I came to recover my father's heritage - A Lancaster Victory TL

[CaptainAmerica]

I came to recover my father's heritage – A Lancaster Victory Timeline

The Battle of Towton – The Exile

The Battle of Towton was among the largest and most bloody battles fought on English soil as roughly 50,000 men and ¾ of England’s peers fought to assert their Kings right to rule. Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset and Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland commanded the Lancaster Army [1] as Henry VI had refused to leave his wife Margaret alone in York. This stood in stark contrast with the Yorkists, who were commanded by the brave and youthful Edward IV.

(Duke Somerset- Lancaster Commander)

The Battle it can be argued began on March 28th with the skirmish between the Lancaster forces under John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford and the York forces under William Neville, Earl of Kent. This skirmish was a continuation of the battle of Ferrybridge, where John Clifford has inflicted heavy casualties on the York Vanguard. This skirmish eventually turned into a massacre after John Clifford removed his gorget and was struck by an arrow in the throat. The York cavalry then proceeded to butcher the remaining Lancaster forces before the main army could react. This brutality was likely a response by Edward IV to avenge his younger brother Edmunds death at John Clifford’s hands.

The Yorkist Army arrived after their forced march on March 29th and Palm Sunday of all days. This did not dissuade either General from preparing for conflict, which they each knew would decide who remained King. Duke Somerset was confident in his victory due to his larger army being in a more defensive position. Edward IV, ignored the console of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who urged him to wait for the reinforcements from the Duke of Norfolk. The order was quickly sent through the York Army to prepare to attack. This is when the winds began to pick up and blow toward the Lancaster position almost as if God himself was urging the Yorkist Army forward.

The Battle began when William Neville ordered all Yorkist archers to step forward and unleash a volley of arrows [2] from the maximum range of their Longbows. The winds helped carry these arrows into the Lancaster troops along the slope of the hills. Earl Northumberland ordered the Lancaster Archers to respond but the harsh winds blew snow into their faces making it difficult to pick targets and many of the Lancaster’s Arrows fell short. Duke Somerset ordered the Lancaster’s to retreat out of range of the Yorkist Archers effectively ceding their defensive positions.

(Yorkist Archers)

Now the actually battle began with the Lancaster unable to make effective use of their larger numbers due to the hills on either side. It appeared as if Ralph Darce, Baron de Darce would break the Yorkist left flank until Edward IV himself rallied the Yorkist forces. The battle slowly seemed to be turning in favor of the Lancaster forces when the Duke of Norfolk and his forces arrived and attacked the Lancaster right flank under the command of Lord Thomas de Roos, a major Lancaster general. Thomas de Roos was eventually struck in the chest by an arrow and his death caused panic to spread through the right flank. Duke Somerset ordered what remained of his reserve forces to help stabilize the right flank, while he ordered a retreat. [3] This was merely a stalling move as the Lancaster Army prepared to retreat. The retreat started out in good order but eventually the Lancaster line broke. After roughly 6 hours of fighting, the Lancaster Army had been defeated and Edward IV could rightfully claim his crown. For the Lancaster’s, it was a great defeat as 2/5th of their great supports, John Clifford and Thomas de Roos were dead and a great number of knights killed as well. Yet, the Great Lords of the North, Henry Beaufort, Henry Percy and Ralph Darce remained alive.

*The POD for this TL is the survival of Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Ralph Darce, who were some of the most important Lancaster lords in Northern England. Lancaster power was permanently weakened when these influential Lancaster leaders died.
York, England- The Exile

King Henry VI and the Royal Family were in the York Cathedral praying, when news of the defeat at Towton reached them. The whole cathedral remained quite waiting to hear the response of the King. Yet, the King merely said a prayer for Baron Clifford and Lord Roos. That is when Margaret of Anjou ordered a Council Meeting with all major Lancaster leaders in York, while preparations were made to leave York. The Council Meeting was pitifully small as the only major Lord to return to York after Towton was Lord Ralph Darce, who urged the Royal Family to flee North to the court of James III of Scotland. Initially Margaret refused to flee into exile but Lord Dacre convinced her that her supporters were not in a position to continue the fight and that by staying and fighting they only risked the King and the Young Prince’s life. Lord Dacre also urged that the King and Edward of Westminster not travel together. So on April 2nd Queen Margaret and Edward departed for Scotland, while Henry VI departed for Berwick.



