The Battle of Tewkesbury occurred on 4 May 1471 and cemented the reign of King Edward IV by destroying the hopes of the House of Lancaster. Although their king, Henry VI, was still alive, his only son and heir, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, who was only a 17 year old boy, was defeated and killed by the Yorks.
The Yorkists won because King Edward IV, his younger (and recently reconciled brother) George, Duke of Clarence, and their baby brother Richard of Gloucester (the future Richard III) were flat out better military commanders than Edmund of Westminster, his chief ally, Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, and Somerset’s younger brother John Beaufort, Marquess of Dorset.
Edward of Westminster was slaughtered by the Duke of Clarence toward the end of the battle when he “was found in a grove by some of Clarence’s men”. The boy pleaded with Clarence to be spared for ransom, but he was nonetheless beheaded with dispatch. Clarence, who had fled to France to escape his elder brother’s wrath a year before, had sworn his allegiance to Edward of Winchester. Clarence’s promises of friendship were worth much less than a soft leaf in a privy, to be honest. The man had less honor than a dock rat. Clarence’s own brother would kill him with as little care as Clarence had killed Edward just a few years later.
Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI’s queen and the mother of Edward of Westminster, surrendered to Edward IV. She had nothing left to fight for. She would later be paraded as a captive through the streets of London, and her husband would die “mysteriously” of sorrow that night. Some people embrace the theory that if Margaret had just been nicer to Richard 3rd Duke of York, the Yorks would never have been spurred to take the throne. Horsefeathers.
Even leaving aside the slanders and untruths regarding her evil deeds to the Yorks and others, the Yorks had started an immediate whisper campaign suggesting Edward of Westminster was a bastard, started wooing powerful nobles to their side, and treated Margaret like a skivvy, rather than a queen. What was she supposed to do? Play nice, mend hosiery, and hope they wouldn’t murder her son? There is no way a man would be blamed for defending his son and spouse the way she defended hers.
Following the battle, King Edward IV went to nearby Tewkesbury Abbey to offer prayers of thanksgiving. He also agreed to Edward of Westminster and other Lancastrians slain in battle to be buried there. There is still a brass plaque set in the floor between the choir stalls there that reads, “Here lies Edward, Prince of Wales, cruelly slain whilst but a youth. Anno Domini 1471, May fourth. Alas, the savagery of men. Thou art the sole light of thy Mother, and the last hope of thy race.”
King Edward IV also noticed that several surviving Lancastrians had gone to Tewkesbury Abbey for sanctuary, and he wasn’t about to have that. Two days later the surviving Lancastrian peers they were hauled out of the safety of the abbey, given a quick mockery of a trial for show, and beheaded. Among the notables put to death were the 4th Duke of Somerset and Sir John Langstrother. Twekesbury Abbey had to be reconsecrated following the massacre, much to the chagrin of its monks.
The only person still standing on the Lancastrian side was a young Beaufort lad named Henry Tudor, who was fiercely protected by his Welsh uncle, Jasper Tudor. Jasper made haste to get his nephew to the safety of the continent, where they would spend the remainder of Edward IV’s reign.
King Edward IV was now firmly on the throne. While he was alive, all that Henry Tudor’s mother — Margaret Beaufort — would do was try to talk the king into letting her son come home once more and confirmed as the Earl of Richmond. There was no one who would have backed Henry Tudor to wear the crown. King Edward was too strong and too popular to be unseated. Plus, he had two healthy sons. The line was secure, and nobody wanted to go back into the mess and hell of a civil war.
Ironically, if Richard III had not claimed the throne after King Edward IV’s death, alienating his allies by the disappearance of his nephews, then Henry Tudor would have had no chance to ever make a play for the throne. However, after Richard had William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, Edward IV’s Lord Chamberlain and the man who had urged Richard to come to London ASAP when Edward IV died beheaded suddenly without trial, and then proclaimed himself king, the Yorkists who ad been loyal to King Edward turned on him. Pretty much the who of southern and mid-England turned against Richard when King Edward V and his little brother disappeared. Richard’s supposed allies turned on him at Bosworth, and when the dust cleared King Henry VII had taken the crown.