This battle – fought between an army led by the Lancastrian king Henry IV and his son Prince Hal (the future Henry V), and a rebel army headed by members of the powerful Percy family of Northumberland – is principally remembered today as the climax of Shakespeare's play Henry IV Part I.
The Percy forces were mostly raised from their estates in Cheshire and led by Henry Percy ('Hotspur') and his brother Thomas. Although the Percys collectively had greater military experience than the king, many of their troops were quite inexperienced.
The Percys were trying to join a Welsh force led by Owain Glyndwr. Shrewsbury was a principal town on the route, the major crossing point over the river Severn as well as a potential supply base. The royal army had to take it urgently before the Percys and Glyndwr could combine.
Both armies arrived at Shrewsbury a day or so before the battle. During the night of 20/21 July, the royal forces crossed the Severn and took the field below Haughmond Abbey. This gave them wider ground on which their superior numbers could be best used; the Percy army was forced to take a more unfavourable position.
Following a few hours of futile negotiations, the order was given to advance. Both sides found themselves bombarded by arrows and many were killed within minutes. Once hand-to-hand fighting began, the royal forces started to gain the advantage, and a rash charge from the Percy force led only to their disarray and destruction.
When the cry went up at nightfall that Hotspur had been fatally wounded by an arrow, the Percy resistance crumbled and the slaughter began. More than 300 knights died, up to 20,000 men fell on the battlefield and many thousands died of their wounds later.
Hotspur was buried, but then the king ordered him to be disinterred and displayed to prove that he was truly dead. His body was set up in Shrewsbury impaled on a spear between two millstones. Later it was quartered and put on show in the four corners of the country.
The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403-2003 www.battleofshrewsbury.org/battle Website featuring an account of the battle and images of the 600th anniversary celebrations, including images of re-enactments and maps of where the battle took place.
The Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 by Philip J Morgan (Tempus, 2003)
A fully illustrated account of the battle. Get this book
Battlefield Church North of Shrewsbury on the A5112, just south of the junction with the A49 This church – otherwise known as the Church of St Mary Magdalene (whose feast day is on 21 July) – was built on the site of the battle in 1406. It is a rare surviving example of what was once a common response to mass deaths in war: the battlefield memorial chapel. In England, the only remaining examples are this church and Battle Abbey, which William the Conqueror built to commemorate the battle of Hastings.
After Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the 1540s, the church fell into disrepair, and by the early 18th century, it was roofless and derelict. But it – and the battlefield itself – were then rediscovered, and the church was restored in the mid-19th century. The hammer-beam roof and gargoyles date from this time. Today, as well as a display in the vestry depicting the conflict, you can see recently installed panels showing the main players at the battle: Henry IV, Prince Hal, Hotspur, the knights and archers, and the foot soldiers.
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