Stoke is generally considered to be one of the least well documented of our major battles of the period. There are five main sources which give some information as to the location or nature of the action. Of these the most extensive detail on the battle itself is provided by Molinet and by Vergil. All of the key sources are provided in translation by Bennett (1993). A great deal of what has been written of the action is elaboration, based on tradition or conjecture, around a very limited number of facts derived from the contemporary chronicles. In the absence of much secure archaeological evidence, a description of the action should stay close to these original sources.