Battle of Lincoln (1141)
Contemporary depiction of the battle from the Historia Anglorum .
| date | February 2, 1141 |
|---|---|
| place | Lincoln , England |
| output | Victory of the rebels |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
House Plantagenet (rebels) |
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 1,250 men | 1,000 men |
| losses | |
|
unknown, King Stephen was taken prisoner |
unknown |
Clitheroe - Standard Battle - Lincoln - Winchester - Oxford - Wilton - Wallingford
The Battle of Lincoln or the First Battle of Lincoln took place on February 2, 1141 as part of the dispute over the succession of the English King Henry I, who died in 1135, during the English Civil War .
Course of the battle
King Stephen's army besieged Lincoln Castle , which was defended by a garrison owned by Earl Ranulphs of Chester . Ranulph asked for help from his father-in-law Robert of Gloucester , the half-brother of Empress Matilda , who marched to Lincoln with Miles de Gloucester and a relief army in late January . At least a third of the fighters are said to have consisted of a terrible Welsh mob who supported Ranulph and were led by the kings Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd , Madog ap Maredudd of Powys and Morgan ab Owain of Caerleon . Stephen, who was supported by the Earls of Richmond , Norfolk , Huntingdon , Surrey , Worcester and York, and William of Ypres , went to meet the relief army in front of the city.
While the heavily armed knights of the Earl of York were able to bring down the lightly armed Welsh on the wing, the mounted knights of the royal army were put to flight by the knights of the Earl of Chester. The dismounted fighting king was now enclosed on all sides with his contingent and had to surrender after a brave fight, the Earl of Richmond was also taken prisoner. The city of Lincoln, whose citizens had supported the king, was sacked by the victors.
The captured king was taken to Bristol prison. However, the Empress's party could not use their victory to victoriously end the Civil War, as Robert of Gloucester was captured at the Battle of Winchester in September . Matilda exchanged her half-brother for the king, so the fighting continued.
literature
- David Crouch: The Reign of King Stephen, 1135-1154. Longman, 2000, ISBN 0-582-22658-9 , pp. 139 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Crouch: The March and the Welsh Kings. In: Edmund King: The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 0-19-820364-0 , p. 277.
Coordinates: 53 ° 14 ′ 6 ″ N , 0 ° 32 ′ 19 ″ W.