Bradford University lecturer Dr Christopher Knusel has helped produce a new chapter for a book about the War of the Roses entitled Blood Red Roses. The book is based on the findings from a mass grave in Towton, where the bodies of 38 soldiers from one of the bloodiest battles ever seen on English soil were recovered.

Last week, in front of an audience of archaeology experts, Dr Knusel demonstrated how trauma injuries on the bone showed how the soldiers were injured in hand-to-hand combat with hand-held weapons.

Now the Bradford University academic hopes the same findings can help to get schoolchildren excited about history through the book.
He said: "The trauma injuries we found told us something new about the way the war was fought.

"There was an idea there was a code of chivalry between nobles. That anyone noble caught would be held captive and ransomed back.

"But what we found is the fighting was brutal and fought face-to-face. The injuries people suffered were from hand-held weapons, and were sometimes excessive beyond what it would have taken to kill someone.

"It also gave us an idea of what a medieval rout must have been like. A lot of the injuries we encountered were obviously inflicted from horseback with men on the ground who have been chased down."

Dr Knusel explained the findings not only helped historians to learn about the tactics, weaponry and armour used on the day, but also provided a more personal insight into the conflict he said helped young people to relate to the subject as more than just dates in a text book.

He added: "You see the suffering these people faced. We're able to provide people with lots of individual experiences these soldiers had before their lives came to an end at Towton."