The Battle of Towton in North Yorkshire, fought during the Wars of the Roses, was reputedly the bloodiest battle ever seen on English soil. In 1996 a mass grave of soldiers was discovered there by chance. This was the catalyst for a multidisciplinary research project, still unique in Britain ten years after the initial discovery, which included a study of the skeletal remains, the battlefield landscape, the historical evidence and contemporary arms and armur. The discoveries were dramatic and moving; the individuals had clearly suffered traumatic deaths and subsequent research highlighted the often multiple wounds each individual had received before and, in some cases, after they had died. As well as the exciting forensic work the project also revealed much about medieval weaponry and fighting. Blood Red Roses contains all the information about this fascinating discovery, as well as discussing its wider historical, heritage and archaeological implications. The second edition features new chapters by a re-enactor and a history teacher, which apply the research from the initial study to produce a veritable 'living history'. Table of Contents Site discovery, context and excavation The context of the discovery (Veronica Fiorato) The historical background to the battle and the documentary evidence (Andrew Boardman) The excavation and finds (Andrea Burgess) Recording the grave (Tim Sutherland) The Human Remains The physical anthropology (Anthea Boylston, Malin Holst and Jennifer Coughlan) Health status (Jennifer Coughlan and Malin Holst) Dental health and disease (Malin Host and Jennifer Coughlan) Battle-related trauma (Shannon Novak) Arms and Armour of the Fifteenth Century: Weapons (Graeme Rimer) Armour (Thom Richardson) Combat techniques (John Waller) The wider implications of the discovery The potential of the site for improved understanding of the Towton battle and battlefield (Tim Sutherland) How has the Towton project contributed to our knowledge of medieval warfare? (Christopher Knusel and Anthea Boylston) Battlefield protection and the current extent of archaeological research (Veronica Fiorato)

Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton AD 1461, second edition

History

Fiorato, Veronica

Boylston, Anthea

Knusel, Christopher

Europe

Oxbow Books

Founded as a leper hospital for men in the 12th century, this institution admitted women and children towards the end of the Middle Ages and survived the Reformation by becoming an almshouse for the sick poor. The report includes a discussion of leprosy and contemporary attitudes to it, medieval hsopitals and cemeteries and the provision of chritable care. The cemetery provided the largest sample of skeletons from an English medieval leper hospital to date, and one of the most significant assemblages of leper graves in Europe.

Lepers Outside the Gate: Excavations at the Cemetery of the Hospital of St. James and St. Mary Magdalene, Chichester (Chicester Excavations: Cba Research Report 158)

Magilton, John

Lee, Frances

Council for British Archaeology

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