[1] Most of Strategy is believed to have been devised by Sir Andrew Trollope, a former solider under Richard Neville and the major Lancaster strategist.
[2] Many of these Arrows bore Bodkin Arrowheads designed to pierce Plate Armor and penetrate the flesh- this contributed to the large number of English Knights killed in this battle
[3] In OTL, The Lancaster collapsed rather than attempt a retreat

[tonsofun]

You have my interest.

[Arachnid]

Interesting concept, looking forward to seeing more of this.

[CaptainAmerica]

Thanks for the support, I will try to have another update soon

[Faeelin]

Danerys is the true queen.

Keep it up.

[CaptainAmerica]

Hey I need suggestions for who would be a worthy bride for Prince Edward of Westminster (Lancaster Heir)... I am thinking either Anne of France or Margaret of Denmark but I'm open to suggestions

[Gonzaga]

Originally Posted by CaptainAmerica

Hey I need suggestions for who would be a worthy bride for Prince Edward of Westminster (Lancaster Heir)... I am thinking either Anne of France or Margaret of Denmark but I'm open to suggestions

What about a Scottish princess? If the Lancasters need to depend on the help of James III he might want some kind of marriage deal, either with Princess Mary Stewart or Princess Margaret Stewart. Interesting enough, the article about Margaret on Wikipedia says that she was briefly engaged to Edward of Westminster, but political pressure from Edward IV cancelled it.

[Darth_Kiryan]

A Lancaster victory TL begins with their defeat.......

Interesting take on the wars of the roses, and interesting POD as well.

Originally Posted by Faeelin

Danerys is the true queen.

See that's just...what. I mean....
the parallel there just cracked me up.

All Hail Danerys.

[RousseauX]

A great victory for Robert Baratheon I mean Edward IV

[kasumigenx]

I think Mary of Burgundy can marry Edward of Westminister to establish the Plantagenets in the continent again or Edward could marry Catherine of Navarre, whose marriage could restore Gascony to the Plantagents.

[isabella]

Originally Posted by kasumigenx

I think Mary of Burgundy can marry Edward of Westminister to establish the Plantagenets in the continent again or Edward could marry Catherine of Navarre, whose marriage could restore Gascony to the Plantagents.

If Edward of Westminister can marry Mary of Burgundy and hold her heritage (but most likely her stephmother will be an huge problem being a York) and maybe their son can marry Anne of Brittany surely the French King will not happy at all and the England will have again many continental land and many ports..

[kasumigenx]

Originally Posted by isabella

If Edward of Westminister can marry Mary of Burgundy and hold her heritage (but most likely her stephmother will be an huge problem being a York) and maybe their son can marry Anne of Brittany surely the French King will not happy at all and the England will have again many continental land and many ports..

I think marrying Mary of Burgundy will be enough, but Brittany will be annexed to France and Charles VIII marries Anne of Brittany as in OTL..but the Ango-Burgundian Empire will be like a dagger between France and the HRE.

[isabella]

Originally Posted by kasumigenx

I think marrying Mary of Burgundy will be enough, but Brittany will be annexed to France and Charles VIII marries Anne of Brittany as in OTL..but the Ango-Burgundian Empire will be like a dagger between France and the HRE.

