the Lancastrians were seeking to cross the River Severn into Wales . The nearest crossing point they could use was at the city of Gloucester . He sent urgent messages to the Governor , Sir Richard Beauchamp , ordering him to bar the gates to Margaret and man the city ' s defences . When Margaret arrived in the morning of 3 May , Beauchamp refused Margaret ' s summons to let her army pass , and she realised that there was insufficient time to storm the city before Edward ' s army arrived . Instead , her army made another forced march of to Tewkesbury , attempting to reach the next bridge at Upton - upon - Severn , further on . Edward meanwhile had marched no less than , passing through Cheltenham ( then little more than a village ) in the late afternoon . The day was very hot , and both the Lancastrians and Edward ' s pursuing army became exhausted . The Lancastrians were forced to abandon some of their artillery , which was captured by Yorkist reinforcements following from Gloucester . At Tewkesbury , the tired Lancastrians halted for the night . Most of their army were footmen , and unable to continue further without rest , and even the mounted troops were weary . By contrast , King Edward ' s army was composed mainly of mounted men , who nevertheless dismounted to fight on foot as most English armies did during this period . Hearing from his " prickers " or mounted scouts of Margaret ' s position , Edward drove his army to make another march of from Cheltenham , finally halting from the Lancastrians . The Lancastrians knew they could retreat no further before Edward attacked their rear , and that they would be forced to give battle . Battle . Lancastrian positions . As day broke on 4 May , the Lancastrians took up a defensive position a mile south of the town of Tewkesbury . To their rear were River Avon and the Severn . Tewkesbury Abbey was just behind the Lancastrian centre . A farmhouse then known as Gobes Hall marked the centre of the Lancastrian position ; nearby was " Margaret ' s camp " , earthworks of uncertain age . Queen Margaret is said to have spent the night at Gobes Hall , before hastily taking refuge on the day of battle in a religious house some distance from the battlefield . The main strength of the Lancastrians ' position was provided by the ground in front , which was broken up by hedges , woods , embankments and " evil lanes " . This was especially true on their right . The Lancastrian army numbered approximately 6 , 000 . As was customary at the time , it was organised into three " battles " . The right battle was commanded by the Duke of Somerset . A stream , the Colnbrook , flowed through his position , making some of the ground difficult to traverse . The Lancastrian centre was commanded by Baron Wenlock . Unlike the other principal Lancastrian commanders , Wenlock had deserted the Lancastrian cause after the First Battle of Saint Albans , only to revert to the Lancastrians when he was deprived of the Lieutenancy of Calais . Prince Edward was present with the centre . At eighteen , Prince Edward was no stranger to battlefields , having been given by his mother the task of condemning to death Yorkist prisoners taken at the Second Battle of St Albans , but he lacked experience of actual command . The left battle was commanded by the Earl of Devon , another devoted Lancastrian . His battle , and part of the centre , occupied a low ridge known locally as the " Gastons " . A small river , the Swilgate , protected Devon ' s left flank , before curving behind the Lancastrian position to join the Avon . Edward ' s moves . The Yorkists numbered 5 , 000 and were slightly outnumbered by the Lancastrians . Like the Lancastrians , King Edward organised his army into three battles . Edward ' s vanguard was commanded by his youngest brother , Richard , Duke of Gloucester . Although he was only eighteen years old , Richard was already an experienced commander and had led a division at the Battle of Barnet . Edward himself commanded the main battle , in which Clarence was also stationed . Edward was twenty - eight years old , and at the height of his prowess as a soldier . His lifelong friend and supporter , Lord Hastings , commanded the rear . He too was an experienced commander and like Richard , had accompanied Edward into exile in the Low Countries and had led a battle at Barnet . Although by tradition , the vanguard occupied the right of the line of battle , several authors have conjectured from descriptions in near - contemporary accounts ( such as the Historie of the arrivall of Edward IV ) that Richard of Gloucester ' s division actually took position to the left of Edward ' s battle or that the divisions of Edward ' s army advanced in line ahead , with Edward ' s division leading . Edward made one other important tactical disposition . To the left of his army was a thickly wooded park . Concerned that hidden Lancastrians might attack from this quarter , he ordered 200 mounted spearmen to occupy part of the woods and prevent the Lancastrians making use of them , or act on their own initiative if they were not themselves attacked . He then " displayed his bannars : dyd blowe up the trompets : commytted his caws and qwarell to Almyghty God , to owr most blessyd lady his mother : Vyrgyn Mary , the glorious Seint George , and all the saynts : and advaunced , directly upon his enemyes . " Action . As they moved towards the Lancastrian position , King Edward ' s army found that the ground was so broken up by woods , ditches and embankments that it was difficult to attack in any sort of order . However , the Yorkist archers and artillery showered the Lancastrians with arrows and shot . The Yorkists certainly had more guns than their enemies , and they were apparently better served . Either to escape the cannonade and volleys of archery or because he saw an opportunity to outflank King Edward ' s isolated battle , the Duke of Somerset led at