| 1460 | Jun | Yorkists take control of Kent |
| | | After the defeat at Ludford Bridge the Yorkists had dispersed. Having had time to regroup, the Yorkists from Calais led by the Earls of Warwick and March landed on the south coast of England and quickly seized Sandwich. |
| Jun 26 | Earls of March and Warwick land in England |
| | | Once the Yorkist army had secured Sandwich the Earls of March and Warwick arrived from Calais. They had a force of around 2,000 and the support of the Kentish men. |
| Jul 2 | Yorkists enter London |
| | | The Yorkists marched first to Canterbury where the officers in charge of protecting the town against them joined forces with the rebels. They then moved on and arrived at London on July 2nd. There they were welcomed by the Mayor of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury. |
| Jul 10 | Battle of Northampton |
| | | The Lancastrian's Court was in Coventry at the time of the Yorkist rebels entering London. When news reached them, the Lancastrians moved south to Northampton to meet the rebels. The Yorkists led by the Earl of Warwick wanted to talk but the Lancastrians led by the Duke of Buckingham wanted to fight. Although the Lancastrians had less men than the Yorkists, they did have control of a stronger position. The Yorkists managed to defeat the Lancastrians due to a section of the Lancastrian army led by Lord Grey of Ruthin moving away allowing the Yorkists through. Orders were given that the King and ordinary men should be spared, while the knights and lords should be killed. When the fighting was over the casualties were light, but the Lancastrian leaders, Buckingham, Shrewsbury and Egremont were dead and the King was captured. |
| Jul 30 | Yorkists in power |
| | | Now that the Yorkists had control of the King, they started moves to regain their confiscated lands and reverse the sentences of attainder passed by the Coventry Parliament. To this end they sent letters demanding Parliament should meet on 7th October. George Neville, the Kingmaker's brother was made chancellor of England. |
| Oct | Duke of York claims throne |
| | | Richard, Duke of York returned from Ireland to claim the throne of England as a direct decendant of Edward III. The Lords refused to abandon Henry VI and Parliament agreed he should remain King until his death. Then Richard or his heir should become the next king of England. |
| Dec 30 | Battle of Wakefield |
| | | Queen Margaret had been building an army in the North and started attacking Yorkist held settlements. Richard left London with a small army to deal with the Queen. He had underestimated the Lancastrians and at his castle at Sandal Richard was confronted by superior forces. Although Richard sent word to the Earl of March for assistance he didn't wait and attacked. The battle left Richard Duke of York and his son Earl of Rutland dead. |
| 1461 | Feb 2 | Battle of Mortimers Cross |
| | | Edward Earl of March, now the heir to the English throne, showed off his military skills at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire. The Lancastrians with Welsh support had caught Edward as he travelled to London. On the morning of the battle three bright lights were seen in the sky. Edward used this strange sight as a good omen. The Lancastrians were defeated and Owen Tudor was captured and beheaded. Jasper Tudor escaped. |
| Feb 17 | Second Battle of St. Albans |
| | | The Lancastrians army led by the Queen met the Yorkist army led by Warwick at St. Albans. The Yorkist army was split in two and during the battle sections of the Yorkists defected to the Queen's side. The Yorkists were defeated and Warwick escaped. The King, who had been travelling with the Yorkists, was freed and he was reunited with his wife and son. |
| Feb 27 | Yorkists enter London |
| | | Edward and Warwick were allowed to enter the city of London. The citizens of London had refused to let the Queen enter and so she returned north with the King. |
| Mar 4 | Edward IV is proclaimed king |
| | | Edward, the Earl of March, was crowned Edward IV of England at London by the available peers and public acclamation. |
| Mar 13 | Edward leaves London |
| | | Edward IV with a large army left London to march north and face the Lancastrians. |
| Mar 29 | Battle of Towton |
| | | This was the bloodiest battle of the War of the Roses and was fought in a snowstorm at Towton in Yorkshire. Both the Lancastrian and Yorkist armies were large having possibly 40,000 men each. The battle lasted many hours until the Lancastrian's line was broken. Fleeing into a river many of the Lancastrians were drowned due to their heavy armour and the rest were killed by the pursuing Yorkists. |
| Jun 28 | Edward IV is crowned |
| | | Edward takes part in the crown-wearing ceremonies. |
| Nov | Pembroke Castle in Yorkist hands |
| | | William Herbert was given the castle at Pembroke in recognition of his assistance to Edward IV. Herbert was made the guardian of the future Henry VII who was living at the castle. |
| 1462 | Jun 28 | Queen Margaret and Louis XI |
| | | Queen Margaret of England and Louis XI of France sign a treaty. Margaret promised that Calais would be his if he helped her return Henry to the throne. |
| Oct 25 | Queen Margaret invades |
| | | Queen Margaret landed near Bamburgh Castle on the Northumbrian coast with a small army. The main castles in the area, Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh surrendered to the Queen. |
| Nov 13 | Queen Margaret retreats to Scotland |
| | | Edward acted quickly to Queen Margaret's arrival in the north. He raised a large army that marched towards Northumbria. Queen Margaret did not have the resources and local support required to fight Edward and so she decided to seek refuge in Scotland. A garrison of soldiers were left at the three Northumbrian castles. |
