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Battle of Barnet

Coordinates: 51°39′44.04″N 0°12′0.14″W / 51.6622333°N 0.2000389°W / 51.6622333; -0.2000389
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Battle of Barnet
Part of the Wars of the Roses

Late 15th-century atristic portrayal of the battle: Edward IV (left), wearing a circlet, leads the Yorkist charge and pierces with his lance, the Earl of Warwick (right).
Date14 April 1471
Location
North of Barnet, England
Result Yorkist victory
Belligerents
House of York House of Lancaster
Commanders and leaders
Edward IV of England Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
Strength
7,000–15,000 10,000–30,000
Casualties and losses
Approx. 500 Approx. 1,000

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Battle of Barnet is located in England
Barnet
Barnet
Edgecote
Edgecote
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Losecoat
Losecoat
Hexham
Hexham
Hedgeley
Hedgeley
Bosworth
Bosworth
St. Albans
St. Albans
London
London
Coventry
Coventry
Northumberland
Northumberland
St Michael's Mount
St Michael's Mount
Ravenspurn
Ravenspurn
Weymouth
Weymouth
Salisubury
Salisubury
York
York
Calais
Calais
class=notpageimage|
Locations mentioned in this article:
– Battle of Barnet; – other battles; – other places

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The Battle of Barnet took place just north of the English town on 14 April 1471. Edward IV of the House of York won this encounter, defeating Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, who was leading the forces of the House of Lancaster. The Yorkist victory, along with their triumph at the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured Edward's reign over England, bringing about fourteen years of Yorkist rule. The battle is regarded by historians as one of the most important military engagements in the Wars of the Roses, having brought about a decisive turn in the fortunes of the two royal houses involved. It was also an engagement in which each side was fighting for their recognised King of England, both of whom were on the same battlefield.

Formerly a key figure in the Yorkist cause, Warwick defected to the enemy due to disagreements over Edward's secret marriage and nepotism. Leading a Lancastrian army, the earl defeated his former allies, forcing Edward to flee to Burgundy. The Yorkist king persuaded his host, Charles the Bold, to help him gain back the English throne. Leading an army raised with Burgundian money, Edward launched his invasion of England, which culminated at the fields north of Barnet, a town on the outskirts of London. In the dark of the night, the Yorkists snuck close to the Lancastrians, and clashed in a thick fog at dawn. While the Lancastrian left flank and centre were engaged in a long, hard battle, its right flank, under John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, routed its opposing group. Oxford pulled his men back from looting their fallen enemies and returned to the battle. However, reduced visibility due to the fog caused their fellow Lancastrians, commanded by John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu, to mistake them to be Edward's men. Shot by Montagu's archers, Oxford and his men accused his erring allies of treachery and fled. Their cries of treason spread among the Lancastrians, disrupting their morale and losing them the battle. While attempting to retreat, Warwick was set upon by Yorkist soldiers and killed.

Edward's victory proved crucial in securing his throne. Warwick had been such an influential figure in 15th-century English politics that on his death, no one else could match Edward in terms of power and popularity. Deprived of Warwick's support, Margaret of Anjou had to face the Yorkists on near equal terms at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Her defeat marked the end of the House of Lancaster and started the ascendancy of the House of York. Three centuries after the Battle of Barnet was fought, a stone obelisk was raised, on the spot where Warwick purportedly died, to commemorate the event.

Background

In 1469, the Wars of the Roses, an English civil war between various lords and nobles in the causes for two royal families, reached a milestone; the House of York supplanted its rival, the House of Lancaster, as the leading family of royals in England. Edward IV occupied the throne, after usurping Henry VI who became a prisoner in the Tower of London. Major Lancastrian supporters followed their queen, Margaret of Anjou, and prince, Edward of Lancaster, in exile to France, while Edward's supporters, such as his chief adviser Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick, consolidated their gains and enjoyed the fruits of their victories.[1] The Yorkist king, however, was not governing to Warwick's liking and their relationship grew strained.[2]

