Shrewsbury 1403: Struggle For A Fragile Crown

The battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 is one of the most important battles in English history. King Henry IV faced his erstwhile ally Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland in a bloody contest on a field outside the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury, where two English armies, well-matched, and fighting with similar equipment and tactics, struggled in an archery duel in which the arrows `fell like leaves in Autumn,` before the battle was ultimately decided in close quarter, hand-to-hand combat. With his victory, Henry IV secured the Lancastrian hold on the kingdom and demonstrated the right of his bloodline to the throne.