This article was first published in Skirmish Magazine and it's appearance on this site has been made possible through a special arrangement with OldMagazineArticles.com. Tewksbury: Re-enacting the final Yorkist victoryAfter deposing Henry VI, the Yorkist King Edward IV had reigned since 1461, but in 1470 he was forced to flee to Burgundy when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, changed his allegiance to support the house of Lancaster and, with the support of Henry’s Queen, Margaret of Anjou, landed in England with an invasion force. Edward was given men and ships by the Duke of Burgundy and arrived back in England to reclaim his crown in March of 1471. On the 14th April of that year he defeated Warwick’s forces at the Battle of Barnet. On the same day that Warwick met his death at Barnet, Margaret of Anjou landed at Weymouth with her son Edward and a Lancastrian force led by the Duke of Somerset. Learning of Warwick’s defeat, Margaret decided to move north in the hope of linking up with the Earl of Pembroke who had promised to supply her with troops. Edward IV set out from Windsor to meet her and finally caught up with the Lancastrian Army as it halted before attempting to cross the River Severn at Tewkesbury.
The re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury has reached somewhat of a milestone itself. It forms part of the ‘Tewkesbury Medieval Festival’ which is run by the Companions of the Black Bear. The re-creation of the battle has gradually grown from humble beginnings in 1984 to include large living history areas (occupied by approximately 2500 re-enactors), an extensive medieval market and entertainment by the popular German band ‘Schelmish’, amongst others. The town of Tewkesbury welcomes the festival by displaying banners with the coats of arms of some of the participants in the battle and local shopkeepers take part in a tongue-in-cheek exercise whereby the Lord of the Manor extorts taxes from them, under protest of course! On the festival Saturday, the town hosts a re-enactment of the executions of some of the Lancastrian leaders who had sought refuge and asylum in Tewkesbury Abbey after the battle. 15th Century re-enactors from all over Europe attend the festival and its organisers are working hard with a view to establishing it as one of the largest medieval events of its kind in Europe. This year for the first time, the battle itself was run by the ‘Plantagenet Medieval Society’, who took on a major feat of organisation considering the large number of re-enactors taking to the field. The result was a noisy and colourful spectacle which the public obviously enjoyed. The participants also enjoyed what turned out to be a very well co-ordinated re-enactment, giving them to opportunity to commemorate those who fought and died at Tewkesbury. Amanda Ward
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Somerset was an able commander he had met his match in Edward IV. Though
contemporary and later sources differ on exactly what happened, it seems
that an attack by Somerset’s division of battle on Gloucester and Edward’s
divisions faltered when a group of 200 troops which Edward had concealed
in a nearby wooded hill attacked Somerset’s flank and rear. Unsupported
by the rest of the Lancastrian Army, Somerset’s division broke and fled.
The Yorkist King had won the field. Somerset took refuge in Tewkesbury
Abbey and was later executed, Margaret of Anjou was after-wards captured
and her son Edward, the Lancastrian heir to the throne, was killed.
When he returned to London Edward IV ordered the death of Henry VI,
thus ending Lancastrian hopes that would only be revived in 1485, with
the defeat of Richard III and the crowning of Henry Tudor. 