Edgecote Moor July 26th

The 26th of July 1469 saw another battle of the Wars of the Roses at
Edgecote Moor.
This was an odd and complicated affair. Whoever said the Wars of the Roses
were simply Lancaster against York? All the petty squabbling amongst lords
and gentry, often for their own personal reasons, is a theme that runs
throughout the entire period.

As King Edward was about to go of to France, visiting Calais and checking
out his borders with France, he heard of trouble in the north, stirred up,
although the King did not yet know it, by supporters of Warwick, who was
already deep into his plans to take over the throne for George of Clarence
and arranging for the marriage of Isobel to the troublesome duke.
It was at this time that the rumour of Edward¹s illegitimacy again came up,
spread this time by Warwick¹s agents, although is it significant that
Clarence had just spent 4 days in the company of his mother?
The King postponed his trip and marched slowly north to address the
problems, where Warwick¹s man Sir William Conyers had taken the name of
Robin of Redesdale, and called on the king to rid himself of his evil
counsellors, namely the Woodvilles.
In Calais Clarence was married to Warwick¹s daughter Isobel and he issued a
manifesto complaining of Œthe exclusion of the Princes of the blood royal
from the kings secret council¹ and again asked for the removal of the
Woodvilles.
In spite of the presence of the king and his brother Richard, the royal
forces were outnumbered by the northern host, and Edward¹s attempts to raise
troops failed as his 4 year honeymoon with the English people was definitely
over, due mainly to the apparent covetousness of his wife¹s family, and his
seemingly hedonistic lifestyle. In the middle of all this Warwick returned
from Calais, and was welcomed in London before heading north to confront the
King.

In all this confusion, Robin of Redesdale ringed around the King, who was at
Nottingham, and attempted to join Warwick on his way north from London.
BUT he seems to have been unaware that two other forces under William
Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon, were on
their way to meet with the King and were in fact on a collision course with
Robin.
On the evening of the 25th Pmboke and Devon had an argument about the
billeting of their troops, and Devon withdrew his force some miles away.
The next morning the rebels forces attacked Pembroke whose men were at a
disadvantage without Devon¹s archers, and after a decent showing had to
withdraw in the hope that Devon would turn up in time.
Later in the day there was another attack, and when men wearing Warwick¹s
livery arrived to join the rebels, PembrokeŒs men, believing it was
Warwick¹s main army, had no choice but to flee. It is not certain Devon had
even arrived before Pembroke¹s Welshmen turned and ran. Some 2000 Welsh had
died, but so too had Robin of Redesdale, Sir William Conyers. Pembroke and
his brother Sir Richard Hebert were taken prisoner. Conyers brother John,
who was steward of Middleham, became leader of the rebel forces.

Remember the dead.

Warwick was now at Northampton, where the Heberts were brought to him and
executed. Treason without a doubt, the same as the later treason Clarence
would be executed for, that of taking the King¹s powers into his own hands.

When the KingŒs forces heard of the defeat at Edgecote most of Edward¹s
support evaporated, with the notable exceptions of William, Lord Hastings,
and Richard of Gloucester. George Neville came to meet the King and take him
into the ³protective custody³ of his brother Warwick. The two other lords
were allowed to go, Hastings because he was Warwick¹s brother in law, and
Richard because he was only 16 and not thought of as not being of any
importance.
Fortunately for King Edward, this was Warwick¹s big mistake, and it would be
Richard who would rescue his brother and help lead the fight back against
the rebellion.
Three cheers for Richard of Gloucester!
Paul