Wars of the Roses Weaponary and Tactics

The wars raged across 15th Century England made it essential for forces to be properly armed and protected.

ARMOUR

Men-at-arms in the thick of the action were fitted with heavy armour with a breast-plate underneath a leather brigandine or chain-mail hauberk. Attached to the breastplate were the plate armoured gorget around the neck, pauldron over the shoulders, couter over the elbows, vambraces over the forearms, tassets over the thighs and culet over the lower back. Added protection was found with plate-armoured gauntlet gloves and knights wore lance rests attached to the breast plate to steady their lances for a firmer blow.

Horses were also glad in plate armour

The main disadvantage of heavy armour was the lack of mobility and the quick-moving infantry wore a mail shirt over a padded aketonmail, with added munitions plate covering the most important body parts.  Light armour mostly consisted of padded cloth and leather with the archer's bracer providing a leather armguard to protect the fletching of an arrow. 

A Richard III re-enactor wears a crowed sallet helmet

Helmets also varied in design depending on how much protection was needed. Heavy helmets were made from steel plate, covered the head with visors on bascinets, armets, sallets and close helmets. Richard III was likely wearing a crowned sallet when he charged Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth.

Medium helmets were made of steel, but didn't protect the entire head like the visor-less barbute helmet. Light helmets were usually caps made of cloth and leather but archers preferred the wide-brimmed steel kettle hats for greater field of vision and to shield their eyes from the sun. Helmets were often customised with different colours, plumes, coifs and bevors. 

Archers wore kettle helmets to shield their eyes from the sun

COMBAT WEAPONS

The advancements in protective armour led to the development of the longsword which allowed a double-handed grip with the sword's longer hilt. The finest swords of the era were stamped with a German Passau wolf and the unusually hard Toledo steel forged in Spain. Daggers were often used as a side-arm and the small, sharp bladed wound on top of Richard III's skull showed that they were used as execution weapons, with two hands likely used to push the pommel into Richard III's skull.

Other weapons used by men-at-arms included hammers, maces, axes, spears and pole arms like the halberd. The halberd was inexpensive to produce and very versatile in battle as the hook and axe head were able to pull horsemen to the ground. The large hole at the base of Richard III's skull shows that a halberd likely sliced the back of the king's head and struck the fatal blow. The bill hook was also effective at bringing down a horseman with the pronounced hook able to find a chink in the knight's armour. 

A halberd likely struck the fatal blow to Richard III

Men on horseback attacked in triangular formations, with the most heavily armored knights at the front. They defended themselves with shields and attacked with a wooden lance that would shatter upon impact. Richard III was the head of a triangular formation charging towards Henry Tudor and his lance shattered into the helmet of Tudor's standard bearer, Sir William Brandon.

RANGED WEAPONS

The longbow gained it's notoriety at the Battle of Agincourt with a fast reload, accurate archers, armour-piercing bodkin heads and light-weight bowstaves. Compulsory longbow training was enforced in 1470 and many of the fragile yew bowstaves would often break and needed replacing. This led to a shortage in yew and this was overcome by Richard III increasing the tax on ships arriving in English ports to 10 bowstaves per tun in cargo, up from 4 bowstaves decreed in the Statue of Westminster 1472.

Longbowmen in action at the Battle of Towton (Graham Turner)

An effective longbowman took years of strength and skill training whilst a crossbow could be used effectively after a week's training. The crossbow was more powerful than a longbow thanks to a greater release of kinetic energy but it was more inaccurate and had a slower shooting rate than an average longbow. The archers took central position in battle formations and usually engaged the enemy before a main assault of mounted knights. Crossbowmen were also utilised in counterattacks to protect their infantry.

Cannon fires at a Battle of Tewkesbury festival

Arrows would eventually be replaced by gunpowder and shot in the coming centuries. The Wars of the Roses saw artillery like culverins used to supplement infantry attacks and bombards brought siege to Bamburgh Castle in 1464. Transporting artillery from camp-to-camp provided to be cumbersome and firearms, such as hand culverins, hand bombards and hand cannons developed.

