Abstract

Battlefields have a particular hold on the imagination, inviting those who visit them to make conscious links between physical places and what is known to have happened there. People may align themselves with one or other of the protagonists and celebrate or regret a victory or defeat. Beyond the partisan, however, there is also the human response; reflections, perhaps, on the horror of war and its futility, the harm done to civilians, the affront to civilized values and the betrayal of non-violent ways to resolve conflict. Beneath or alongside these reactions sits the possibility for moments of affect, responses that are not immediately expressible but which are deeply felt, physical, visceral. The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461, during the Wars of the Roses. This was a typical late medieval battle, fought mainly hand-to-hand, and has the unpleasant distinction of being widely believed to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. But what does it mean to people now? Emplo..