Against the earl's wishes, Edward secretly married Elizabeth Woodville and started to bestow gifts on her relatives. Warwick felt marginalised; his influence over the young king seemed to have been lost. The earl decided to resort to any means to make Edward compliant with his wishes.[3] He was initially successful; after winning the Battle of Edgecote Moor on 26 July 1469, the earl found the Yorkist king deserted by his followers, and brought him to Warwick Castle for "protection".[4] Lancastrian supporters took advantage of Edward's imprisonment to stage uprisings, and because most Yorkist-aligned warlords refused to rally to Warwick's call, the earl was pressured to release their liege.[5] Back in power, Edward did not openly pursue Warwick's transgressions against him, but the earl suspected the king held a grudge. When Edward went north to put down an uprising—the Battle of Losecoat Field—on 12 March 1470, Warwick seized the chance to flee to France.[fn 1] In a deal brokered by the French king Louis XI, the earl submitted to Margaret and joined her cause. Warwick invaded England at the head of a Lancastrian army and forced Edward to seek refuge in Burgundy. Rule over England was restored to Henry VI.[7] It was temporary; on 14 March 1471, Edward brought an army back across the English Channel, precipitating the Battle of Barnet a month later.[8]

Commanders

The Wars of the Roses were contested by English lords in the causes of the houses of York and Lancaster. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York was disgruntled with Henry VI's favouritism towards Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, whom Plantagenet considered incompetent. When York waged war to coerce Henry to remove Somerset from power, the warlords mostly took sides for personal interests rather than out of loyalty for a particular house.[9] Traditionally, nobles were typically taken prisoner in the battles for ransom. The Wars of the Roses, however, saw executions of several such prisoners in the name of family feuds, perpetrating further oaths of vengeance to be sworn on the battlefields. The dukes of York and Somerset were slain, and their bitter sons and followers continued the war.[10]

Yorkist

In most of his battles, King Edward IV personally led the Yorkist forces from the front. Standing more than 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, he was an inspiring figure in combat, hewing his foes while wearing his suit of gilded armour. Medieval texts describe the king as a handsome physical specimen, finely muscled with a broad chest. He was personable and had charisma to charm and win people to his cause.[11] Edward is recognised by most historians as a capable tactician and leader in battles.[12] Several times, he spotted and exploited defensive frailties in the enemies' lines to claim victory.[13] By the time before the Battle of Barnet, the young king was highly respected field commander.[14] Edward's good looks, considerate personality, financial accountability, and capable rulership made him a popular ruler among the commoners and merchants, especially when compared to Henry VI.[15]

Standing on Edward's side were his brothers, Richard, Duke of Glouchester, and George, Duke of Clarence. Unlike his eldest brother, Glouchester was thin and slim. He was eighteen years old, and the battle would be his first major engagement. His military prowess, however, was well spoken of; he was judged by historians to be at the least a capable warrior and military leader.[13] Clarence was not as well regarded as his brothers were, especially in the matters of loyalty. He initially participated in Warwick's schemes, marrying the earl's daughter, Isabella, and thinking that he would gain his brother's throne. When Warwick defected to the Lancastrians and married off his other daughter, Anne, to their prince to cement his new allegiance, Clarence lost faith in the earl and quickly took the opportunity to seek Edward's forgiveness and rejoin the Yorkists.[16] The last of the Yorkist commanders was Lord William Hastings, a loyal subject since the start of the wars. Hastings has followed Edward through thick and thin, accompanying the young king in exile and supporting him in his return. The courtier was rewarded for his faithfulness, gaining the lieutenancy of Calais in 1471, and becoming Edward's lord chamberlain and main confidant.[17]

