Shrewsbury 1403

1. The Battle of Shrewsbury began with an archery duel, unleashed by both sides. Here, leader of the rebellion against King Henry IV, Henry Percy – known as ‘Hotspur’ - is in discussion with two of the Cheshire knights mentioned in the sources, Sir Richard Venables and Sir Richard Vernon, as his Cheshire and Welsh archers, wearing the livery of green and white associated with the deposed Richard II, and the red and black of Percy, loose their arrows at the Royal Army.

2. Henry, Prince of Wales, is shot in the face with an arrow while leading an attack on the rebel vanguard.

The contemporary chronicler Thomas Walsingham’s account of the battle describes the scene: ‘Meanwhile the destruction dealt by the arrows, which were flying like a hailstorm from both sides, was very great. Prince Henry, then fighting his first battle, was shot in the face by an arrow; boy though he was, he did not falter, but with courage beyond his years, disregarding his wounds, cheered on his troops to vengeance.’

The removal of the arrow, lodged deep in the young prince’s head, is described in a detailed account left by the surgeon, and was a remarkable feat of surgery. Despite the severity of the wound, Henry would recover to go on to become one of England’s most famous warrior kings, Henry V.

3. The hand-to-hand fighting around King Henry IV was the fiercest across the whole battlefield, the king becoming a clear target of the rebels. Here, the Earl of Douglas cuts down the Royal banner-bearer, while Sir Walter Blount reaches out to try to stop the banner falling to the ground. Behind, George Dunbar warns the King of the perilous situation he is in and urges him to withdraw.