The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, King Edward IV. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward, Prince of Wales, and many prominent Lancastrian nobles were killed during the battle or were dragged from sanctuary two days later and immediately executed. The Lancastrian King, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died or was murdered shortly after the battle. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until Edward's death in 1483.

The term, the Wars of the Roses, refers to the informal heraldic badges of the two rival houses of Lancaster and York which had been contending for power, and ultimately for the throne, since the late 1450s. In 1461 the Yorkist claimant, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV and defeated the supporters of the weak, intermittently insane Lancastrian king Henry VI at the Battle of Towton. Lancastrian revolts in the far north of England were defeated in 1464, and the fugitive King Henry was captured and imprisoned the next year. His Queen, Margaret of Anjou, and their thirteen-year-old son Edward of Westminster, were exiled and impoverished in France. Edward IV's hold on the throne appeared temporarily to be secure.

Coordinates: 51°59′10″N 2°08′10″W / 51.986°N 2.136°W / 51.986; -2.136

Tewkesbury ( /ˈtjuːksbri/ TEWKS-bree) is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook. It gives its name to the Borough of Tewkesbury, of which the town is the second largest settlement.

The name Tewkesbury comes from Theoc, the name of a Saxon who founded a hermitage there in the 7th century, and in the Old English tongue was called Theocsbury.

Tewkesbury is named after Theocalious, a hermit who founded Threwshon, adapted to Tewkesbury over the years, in the 7th century. Evidence of a church predating the abbey suggests that a considerable settlement rose up on the site previous to the Norman Conquest. Evidence of monastic buildings from the years immediately following the conquest can still be seen surrounding Tewkesbury Abbey, which was begun in 1090 and consecrated on 23 October 1121.