Lancastrian

Originally a trusted Yorkist, the Earl of Warwick fought for the house since the early stages of the Wars of the Roses and alongside Edward IV in many of the battles. The earl's victories—political and military—and his popularity with the commoners made him an important figure in the history of England;[18] he could decide who would be made the king, earning him the moniker "the Kingmaker". Initially described as a military genius, by the 20th century, military historians were re-evaluating his tactical acumen; Phillip Haigh suspects that the earl owes some of his acclaimed victories, such as the First Battle of St Albans, more to being in the right place at the right time than to military brilliance.[19] Christopher Gravett said the earl was too defensive and lacked flexibility in thought.[20] After forcing the Lancastrians out of England, Warwick planned for Edward to marry a French princess to create an alliance between the two countries. The young Yorkist king, however, favoured ties with Charles the Bold of Burgundy, and further incurred the wrath of his chief adviser by secretly marrying Elizabeth Woodville; as a Lancastrian widow and a commoner, she was regarded by the Yorkists to be unsuitable as their queen.[21] At her prodding, Edward bestowed gifts of land and titles to her relations and married them off to the most eligible men and women in England. Warwick was threatened by these acts; his daughters' marriage prospects were narrowed down, and the lands he desired were given to the Woodvilles.[22] Finding Edward less and less receptive to his words, the earl decided to place a more malleable king on the throne. Clarence, his first target, joined his rebellion on that promise. When Warwick's plot was exposed, he was forced to flee to France. Bereft of choices, he agreed to submit to Margaret in an attempt to regain his lands and offices in exchange for absolute fealty to the Lancastrian royalty.[23]

The Earl of Warwick prepares for the battle in this diorama at Warwick Castle.

John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu was less ambitious than his brother, Warwick, but a more capable warrior and tactician; in April and May 1464, as a knight without lands and the commander of a Yorkist army, he turned the tables on a Lancastrian ambush in the Battle of Hedgeley Moor and launched a surprise attack of his own in the Battle of Hexham.[20] These victories capped Neville's long service in the north, and Edward rewarded him with the earldom of Northumberland, which bore substantial income.[24] This was a particularly gratifying reward for Neville; his family had a deep feud with the former Earls of Northumberland, the Percys, who were loyal Lancastrian supporters. Loyal to the Yorkist cause since the start of the Wars of the Roses, Neville stayed true to Edward IV when Warwick rebelled and fled to France. In a bid to win over the Percys' support, Edward reinstated Henry Percy to the earldom of Northumberland. As recompense, Neville received the grander title of Marquess of Montagu; however, no lands accompanied the rank and he was left poorer in income.[25] The new Marquess saw it as an insult—a substanceless title that was an inadequate recognition for his long-standing loyalty.[26] As such, when Warwick invaded England in the Lancastrian cause, Montagu joined him.[27]

Not much is known about the early history of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford; the chronicles mentioned little about him until the events before the Battle of Losecoat Field. His father, the previous earl and a loyal Lancastrian, was executed for a failed plot to assassinate Edward IV. The Yorkist king tried to secure the loyalty of the 13th Earl of Oxford by marrying Warwick's sister to him. It was to no avail; Oxford remained true to the Lancastrian crown and participated in Warwick's machinations to dethrone Edward.[28] The young Earl of Oxford is credited by historians to be a capable military leader, exemplified by his conduct in the Battle of Barnet. Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, was cruel and vicious, and fierce in combat.[29] He bore a long grudge with Warwick, stemming from 1457 when the earl replaced him as the Lord High Admiral.[30] In October 1458, he ambushed Warwick, forcing him to take refuge at Calais.[31] Nonetheless, when Warwick joined the Lancastrians, Margaret assigned Exeter to the earl's command for the invasion of England. Although he supported the Lancastrian cause, Exeter was husband to Anne of York, sister of Edward; hence, he had family ties to the House of York.[32]

The Dukes of Somerset were prominent Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses; the conflict partly started because the 1st Duke of Somerset incurred the Duke of York's wrath.[9] In the First Battle of St Albans, Warwick snuck his men past the Lancastrian defence and struck from behind, achieving victory for the Yorkists. Somerset was cornered and killed near the end of the battle.[33] The Beauforts blamed his death on the earl and swore revenge. The 4th Duke of Somerset was also named Edmund Beaufort and one of Margaret's trusted men. Somerset was listed in early chronicles as a participant in the Battle of Barnet; however, this has been disputed. When the Lancastrians took back England, Warwick tasked Somerset to watch over Henry VI in London. Several chroniclers said that Somerset left London to welcome Margaret in the south,[34] and that he was in Salisbury on the day of the battle, trying to recruit the town's men for the Lancastrian cause.[35] Due to the Beaufort-Neville family feud, Somerset would not willingly subordinate himself to Warwick in the field, and would rather go to the direct aid of his queen and her army.[36] Therefore, he was unlikely to have fought at Barnet.

