Since the wars went on for decades, a soldier could see his son go off to fight in another battle against the same enemy he'd fought himself years before. The wars wrecked havoc for decades to come, just based on how many Englishmen died in early adulthood. The graves around Towton show just how many men died at fairly young ages. Many soldiers were killed even as they fled the field.Īccording to the bill of attainder drawn up after Towton, it's clear that most of the commoners who fought came from the north, though some came from farther away, such as Hertfordshire (via History Today). Eventually, however, the Lancastrian troops folded.

The two armies fought hard for most of the day, around 10 hours, neither gaining ground (via History Today). Edward IV was 18 and ready to follow in his father's footsteps in dethroning the current Lancastrian king, Henry VI. Between 50,000 to 65,000 soldiers met each other on a field near Towton and Saxton on a snowy Palm Sunday of 1461, according to Historic UK.

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