Battle of Edgecote Moor The Battle of Edgecote Moor took place 6 miles northeast of Banbury ( Oxfordshire ) , England on 26 July 1469 during the Wars of the Roses . The site of the battle was actually Danes Moor in Northamptonshire , at a crossing of a tributary of the River Cherwell . The battle pitted the forces of Richard Neville , 16th Earl of Warwick , against those of King Edward IV . The battle is considered to be an important turning point in the course of the war . The defection of the Earl of Warwick . The Earl of Warwick came to be in open rebellion against Edward by 1469 . Eight years after the great Yorkist victory at the Battle of Towton , things had changed . Despite Warwick ' s growing discontent with Edward and his new government , nobody thought 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 left to Warwick . In 1464 Warwick was in the middle of negotiations with pro - Lancastrian France , and he knew that a royal marriage with a French princess could solve their problems . Warwick told Louis XI that Edward would be delighted to marry the French princess , but soon afterwards was informed of the humiliating truth : Edward had secretly been married to Elizabeth Woodville , a commoner , for the past six months . Later on , Elizabeth ' s brothers and sisters were married off to ladies and nobles of importance , throughout the land . Most of these marriages offended Warwick in some way , and at least one was a direct insult to his family . Warwick was also angered by Edward ' s constant refusal to let George , Duke of Clarence , marry Warwick ' s eldest daughter . Edward claimed hypocritically that Clarence would serve for a diplomatic marriage and none other . Warwick no longer exercised any control or even influence over his cousin , the King , in political matters . Thoughts turned to rebellion in Warwick ' s mind , a rebellion in which he already had an ally : the Duke of Clarence , heir to the English throne while the king had no male offspring . The rebellion . Small rebellions in the North sent the King on a slow march in that direction . With the King ' s back turned Warwick ' s agents spread rumours stating that the King was bastard - born and that Clarence was York ' s true heir . In the North , one of Warwick ' s captains , calling himself Robin of Redesdale ( probably a trusted Neville captain , Sir William Conyers ) started a new rebellion . When Edward heard of this he believed the rebellion would easily be put down and mustered only a few of his men . He soon learned that the rebels in fact outnumbered his own small force , and started a retreat towards Nottingham to gather more recruits . Unfortunately the King lacked the popularity he had once had and reinforcements were few . Edward decided to wait in Nottingham for the Earls of Pembroke and Devon , arriving with an army from the south . On 12 July , Warwick and Clarence declared their support for the rebels . On the 18th , Warwick left London at the head of a large army to reinforce the rebels . The rebels hurried south to meet with Warwick , bypassing the King but nearly colliding with Pembroke and Devon at Edgecote Moor . The two armies became aware of each other on 25 July and joined in battle early in the morning of the 26th . The beginning was a rather one - sided affair as the Earl of Devon and his Welsh archers were some miles away , having stayed the night in a neighbouring village . The rebels attacked across the river forcing Pembroke to retreat and pull his men back some distance . Pembroke was attacked again in his new position , but he put up a brave defence while awaiting Devon . At 1 o ' clock the Earl received the news he had been waiting for : Devon was rapidly advancing with all his men . However , at the same time the advance guard of Warwick ' s army arrived upon the field . Rebel morale was instantly boosted . Seeing Warwick ' s livery amongst the enemy , Pembroke ' s men presumed his whole force of expert soldiers was upon them . The royal army broke and fled the field , possibly before Devon could even reinforce them . The Earl of Pembroke and his brother Sir Richard Herbert were captured and executed the following day . The Earl of Devon suffered a similar fate a few days later . Commemoration & re - enactments . On 12 & 13 September 2009 there was a re - creation of the battle on the actual battlefield , staged by The Medieval Siege Society and the English Tournament Society to commemorate the 540th anniversary . Following the success of the 2009 commemoration & re - enactment , a second recreation was staged on 11 & 12 September 2010 for the 541st anniversary . Since 2009 , an annual walk of the battlefield and the key sites has taken place on the Sunday closest to the anniversary . The walk pauses at the Trafford Bridge site to lay a wreath remembering all those that lost their lives from both sides . This is organised by The Medieval Siege Society and attended by local residents , and members of the Battlefields Trust .