Pre-battle

On 14 March 1471, Edward's fledgling army landed at Ravenspurn. Gathering more men as they went, the Yorkists moved inland, heading towards the town of York. Edward's march was unopposed at the beginning; he was moving through lands that belonged to the Percys, and the Earl of Northumberland was indebted to the Yorkist king for the return of his northern territory. Furthermore, Edward announced that he was back only to claim his father's title of Duke of York and not to contest for the English crown.[37] The ruse was successful; Montagut, who was monitoring Edward's march, could not convince his men to move against the Yorkist king.[38]

Once Edward's force had gathered sufficient strength, he dropped the ruse and headed south towards London. Fighting off Exeter's and Oxford's harassing attacks, he besieged Warwick at Coventry, hoping to engage the earl in a final battle. Although Warwick had more men than Edward's army, he refused the challenge. The earl was waiting for the arrival of Clarence, who had told him to wait so that their combined strength would overwhelm the Yorkists. Edward turned away with his men, but returned, accompanied by Clarence's troops.[39] The royal brothers had reconciled, and Edward sent Clarence to parlay for Warwick's surrender. Infuriated with his son-in-law's treachery, Warwick refused to speak to Clarence. Sensing that the earl was not going to offer battle at this time, Edward pulled his army away and advanced on London.[40]

The nobles of this period were attired in armour similar to the one as pictured.[41]

Reinforced by Montagu, Oxford, and Exeter a few days later, Warwick followed the Yorkists' trail.[42] He hoped that London, under Somerset's control, would close its gates to Edward, allowing him to catch the Yorkist army in the open. The city, however, welcomed Edward warmly; Somerset had left the city, and the London populace preferred the young and dashing Yorkist king to the dotard Henry VI.[43][44] Lancastrian scouts probed Barnet, which laid in the outskirts of London, but were beaten off. Their main army took up positions on a ridge of high ground north of Barnet to prepare for battle the next day. Warwick arrayed his army in a line from east to west, on either side of the Great North Road that ran through Barnet.[45] Oxford held the right flank and Exeter the left. Montagu commanded the centre, and Warwick planned to dictate the battle from among the reserves.[46] The earl decided to displace his entire line slightly to the west; a depression at the rear of his left flank could impede Exeter's group if they had to fall back.[47]

Warwick's army heavily outnumbered Edward's; the numbers reported by the sources differ, the Lancastrian strength ranges from 10,000 to 30,000 men, and 7,000 to 15,000 for the Yorkists.[48][49][50] Facing a numerical disadvantage, Edward hurried to meet the Lancastrians, planning to catch Warwick in a surprise attack.[48] He brought Henry VI along to prevent the Lancastrians from retaking their king. The Yorkist reached Barnet near the evening and without knowing the precise deployment of his foes, Edward prepared his battle line in anticipation for the next day's battle.[51] The Yorkist king deployed Hastings on the left and entrusted Glouchester to lead the right flank. Clarence would fight alongside Edward in the centre, although this was not due to faith in his ability; it was easier for the Yorkists to keep an eye on their twice-defected prince there. A contigent of reserves was kept at the rear, ready to deploy at Edward's call.[52] Henry VI was left with a contingent of guards among the reserves.[53] As night fell, Edward put his plan for a morning surprise attack in motion; under a strict order of silence, the Yorkist army crept closer to the Lancastrians.[54] In the pitch-black night, neither commander spotted the opposing army, the results of which proved crucial in the battle the next day.[45][55]