TACTICS

In the early 1450s the act of gathering troops and marching to battle didn't usually result in combat as Duke of York's standoff at Dartford showed. Henry VI may have been expecting the same when he garrisoned the wall-less town of St. Albans in 1455 but York decided to end hours of stalemate by launching the First Battle of St. Albans.

A commander would line his troops into three 'battles' - the vanguard leading the attack, the main in the middle, and the rearguard often holding back reserves. Archers had previously launched the opening salvo into opposing infantry but by the mid-1400s this had developed into a stalemate of opposing bowmen fighting each other. Men-at-arms would either lead the vanguard on foot (Battle of Northampton) or on horseback (Battle of Blore Heath). 

Lord Audley leads a cavalry charge at Blore Heath

Armies made best use of their terrain and would fortify their positions by using bodies of water and marshland, digging trenches and setting up wooden spikes to deter on-coming cavalry. Deception was used effectively by Earl of Salisbury at Blore Heath by removing his soldiers from the front line to give the impression of retreat to Lord Audley. Audley was lured into taking his cavalry over a stream and was unable to avoid Salisbury's returning men.

The rank-and-file troops were gathered by their lords or knights and served in all of their disputes wearing the lord's ‘livery’ and fought under their banner. In return, the lord ‘maintained’ their tenants' rights and claims. This ‘livery and maintenance’ soon developed into ‘bastard feudalism’ as cash rewards replaced traditional land gains. 

The level of professionalism varied amongst the troops who would often flee the battlefield or surrender unarmed when the fight was lost. The Wars of the Roses was mainly a dispute between noble families and the rank-and-file were spared the bloodshed of their noble commanders whose heavy armour would hinder them escaping a melee.  

Battle of Wakefield saw the end of chivalric ransoms

The Battle of Wakefield saw the conflict take a grisly turn when captured nobles were executed instead of being customarily ransomed and these deaths made the battles extremely personal. The Battle of Ludford Bridge was a rare occasion in the Wars of the Roses where battle commanders, facing defeat, fled the battlefield to fight another day. The move by York to withdraw should be seen as calculated as he was hugely outnumbered following a large defection. Cowardice at Ludford should be viewed with caution as most of those who fled the battlefield - York, his son, the Earl of Rutland, Rutland's uncle, Salisbury and Salisbury's son, the Earl of Warwick, would later die in, or shortly after, battle.

The other escapee of Ludford was York's eldest son, Edward, who would claim the throne in 1461 after fighting amongst 50,000 men at the Battle of Towton that left 26,000 dead. Richard III would also charge into battle and refused to withdraw from the Battle of Bosworth after he was dismounted. Bosworth would ultimately be decided by those fighting under livery and maintenance as Sir William Stanley led his men at the crucial moment to attack the king.

The 30 years between the First Battle of St. Albans and Bosworth had periods of uneasy rest but the brutal battles and the twisted machinations would ensure that blood would soon be spilt and the long vaunted days of chivalry were over

Profile - Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, Part 2 1458-1460

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, will forever be known as the "Kingmaker" due to the power he wielded during the Wars of the Roses.

PIRATE

Warwick returned to Calais in the spring of 1458 and began courting friendship with Phillip of Burgundy, an important trade ally. Warwick looked to negotiate Prince Edward's betrothal to a Burgundian princess without King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou knowledge. Warwick continued to frustrate the royal couple by disregarding a truce between England and the Hanseatic League and plundered the ships of German wool traders as they entered the English Channel.

Map of 15th Century Calais

The queen summoned Warwick to London to answer for his piracy and Warwick arrived in the capital with 600 retainers to ward off the queen's threats. Warwick returned to the capital later that year and an accident by the king's scullion nearly left Warwick impaled on a spit in the royal kitchens. Warwick's men, suspicious of a plot, looked to kill the scullion and a fight broke out with the royal servants. Warwick overwhelmed the royal guard, seized the scullion and brought him before the queen. Margaret astutely ordered the kitchen orderly to death for attempted murder but later allowed the scullion to escape and flee to Yorkshire. 

