Towton 1461

Boardman places the Battle of Towton within the campaigns that followed the deaths of Richard, Duke of York, and leading Yorkists at Wakefield. After the Lancastrian victory at the second battle of St Albans, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed Edward IV and led his army north. On Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, the rival forces met on an exposed Yorkshire plateau in snow and high wind to decide possession of the crown.

The book reconstructs the battlefield, army movements, archery exchange, close combat and the Lancastrian rout towards Cock Beck. Contemporary accounts, local terrain, archaeological evidence and the Towton mass graves are used to test later claims about the size and bloodiness of the engagement. The aftermath explains how victory secured Edward IV’s throne while leaving a legacy of death, confiscation and continued resistance in northern England.