The Battle of Shrewsbury is one of the most important and bloodiest battles in Britain. It had a massive impact upon the course of English and French history.
The conflict took place on Sunday 21st July 1403 between the Percy family of Northumbria and the Lancastrian King, Henry IV whom they had helped some four years earlier in 1399 to claim the thrown from Richard II. However, the Percy family subsequently felt that the King had failed to reward them adequately.
It was during a journey to the north that the King learned that Sir Henry Percy (known as Harry Hotspur) and his family were in rebellion. Percy was an outstanding soldier and joined forces with his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, himself an experienced warrior and the Scottish Earl of Douglas.
Percy rode south to the family estates in Cheshire to raise a force of archers to hopefully join the army of Owain Glyn Dwr to resist the Royal army. This rebel army was made up of Percy supporters from the border and a few Scots but was mostly made up the Cheshire contingent from supports of the late Richard II.
Henry IV’s army mainly came from the Midlands and from near London. The Kings army was led by the King himself with his son the Price of Wales (later Henry V) and an experienced Scottish Warrior, the Earl of Dunbar.
While Percy and his army marched south towards Shrewsbury from Cheshire a hurriedly raised royal army marched from Nottingham in a westerly direction.
The plan for the Percy army to join the Welsh rebels led by Owain Glyn Dwr was thwarted when the royal army was too quick for them. Before the Percy family could capture the town of Shrewsbury Henry IV’s men were seen to be rapidly approaching.
Percy and his army were forced to retreat a few miles northwards and take up camp at Berwick with the river to his rear. On the 20th July the royalists crossed the Severn to encamp and line up for battle on Haughmond Hill west of Haughmond Abbey. It seems that the royal army seemed to have been the larger of the two forces.
Much of Saturday 21st July was taken up with negotiations between the two armies in an attempt to find a peaceful solution. Late in the day these talks broke down and the battle commenced near battlefield church.
The sky turned black with opposing archers firing at the opposition. This is thought to be the first battle where both sides used a longbow in anger. Initially it was Percy who held the upper hand with many of his archers killing most of the royal vanguard while other fled in terror.
A Percy cavalry charge killed the royal standard bearer and put the king in danger. During the battle the Prince of Wales was wounded but still managed to lead his forces to support his father and during the fierce fighting Sir Henry Percy died and leaderless the rebel army fled. The Earls of Worcester had been captured and was subsequently tried for treason, convicted and executed, whilst the Earl of Douglas, a Scot was imprisoned.
It is reported that the field was hidden by the bodies of the dead. Thousands died in only a few hours.
However the victors lost many more knights than the rebels and their total losses may have equalled those of the rebels in the two or three hours that the battle lasted.
Three years after the battle many royal supporters were then rewarded with forfeited rebel property. A chantry, Battlefield College was founded soon after the battle in which the chaplains offered prayers for the souls of those who had died and for the King.
The college chapel is now all that remains and is the local St. Mary Magdalene parish church where each year an anniversary service is held in memory of those who died on the 21st July 1403.
Today the events are perhaps best known from the climax of the Shakespeare play Henry IV Part I.
The Battlefield area is now a heritage site and you can find more information by clicking here.
For more information, please visit the Battle of Shrewsbury website.
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