Page 45 - Hindsight Issue 26 April 2020
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BooKs
the north of england was a turbulent place, and in 1469 particularly so. We may never know how many of the three uprisings that took place in that year were instigated by Warwick, but we can be certain the last one was. All were led by a mysterious figure called Robin of Redesdale. the first two rebellions were put down and Robin executed, from which we may deduce that the name was a pseudonym, as he was said to be leading a revolt in late June. the rebels’ complaints had many similarities to those expressed by Warwick, the first of several clues that Warwick and the rebels were operating to a co-ordinated plan. Warwick also married his daughter Isabel to george, Duke of Clarence, in Calais.
edward realised he now had a serious problem and gathered troops to march north. He also summoned two of his new men, – the earls of Pembroke and of Devon to his aid. they gathered their forces in Wales and the West Country respectively and marched towards northampton to prevent a junction between the northern rebels and Warwick’s army marching up from Kent.
edward had tried to intercept the rebels as they went south, but they evaded him. this led to the first military encounter of the campaign, – a skirmish or battle outside northampton as Pembroke and Devon’s cavalry tried to ambush Redesdale’s men ‘under a woodside’. the northerners beat them off, and they were
Northamptonshire Battlefield Society member, Paul Morgan, explaining the Battle of Edgcote 1469 through use of a specially made scale model
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