Battle of Edgcote, The - 1469

In July 1469 two armies, one drawn from Wales and the West Country, and the other from the North of England, faced each other across Danes Moor, outside the small village of Edgcote (or Edgecote) in south Northamptonshire. The North men were marching to meet Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, who, impatient with his waning influence with King Edward IV, had decided on drastic measures to regain his power. The Welsh and West Country men were loyal to their King, and had been summoned to his aid. Meeting by chance the armies clashed bloodily in the green Northamptonshire countryside.

Historical accounts of the battle are full of exciting characters, misdeeds, betrayals and bloody retribution. One of the 15th century's most overlooked and misunderstood battles, Edgcote had a long lasting impact in both England and Wales. The campaign ended with the King a prisoner, large numbers of the Welsh nobility dead and Warwick "The Kingmaker" apparently holding the reins of power. Warwick’s failure to drive home his advantage over his captive monarch would lead to the re-igniting of the Wars of the Roses and ultimately to the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.

This new study from the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society looks at the key aspects of the campaign and the battle, taking a fresh look at the evidence to determine where and when the armies fought, how large the armies were and the actual course of the battle. Working with experts in Welsh poetry and drawing on a completely new translation of one of the key contemporary sources, this book throws new light on all of the major aspects of the campaign and battle.