OTL Anne's father betrothed her to the English heir (the future Edward V) and thus he can be interested to same match (with a different Prince of Wales, obviously) also ITTL and do not forget who Anne (and almost certainly also her father) was absolutely contrary to marry the king of France. The only reason why the King was able to do this is that her second betrothed (and husband by proxy) had not been able to intervene to help her and she was captured by the French and forced their king to marry against her will.

ITTL a successful marriage between Anne of Brittany and a son of Edward of Westminster (King of England) and Mary of Burgundy is very likely to happen.

[Velasco]

Depending on politics, he could marry Margaret of York, sister of OTL Edward IV, as a way of making peace once his father was restored.

He could marry Lady Isabel Neville, daughter and heiress of the Kingmaker Warwick, or Lady Anne Holland, daughter and heiress of the Duke of Exeter and his wife (Anne of York, another sister of Edward IV).

All three would be rich marriages but would require some ATL butterflies to make them viable options.

[CaptainAmerica]

These were all good suggestions but I have plans for Mary of Burgundy already and Anne of Brittany was born 1477 so she may be a little to young for Prince Edward. I would do Margaret of York but I don't think that the Lancaster would be willing to marry a daughter of York simply because they view the York faction as usurpers and them as the legitimate rulers.

[CaptainAmerica]

World Update- Wallachia from 1462-1466: Dracula Loves the Night

(Painting of the Night Attack)

Vlad III and Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman had been fighting for over two years over Vlad’s unwillingness to pay the jizya (Tax placed on non-Muslims) and his decision to invade Bulgaria and impale over 20,000 Turks. Mehmed was said to have been so angry at the news that he decided to raise and lead the largest Army since his conquest of Istanbul and crush Wallachia. Vlad aware of his inability to defeat this large of an army by conventional means appealed to his ally Mathias Corvinus for aid. The deal that Vlad III made with Mathias was he would convert to the Roman Catholic faith in exchange for men. Mathias wasn’t overly interested in supporting Vlad III and risk angering the Ottomans but Vlad’s appeal had been read to the whole Hungarian court forcing Mathias Corvinus hands and a small detachment of 2,000 Calvary and 3,500 Infantry marched south to join with Vlad. [1]

(Chindia Tower -Targoviste)

By the time the Hungarian reinforcements arrived Vlad had been slowly pushed back toward Targoviste, the Wallachian Capital. Vlad had sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire by sending men, women, and children infected with Leprosy, Plague and Tuberculosis to intermingle with the Ottoman Empire as well as poisoning wells. Once the Hungarians arrived Vlad realized that he needed to cause mass confusion amongst the Ottomans if he stood a chance of forcing the Ottomans from leaving. According to legend Vlad disguised himself as a Turk and infiltrated the Ottoman camp at night to learn the location of the Ottoman High Command as well as its weakest points but more importantly he learned that Mehmed refused to allow his troops out of their tents at night. [2]

(Vlad III of Wallachia)

On the Night of the Attack, Vlad assembled his men and according to account of the battle told his men, “It would be better that those who think of death should not follow me.” Since his Army was heavily outnumbered the plan was for the battle to last from 3 hours after the sunset until the beginning of sunrise. The battle began with the Wallachian Buglers signaling retreat and a small detachment of troops lighting torches a marching back toward the Capital. That is when the Boyar Gales attacked the Right Flank of the Ottoman Camp as the Hungarian division attacked the Left Flank. While these forces were fighting Vlad attacked the center of the camp aiming to kill Sultan Mehmed II in hand-to-hand combat. Vlad’s forces quickly overwhelmed the Asiatic Calvary defending the Sultan. Mehmed was able to escape with his life but he was heavily wounded in his right arm. Vlad was eventually forced to order a retreat but not before setting fire to the Ottoman Camp. The Night Attack as it was called was a major Wallachian victory but failed to achieve its goal of killing the Sultan. It was estimated that 20,000 Ottomans died for the 5,500 Wallachians killed. Eventually the Ottomans captured Targoviste but what they found instead was 15,000 Bulgarians and Turks impaled and Hamza Pasha and Ishak Pasha (Captured in the battle) impaled on the highest stakes due to having the highest ranks.

