Abstract This article considers the treatment of defeated opponents between the First Battle of St Albans (1455) and the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471). It demonstrates that the Battle of Wakefield (1460) marked an increase in post-battle executions. Beheadings of defeated opponents reached a zenith after Edward IV’s victory at Tewkesbury. The bodies of executed Lancastrians in 1471 were treated with more respect to allow reconciliation. This article argues against a deterministic narrative that sees a never-ending increase in post-battle bloodletting. Instead, commanders had a range of options in dealing with defeated opponents that reflected the political culture of late fifteenth-century England.