Towton, battle of

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Towton, battle of, 1461. Towton is unique among British battles, being fought in a blinding snowstorm. It saw the largest armies ever assembled in the country, with more than 50,000 men involved, including most of the nobility. Edward IV, the 19-year-old Yorkist claimant in the Wars of the Roses, was proclaimed king in London early in March 1461 and pursued his adversaries north. Queen Margaret and her hapless husband Henry VI were at York. The armies clashed at Ferrybridge on 28 March and did battle the following day at Towton, 10 miles towards Tadcaster. The slaughter was great and the Lancastrians routed. Henry and his wife fled to Scotland while Edward returned to London to be crowned.

J. A. Cannon