Margaret persuaded the Council that it was Warwick who instigated the fight and had them issue an arrest warrant. Warwick fled to Calais  but returned when he heard of the queen's intentions of replacing him with Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, as Captain of Calais. Warwick defiantly stood in front of the Council and reminded them that it was Parliament who appointed him as Captain of Calais and only Parliament could revoke his position. Warwick was attacked as he left the council chambers by retainers loyal to Margaret partisans, Somerset and the Earl of Wiltshire, and Warwick narrowly escaped to Calais.

Richard Duke of York and Warwick's father, Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, gathered troops and sent word to Warwick for assistance. Warwick rallied 200 men-at-arms and 400 archers to be commanded by Calais Master Porter, Andrew Trollope, and Warwick left Calais under the watch of his uncle, Lord Fauconberg.

York had rallied his troops near his residence of Ludlow in the Welsh marches and Salisbury travelled south from Middleham, Yorkshire, to join him. Warwick landed in Kent and marched north uncontested through London and on to Warwick Castle but the royal forces reached Warwick ahead of him and blocked the road north towards Salisbury. Warwick continued west and met up with York, and a battle-hardened Salisbury after Warwick's father was victorious in the Battle of Blore Heath. 

The Yorkist commanders, after taking communion at Worcester Cathedral, swore an oath of allegiance and respect to the king but Henry VI was persuaded by Margaret to ignore it. The king's forces pursued York south of Ludlow and York's army encamped on the shore of the River Tern, for the Battle of Ludford Bridge. 

BETRAYED

York 's outnumbered men were overawed in seeing the royal standard flying across the other side of the bridge and were unwilling to fight against the king himself. Henry VI seized on this and sent word to the Yorkists that a free pardon would be given to anyone, apart from Salisbury, who defected and this offer was too good a opportunity to miss for Trollope. Warwick's Calais contingent came over to the Lancastrians and York was fearful of Trollope informing the royal commanders details of his troop formations.

York, Salisbury and Warwick told their captains that they were to spend the night of October 12 1459 at Ludlow in order to plan their next move. The commanders used the cover of night to make their escape and fled the battlefield. The remaining Yorkist soldiers woke up to see their leaders gone and peacefully surrendered to the king. 

Flee into exile began at Ludford Bridge

York had taken his second eldest son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, with him to Ireland whilst Warwick and Salisbury fled to Calais and were accompanied by York's eldest son, Edward, Earl of March. York had left behind his wife Cecily, daughter Margaret, and his youngest sons, George and Richard, to the mercy of the Lancastrian army and the family were found at Ludlow Market Cross. Cecily's sister and Warwick's fellow aunt, Anne, took them into care under the watchful eye of Anne's husband, Duke of Buckingham.

Warwick returned to Calais and was supported by it's people who rallied against Somerset, the newly appointed Captain of Calais. Somerset looked to assert his title by taking Calais for himself but found the city gate locked. Somerset was able to establish a base in nearby Guisnes and appointed Trollope the town's bailiff due, in part, to Trollope's knowledge of the area. Somerset continued to mount attacks on Calais but Warwick remained unnerved.  

Warwick still had one of his ships moored in Sandwich and the queen sent the husband of long-time friend, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, to commandeer the vessel. Richard Woodville, who was now Earl Rivers, and his son, Anthony, arrived at Sandwich but were soon taken prisoner by Warwick's supporters. The Woodvilles were taken across the English Channel and Warwick, Salisbury and March ridiculed their captives. Warwick especially berated Earl Rivers for being a son of a squire who had married himself into the nobility to become a lord.  

RETURN

Warwick was able to sail uncontested to Ireland to meet with York to plan their return from exile and Warwick, Salisbury and March landed in Sandwich on 26 June 1460. Salisbury stayed behind in London and Warwick marched north with 10,000 men towards the royal forces in Coventry. The Yorkist grievances were taken by three emissaries but were denied access to the king by Buckingham who responded that "the Earl of Warwick shall not come to the King's presence and if he comes he shall die." The two forces met at the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460 and Warwick sent message to Buckingham that "at 2 o'clock I will speak with the King or I will die." 

