Battle of Northampton

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Battle of Northampton
date July 10, 1460
place Northampton , England
output Victory of the house of York
Parties to the conflict

Yorkshire rose.svg York House

Red Rose Badge of Lancaster.svg Lancaster house

Commander

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick

Henry VI. , Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham

Troop strength
20,000-30,000 men 10,000-15,000 men
losses

unknown

300 dead

The Battle of Northampton took place on July 10, 1460 and was a decisive turning point in the Wars of the Roses in favor of the House of York . In the battle, the royal troops of Henry VI faced each other . from the House of Lancaster and the troops of the House of York under Commanders Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury opposite. The battle ended with a victory for the House of York and the death of important representatives of the House of Lancaster.

Historical background

The Yorkists seemed to be finished after the disaster at the Ludford Bridge . Some of the Yorkist commanders, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and the eldest son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York , Eduard, Earl of March , reached Calais on November 2nd, 1459, where Warwick met his uncle Lord Fauconberg . Meanwhile, York and his second eldest son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland , retired to safe Ireland.

On the English mainland, the Lancastrians took advantage of the Yorkists' escape; the Earl of Wiltshire was made Lieutenant of Ireland ; and Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset , became Captain of Calais. However, none of them could occupy and carry out his office, since Ireland and Calais did not accept them.

The Lancastrians gave Somerset an army to storm Calais, but first they had to cross the channel, which is why the construction of a fleet in Sandwich ( Kent ) was started. In May Warwick crossed the canal again and destroyed the new fleet there. Warwick left his uncle in Sandwich with a small band of Yorkists in what would serve as the cornerstone of his planned invasion of England.

Course of the battle

On June 26, Warwick, Salisbury and Eduard landed in Sandwich with 2,000 armed men. The King and Queen were in Coventry with a small army . Warwick entered London on July 2nd with an army of about 20,000 to 30,000 men .

The royal army took a defensive position at Northampton , behind them was the River Nene , on the banks of which there were water-filled trenches with spikes erected. The army was about 10,000 to 15,000 men strong. The Lancastrians also had a greater number of field guns.

As he approached, Warwick sent an ambassador to negotiate with the king in his stead. The Lancastrian Commander, the Duke of Buckingham, replied: "The Earl of Warwick shall not come into the presence of the King or he will die." While Warwick was approaching Northampton, he was refused entry to the King twice more. Once in position, he sent the message: "At two o'clock I will speak to the king or I will die."

At two o'clock the Yorkists moved ahead. The men were in a column, but the strong wind and rain hindered them. When they got together with the Lancastrians, Warwick was struck by a hail of arrows but was glad the rain prevented the use of cannons.

When Warwick reached the right flank of the Lancastrians, which was led by Lord Gray of Ruthin , betrayal ensued: Gray had his men lay down their arms and thus the Yorkists had access to the camp beyond. This was a hard blow to the Lancaster army: the battle that followed lasted only 30 minutes. The defenders, unable to maneuver the complex, fled the field when their lines were overrun by the Yorkists.

The commander of the royal troops, Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham , and the Earl of Shrewsbury , and Lords Egremont and Beaumont all died trying to protect King Henry from the advancing Yorkists. A total of three hundred Lancastrians were slain in battle. The king was taken prisoner.

Effects of the battle

With the victory in the Battle of Northampton, the House of York again exerted a strong influence on Henry VI's government. out. Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, was also able to return to England from his exile in Ireland.

literature

  • Philip A. Haigh: Military campaigns of the Wars of the Roses. A. Sutton, Far Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire 1995.
  • John A. Wagner: Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses . ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California 2001, ISBN 1-85109-358-3 .
  • Alison Weir: Lancaster and York. The Wars of the Roses . Jonathan Cape, London 1995, ISBN 0-224-03834-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John A. Wagner: Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses . ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California 2001, ISBN 1-85109-358-3 , pp. 190-191.

Coordinates: 52 ° 14 '12 "  N , 0 ° 53' 36.8"  W.