{"id":3591,"date":"2018-06-24T11:25:41","date_gmt":"2018-06-24T11:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=3591"},"modified":"2018-06-24T19:29:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-24T19:29:12","slug":"battle-of-stoke-field","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/british-history\/wars-of-the-roses\/battle-of-stoke-field\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of Stoke Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Battle of Stoke Field is considered to be the final battle of the Wars of the Roses<\/a>. It took place between the army of King Henry VII and diehard Yorkists in 1487. The rebels were defeated in a pitched battle. Following this there were threats to Henry’s new Tudor dynasty but not in the form of battle or war.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Lambert<\/a>
Lambert Simnel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

In context: Where does the Battle of Stoke Field fit in with the wider conflict of the Wars of the Roses?<\/h2>\n

Richard III<\/a> had been killed two years earlier at the Battle of Bosworth<\/a>. With Henry, Earl of Richmond<\/a>, being crowned straight away and marrying Elizabeth of York, rival claims may appear implausible. That wasn’t the case though. While Henry had gained much support from disaffected Yorkists, some still harboured hopes of alternative candidates gaining the crown. With the whereabouts or fate of the Princes in the Tower being assumed or guessed at, there was little certainty as to anybody’s legitimacy. This lent itself to the use of imposters. One such imposter was Lambert Simnel who it was claimed was Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, the son of the Duke of Clarence. The Earl of Lincoln presented Simnel as Edward. The young boy was whisked to Dublin where there were a number of exiled Yorkist loyalists and promptly proclaimed to be king and crowned. Lincoln intended this to act as a beacon for all those disaffected by the Tudor usurpation.<\/p>\n

Preparations for the Battle of Stoke Field<\/h2>\n

Richard III<\/a> had been very popular in the North of England. The Earl of Lincoln had taken on Richard’s roles in the region following Richard’s accession. Lincoln knew that there would be sympathy for a rebellion in large parts of Yorkshire. Simnel, as a passed off member of the House of York, with Lincoln vouching for him, would draw a large following.<\/p>\n

In Dublin the Yorkist rebels assembled an army. Some 1000 heavily armoured mercenaries from Germany were hired under the command of\u00a0Colonel, Martin Schwartz. The Irish, particularly around Dublin in the area known as the Pale, had been governed by Richard, Duke of York. It was an area in which his leadership had gained the Yorkists a lot of respect. 4500 Irish joined the Yorkist cause.<\/p>\n

On 4th June 1487 the Yorkist force landed in Lancashire. They had initial successes in skirmishes in Lancashire and began to march south.<\/p>\n

The Battle of Stoke Field<\/h2>\n

The two sides met at East Stoke, Nottinghamshire, on 16th June 1487. The Yorkists were commanded by the Earl of Lincoln and Lord Lovell. The Royal army was commanded by the Earl of Oxford, Jasper Tudor the Duke of Bedford and King Henry VII.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Royal army placed the Earl of Oxford as the vanguard, as he had been at Bosworth. Jasper Tudor commanded the reserve and Henry VII and his command were behind these. Oxford ordered the archers of the Royal army to loose on the Yorkist lines. As many of the irish soldiers had little armour this proved quite devastating. It forced the yorkists to assault Oxford’s line.<\/p>\n

The Yorkist army outnumbered the Royal vanguard led by Oxford. In a situation not dissimilar to that at Bosworth the outcome of this first clash lay in the balance. Here though, the Royal army had not only the better trained forces but substantially more of them: 15000 to the Yorkists 8000. After around 3 hours of fighting the Yorkist line gave way.<\/p>\n

The Royalists were able to chase down many of the rebel army and killed around 4000 of them either in battle or as they fled. Around 1000 of the Royal army had been killed.<\/p>\n

These numbers of dead are very high. Few battles on English soil have numbered this many dead. Of the battles of the Wars of the Roses<\/a> only the Battle of Towton<\/a> stands out as having significantly more: and that battle stands out against any battle fought on English soil.<\/p>\n