Battle of Mortimer’s Cross: Edward’s First Victory

Aftermath of Wakefield

Edward, Earl of March, was at the Welsh Marches on the Welsh border region, recruiting fresh troops, when he was informed of the deaths of his father, Richard, 3rd Duke of York; brother, Edmund, Earl of Rutland; and uncle, Richard, Earl of Salisbury, on and after the Battle of Wakefield on 30th December 1460, a key turning point in the Wars of the Roses. Although he was consumed with grief, Edward was determined to avenge his kinsmen and take up the Yorkist cause by force of arms.

The Armies Assemble

On 2nd February 1461, Candlemas Day, Edward’s army of around 5,000 men encountered a Lancastrian force of about 4,000, led by Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, at Mortimer’s Cross.

Edward formed his army with Sir Walter Devereux commanding his right wing, Sir William Herbert to his left, and himself at the centre. The Lancastrian army was deployed with James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire, on the left wing with French, Breton, and Irish mercenaries; Owen Tudor on the right; and his son, Jasper Tudor, at the centre. Edward also positioned archers at the crossroads to guard against Lancastrian attacks.

The Three Suns Omen

Before the battle, a parhelion was seen in the sky, which was a meteorological phenomenon of three suns reflected by ice crystals that frightened Edward’s men. However, he proclaimed that it was an omen of victory, telling his troops, according to an English Chronicle:

‘Beeth of good comfort and dreadeth not. This is a good sign, for those three suns betokeneth the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and therefore let us have a good heart, and in the name of the Almighty God go we against our enemies.’

At his words, his whole army sank to its knees in prayer at the vision, and Edward thereafter used the ‘Sun in Splendour’ for his banner.

The Battle and Its Outcome

The Lancastrian army attacked, and its left wing pushed back the Yorkist right, although Edward’s centre held. Owen Tudor then attempted a flank attack on the Yorkist left wing, which was unsuccessful, with the Lancastrian soldiers decimated by volleys of arrows. The Lancastrian army was broken, and the survivors fled from the battlefield.

The battle was over within half an hour, with around 2,000 Lancastrian troops killed and the Yorkist casualties much fewer.

Executions and Aftermath

Owen Tudor, Sir John Throckmorton, and eight other Lancastrian captains were tracked down to Hereford and executed the following day at the market square. Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Wiltshire, and the other Lancastrian survivors of the battle managed to escape to Wales.

After the executions, a mad woman placed Owen Tudor’s head on the top step of the market cross, washed the blood from his face, combed his hair, and lit over a hundred candles around him.

He was buried at the Church of Greyfriars at Hereford, which was demolished in the Reformation of King Henry VIII.

Edward had been avenged to some degree for the deaths of his kinsmen, and he now prepared his men to march to the aid of his cousin, the Earl of Warwick, as the Wars of the Roses continued to reshape the English crown.