During the night, Warwick ordered his cannons to bombard the estimated position of the Lancastrians encampment continually. The Yorkists, however, had sneaked in close, and the Lancastrian artillery overshot their enemies while the Yorkist cannon kept quiet. Edward did not want to betray his army's location to Warwick with their muzzle flashes.[45] As the armies settled down to rest for the next day's battle, Montagu approached his brother and advised him of the low morale of their men. He suggested that, as the highest-ranking commanders, the brothers should fight on foot throughout the battle instead of riding on horse and dismounting to engage in melee. Montagu believed that by staying on foot, they would give the impression that they would not abandon the men for an easy retreat, thus inspiring the Lancastrians to stand and fight harder. Warwick agreed and the horses were tethered to the rear, near the woods.[56]

Fighting in the mist

Early battle: Oxford led the Lancastrian right wing to outflank the Yorkist's left and routed it southwards. Glouchester, likewise, attacked the Lancastrian's left.

At around 4 o'clock in the morning, both armies woke to prepare for the battle. Edward, however, had planned for an early attack, and quickly roused his men to organise themselves and rush forth to engage the Lancastrians.[48] Both sides fired their cannon and arrows at each other before laying into each other with swords and axes. The morning fog was thick and the night movements of the two forces had displaced them laterally with each other. No longer, was each opposing group facing the other directly; they were slightly offset to their right. This displacement meant that the right end of either army could outflank the other by wrapping around the left end of the opposing force. The Lancastrians were the first to exploit this advantage. Oxford's group quickly overwhelmed Hastings' and broke them. Yorkist soldiers fled towards Barnet, chased by the Lancastrians. Some of Hastings' men reached even London, spreading tales of the fall of York and a Lancastrian victory. Oxford's group disintegrated as they split off to loot the fallen enemies and plunder Barnet.[57] Yelling and chasing after his men, Oxford rallied 800 of them and led them back to rejoin the combat.[48]

Due to the fog, visibility was low and the two forces failed to notice Oxford's crushing victory over Hastings. As such, the collapse of the Yorkist left wing had little or no effect on the morale of either force.[48] The battle fought between Warwick's and Edward's groups was even and intense, but on the Yorkist right wing, due to the flanking advantage similar to that of Oxford over Hastings, Glouchester was beating back Exeter.[52] Edward's brother, however, was ascending a slight slope as he engaged Exeter.[58] Nonetheless, the pressure exerted by him on the Lancastrian left wing slowly rotated the entire battle line. Warwick, seeing the shift, ordered most of his reserves to help ease the pressure off Exeter, and took the rest into the fighting at the centre.[52] Gradually, the battle line settled to an orientation that slanted north-east to south-west.[59]

Late battle: as the fighting continued, the battle line rotated, and Oxford returned to a line that was oriented mostly north-east to south-west.

Oxford retraced his steps through the fog back to the fight. His group arrived at Montagut's rear, a direction that the Lancastrians did not expect their allies to come from.[60] Obscured by the fog, Oxford's "star with rays" badge was mistaken by Montagut's men to be Edward's "sun in splendour".[61] They erringly assumed their returning allies to be Edward's reserves and unleashed a volley of arrows. Oxford and his men immediately cried treachery; as staunch Lancastrians, they were wary of Montagut's recent defection. They struck back and started to withdraw from the battle. Their shouts of treason were taken up and spread quickly throughout the Lancastrian line, breaking it apart as men started to flee in anger, panic, and confusion. As the fog started to dissipate, Edward saw the Lancastrian centre in disarray and sent in his reserves, hastening its collapse. Cries of Exeter's demise from a Yorkist axe resounded across the battlefield from the Lancastrian left, and amidst the confusion, Montagut was struck in his back and killed by either a Yorkist or one of Oxford's men.[62]

Witnessing his brother's death, Warwick knew the battle was lost and started to retreat, making for Wrotham Wood where the horses were tethered.[63] Edward recognised his victory was at hand, and deciding that Warwick was more valuable alive than dead, passed the order to bring back the earl alive and dispatched his guards to do so.[56] Several chroniclers have suggested that the king thought Warwick would again prove to be a valuable ally if persuaded back to the Yorkist cause. Historian Michael Hicks suggests that Edward wanted to capture the earl for public execution, rather than for any mercy on his part.[64] Regardless of the king's intent, other Yorkist soldiers, who might not have yet heard of the order, found the Lancastrian commander first. They pulled Warwick down, prised open his visor, and killed him with a stab through the side of his neck. Edward's guards found Warwick's corpse, mutilated and stripped of his richly gilded armour.[56]

