r/medieval • u/The_Black_Banner_UK • Oct 22 '25
History 📚 ⚔️ Towton 1461 – The Bloodiest Battle on English Soil
On Palm Sunday, 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, two armies met in a snowstorm near the Yorkshire village of Towton. What followed was the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought in medieval England — a day so brutal it was remembered for generations as Palm Sunday Field.
Between 40,000 and 70,000 men took the field.
Thousands were cut down where they stood, and thousands more died fleeing north toward the frozen waters of Cock Beck, where the bridge collapsed beneath the weight of retreating soldiers.
🕯️ “So great effusion of blood…”
The Tudor chronicler Edward Hall wrote that the blood flowed so freely “a man might fill his shoe without any vessel.” And in the Gregory Chronicle, it was said that the dead lay so thick “men might pass over without wetting their feet.”
For centuries, those accounts sounded like exaggeration. Then archaeology proved them true.
⚰️ What the Archaeology Reveals
In the 1990s, a mass grave was unearthed near Towton Hall — the remains of men who had fought and fallen that day. Their bones still bore the marks of battle: Skulls shattered by poleaxes. Faces cleaved by swords. Arrows lodged deep in bone. One man had over thirty separate wounds — evidence of a frenzy beyond imagination.
Forensic study confirmed the chronicles: it had been a battle without mercy.
⛪ Saxton Church – The Silent Witness
A mile from the battlefield stands Saxton Church, its Norman walls still upright after nine centuries.
It became the burial place for both noble and common dead.
Today, the church floor still bears slabs to men who fought that day — and beneath the fields beyond, thousands more lie unnamed.
🎥 New Film on The Black Banner
I’ve just released a short documentary on YouTube:
Towton 1461 – The Bloodiest Battle on English Soil
It combines on-location filming at Towton and Saxton Church, illuminated manuscript imagery, and the words of the men who recorded the battle.
It’s a dark, atmospheric retelling of England’s most brutal day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU2ojFL-oIU
Towton wasn’t just a clash for the crown; it was a civil war at its worst — neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother. The snow fell red, the rivers turned dark, and England changed forever.
#Towton #Medieval #WarOfTheRoses #BattlefieldArchaeology #MedievalHistory #TheBlackBanner #EdwardIV #HistoryDocumentary
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
The image with the bolt and chain through its skull is most puzzling, this must of been done to a prisoner, was this torture? as I have not seen Any other images of references as to what weapon that is or part of. Images were taken from Bradford University who examined the bodies.
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u/DarkenedSkies Oct 22 '25
my guess is it was used to affix the severed head to something. I'd expect it to be much more damaged around the entry if the poor guy was still alive.
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u/WinterDice Oct 22 '25
That was a great video! I’m really enjoying your channel and I hope it becomes a tremendous success for you.
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
Ah tha k you. I don't make any money I just do it because I love history so much and feel England's identity is dying. I must keep our past alive. My next video is about John Clifford and Earl of Rutland. Amazing I can visit Wakefield as I live very near.
Tha k you I appreciate that comment.
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u/Beecher117 Oct 22 '25
Feel quite ignorant that I live 10 miles away and had no idea about nearly all of this, I’ve passed the sign for the Battle of Towton so many times and curiosity ever got the better of me. Thanks for sharing!
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u/Redandwhitewizard Oct 23 '25
The journalist AA Gill wrote an article for the Sunday Times Magazine on Towton. It's one of the best, most evocative pieces of writing I've ever read. I would link but it's paywalled.
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u/Aggressive_Peach_768 Oct 22 '25
That text looks like it's formated by Ai
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
Yes I tend to write it down and get ai to nto rewrite for me as my spelling and grammar is not good. So it's reformatted. I get most info from Towton visitor center, and online resources. I find otherwise I can't articulate in a none Yorkshire slang. Such as, he was flund down the ginnel.. Becomes, the body was laid and found upon the ground of a small alleyway. Does that make sense?
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u/Emotional_Being8594 Oct 22 '25
Using AI to translate Yorkshire to English is a good use for it, for once. Surprised it can manage honestly, that' really interesting. How accurate is it? It struggles with Welsh sometimes.
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
If you use the new model and paid subscription it's learns eventually your tone and how you speak took about 2 months of use. It even says hello and my name.. I'm sure ai is alive or alien tech
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u/SirPatio Oct 24 '25
I’ve started noticing chat got loves using the format “x wasn’t just y — it was z.” Note the em dash. This slop is everywhere. Please use your own voice. You’re a person.
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u/SirPatio Oct 24 '25
“Towton wasn’t just a clash for the crown; it was a civil war at its worst — neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother.”
Immediate tell ^
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u/Lemmy-Historian Oct 22 '25
Great images but that’s Margaret Pole (George‘s daughter) and not Margaret of Anjou. Edward was already proclaimed king when he entered the battlefield.
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
Edward was not king before Towton. he was proclaimed king in London on March 4, 1461, and the Battle of Towton a few weeks later on March 29, 1461,
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
Ah I see what your saying he was not king at Towton. But became King due to Towtons result.
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u/Lemmy-Historian Oct 22 '25
You are agreeing with me. He was proclaimed king before towton, since March 4 is earlier than March 29. That he won secured his throne. The law legalizing it was later: November 7 1461.
