Name Index

To

The fight at Clyst in 1455

Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 44 (1912) pp. 252-265.

by

Mrs G.H. Radford

Prepared by Michael Steer

During the Wars of the Roses, the mortal enemies of the Courtenay Earls of Devon were the Bonville family of Shute. On 3 November 1455 Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon (1414-1458) at the head of a private army of 1,000 men seized control of Exeter and its royal castle, of which the Earls had for many generations considered themselves custodians as hereditary Sheriffs of Devon, but of which Bonville now also claimed the office. The Earl laid siege for two months to Powderham, a pro-Bonville stronghold. Lord Bonville attempted to raise the siege and approached from the east, crossing the River Exe, but was unsuccessful and was driven back by the Earl's forces. On 15 December 1455 the Earl of Devon and Lord Bonville met decisively at the Battle of Clyst Heath, where Bonville was defeated and after which, the Earl sacked and pillaged Shute. Google with the Archive Organization has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. The Internet Archive makes available, in its Community Texts Collection (originally known as Open Source Books), books that have been digitised by Google from a number of libraries. These are books on which copyright has expired, and are available free for educational and research use. The copy of this rare book is held at the Princeton University Library and is available from the Internet Archive.