Warwick outnumbered the royal army two to one and advanced at 2 o'clock into hard wind and rain. Warwick's men were met with a fierce hail of Lancastrian arrows but the rain had made the royal artillery near useless. March took the vanguard up to the ditch guarding the Lancastrian right flank and were assisted by Lancastrian Lord Grey of Ruthin who had previously been bribed by Warwick and March. 

The battle lasted just half an hour once the Yorkists were behind the Lancastrian front lines and the royal troops fled the king's defence. Henry VI had remained in his tent behind the front line and his four lieutenants of Buckingham, Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Egremont and Lord Beaumont, all died trying to stop the Yorkist approach.

Warwick kneels to the captured King Henry VI - depicted by Graham Turner

The Yorkist archer, Henry Mountfort, captured Henry VI and confined him to his royal tent until Warwick and March arrived. The earls knelt before the king and sought forgiveness after taking up arms against him once again in order to challenge those in his Council. The king had no choice but to accept and Warwick once again led the king back to London.

York arrived in London on 10 October 1460 and proclaimed his intentions by placing a hand on the throne and replied, "I know of no person in this realm that owes not to wait on me, rather than I of him" when asked by the Archbishop of Cantebury if York wished to see the king.

York's actions alienated Warwick and Salisbury. The Nevilles were angry at York for not consulting them and they remained hesitant about deposing the king. Warwick remonstrated with York in the pretender's Westminster lodgings and Rutland defended his father. March, fully aware of Warwick's power, calmed his younger brother, and a simmering Warwick left the apartments, speaking only with March.

Aware of the dissension in his own ranks, York detailed his hereditary claim to the throne to Parliament who passed an Act of Accord on 24 October 1460 that ordered York (and his heirs) as successors to the throne after Henry VI.

Margaret of Anjou had fled north with her now-disinherited son after her husband's defeat at Northampton and had travelled from Wales to Scotland. Margaret was negotiating terms with the Scottish king, James III, and Lancastrian forces began to build just south of the Scottish border.

York was disturbed by the news of a growing northern army and marshaled his troops by having March garrisoned to the west in the Welsh Marches whereas Warwick oversaw London. York, Salisbury and Rutland now marched north to meet the Lancastrians, and their deaths, at Battle of Wakefield.

Profile - Henry VI Part 1 1421-1460

The reign of Henry VI on the English throne was a turbulent and fractious one.

BABY KING

The son of King Henry V and French Princess, Catherine of Valois, was born at Windsor on 6 December 1421. The warrior king, Henry V, was campaigning in France when he suddenly died of dysentery on 31 August 1422. Henry VI became the youngest  ever English monarch the next day and the 10-month-old Henry was proclaimed king of France when his grandfather, Charles VI, died a few weeks later. 

The English nobles swore their allegiance to Henry VI and a regency council gathered to rule in the king's name. Henry VI' mother was kept out of the regency by the king's uncles, John, Duke of Bedford and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Bedford was appointed senior regent of the realm and regent of France whilst Gloucester was appointed Protector and Defender of the Realm.

Bedford knighted the king at Leicester in May 1426 and Henry VI was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on 6 November 1429. This was in reaction to Charles VII's defiant coronation as King of France at Reims Cathedral four months earlier.

Henry VI himself was crowned King of France on 26 December 1431 but his power eroded when English allies in Burgundy changed their allegiances and sided with Charles VII during the Congress of Arras in 1435. Bedford died a week before the congress concluded.

A shy and pious Henry VI came of age in 1437 and his peaceful policy towards France caused divisions at court. The king's half-uncle, Cardinal Beaufort, and William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, sought peace whilst Gloucester, and Richard, Duke of York, looked for war.

