Which battle in 1461 was the largest and bloodiest of the War of the Roses?

The Battle of Towton was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Wars of the Roses. Fought on 29 March 1461 near Towton in Yorkshire, it ended in a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrian supporters of Henry VI and helped secure the crown for Edward IV.

The battle followed months of crisis. Edward had claimed the throne after his father, Richard, Duke of York, was killed at Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrians still controlled much of northern England, so Edward marched north with a large army to confront them. Fighting took place in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, and the Lancastrian army eventually collapsed and fled.

Medieval chroniclers reported extraordinarily high death tolls, sometimes tens of thousands, although modern historians consider many of those figures exaggerated. Archaeological evidence and battlefield research still indicate an exceptionally large and violent engagement, probably involving tens of thousands of soldiers.

Towton is often confused with the Battles of St Albans, Barnet or Tewkesbury, all important Wars of the Roses encounters. Towton stands apart because of its scale, its exceptionally heavy casualties and its immediate political consequence: Edward IV’s effective takeover of the English throne.