Mortimer's Cross, battle of

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Mortimer's Cross, battle of, 1461. The young earl of March (the future Edward IV) was at Gloucester when his father was defeated and killed at Wakefield. He marched north to intercept a strong Lancastrian force under the earl of Wiltshire and Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, whom he defeated on 2 February at Mortimer's Cross, 4 miles south of Wigmore. On the morning of the battle, the Yorkists claimed three suns in the sky as a good omen. This was Edward's first important victory. Owen Tudor, Pembroke's father and grandfather of the future Henry VII, was taken prisoner in the fight and beheaded in Hereford market-place.

J. A. Cannon

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Mortimers Cross

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