Towton

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

I was surprised to read two articles on the battle of Towton quite recently; I shouldn't be, because only passing reference was made to it in my own history lessons and few know about it. I came upon it later when reading about great battles.

It took place in 1461 between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists as part of the War of the Roses. Towton is a village near the city of York.

It's claim to fame is that it was the bloodiest battle fought on British soil. Casualty figures vary but the bottom line (plus or minus half a brick) is that on that day, 1% of the entire English population died. Put that way, there has never been anything like it before or since, anywhere.

We had another civil war in the 1600's and that was that. I'm glad for civil wars are really nasty.