Visits to Fields of Battle, in England, of the Fifteenth Century / to which are added, some miscellaneous tracts and papers upon archæological subjects

Transcribed from the 1857 John Russell Smith edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org Many thanks to the Bodleian / British Library for the scans of the book.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED, SOME MISCELLANEOUS TRACTS AND PAPERS UPON ARCHÆOLOGICAL SUBJECTS.
BY RICHARD BROOKE, ESQ., F.S.A.
LONDON: JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE. LIVERPOOL: J. MAWDSLEY AND SON, CASTLE STREET. M DCCC LVII.

London; F. Pickton, Printer, Perry’s Place, 29, Oxford Street
In the course of the fifteenth century, England experienced, in a lamentable degree, the sad effects of internal discord, and the miseries caused by the conflicts of adverse factions.
It is scarcely possible, for historians to point out, in the annals of any country in Europe, in the feudal ages, deeds of violence and bloodshed, of a more appalling nature, than those which the chroniclers have recorded, as having occurred in England, during the period which intervened between the years 1400 and 1500—a period memorable for the sanguinary wars of York and Lancaster. During the continuance of those disastrous conflicts, thousands of brave men perished in arms, the axe of the executioner was seldom idle, great numbers of the nobility and gentry lost their lives in the field or upon the scaffold, property was usurped in consequence of wholesale confiscations, numberless innocent lives were sacrificed, and many happy homes were outraged.
This misery was the result of contests for a crown, which perhaps neither of the claimants merited, nor does it appear, that it was of great importance to the nation, which of the rival competitors wore it.
These sanguinary conflicts are usually called the Wars of the Roses, from the circumstance, that the supporters of the House of York assumed the badge or device of the White Rose, and those of Lancaster the Red Rose.
Notwithstanding, however, the scanty nature of the historical accounts handed down to us, some information of value has reached us; and the fields of battle, and the positions of the hostile armies, may in several instances, be clearly identified, after a perusal of the statements of the old chroniclers, and a comparison of their descriptions with the present aspect of the localities where the battles were fought.