| Dec | Yorkists take back control of Northumbrian castles |
| | | The Earl of Warwick was put in charge of capturing the castles from the Lancastrian garrisons. Edward had to stay at Durham to recover from a bout of the measles. The castles were not attacked but cut off from supplies to starve the soldiers out. Just before the new year the Lancastrian soldiers surrendered and the Yorkists took control of Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh Castles. |
| 1463 | Mar | Northumbrian castles fall to Lancastrians |
| | | Sir Ralph Percy, the constable in charge of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, defected and allowed the Lancastrians to take control. Alnwick Castle fell to the Lancastrians shortly afterwards. |
| Summer | Queen Margaret returns to France |
| | | Her invasion plans in ruin, Margaret decided to return to France. She took Prince Edward with her. |
| Jul | Siege of Norham Castle |
| | | Queen Margaret, Henry VI and Scottish support besieged the castle at Norham. King Edward failed to react to the problem and it was left to the Earls of Warwick and Northumberland to come to the castle's rescue. Henry, Margaret and the Scots fled. |
| Oct | Treaty with France |
| | | Edward agreed a treaty with France in which both sides promising not to assist each others enemies. |
| Dec | Truce with Scotland |
| | | Edward agreed a truce with Scotland, signed at York. Edward spent Christmas in the city. |
| Dec | Duke of Somerset rebels |
| | | Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Lancastrian supporters rebelled against Edward and used Bamburgh Castle as a base. |
| 1464 | Apr | Battle of Hedgeley Moor |
| | | Battle of Hedgeley Moor |
| May | Battle of Hexham |
| | | The Nevilles defeated the last of the Lancastrian forces near Hexham and executed the rebels including Henry Beaufort the Duke of Somerset. In recognition of their contribution to the security of his reign Edward IV gave John Neville, Lord Montagu, the title of Earl of Northumberland and George Neville became the Archbishop of York. |
| May | Edward secretly marries |
| | | Edward married Elizabeth Woodville (Wydville) secretly during a hunting trip. The hunting trip that may have been arranged as a cover. Edward is supposed to have had a reputation as a lady's man and had many lovers. To Edward, Elizabeth could have been just another lover, but Elizabeth may have wanted more and persuaded Edward to marry her. The marriage took place in secret and was kept quiet until the spring of 1465. One problem with the marriage was that Elizabeth was the widow of Henry V's brother John, a Lancastrian and her family were Lancastrian supporters. The other problem was that Warwick had contacted the French king Louis XI and had been trying to arrange a marriage for Edward to a French princess. Edward's act upset Warwick's plans. |
| Sep 14 | Council at Reading |
| | | Great Council at Reading Abbey; Edward IV announced his marriage and (29.9 - Michaelmas) Elizabeth recognised as Queen. |
| 1465 | May 26 | Elizabeth crowned |
| | | Elizabeth Woodville was finally crowned Queen at Westminster Abbey. |
| Summer | Henry VI captured |
| | | Henry had been helped by Lancastrian supporters in the north but was finally captured at Waddington Hall. He was taken to London and put in the Tower. |
| 1468 | Qtr 4 | Warwick plots against the King |
| | | Warwick was unhappy with the marriage of Edward and Elizabeth Woodville and he began to plan how overthrow the king. Warwick's plans centred around Edward's brother George, the Duke of Clarence. If George was to marry Warwick's daughter Isabel and become king, Warwick would be back in a position of power. |
| 1469 | Qtr 1 | Rebellion of Robin of Redesdale |
| | | A rebellion began early in the year started by a mysterious person calling himself Robin of Redesdale. The motivation for the uprising against the king was his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and the influence the Woodvilles were having. The rebels were supported by the Earl of Warwick. |
| Jun | Edward advances against rebels |
| | | Edward and the Duke of Gloucester took a small army in search of the rebels in the North. |
| Jul | Clarence marries Isabel Neville |
| | | Warwick and the Duke of Clarence travelled to France where Clarence was married to Warwick's fifteen year old daughter Isabel. The ceremony was conducted by Warwick's brother George Neville the Archbishop of York. |
| Jul 26 | Battle of Edgecote |
| | | Edward's army was insufficient to deal with the rebels alone and he had moved them to Nottingham to wait for a larger army to join them led by Sir William Herbert. Pembroke's army was attacked and defeated by a combined rebel army led by Robin of Redesdale and the Earl of Warwick who had returned from France. The battle took place at Edgecote near Banbury. Sir William Herbert and his brother Richard were captured and executed. |
| Jul 29 | Edward is captured |
| | | After the defeat of William Herbert at Edgecote, Edward was left without a strong enough army to deal with the Earl of Warwick. Either Edward's army deserted him, or he dispersed his army on purpose, the outcome was the same. Edward was captured. |
| Aug | Woodville family members executed |
| | | While Edward was imprisoned, Warwick captured the Queen's father (Earl Rivers) and one of her brothers and had them executed at Warwick Castle. |
| Sep | Riots and rebellions |
| | | With the king in custody there began a series of riots around the country protesting against the Earl of Warwick. Warwick did not have the backing of Parliament and in the end had little choice but to let Edward go free and return to rule the country. |
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