The Wars of the Roses in Northamptonshire

July is that special month at the heart of the English campaigning season which saw fighting on both of Northamptonshire's 'Wars of the Roses' battlefields, Northampton 1460 and Edgcote 1469.  As a consequence, locally, it is a month of anniversary walks, talks and events.

 

(Northampton 1460 ... the visitors gather)

July 10th saw us stretched with both the commemoration of the battle at Northampton and a fete at nearby Naseby.  We had a (pre-booked, Covid compliant) capacity crowd for a morning walk on the 1460 battlefield - from Delapre Abbey to the Eleanor Cross (from which the primary sources tell us the battle was watched by the Archbishop of Canterbury).

 

(Northampton 1460: the view from the top of the battlefield)

 

(the view from the top of the battlefield - another way of visualising)

At the Eleanor Cross, Mike completed his account of the battle before handing over to me for a potted history of the monument (and its recent conservation), plus its part both in the events of 1460 and 1469 (when according to the Herbert family history, it was where the earl of Pembroke, and his brother, Sir Richard Herbert, were executed by Warwick in the wake of his victory at Edgcote).

 

(10th July 2021 at the Eleanor Cross, Northampton) 

At 2pm, the time of Warwick's attack at Northampton, we had a brief wreath laying with the town Mayor in remembrance of the fallen in this battle and more widely in wars and civil conflict.

With the weather on our side, we were then able to mix and meet with  members of the battlefield society and general visitors more informally.  We had a table up and a range of publications, so could recruit new members, hand out leaflets etc.  Almost back to normal.

 

(almost back to normal: Graham recruiting members at the Eleanor Cross) 

Towards the other end of the month, we were out on the trackways at Edgcote (spelt that way - no 'e' - and, contra Royal Mail, no 'Moor' tacked on).

Although commonly pinned to the 26th, as we have demonstrated, the battle of Edgcote was fought on 24th July, the eve of the feast of St James.  Another thing the Royal Mail got wrong.  It was such a pity they didn't consult the Battlefields Trust or the local battlefield society (ourselves) or just get someone to look it up in the most recent publication on the battle (Graham's book).

 

(first stop on the 2021 Edgcote anniversary walk)

Edgcote battlefield is threatened both by HS2 and by a proposed solar farm that has tried to slip into the landscape on the coat tails of HS2 ... so it was good to see the battlefield in reasonably good order and still fully accessible to the visitor.

Some of the fields didn't seem to have been as 'active' as usual ... whether this was Covid neglect of HS2 blight was unclear.

 

(me talking about medieval battle at Edgcote)

 

 

(Graham pointing out the rebel positions at Edgcote)

 

(looking back at the Royalist position)

 

(Graham Turner's visualisation of the Royalist lines)

 

 

(looking into the dead ground behind the rebel position - it is probably via this hollow that Clapham's unseen reinforcements approached the battlefield) 

 

 

(click to enlarge ... an attempt to pin the views to their positions on the battlefield)

 

A few weeks later, I was back on Northampton battlefield doing an evening walk and interpretation for the Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum.

 

July is also 'awards season' in Northamptonshire, and I'm pleased to be able to report that having done well in a number of specific categories, NBS was given a special 'judges choice' award in recognition of our innovative and determined work to preserve and publicise historic battlefields and to keep public engagement up throughout the Covid restrictions.  They particularly liked the toy soldier displays and miniature battlefields.

 

Next month sees the anniversary of Bosworth.

Online Conference 1st May - The Medieval Battlefield

 

Just sharing the great news of the Battlefields Trust's reconfigured Annual Conference: now online at a fraction of the original, residential, cost - and one day, 10 til 4:30 (£25, any procees from which will go directly towards protecting Britain's endangered battlefields).

Regulars here will be delighted to hear that the high profile speaker list includes several Society of Ancients luminaries ... Thom (Royal Armouries) Richardson, Graham (wargaming4grownups) Evans and Matthew (Sandhurst) Bennett, these days, of course, one of the Society's Life Vice Presidents.

The Conference will be chaired by Professor Anne Curry, and is being organised by me.                         