Beaufort and Suffolk convinced Henry VI that a royal marriage to Charles VII's niece, Margaret of Anjou, would bring peace with France. The French king seized on this opportunity and negotiated with Suffolk the return of English territories back to the French in exchange for the marriage. These negotiations were kept secret from the English court for around a year after Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou on 23 April 1445.

Henry VI marriage to Margaret of Anjou

Public anger towards these negotiations focused on Suffolk and the royal couple charged Gloucester with treason in 1447 for instigating this anger. Gloucester soon died in custody and Cardinal Beaufort would die shortly after. Henry VI promoted the Cardinal's nephew, Edmund Beaufort, to 2nd Duke of Somerset and gave him the lieutenancy of France. This caused friction with York who had been demoted from Lieutenant of France to be Lieutenant of Ireland.

Somerset's command of France was disastrous and England's south coast was fearful of a French invasion. Discontent boiled over when Suffolk was caught and executed after Henry VI had allowed him to flee into exile. 

REBELLION

The south-east rebelled under Jack Cade who declared he would "destroy" the king and "bring" York to the throne. Henry VI initially sent a small force to quash the rebellion but fled to Warwickshire once Cade marched on London. Cade was unsuccessful in replacing the king but York returned from Ireland in 1450 to take his place on the council.

York demanded Somerset's arrest over France, which Henry VI initially agreed but the queen's intervention would made Somerset Captain of Calais. An agitated York asserted his claim to the throne in 1452 by marching his troops to London.The city was barred to York and the duke had to concede to the king after being outnumbered in Dartford, Kent. The king placed York under house arrest for two weeks until the duke pledged allegiance and Henry VI would later strip York of his terms of office.

Henry VI sits as Duke of Somerset (centre) and Duke of York argue

Somerset's French campaign began to haunt Henry VI, with the heavy loss at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, reducing England's French domain to just Calais. The king now descended into a mental breakdown with acute schizophrenia and hallucinations preventing him to recognise the birth of his son, Prince Edward, on 13 October 1453.York was declared Protector of the Realm in 1454 and placed Somerset in the Tower of London, but he would soon be released after Henry VI regained his senses later that year.

York took up arms and intercepted the king's forces on 22 May 1455 as Henry VI made his way to Leicester for a Great Council meeting. York had gained the support of the wealthy Neville family and he relied on the father and son of Earl of Salisbury and Earl of Warwick to outnumber the royal forces at the First Battle of St. Albans. The quick battle through the streets of St. Albans saw the death of Somerset and Henry was deserted by his standard bearer. The king took refuge in a tradesman's house before being discovered by York and escorted back to London.

PRISONER

York declared himself Constable of England and later Protector of the Realm once again when  Henry VI had another bout of mental illness during his imprisonment. The king recovered in February 1456 and had to accept York's influence at court. The queen was less accommodating to York and convinced Henry VI to move court to her heartland of Coventry.

Henry VI tried to nullify the discord between his northern lords and their supporters by having peace talks in 1458 but the queen continued her grievances. York, Salisbury and Warwick were summoned to the Great Council at Coventry and responded by gathering troops at the Battle of Ludford Bridge on 12 October 1459. 

The king promised the Yorkists that he would grant pardons to those who put down their arms and this was too much of an offer for Warwick's Calais troops, led by Andrew Trollope. York and his commanders fled Ludford into exile shortly after hearing of Trollope's treachery. The royal couple issued an act of attainder later that year which forfeited the Yorkist commanders' lands and titles. 

Warwick, Suffolk and York's eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, returned to England in June 1460 and met the royal forces at the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460. Treachery struck again, this time in favour of the Yorkists, as Lord Grey of Ruthin, gave March a helping hand over the Lancastrian front line defences. 

Henry VI's commanders defended their king to the death and a victorious Warwick greeted the king outside his royal tent. Warwick and his men swore their allegiances to the king and escorted him to London once more.

