Editing Edward IV (section)

===Accession to the throne===
[[File:DacreCross.JPG|thumb|left|200px|alt=A stone post, topped with a cross, stands next to a bush in a field. An inscription on its base reads, "Battle of Towton Palm Sunday 1461"|Towton Cross, commemorating Edward's victory at the [[Battle of Towton]]]]

At this stage of Edward's career, contemporaries like [[Philippe de Commines]] described him as handsome, affable, and energetic.{{Sfn|Kleiman|2013|p=83}} Unusually tall for the period at {{Convert|6|ft|4|in|cm|abbr=off}}, he was an impressive sight in armour, and took care to wear splendid clothes. This was done deliberately to contrast him with King Henry VI, whose physical and mental frailties undermined his position.{{Sfn|Seward|1997|p=97}}

On 2 February 1461,{{Efn|Now the generally accepted date, although others suggest it was fought on 3 February}} Edward won a hard-fought victory at the [[Battle of Mortimer's Cross]] in [[Herefordshire]]. The battle was preceded by a meteorological phenomenon known as [[parhelion]], or three suns, which he took as his emblem, the "[[Sun in splendour]]".{{Sfn|Penn|2019|p=4}} However, this was offset by Warwick's defeat at the [[Second Battle of St Albans]] on 17 February, the Lancastrians regaining custody of Henry VI. The two met in London, where Edward was hastily appointed king, before marching north, where the two sides met at the [[Battle of Towton]]. Fought on 29 March in the middle of a snowstorm, it was the bloodiest battle ever to take place on English soil, and ended in a decisive Yorkist victory.{{Sfn|Gravett |2003|pp=85–89}}

Estimates of the dead range from 9,000 to 20,000; figures are uncertain, as most of the mass graves were emptied or moved over the centuries, while corpses were generally stripped of clothing or armour before burial. Nevertheless, casualties among the Lancastrian nobility were enormous and explain the enduring bitterness among those who survived. Since 1996, excavations have uncovered over 50 skeletons from the battle; an analysis of their injuries shows the brutality of the contest, including extensive post-mortem mutilations.{{Sfn|Sutherland|Schmidt|2003|pp=15–25}}

Margaret fled to Scotland with Edward of Westminster, while the new king returned to London for his 28 June 1461 [[coronation of the English monarch|coronation]].{{Sfn|Penn|2019|pp=54–55}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=James |first1=Jeffrey |title=Edward IV: Glorious Son of York |year= 2015 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Ltd. |isbn=978-1-4456-4622-0 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=euWGCgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> Henry VI remained at large for over a year, but was caught and imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]]. There was little point in killing him while his son remained alive since this would have transferred the Lancastrian claim from a frail captive to one who was young and free.{{Sfn|Ross|1974|p=62}}