Click here for Conference Details

Morning:

• Thom Richardson: mail and plate armour
• Graham Evans: Edgcote - the Source of the Problems

Afternoon:

• panel discussion on battlefield numbers (Anne Curry; Matt Bennett; Sophie Ambler; Graham Evans)
• Dan Spencer: Gunpowder Weapons in the Wars of the Roses
• Mike Ingram: Northampton 1460 

It is going to be a fascinating day, and I am sure some new stuff is going to emerge.

 

 

The West Midlands Military Show (March) is another one that got away.

 

When lockdown suddenly happened,  I was in the middle of sorting out my late parents estate whilst isolating myself over a false alarm.  The last shows we went to had slipped through the net.  Hammerhead/Northern Cup I already corrected.

 

 

(WMMS 2020 ... here we are in the middle of the throng)

 

highlighted by the banner, WMMS (Alumwell) was the end of the development year for the Edgcote game which was first experimentally laid out at the show in 2019.

 

We went from the green cloth, basic units and needing guidance with Hail Caesar to a fully functioning refight.  So, from this:  

 

(Alumwell 2019 ... fixing the basics) 

 

To this:

 

(Edgecote 1469, the 2020 game)

Here's the team explaining what happened in 1469 ...

 

 

(Graham, Graham F and Phil with the Edgcote game - thanks to Graham for pic 3!)

Presenting the game on our nice round battlefield ...

 

 

 

Why round?  Well, in addition to the fact that battlefields actually have no corners, the orientation at Edgcote is (by some, at least) thought uncertain, and reinforcements could potentially have entered from almost any point on the undulating landscape, so with a circular field, you can get all round and everyone p[lays in the middle.  It was an experiment, and I think it has paid dividends.

 

Here are some scenes ...

 

(bottom left ... why twice as many dice doesn't always benefit you in Hail Caesar)

WMMS is, of course, a tradition 'multi-hobby' military show, with a strong showing from reenactment and living history, as well as modellers and wargamers.

 

(Sunday best: Alumwell 2020) 

 

(bottom right ... another example that my pioneering pasting-table battlefield idea has caught on

The last physical 'show' I was able to get to was TORM ...

The Oringinal Re-enactors Market

 

The Friends of the Newport Ship (one of  Warwick's WotR ships) were there with a stand, but mostly, of  course, it was a place to buy replica kit.

 

It is a veritable treasure house.  I was there to buy a Civil War period 'hanger' (basic sword) for us to use on the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society Stand as a handling example of the weapons used at Naseby.  I also bought a medieval arming cap.  Neither has seen any use or action because, although nobody would have predicted it at the time, we went into lockdown and related measures which wiped out the rest of the 2020 shows season.

 

Links:

Northamptonshire Battlefields Society

Friends of the Newport Ship

 

Join/Renew your Society Membership at SoA.org/join

 

 

1st to 3rd November, Kenilworth

 

In which the Shows North 'on the move' blog shifts to Kenilworth for the annual Society weekend:

The 2019 Society of Ancients Conference

This was probably the last time at the current venue, Chessford Grange ... excellent for a number of reasons (less than ideal for others).  It will be going out on a high.

This report will have more than the usual number of pictures as I participated in a number of splendid sessions and wanted to do them justice.

But after a Friday evening of pick up games, board games and chats in the bar, Day One began with a talk by Mike Ingram.

SATURDAY

 

There was a preamble by me on why you need to abandon all your old books on Bosworth and base your interpretation on someting written since the 2009 archaeological survey.

Basically, 200 years ago, an influential antiquarian moved the battlefield to the wrong location based on local anecdote but no facts or artefacts ... 10 years ago, a major archaeological survey was commissioned by the Battlefields Trust which - after a lot of searching - finally found unquestionable evidence of the location ... and strangely the location ties in with references on early maps etc. before the late 18th century shift to the wrong location ... (in a nutshell)...