Post-battle

1885 lithograph portraying the rout of Warwick's forces

The battle lasted two to three hours and was over by the time the fog lifted in the early morn. As usual in most battles of the time, the routed army suffered the most casualties; fleeing men were cut down from the back by their pursuers. Casualty figures for both sides vary from 1,500 to 10,000.[65] The Yorkists' casualties numbered to half the figure suffered by the Lancastrians. Military historians Alison Weir and Trevor Royle favour the recorded approximate figures of 500 Yorkists and 1,000 Lancastrians dead.[66][67]

The bodies of the two Neville brothers were brought back to London. They did not suffer the customary fate accorded to traitors—quartering and display at the city gates. Edward exhibited the brothers' naked corpses in St. Paul's Cathedral for three days to quell any rumours that they had survived, before allowing them to be properly laid to rest in the family vault at Bisham Abbey.[68]

Although he had defeated the Neville brothers, Edward had little time to rest; Margaret had landed at Weymouth on the day the battle was fought, and feigning a march to London, was augmenting her army with recruits from Wales and the Welsh Marches.[69] Alerted by his spies of the Lancastrians' true route, Edward intercepted and engaged them in the Battle of Tewkesbury. Glouchester, Clarence, and Hastings again fought alongside Edward to help him defend his crown.[70]

Exeter had been stripped of his armour and left for dead on the battlefield at Barnet; however, he was only gravely injured. After the battle, his followers found and took him away, leaving him at Westminster Abbey to recuperate. On his recovery, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for four years before submitting to Edward's rule.[71] Exeter never participated in the later battles of the Wars of the Roses. Edward sent him on a Yorkist expedition to France in 1475, and the duke was reported to have fallen overboard and drowned without any witnesses. A Milanese envoy, Giovanni Pannicharola, claimed to have been told by Charles that Exeter's death was ordered by the English king.[72]

After withdrawing from the battle, Oxford fled to France and partook in piracy of English ships, continuing his campaign against Yorkist reign. He was eventually captured in 1473 after conquering St Michael's Mount, an island off the south-west coast of England. Twelve years later, Oxford escaped his prison and joined Henry Tudor's fight against the Yorkists, commanding Tudor's archers at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.[73]

Legacy

The Battle of Barnet was an important engagement in the Wars of the Roses: it brought about the death of a prominent figure,[fn 2] and secured the throne for another. Furthermore, it was a battle that was fought by two sides for the individual causes of two recognised Kings of England; Warwick was fighting for a ruler he had dethroned but reinstated, and against another he had helped to seize the throne but later deposed. Despite its seeming importance, there is a lack of coverage in contemporary records about the encounter.[75] The sole eyewitness account—The Arrivall of Edward IV—was written by a Yorkist supporter, likely Nicholas Harpfield, presenting a biased account of the battle.[76] Other records, such as The Warkworth Chronicle, gave only bits and pieces about the battle. As such, gaps remain in the recounting of the battle, and have to be filled through field research and discoveries of medieval documents.[77] Historians theorised that had Warwick's force joined Margaret's before challenging Edward, the combined Lancastrian army would have overwhelmed the Yorkists and brought about a different English history. Instead, Warwick's defeat gave the Yorkist a victory so decisive that it, along with the Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the English throne for Edward IV. Without having to contend with Warwick's popularity and political influence, the young Yorkist king could fully exert his will and rule the land unchallenged.[78] Ballads composed during Edward's reign eulogised his victory as that sanctioned by a higher spiritual being.[79]

Shakespearian dramatisation

Henry VI, Part 3: Warwick, dying at the Battle of Barnet, speaks his last words.

