Tewkesbury Medieval Festival - Re-enactment of The Battle of Tewkesbury

Re-enactment of The Battle of Tewkesbury

The festival's main feature is its re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury, which was fought on 4 May 1471 between the Houses of York and Lancaster. The engagement was a decisive victory for the Yorkists and their leader, King Edward IV. The forces of the House of Lancaster were decimated, and their leaders killed or captured, leaving Edward as the unchallenged ruler of England. Several Lancastrians fled the battlefield and sought sanctuary at Tewkesbury Abbey. The Yorkists stormed the abbey, captured their foes, and executed them.

The re-enactment at the first festival was a simple affair compared to later years: approximately 100 local enthusiasts, kitted out in crude imitations of medieval gear, fought each other on the fields of Tewkesbury. They wore woollen chainmail or armour made of fibreglass. Their swords and pole arms were made from wood; arrows were rolled-up wallpaper. As the festival became more popular over the years, the scale and quality of the re-enactment changed. Re-enactors from other parts of the United Kingdom joined the event, as well as those from Poland, Germany and other European countries. The armour and weapons used in the later years were faithful steel reproductions that could cost thousands of pounds sterling (£). By 2002, the Battle of Tewkesbury was re-enacted by approximately 2,000 men and women, and the British Broadcasting Corporation called the next year's re-enactment the largest in Europe. Aside from the battle, the storming of Tewkesbury Abbey is also re-enacted during the festival. The subsequent trial and execution of the prisoners are acted out in a mock fashion.

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