Editing Battle of Tewkesbury (section)

===Aftermath of the battle===
[[File:Beheading duke somerset.jpg|thumb|right|The execution of the [[Edmund Beaufort (died 1471)|Duke of Somerset]] after the battle]]
Among the leading Lancastrians who died on the field were Somerset's younger brother [[John Beaufort, Marquess of Dorset]], and the Earl of Devon. The Prince of Wales was slain on the field during the retreat by some of Clarence's men, despite pleading for help to Clarence, who had sworn allegiance to him in France barely a year before.<ref name="Rowse169">Rowse, p. 169</ref>

Many of the other Lancastrian nobles and knights sought sanctuary in [[Tewkesbury Abbey]]. King Edward attended prayers in the Abbey shortly after the battle. He granted permission for the Prince of Wales and others slain in the battle to be buried within the Abbey or elsewhere in the town without being [[Hanged, drawn and quartered|quartered]] as traitors as was customary. However, two days after the battle, Somerset and other leaders were dragged out of the Abbey and ordered by Gloucester and the Duke of Norfolk to be put to death after perfunctory trials.<ref name=Arrivall5/> Among them were Hugh Courtenay, cousin of the Earls of Devon, and Sir [[John Langstrother]], the prior of the [[Knights Hospitaller|military order of St. John]].<ref name=Rowse169/> The Abbey was not officially a sanctuary.<ref>Warner, p. 99</ref> It had to be reconsecrated a month after the battle, following the violence done within its precincts.

A few days later Queen Margaret sent word to Edward from her refuge that she was "at his commandment".<ref>Rowse, p. 170</ref>