Bosworth is the 2020 BattleDay topic and the single biggest challenge Richard faces will be to get game designers to abandon their old Osprey and L&L Soc books (which have fictional reconstructions tied to landscape features that are not on the battlefield) and embrace the new, much simpler story of what unfolded on the flat land straddling Fenn Lanes (no Ambion Hill on the real battlefield).

(the real Bosworth: the penultimate phase as seen by Mike Ingram: the French engage while Northumberland departs - Richard now needs to make a decisive intervention)

Mike went on to explain the campaign, orders of battle, troop origins and probable weaponry etc.  The likely deployments (as given, at least, in the contemporary accounts) and how these led to Richard's downfall.

He also explained how Bosworth formed part of overt French foreign policy - and only really happened because the French (or Madame, at least) decided it was time to intervene.

If you are interested, Mike's book is available on Amazon:  Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth

Anyway ... great talk.  Other presentations included Harry Sidebottom on 3rd Cent. Rome; Graham Evans on the Battle of Edgcote; Simon MacDowall on the Goths and Matt Bennett on William Marshall and Medieval Tournaments.  That's a great line-up in itself

Games ...

This Weak Piping Time of Peace

 

(a Bosworth inspired skirmish game from Simon MacDowall using Swoppets) 

Simon's game was actually quite quick to pick up and rattled through a couple of actions that resulted in my Richard III being able to charge and topple the upstart earl of Richmond.  Good stuff, then.

 

(melee)

(Richard wheels away wounded - rolled a 1 -  from the combat where he killed the earl of Richmond - Henry Tudor)

The mechanisms were quite (shall we say) 'traditional' but had a lot of merit and might well have been a good way to do the tournament game that followed after lunch ...

History changes ...

In no particular order, here's a collage of other games going on ...

 

(Chariot warfare, Gangs of Rome, Adrianople - To The Strongest - and Sumerians)

 

(Simon gave an interesting summary of what we know about the Goths)

Tournaments

Then Matthew Bennett gave a brief appraisal of the Norman and Medieval tournament scene and the deeds of William Marshall.  Followed by game in which bands of Knights and men-at-arms picked fights with each other to win money.

 

(Medieval prize fighting: the tournament ground was more than just a tilt yard)

 

(some of the players put their heaped winnings on the table)

 

(to the victor the spoils) 

As a surprise to the players, punctuating each flurry of combat, Matt awarded a prize (books about the Marshall) to the player topping the money stakes at the time.

Food for thought.

Dinner ...

More thought ... more food ...

This year, academic, author and wargamer, Harry Sidebottom gave us a fascinating look at Rome's forgotten era - the third Century AD.  Valerian being made prisonner by the Sassanids; appeasing the Germans; fighting for the Imperial crown, Civil War and fragmentation.  Rome, said Harry, repeatedly sowed the seeds of her own eventual fall.

 

I was fascinated by all this as it addressed the unmentionable: even a great, classic guide like Warry's Warfare in the Classical World follows the military history of Greece and Rome though, epoch by epoch, until the age of Augustus (around 1,000 years in just under 200 pages) then wraps the whole story up in a couple of chapters (500 years in less than 30 pages): not a lot, given how profusely illustrated the text is.

Harry gave a flavour of how rich the missing stories can be. 

... and after dinner ...

 

(more games from SoAC 19 ... Mongols, Commands and colours, Northampton 1460 and Rome on the march)

Telamon

My contribution to the late entertainment was what I expect to be the final run at Telamon - the 2019 BattleDay feature - with the current version of DBA (V3): this time 'Big Battle' DBA.

 

(BBDBA at SoAC 2019: Papus and Regulus trap the Gallic host)

 

(the Gauls fought valliantly and outscored the Roman infantry in repeated charges)

 

(Telamon at the Society of Ancients Conference: part of a Roman camp)

The game was hard fought but, on both fronts, the Warband inflicted frontal losses on the Romans.  Eventually the Gallic prowess (aka luck) in close combat demoralised all three Roman commands.

This was the most decisive win in a series of games in which the Romans have generally been victorious.  Indeed, previously, it had been looking unbalanced.

History changes ...

