#WarsoftheRoses OTD in 1473 - The Lancastrians were occupying St Michael’s Mount. This followed the celebrated Lancastrian commander, the Earl of Oxford, launching a surprise assault on St Michael’s Mount & taking the castle on the previous day. He was accompanied by Lord Beaumont & 400 men. Oxford was funded by Louis XI of France. #EdwardIV needed Oxford removed to preserve the comprehensive victory the Yorkists had won at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471. Oxford & Beaumont had fled to Scotland following the Lancastrian defeat at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. They then travelled to France & secured the support of Louis XI. After a period of piracy in the South West they identified St Michael’s Mount as the perfect target to give them a foothold & safe haven on English soil. Edward IV initially attempted to blockade the island & starve the Lancastrians out. When this failed he resorted to overwhelming force, dispatching John Fortesque with 6,000 men in December 1473, along with the royal fleet & John Wode from the Royal Armouries who had heavy artillery under his command. This show of force combined with the offer of pardons for any defenders who voluntarily left the castle broke the Lancastrian resistance. In February 1474 Oxford & Beaumont surrendered & were imprisoned. But this wouldn’t be the last the Yorkists saw of Oxford. He was imprisoned near Calais. #RichardIII intended to move him to more secure confinement in the Tower of London, but Oxford escaped before he could be returned to England & was the most experienced commander in Henry Tudor’s army at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485.