Crossing Cock Beck

A small scene of Lancastarians fleeing the battle across the infamous Cock Beck on the flank of the field. Seeing it for real last summer, struck me what a hard route out it was. And made me think of making this base. It shows some Percy and a Somerset retainer pursued by Sir Henry Vavasour and an anonoumous light cavalry man. See my posting on the battlefield for more on the landscape and Vavasour. I started this thinking I would enter Winston's WoRs vignette competition on LEF, but I never got past undercoating the figures before the cloase date. I'm a very slow worker, and the liquid water added a new dimension too. But happy with the dynamism and the new techniques I used.

Siege of St Andrews - 1546-1547

A friend asked me to paint a few WoRs figures for him. Instead I decided to go off piste, again, and came up a vignette of the Siege of St Andrew's castle, 1546-47, given his links to the city. It took most of 2020 to complete but finally done.

The Story of the Siege

The Rough Wooing isn't my historical patch but the siege include all the political elements - religion, court power struggles, dynastic marriage plans, and international relations, with French and English involvement. 

The siege began when a number of Protestant lairds took the castle and killed its owner, Cardinal Beaton, in response to his execution of a Protestant preacher, George Wishart. Beaton's body was hung from the castle ramparts.

The Earl of Arran's coat of arms

Earl of Arran, the Scottish Regent, started a siege of the castle in late 1546 but the initial campaign had little impact and a truce and negotiations followed English threats to come in aid of the besieged protestants. There then followed a period of talks, intermittent English naval forays; and the death of Henry VIII, and the regular back and forth of John Knox, latter founder of Scotland's Presbyterian Church, as the as garrison's chaplain. English naval assistance was unsuccessful but in April 1547, Henry II of France sent aid to the besiegers, under the command of Italian mercenary, Leone Strozzi. After ineffectual bombardments from French ships, the plague-ridden garrison, fell to an effective, well-organised artillery bombardment on 30 July. Many of the defenders were imprisoned in France, and some ended up on war gallies, including Knox. Any Scottish victory overshadowed the next year, with their major defeat at Pinkie.

Leone Strozzi

Strozzi's coat of arms

So to the figures. There are two stands, One a command with Strozzi and Arran plus standard bearers and a Gallowglass for extra character. The other, two Scottish hand gunners, a Landsknecht and French crossbow man. 

I’m not sure how well executed they are, and I find the paint finishes lacking contrast but I like the fact, unlike the WoRs, there was a chance to mix it up with a variety of styles and costumes. The figures use virtually all of the makes I have - Perry, Steelfist dollies, Warlord and even some Warhammer Imperial Guard arms and a Dixon sword. And a bit of green stuff.

I do recommend a visit to the Castle and St Andrews if you ever get a chance.

Visit to Towton Battlefield

We managed to visit North Yorkshire this summer, during the lulls between lock-downs. The first day trip was to Towton battlefield.

We walked the battlefield, saw Saxton Church, the Crooked Billet and St Mary's Chapel. And also  saw Hazlewood Castle, across the beck, home to Sir Henry Vavasour (1421/30-1499), who according to some sources fought on the Yorkist side with Warwick, even though based in a Lancastrian heartland and possibly a Percy retainer.

Sir Henry is buried in the castle's chapel,

    "By the door lyes a blue marble about 2 yards and i long, escocheoned at corners thus: viz. Vavasour     and Gascoigne impaled. On the inscription plate this epitaph, viz. + Orate pro animabus domini             Henrici Vavasour militis, qui obiit ....die mentis .... anno Domini m0 cccc0 x'cviij0. (?) et [Johanna         consortia snce, quce xvij die Septembris, anno Domini m0 cccc" lxij0 (?) decessit;omniumque             fidelium defunctorum, ut requiescant in pace."  Torre's Archdeaconry of York. c 1754, 218.

The Vavasour coat of arm. And possibly the Gascoigne one it was impaled with.

 

 

 

According to one story,  the family heard the battle, 2/3rds of a mile away whilst at  Mass. It was Palm Sunday after all. And another, that Edward IV took quick refreshment in the Castle after the battle before moving on to York.

Thoughts from the visit?  

I've always found visiting battlefields and other sites associated with trauma and death a mixed and tad ghoulish experience and this time no different. But it is a quiet, still place, with not glorification, and no commercialisation.

Visiting the site did solidify the geography, especially the ascents, descents and plateau, in my mind. The long, wet slog up from Ferrybridge to the Towton plateau in snow and cold weather must have been tiring, grim and anxious for the Yorkists. And the short, sharp drop from the salient to the beck and the routes north  for the Lancastarians in rout even worse. Even on a summer day, the plateau is noticeably higher and exposed. I imagine it was less open and uniform at the time, however. 

And St Mary's Chapel, at Lead, on the left flank, is a hidden gem. It is the only extant remnant of Lead Manor and village, which again, the story goes, Edward may have stayed in the night before the battle. 

I hope to create a figure of Vavasour, Lead Chapel and if possible the retreat towards the beck.

The Company of St George

Great to see the new website up and running from one of the best re-enactor groups around. Now they have finally published their women's clothing guide to compliment the throughly researched men's one and the Dragon magazine.

 A real source of evidence, ideas and inspiration.

 

 

Lovell's Trail

By coincidence rather than design I've visited two sites associated with the  Lovell family in the last few weeks - Minster Lovell and Old Wardour Castle. I thought I would share some images.

Minster Lovell on the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border Ive known about for ages but this was the first time Ive actually stopped there. And Old Wardour is a hidden gem in Wiltshire.

Book Recommendation - The Last Knight

Hi All,

Just bought The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I, the catalogue, a somewhat paltry term for a massive and lavish hardback, to the Met's exhibition of Maximilan I's armour and related artifacts.

I've seen some of these pieces in the flesh before but  his personal collection of battle, tournament and ceremenoial armour was hugh.

It contains numerous images of his personal and contemporary armour, and related images such as portraits, Maximilan's self commissioned and self-publicising semi-autobiography - check out the Freyal tounement pictures, and lots of Burgundian and Hapsburg related images.

These are accompanied by a series of essays whose core argument is that he used armour and the image of the knight as part of his public diplomacy campaign.

.

Hampden and Chalgrove

Following up from my last post, I cycled past the Battle of Chalgrove site a few weeks ago. Herees the monument to it and Hampden. You may be able to make out his coat of arms.