Stoke Field, Battle of

The Battle of Stoke Field (June 16, 1487) may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it is the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims deriv from descent from the houses of Lancaster and York respectively.

The Battle of Bosworth, two years previously, had established King Henry VII on the throne, ending the last period of Yorkist rule and initiating that of the Tudors.

The Battle of Stoke Field is the decisive engagement in an attempt by leading Yorkists to unseat him in favor of the pretender Lambert Simnel.Though it is often portrayed as almost a coda to the major battles between York and Lancaster, it is actually a bigger battle than Bosworth with much heavier casualties, partly because the armies are evenly matched and partly because of the terrain, which forces the two sides into close, attritional combat.

In the end, though, Henry's victory is crushing.

Almost all the leading Yorkists are killed in the battle.

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