On This Day In History, April 14th, 1471: The Battle of Barnet

The year of 1471 began much different than the last decade had: instead of the tall, handsome, and young Edward IV on the throne when the New Year rang out among Englishmen, King Henry VI, the unpopular and possibly disabled heir of the legendary King Henry V sat the throne, surrounded by supporters. The House of York was fractured: two of the brothers, King Edward and his youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester found themselves across the narrow sea in Flemish territory, while George, Duke of Clarence rubbed elbows with the faction that had murdered his brother and father back in England. Politics were in an uproar: a deposed king had never been reinstated, and so what decorum would be and how things would be dealt with were unprecedented. Another concern hung in the air: Henry VI was infamous for his bouts of catatonia, and many of those who had dealt with the realm politic during his first bout had since died, leaving the Earl of Warwick the only survivor of the previous schirmish. The future of England was unknown, although there was a glimmer of hope: within the confines of Westminster Abbey, a very pregnant Elizabeth Woodville had taken sanctuary with her daughters and intermediate family, and there had given birth to a son, who was named Edward. It seemed that, although the Lancastrians had succeeded at returning their king to the throne, the victory would be short lived.

In March 1471, Edward and Richard's ships were seen on the horizon near Hull, ready to dock and make their way back to London. Although the landing would prove hazardous (thanks to a crash near Ravenspur), the brothers would arrive rather unscathed. Moving in secret, they eventually returned to London, where Edward met his infant son for the first time. With less than a week to prep, the Yorkists planned to meet the Lancastrian faction at Barnet, north of London, to see who God had ordained as the rightful king. As the day approached, The Yorkists began to march towards their choice of camp, hesitation thick in the air: on the other side was George, the King's brother, and The Earl of Warwick. It was family against family, now; brother against brother. Although a necessary stepping stone towards returning things to the way they had been in 1469, it would be as if ripping off a bandaid, yet worse.

Edward arrived to the encampment on the 13th, and negotiations with the Duke of Clarence began. The brothers had known already the tragedy of losing a brother to war: their 17 year-old brother, Edmund had been captured and beheaded at St. Albans, a little over a decade prior. It could be imagined that the wound was still quite fresh for the princes, still aching in their chests. Thankfully, their attempts to unite the House of York were not in vain: George rejoined the fold last minute, leaving only one enemy: The Earl of Warwick, George's father-in-law. The battle began in the early hours, sometime between 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning. The field was hung with a thick fog, like a funeral shroud. An 18 year old Richard, Duke of Gloucester commanded, alongside the king and William, Earl of Hastings; while the Lancastrians relied on command from the Earls of Warwick, Oxford, and Exeter, as well as Lord Montagu and the Duke of Somerset. The Lancastrian army outnumbered the Yorkists by about 2,000 men, and relied heavily on cannonfire, which proved inaffective in the fog. Once on the field, the visibility was incredibly low, and proved to be a disadvantage to the Yorkist faction, and the left wing collapsed very early into the fight. As the fight waged on, however, the Lancastrians began to suffer similarly as well, and their left wing collapsed. The Duke of Gloucester used the fog to his advantage, however, and with the disadvantage of fighting on a slope, was able to beat off Exeter's forces. Warwick, seeing what Gloucester was doing, decided to fight in the center of the army. Warwick had trained Gloucester when he was a child for combat, so whether this prowess from his young former ward brought either frustration or pride is unknown. Within the disarray of the men mixed with the confusion of the fog, Lord Montagu was struck in the back and killed by an unknown soldier. This sealed the fate of the Lancastrians. Warwick was to be captured alive, and Edward sent a group to retrieve him, but within the fray, he was murdered. Both Montagu and Warwick were amoung 1500 killed that day, including both of The Duke of Gloucester's squires. Yet, the day was a success, and proved a strong message to the Lancastrians that God was on Edward's side. That Sunday was Easter, and according to legend, the statue of St. Anne's cabinet opened, and the statue wept tears of blood. That was also taken as a good omen for the Yorkists. Yet, things would not last: Margaret of Anjou would land at Weymouth with her son, Edward of Westminster, and they would lead a pursuit across the country, which ended at Tewksbury, in the midlands. Yet, that is a post for another day. For more information about the Battle of Barnet, check out here, here, and here. There is also a Barnet museum that can be visited, and they have talks about the battle, as well as the rest of the history of the town. The Battle of Barnet was the beginning of the end for the second part of the Wars of The Roses, and proved Edward to be a capable king. Although it seems to be a footnote, especially in the face of it's successor, The Battle of Tewksbury, it was an important part of history, and changed the trejectory of the Wars of The Roses- forever.