Nottingham Castle was highly regarded by these sons of York.
It was at Nottingham Castle in 1461 that 18-year-old Edward, the Yorkist Earl of March and distant relative of Roger Mortimer, proclaimed himself King during the Wars of the Roses.
Later that year, after defeating Jasper Tudor’s Lancastrian army at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross and then also defeating King Henry VI’s forces at the Battle of Towton, Edward was crowned king in Westminster Abbey. Edward appointed his brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, as the commander of his armies in the north based at Nottingham.
Between 1476 and 1480, Edward spent lavishly on Nottingham Castle, adding new comfortable State Apartments in the Middle Bailey and a defensive six-sided tower, known as Richard’s Tower. After Edward’s death and Richard’s own bloody path to the throne – involving him knocking off several family members – it was from his “castle of care” at Nottingham, that Richard would raise his standard and depart for the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. At Bosworth, Richard, the last of the Plantagenets, was killed by the Lancastrians led by Jasper Tudor’s nephew, Henry, who would become King Henry VII, the first of the Tudors.
Richard’s body was discovered buried in a car park in Leicester in 2012.
Key facts
Connection: Nottingham was the beginning for Edward, where he first proclaimed himself king, and the end for his brother Richard, being the castle he left from to fight the Battle of Bosworth where he lost his life.
Born: Edward – 28th April 1442 and Richard – 2nd October 1452
Died: Edward – 9th April 1483 and Richard – 22nd August 1485
Did you know? Henry VII also went to battle from Nottingham Castle. In 1487, two years after defeating Richard, Henry stayed at Nottingham before defeating the remains of the Yorkist army near Newark at the Battle of East Stoke. This was the last battle of the Wars of the Roses.