Siege of London (1471)
Who Fought
History & Significance
The siege of London was an episode of the Wars of the Roses between 12 and 15 May 1471, in which adherents of the House of Lancaster commanded by Thomas Neville unsuccessfully attempted to storm the city and free King Henry VI, who had been imprisoned in the Tower of London by his rival Edward IV of the House of York. This confrontation, which was an epilogue to the recent battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, completed the final restoration of Edward IV and ensured the Yorkist hold on the throne.
On 14 March 1471, King Edward IV, of the House of York, who had been in exile in Burgundy since the defection the previous year of his former comrade-in-arms Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, to the House of Lancaster, disembarked at Ravenspurn, Yorkshire in order to retake the throne from his rival Henry VI. Successfully bypassing the army of Warwick's brother John Neville, Marquess of Montagu, Edward continued on to the town of Warwick, where he proclaimed himself king again, and then to Coventry, where he tried to engage the Earl of Warwick in battle before reinforcements arrived.
Edward IV then headed for London, where he was welcomed with joy on 11 April by the population, which was generally in his favor. He hastened to secure the person of Henry VI, who was locked up in the Tower of London, before reuniting with his wife Elizabeth Woodville and his children, who had taken refuge in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey since October. Pursued by Warwick's army, Edward faced his opponent at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April. The fighting took place in thick fog, inadvertently causing the Lancastrian troops to attack each other and triggering a rout in which Warwick and Montagu were killed.
Back in London, Edward IV hardly had time to savor his success since he was informed on 16 April of the landing at Weymouth, Dorset of Henry VI's wife, Queen Margaret of Anjou, and their son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, who had been delayed in France by a storm and had not been able to bring reinforcements to Warwick in time: in fact they had landed on the very day of the battle of Barnet. Guessing that Margaret intended to rally reinforcements in Wales, Edward quickly assembled his army and left the command of London to his brother-in-law Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers.
Delayed at Gloucester by the governor of the city who refused to let her in, Margaret of Anjou was forced to continue her journey northwards in order to cross the River Severn. The Lancastrian army was finally overtaken by the Yorkist army near Tewkesbury and forced to fight there on 4 May. The Battle of Tewkesbury was quickly sealed after the Lancastrians abandoned a strategic height, precipitating a rout in which Prince Edward was killed. On 11 May, Edward IV returned to Coventry where Margaret was brought to him as a captive.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of London (1471) lies on Millstone Grit Group [See Also Migr], bedrock that formed in the Namurian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
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- Siege of London (1471) · Wikipedia