Sunday morning

 

Sunday kicked off with Graham Evans talking us through the evidence for what happened at Edgcote in 1469 (NB, again, Wikipedia is useless on this battle), re-evaluating the evidence and making sense of it (such as, e.g. it was fought on the 24th July, very clearly not on the 26th) ...

... followed by a 4 player run at our reconstruction of the battle with 28mm Foundry figures and Hail Caesar rules.

 

(The battle of Edgcote on Danesmoor on July 24th 1469)

 

(Edgcote at SoAC 2019: an eager earl of Devon moves his archers onto the battlefield)

In this playing of the battle, an eager Humphrey Stafford (earl of Devon) was quickly up in support of Pembroke's Welsh array (i.e. good early command rolls).  Meanwhile, whilst holding most of the line on Edgcote Lodge Hill, William Herbert (earl of Pembroke) sent off a party of mounted Men-at-Arms to ride around the rebel left.

 

(Pembroke had the part of his force mount up to outflank the rebels.  He chose not to lead it personally) 

Once he had taken a few hits from the rebel archers, Herbert went in hard on the rebel centre, cutting down Robin of Redesdale.  3 times, Robin was hit.  Twice, he popped up somewhere else.  Meanwhile, first Richard Herbert, Pembroke's brother, was killed in the melee, then the earl himself was cut down and captured.  Nevertheless, the retinue around them, well-harnessed - the best men in Wales - fought on, undaunted.

 

(Edgcote at SoAC: the battle for the centre) 

The Conyers contingent broke and fled.

 

(Edgcote at SoAC: despite the loss of their leaders, the Herberts chase the Conyers from the battlefield) 

The rebel reinforcements (Gates and Parr) eventually collapsed but not before repulsing the cavalry attack and breaking Herbert's main battle (leaving just Herbert's own, now leaderless, contingent hacking at the fleeing rebels).  At the same time, the main rebel battle broke and the battle was won.  By Humphrey Stafford.

 

(Holding the field of Edgcote at SoAC 2019: Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon)

So .. a result we had not seen before ... We rolled dice to see whether Herbert's men were able to recover their leader (who had fallen captive earlier in the fighting) but the dice said he was dead.  Likewise Robin of Redesdale, though it had become unclear who, indeed, was Robin of Redesdale.

The Welsh will mourn the loss of the Herbert brothers but King Edward will be pleased with the recently appointed earl of Devon.  So not quite what really happened.

History changes ...

Sunday afternoon

After a roast lunch and the Conference wash up, those with further to travel started to take their leave.  I had less far to go, and with my work for the weekend done, I settled down to be a player in one of the final sessions: a 6mm Hydaspes using Hail Caesar.

I thought this would be useful and entertaining as, with the Edgcote game, I pretend to know my way around HC these days.

This Hydaspes game is the one run at the 2015 BattleDay. 

 

(SoAC 2019: 6mm Hydaspes game from the BattleDay of 5 years ago)

Great panoramic battlefield but, ever trusting in my mobile phone, I tried a gratuitous close-up (which I think flatters both the phone and Pete Berry's figures) ... Click on the picture for a better view ...

 

(Hydaspes: splendid Indian Chariots by Baccus) 

It was a very grand and formal affair (lots of units and lots of space) compared to my shambling medieval methodology - and it was useful and entertaining to get to use the mechanisms 'properly'.

I commanded the left wing of the Indian array and although the wargame, as wargame, still had plenty left to run, we wrapped up when Alexander rescued his shattered Companions one too many times and succumbed to the dreaded death roll.

 

(Hydaspes: the Indians heap pressure and misfortune on Alexander)

Again, history changes ...

*******

All in all, a great weekend and an event the Society of Ancients can be proud of.   We explored Ancient and Medieval warfare with talks, boardgames and figure games (and over pints in the bar) ... we wargamed from Ur to Bosworth, from the heart of Europe to India and the Asian Steppe ... and with figures from 6mm to 54mm (and with commercial rules, self-published rules and experimental homegrown mechanisms).  A truly representative mix.

Thanks to everyone involved - I am looking forward to next year and a new venue.