Sultan Mehmed was said to have been overwhelmed by his disbelief at what Vlad III, a man he knew from childhood, would do to maintain his states independence. Amongst the corpses Mehmed said to Radu (Vlad III’s brother), “I can not take away the lands of a man who does such marvelous things can exploit his rule and his subjects this way and he is surely destined to accomplish great things. This is why it is up to you to defeat your brother and become Bey of Wallacia.” The next day the Sultan returned to Istanbul and celebrated his “great” victory over Wallachia. For the next 4 years, Vlad and Radu would battle for control over Wallachia. The hatred and brutality both brothers should toward each other earned them the nicknames “Blood Brothers”. Radu slowly began to turn the tide of the war as he bribed disaffected boyars to side him and the Ottomans by 1466; Radu controlled over half of the Kingdom. Vlad was able to eventually ambush and kill Radu effectively ending for the time being the Ottomans influence in Wallachia. This also marked the start of Vlad’s 2nd reign of Terror as he sought to kill any boyar that had betrayed him.


[1] In OTL, the appeal is believed to been sent in a letter addressed only to King Mathias and he choose to ignore. Even though Vlad’s offer to convert to Roman Catholicism was unknown many European leaders such as the Pope were willing to support him as long as he fought the Ottomans.
[2] This is a real rumor and Vlad’s goal for the battle was to assassinate Mehmed II

[CaptainAmerica]

I am curious if anyone enjoyed the World Update and I am looking for your opinion if I should do more World Updates or if I should just focus on the War of the Roses for the time being

[Velasco]

Originally Posted by CaptainAmerica

These were all good suggestions but I have plans for Mary of Burgundy already and Anne of Brittany was born 1477 so she may be a little to young for Prince Edward. I would do Margaret of York but I don't think that the Lancaster would be willing to marry a daughter of York simply because they view the York faction as usurpers and them as the legitimate rulers.

They view the Yorkists are usurpers of the throne, but a marriage with one of York's sisters might pave the way for a lasting peace (once the Yorkists are defeated). In real-life Edward married Anne Neville, daughter of the Kingmaker, so a marriage into the Yorkist faction isn't too crazy an idea...

The best marriage though, IMHO, would be Anne Holland. She's filthy rich, heiress of the Duke of Exeter, who is a loyal Lancastrian and fled with Margaret to Scotland. Her father is also the nephew of Henry IV and the next-in-line in the Lancastrian succession (after Edward). On the other hand, her mother is a Yorkist princess, so her children will inherit (in part) the Yorkist claim to the throne. Once defeated Edward of York will be more likely to make peace with the Lancastrians if his niece is the future Queen.

[isabella]

Originally Posted by Velasco

They view the Yorkists are usurpers of the throne, but a marriage with one of York's sisters might pave the way for a lasting peace (once the Yorkists are defeated). In real-life Edward married Anne Neville, daughter of the Kingmaker, so a marriage into the Yorkist faction isn't too crazy an idea...

The best marriage though, IMHO, would be Anne Holland. She's filthy rich, heiress of the Duke of Exeter, who is a loyal Lancastrian and fled with Margaret to Scotland. Her father is also the nephew of Henry IV and the next-in-line in the Lancastrian succession (after Edward). On the other hand, her mother is a Yorkist princess, so her children will inherit (in part) the Yorkist claim to the throne. Once defeated Edward of York will be more likely to make peace with the Lancastrians if his niece is the future Queen.

Anne Holland is a very good choice for the king, specially if her uncles bloodlines do not have long life... (she is the only daughter of the eldest sister of Edward IV, if her uncles died childless she will be the yorkist heiress).

[Jammy]

I enjoyed the World Update. Thought you wrote it very well, could see the events of the night unfolding very vividly in my head