least part of his men via some of the " evil lanes " to attack Edward ' s left flank . Although taken by surprise , Edward ' s men resisted stoutly , beating back Somerset ' s attack among the hedges and banks . At the vital moment , the 200 spearmen Edward had earlier posted in the woods far out on the left attacked Somerset from his own right flank and rear , as Gloucester ' s battle also joined in the fighting . Somerset ' s battle was routed , and his surviving army tried to escape across the Severn . Most were cut down as they fled . The long meadow astride the Colnbrook leading down to the river is known to this day as " Bloody Meadow " . Somerset galloped up to Wenlock , commanding the centre , and demanded to know why Wenlock had failed to support him . According to legend ( recounted in " Edward Hall ' s " chronicle , written several years afterwards though from first - hand accounts ) , he did not wait for an answer but dashed out Wenlock ' s brains with a battleaxe before seeking sanctuary in the Abbey . As its morale collapsed , the rest of the Lancastrian army tried to flee , but the Swilgate became a deadly barrier . Many who succeeded in crossing it converged on a mill south of the town of Tewkesbury and a weir in the town itself , where there were crossings over the Avon . Here too , many drowned or were killed by their pursuers . Aftermath of the battle . Among the leading Lancastrians who died on the field were Somerset ' s younger brother John Beaufort , Marquess of Dorset and the Earl of Devon . Prince Edward was found in a grove by some of Clarence ' s men . He was summarily executed , despite pleading for his life to Clarence , who had sworn allegiance to him in France barely a year before . Many of the other Lancastrian nobles and knights sought sanctuary in Tewkesbury Abbey . King Edward attended prayers in the Abbey shortly after the battle . He granted permission for Prince Edward and others slain in the battle to be buried within the Abbey or elsewhere in the town without being quartered as traitors as was customary . However , two days after the battle , Somerset and other leaders were dragged out of the Abbey , and were ordered by Gloucester and the Duke of Norfolk to be put to death after perfunctory trials . Among them were Hugh Courtenay , younger brother of the Earl of Devon , and Sir John Langstrother , the prior of the military order of St . John . The Abbey was not officially a sanctuary , though it is doubtful whether this would have deterred Edward even if it had been . It had to be re - consecrated a month after the battle , following the violence done within its precincts . A few days later , Margaret sent word to Edward from her refuge that she was " at his commandment " . Fauconberg ' s repulse . Edward was unable to rest after the battle . Lancastrians under Jasper Tudor were still active in Wales , and there was an ineffective rising in the North . Edward went to Coventry in the Midlands to make dispositions against the northern and Welsh Lancastians , and give his army three days ' rest . The most dangerous Lancastrian force however , was that commanded by the Bastard of Fauconberg . As anticipated , he had landed at Sandwich and rapidly recruited a force from among the pro - Neville Kentishmen . Together with exiled Lancastrians and freebooters from several countries , his army may have numbered 16 , 000 or even 17 , 000 in total . On 14 May , he attacked London from the south . His men burned Southwark Bridge and part of the suburb of Southwark , but were beaten back at London Bridge . The next day , they attacked Aldgate and Bishopsgate from the east . The garrison of the Tower of London , led by Earl Rivers , the Queen ' s brother , who had been injured at Barnet , repulsed them . Citizens defending their property undoubtedly played a major role . Had Fauconberg succeeded in capturing the city , he might also have captured Edward ' s Queen Elizabeth and their children and released King Henry from the Tower . However , on hearing that Edward ' s army was approaching , he retreated to Sandwich . Like Margaret , he appeared to be dispirited by the news of Tewkesbury and Prince Edward ' s death , and later rather tamely surrendered himself and his ships . He was executed five months later after attempting to escape from custody . The end of the Lancastrian royal family . On his way to suppress Fauconberg and the Kentish rebels , Edward passed through London in triumph on 21 May , with the captive Queen Margaret beside him in a chariot . King Henry VI died in the Tower of London that night , at the hands of or by the order of Richard of Gloucester according to several contemporary accounts . It was announced in public that he had died " of pure displeasure and melancholy " , but few believed this . Gloucester later married Anne Neville , the younger daughter of Warwick and the widow of Prince Edward . With the deaths of Somerset and his younger brother , the House of Beaufort , who were distant cousins of Henry VI and had a remote claim to succeed him , had been almost exterminated . Only the female line of Somerset ' s uncle , the 1st Duke of Somerset , remained , represented by Lady Margaret Beaufort and her son Henry Tudor . Henry escaped from Wales with Jasper Tudor , his paternal uncle , and remained in exile in Brittany for the remainder of Edward ' s reign . The year after the Battle of Tewkesbury however , Lady Margaret married Lord Stanley , one of King Edward ' s supporters , who later turned against Edward ' s brother Richard of Gloucester when he became King as Richard III , and was instrumental in putting Henry Tudor on the throne . Re - enactment . Every year the battle is re - enacted on the second weekend in July at the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival . The event ( founded in 1984 ) is the largest event of its kind in Europe , attracting enthusiasts from all over the world .