The battle is alluded to in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 3, Act 5, Scenes I to III, as the play's third major battle.[80] The end of Scene I enacts the events that led to the battle, and Scene II and III portray the conclusion, having the characters speak of the combat and the fates of its participants. Shakespeare ("The Bard") used few details reported by contemporary chroniclers that were historical in nature, ignoring several others, such as the confusion over Oxford's and Edward's badges that influenced the outcome.[81] His play was mostly based on settings that were more poetic and dramatic, enhanced by artistic licenses. In the play, Montagu was killed while trying to save his brother (a version that has its roots in Edward Hall's 1548 The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrate Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke),[82] and Warwick was dragged in by Edward IV and left to speak his dying words to Oxford and Somerset.[83] Furthermore, whereas Edward was mentioned in several chronicles to desire Warwick's capture, Shakespeare cast the Yorkist king to demand lustily for Warwick's skin.[82] The Bard cast the Neville brothers as a contrast for the widening divide of loyalties amongst the Yorkists. He marked Montagu's and Warwick's strong brotherly bond with their joint deaths in the battle, whereas the royal brothers—Edward, Glouchester, and Clarence—slowly reveal underlying resentments towards one another due to personality and ideological differences.[84] From a theological viewpoint, Professor of English John Cox suggested that Shakespeare did not share the impression given in post-battle ballads that Edward's triumph was sanctioned by a higher supernatural being. The professor viewed the Bard's placement of Clarence's last act of betrayal immediately before the battle as a suggestion that Edward's rule come about from his military aggression, luck, and "policy".[85]

Battlefield

Hadley Highstone, Monken Hadley: an obelisk erected to mark the battle and the spot where the Kingmaker died

The English Heritage has reported the battlefield as lying a mile or half-mile north of the town Barnet. Over the centuries, much of the terrain had changed, and records of the town boundaries and geography were not detailed enough for the historical body or other historians to conclude the exact location of the battle. Geographical features, roughly corresponding to contemporary descriptions, allow approximate gauging of where the engagement had taken place.[fn 3] The English Heritage suggests that a 15th-century letter from a Hanseatic merchant, Gerhard von Wessel, helps to identify the battlefield by geological comparison. The "broad green" mentioned in the letter corresponds to Hadley Green, and the marsh on the right flank of the Yorkist line is likely to be in the valley of the Monken Mead brook. The letter also mentions St Albans road, which has largely remained the same, winding through the fields. Urbanisation over the 18th and 19th centuries, however, has populated much of the area with buildings and amenities. By the 20th century, the Monken Hadley suburb covers part of the fields where the Battle of Barnet had been fought. A hedge in the local golf course, as suggested by Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred H. Burne, is likely the row of shrubs, behind which Oxford's men lined up and took cover.[47] In 1740, Sir Jeremy Sambroke erected an obelisk about 200 metres south of the junction between the Great North Road and Kitts End Road to commemorate the battle. It was later moved to just north of the junction, on the grass between the two roads. Known as the Hadley Highstone, it stands 18 feet tall and marks its location with the inscription:[87]

Here was fought the Famous Battle Between Edward the 4th and the Earl of Warwick April the 14th ANNO 1471 in which the Earl was Defeated And Slain.[46]

Footnotes

  1. ^ This rebellion was actually engineered by Warwick to replace King Edward IV with the Duke of Clarence.[6]
  2. ^ Warwick Castle was classified as a national monument and converted to a tourist attraction in the 20th century. One of its major exhibits, "Kingmaker—A Preparation for Battle", features dioramas that focus on the earl and his household's preparations for the Battle of Barnet.[74]
  3. ^ Gravett, however, states that due to the extensive build-up and remodeling of the town, even these features are suspect in their authenticity to the 15th-century.[86]

