Late Middle Ages · Europe · War

1471

Battle of Tewkesbury

May 4, 1471

Edward IV finished the Lancastrians in a brutal engagement beside the Severn. Queen Margaret's son Prince Edward was killed, perhaps in flight, perhaps by summary execution. That night Henry VI was quietly murdered in his Tower cell. The main Lancastrian bloodline was extinguished, and Edward IV ruled unchallenged until his own sudden death.