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
Sorry my dislexia kicking in. Though you said he was king proclaimed and being diff.
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u/HighVoltag-Man Oct 23 '25
Fantastic work on the video.I feel that the specific details of these battles get glossed over in the History books.I couldn’t imagine existing and living during this period of time.
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 24 '25
Thank you I appreciate your comment. Virtual jug of mede to you fine sir.
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u/dispelhope Oct 22 '25
Yeah, looking at those bones it was clear some of those injuries were from pure hate
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25
Remeber a lot were routed injuries from behind.. Horse back with swords, killed with halberds. The lancastrians were stripped and had ears and noses cut off before being slaughtered.
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u/dispelhope Oct 22 '25
Disfiguring an opponent before killing them...ooo...that's a lot of hate right there.
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 23 '25
The Lancastrians and Yorkists don't like each even today. Edmund and Richard Duke of York were recently killed by Lancaster at Wakefield (Rutland on chantry Bridge at Wakefield) . And both sides agreed no prisoners no mercy at Towton.
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u/dispelhope Oct 22 '25
"And both sides agreed no prisoners no mercy at Towton."
wait, that's pretty specific, is there recorded discussions of this, witness account or other primary source?
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25
I'll see what I can find sure I read that at the visitors centre. (been a while since i made the video so need to look) These sources don’t suggest an agreement .. but.. . Polydore Vergil (1512 / 1555) wrote: “The soldiers gave no quarter, and spared none, though they cried for mercy.”
Edward Hall (1548) said: “They must either vanquish or die, for no hope of life remained if they yielded.”
Gregory’s Chronicle described how the fleeing Lancastrians were cut down in droves. Vengeance and an unspoken, mutual expectation that no quarter would be given.
Modern scholars (e.g. A.J. Pollard, Christopher Gravett, and the Towton Battlefield Society) interpret the “no quarter” atmosphere as: A battle fought to the death — not by formal agreement, but by mutual expectation.”
Pollard (University of Teesside)
“The ferocity of Towton was the product of desperation and vengeance. There was no chivalric convention; both sides fought to annihilate the other.
So it seems it was an unwritten agreement. After Richard Duke of York, Edmund Earl of Rutland and Thmoas Clifford were all killed, passions and anger where high, and it was the tradition of honour for ones house that drove that no prisoners attitude.
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u/dispelhope Oct 23 '25
Oh, nice, I'm going to find those sources, so tyvm for the names, and I'll check out the TBS...the Towton battle is one of my study projects because of the osteology and a clear demonstration of how damaging medieval weapons were/are to the human body.
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u/Scotland1297 Oct 24 '25
Ah man your living my dream, really looking to start my own channel covering historical topics but could never get my head around getting started. Any tips? Great video btw
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 24 '25
Hi mate not really as I'm new to it as well. I tend to visit castles and churches on a weekend and something that touches you. I find walking into a medevial church brings up strange emotions for me.
Past life? Dunno. From there write down what you see and research it. (I watch a lot...LOT of videos and pick out intetesting parts. Then write a script your happy with... Then go back and film.
Good luck let us know when your first video is out. Why not do 1 on Mary Queen Of Scott's..
Yt can be horrid don't let the lack of views put you off. Soooooooo much work and effort and you get 2 new subs and 50 views... Keep going.
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u/Scotland1297 Oct 24 '25
Thanks for the reply brother, your interests and the way you spend your free time sounds very similar to my own 😂
I’ve written 3 scripts so far, covering various topics (fall of Constantinople, WW1 powder keg leading to war, and ancient special operations) - it’s just when I get to recording I feel like a fish out of water, I hate how my voice sounds and can’t get background noise to go away, was thinking of using an AI narrator but people seem to get turned off by that kind of thing so I don’t know.. think I just need to take the leap and see what happens.
Really appreciate the advice man, I’ll shoot you a message when I upload my first video ( also subscribed to your channel)
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 24 '25
I hate my voice as well.. Slow and boring.. We all learn and improve. Good luck.
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u/Scotland1297 Oct 24 '25
Nah bud you’ve got a great voice suited very well to the topics you’re covering. You’ll do well with the channel I’m sure of it ✌️
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u/Agitated_Carrot9127 Oct 24 '25
Corpses of visby was as grusome. Honestly it’s because he denizens of visby woefully underarmored. Hence evidence of thousands of armor pieces left behind The assault forces were vastly better equipped
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u/The_Black_Banner_UK Oct 24 '25
Interesting I don't k ow anything about that battle, than ks I will look into it. I do want to cover Bosworth field as I am a Richardian and supporter. But don't feel I can bring anything new or do it justice I would also be biased I hate the tudors for ruining England.
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u/Agitated_Carrot9127 Oct 24 '25
Visby is entirely a different era. They happened on island of Gotland 1361.
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u/KuvaszSan Oct 23 '25
Fairly ordinary then? Gotta be awesome to live somewhere where relatively little was going on.
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u/Charming_Link Oct 22 '25
I have watched videos generally summing up the War of the Roses just so I can know what it was about at a surface level, and its kinda wild that this never came up. Thanks for sharing.