References

  1. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 308–309.
  2. ^ Weir (1996), p. 329.
  3. ^ Weir (1996), p. 341.
  4. ^ Haigh (1995), p. 103.
  5. ^ Goodman (1990), pp. 69–70.
  6. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 105–106.
  7. ^ Goodman (1990), pp. 74–75.
  8. ^ Goodman (1990), p. 76.
  9. ^ a b Haigh (1995), pp. 3–4.
  10. ^ Haigh (1995), p. 39.
  11. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 292–293.
  12. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 294–295.
  13. ^ a b Gravett (2003), p. 20.
  14. ^ Goodman (1990), p. 77.
  15. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 295, 299–300, 304.
  16. ^ Royle (2008), pp. 227–228.
  17. ^ Royle (2008), p. 265.
  18. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 300–302.
  19. ^ Haigh (1995), p. 13.
  20. ^ a b Gravett (2003), p. 21.
  21. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 323–324.
  22. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 330–331.
  23. ^ Hicks (2002), pp. 295–296.
  24. ^ Weir (1996), p. 326.
  25. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 192–193.
  26. ^ Royle (2008), p. 216.
  27. ^ Royle (2008), p. 220.
  28. ^ Weir (1996), pp. 309–310.
  29. ^ Seward (1995), pp. 27, 43.
  30. ^ Seward (1995), pp. 44, 47.
  31. ^ Seward (1995), p. 48.
  32. ^ Griffiths (1991), p. 345.
  33. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 11–12.
  34. ^ Gravett (2003), p.22.
  35. ^ Jones (1993), p. 55.
  36. ^ Goodman (1990), p. 78.
  37. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 115–117.
  38. ^ Hicks (2002), p. 307.
  39. ^ Hicks (2003), pp. 44–45.
  40. ^ Haigh (1995), pp.117–118.
  41. ^ Wise (1983), pp. 21, 39–40.
  42. ^ Hicks (2003), p. 45.
  43. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 118–119.
  44. ^ Royle (2008), p. 229.
  45. ^ a b c Haigh (1995), p. 119.
  46. ^ a b Haigh (1995), p. 120.
  47. ^ a b English Heritage (1995).
  48. ^ a b c d e Goodman (1990), p. 79.
  49. ^ Gravett (2003), p. 28.
  50. ^ Royle (2008), p. 230.
  51. ^ Burne (1950), p. 109.
  52. ^ a b c Haigh (1995), p. 121.
  53. ^ Weir (1996), p. 396.
  54. ^ Gravett (2003), pp. 34, 36.
  55. ^ Goodman (1990), pp. 78–79.
  56. ^ a b c Haigh (1995), p. 123.
  57. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 121–122.
  58. ^ Seymour (1997), p. 158.
  59. ^ Gravett (2003), p. 41.
  60. ^ Gravett (2003), p. 40.
  61. ^ Brooke (1857), p. 208.
  62. ^ Haigh (1995), p. 122.
  63. ^ Weir (1996), p. 398.
  64. ^ Hicks (2002), p. 310.
  65. ^ Gravett (2003), pp. 47–48.
  66. ^ Weir (1996), p. 398.
  67. ^ Royle (2008), p. 231.
  68. ^ Haigh (1995), p. 124.
  69. ^ Goodman (1990), p. 80.
  70. ^ Haigh (1995), pp. 128–129.
  71. ^ Gravett (2003), p. 46.
  72. ^ Seward (1995), p. 224.
  73. ^ Britnell (1997), p. 101
  74. ^ Kettler (2003), pp. 163–164.
  75. ^ Burne (1950), p. 108.
  76. ^ Hicks (2003), p. 61.
  77. ^ Hicks (1995), pp. 21–22.
  78. ^ Hicks (2003), p. 29.
  79. ^ Hicks (2002), p. 311.
  80. ^ Martin (2001), pp. 9–10.
  81. ^ Goy-Blanquet (2003), p. 131.
  82. ^ a b Goy-Blanquet (2003), p. 169.
  83. ^ Goy-Blanquet (2003), p. 124.
  84. ^ Martin (2001), pp. 51–63.
  85. ^ Cox (2007), p. 112.
  86. ^ Gravett (2003), pp. 89–90.
  87. ^ Brooke (1857), p. 211.

Bibliography

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Online sources

51°39′44.04″N 0°12′0.14″W / 51.6622333°N 0.2000389°W / 51.6622333; -0.2000389

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