When it comes to the anniversary of the Battle of Towton, fought on the 29th March in 1461, I always think of all those men, many of whose names we will never know, who faced each other on that bitterly cold Palm Sunday. However, researching my family history I have discovered the names of two of the men who lost their lives that day. These men were brothers John and Henry Beaumont who were two of the three sons of Thomas Beaumont and his wife Philippa Maureward and they were not yet twenty-five and if that is not sad enough I believe that these brothers were probably twins.
Their father had been a veteran of the Hundred Years War and had fought under Edmund of Norwich, Duke of York in France, and on their father's death, the family lands had been divided John, Henry and their brother Thomas.
Despite living in a country where a man could be called up for battle at any time these young men must have dreamt of peace, a time to spend in their newly acquired piece of England, but many a dream was shattered in the era that we know as the Wars of the Roses - regardless of which side you fought on. The Beaumonts of Leicestershire were staunchly Lancastrian and at the Battle of Towton, Henry VI's forces would be brought to their knees by Edward IV's Yorkist army.
Despite living in a country where a man could be called up for battle at any time these young men must have dreamt of peace, a time to spend in their newly acquired piece of England, but many a dream was shattered in the era that we know as the Wars of the Roses - regardless of which side you fought on. The Beaumonts of Leicestershire were staunchly Lancastrian and at the Battle of Towton, Henry VI's forces would be brought to their knees by Edward IV's Yorkist army.
So the Beaumont brothers found themselves on a battlefield in Yorkshire with an icy wind circling around the feet and sleet blowing in their faces. As the battle commenced many soldiers may have thought, judging by the number of men on the field, that Towton would be a decisive battle, but the wind blew harder and the snow increased and hand to hand combat turned into bloody slaughter - decisive it was indeed. By the end of that cold and wretched day, over twenty thousand men lost their lives.
I don't know yet of the fate of John and Henry Beaumont's bodies, maybe their battered faces were recognised among the dead and they were taken home but I doubt it. What is more likely is that they were both thrown into one of the many mass graves dug on the battlefield, to spend eternity with the thousands of other nameless poor souls.
My post makes grim reading, doesn't it? But what makes even grimmer reading is the shocking evidence of how exactly many of the soldiers at Towton died. One man on the battlefield that day is now known as Towton 25 he was called this because we don't know his name, but what we do know is that what remains of him is gruesome evidence of what he had to endure.
I don't know yet of the fate of John and Henry Beaumont's bodies, maybe their battered faces were recognised among the dead and they were taken home but I doubt it. What is more likely is that they were both thrown into one of the many mass graves dug on the battlefield, to spend eternity with the thousands of other nameless poor souls.
My post makes grim reading, doesn't it? But what makes even grimmer reading is the shocking evidence of how exactly many of the soldiers at Towton died. One man on the battlefield that day is now known as Towton 25 he was called this because we don't know his name, but what we do know is that what remains of him is gruesome evidence of what he had to endure.
Towton 25's story can be found on my blog on my website - you can read it here.
meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/wars-of-the-roses-blog/battle-of-towton-29th-march-14611
meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/wars-of-the-roses-blog/battle-of-towton-29th-march-14611
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