Warwick kneels before Henry VI before taking him to London as depicted by Graham Turner

Henry VI's place on the throne was now in doubt as York arrived in London three months later to take the throne but Henry VI's supporters denied York to sit on the throne. After weeks of negotiation, an act of accord was passed that disinherited Prince Edward and recognised York (and his subsequent heirs) as Henry's successors. York was once again made Protector of the Realm and Henry VI was his prisoner.

Meanwhile, the queen was building Lancastrian support and met with the new Scottish king, James III to offer the English border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in exchange for his support.

York left London to meet the growing Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Wakefield and left Warwick to watch over the royal captor. 

Battle of Northampton 1460

Battle of Northampton as depicted by Matthew Ryan

After nine months in exile, Yorkist commanders Earl of Warwick and Edward, Earl of March, led their forces to victory in the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460.

 BACKGROUND

After fleeing the Battle of Ludford Bridge, Yorkist commanders Duke of York, Earl of Salisbury and Earl of Warwick were able to consolidate in exile despite having their lands and titles forfeited in an act of attainder. 

The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Earl of Rutland, was able to learn more about his office when he accompanied his father, Duke of York, to Ireland. The Irish welcomed York and he peacefully received Warwick in March 1460 in order to plan their return to England.

Warwick had enjoyed exile in Calais and was accompanied by his father, Earl of Salisbury, and York's eldest son Edward, Earl of March. Henry VI had previously replaced Warwick as Captain of Calais with Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, but Calais rallied behind Warwick and denied Somerset entry into the city. 

Somerset eventually made landfall at Guisnes and appointed Andrew Trollope the town's bailiff. This appointment was mainly due to Trollope's knowledge of the area before he betrayed Warwick at Ludford. Somerset had several skirmishes with Warwick's men but his presence in France was more of an irritant than a threat to Warwick.

Warwick still had a ship moored at a dock in Sandwich on the English south coast and Margaret of Anjou sent the husband of long-time friend, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, to commandeer the vessel. Richard Woodville, who was now Earl Rivers, and his son, Anthony, arrived at Sandwich but were later taken prisoner by Warwick's men and taken across the English Channel to answer to Warwick. Warwick, Salisbury and March each ridiculed their captives, with Warwick berating Earl Rivers for being a son of a squire who had married himself into the nobility to become a lord.  

Sandwich was to be the location of the return of Warwick, Salisbury and March to England on 26 June 1460. The three commanders gathered support in the south-east and Salisbury stayed behind to garrison the Tower of London. Warwick and March marched further north and their forces of 10,000 men met the royal forces at Northampton. 

BATTLE

Northampton battlefield map

The royal forces took up a defensive position in the grounds of Delapré Abbey behind a water-filled ditch topped with spikes, and in front of the River Nene near Northampton. 

Warwick had previously sent three emissaries to present the Yorkist grievances to the king but were denied by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham sent word back that "The Earl of Warwick shall not come to the King's presence and if he comes he shall die." Upon arriving at Northampton, Warwick replied to Buckingham with the message that "at 2 o'clock I will speak with the King or I will die."

Warwick's army was twice the size of the Lancastrians and the Yorkists advanced at 2 o'clock into hard wind and rain. They were met with a fierce hail of Lancastrian arrows but the rain had made the royal artillery near useless. March took the vanguard up to the ditch guarding the Lancastrian right flank and his men were pleased to see Lord Grey of Ruthin offer a helping hand over the defences. 

Ruthin had personal gain from his treachery as March had previously agreed to support Lord Grey in a land dispute with Lord Fanhope.  The battle lasted just half an hour once the Yorkists were behind the Lancastrian front lines as the royal troops fled the king's defence. Henry VI had remained in his tent behind the frontline and his four lieutenants of Buckingham, Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Egremont and Lord Beaumont, all died trying to stop the Yorkist approach to the royal tent.

A victorious Warwick kneels to Henry VI as depicted by Graham Turner

WIth the death of the despised royal councillors, Warwick and March respectfully greeted Henry VI, swore their loyalty to the crown and escorted the king to London. 

York now readied a return to England to claim the English throne for himself.