Towton 1461: England's Bloodiest Battle

On a bitterly cold Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, the army of King Edward IV met that of his Lancastrian enemies on a snow-covered battlefield south of the village of Towton in Yorkshire. The struggle lasted all day in the longest and bloodiest battle of the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485). With the arrival of Yorkist reinforcements under the Duke of Norfolk, the Lancastrian line eventually broke and their troops fled, many being caught and slaughtered in the death trap known as ‘Bloody Meadow’. Christopher Gravett examines the campaign that marked the resurgence of the Yorkist cause and established Edward IV as king

On a bitterly cold Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, the army of King Edward IV met that of his Lancastrian enemies on a snow-covered battlefield south of the village of Towton in Yorkshire. The struggle lasted all day in the longest and bloodiest battle of the Wars of the Roses. With the arrival of Yorkist reinforcements under the Duke of Norfolk, the Lancastrian line eventually broke and their troops fled, many being caught and slaughtered in the death trap known as ‘Bloody Meadow’. Christopher Gravett examines the campaign that marked the resurgence of the Yorkist cause and established Edward IV as king

CHRISTOPHER GRAVETT is Senior Curator at the Royal Armouries and a recognised authority on the arms, armour and warfare of the medieval world. He has worked as an advisor for numerous television and film productions. His other Osprey titles include the three-volume analysis of the development of the English Medieval Knight, Warrior 35, 48 and 58, and Campaign 66 Bosworth 1485.