Battle of Bosworth Field, 22 August 1485
-Jason

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The Battle of Bosworth Field was the last major military action of the Wars of the Roses.  It ended the reign of the Plantagenet Dynasty and ushered the Tudor family into power over England.  Richard III’s seizure of power, his culling of rivals, and the loss of support from his retainers set the stage for Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, to lead a successful uprising.

Henry was a member of the legitimized House of Lancaster and therefore a rival to the House of York.   Henry was a descendant of John the Gaunt and one of the last to have a strong enough blood tie challenge the unpopular Richard III.  When Henry VI, and his heir, were killed after the Battle of Tewkesbury taking place on 4 May 1471, the few surviving member of the Lancastrian family either had to swear allegiance to Edward IV or flee to the Continent.  One group who fled to Brittany included the future Henry VII.

Edward IV died on 14 April 1483, by June the Yorkist family was thrust into an uncertain future.  Richard III was supposed to be the Protector for his nephews King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury.  The Royal Council had feared that their mother, Elizabeth Woodville, would gain too much power following the accession of her 12-year-old son.  Lord Hastings, a member of the Council, asked Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to assume the role and protect the interests of the young king.  Little did he understand that Richard had ambitions of his own: after arresting and executing leading members of the Woodville family, he quickly turned against Hastings and had him beheaded.  Richard’s next move was to convince Parliament that his nephews were illegitimate, clearing the way for him to be declared England’s next king.  Both nephews were imprisoned in the Tower of London and never seen alive in public again.

Richard’s actions were shocking even to his own supporters over the course of the summer of 1483.  Many believed that he was a usurper and sought to restore Edward V.  Others looked overseas for a way to get rid of the new monarch.  Knowing this, Henry Tudor publicly declared his legitimate claim to the throne through his bloodline on his mother’s side of the family and began to assemble an army.  Lady Margaret, Henry’s mother, was in London conspiring with members of the growing resistance to gain as many supporters for his son as possible.  The hatred of Richard brought members of both the Lancastrian and Yorkist families together.

The Duke of Buckingham conspired with Henry to launch a two-front battle against Richard in the late summer of 1483.  Buckingham would attack through Wales while Henry crossed the Channel.  This plan fell apart due to a combination of poor timing, inclement weather, and betrayal amongst the rebels.  An uprising erupted 10 days before Buckingham marched and Richard was able to raise the royal army.  Richard destroyed the bridges Buckingham needed to cross while the Duke’s own lands were seized by his enemies in Wales.  By 2 November, Richard had captured and executed Buckingham.  Henry’s forces sailed along the southern coast of England before returning to Brittany after finding out the fate of his ally.  The surviving rebels fled to Brittany and openly supported Henry.

Between 1483 and 1485, Richard failed to convince the Duke of Brittany to turn Henry over to him.  Henry meanwhile strengthened his claim with talk of marrying Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the two rival houses.  Henry and his followers were briefly forced to seek refuge inside France before finally becoming strong enough to attempt another invasion of England.  When Richard’s wife died in 1485, there was the potential of his marrying Elizabeth and destroying Henry’s alliance.  Henry raised mercenaries from France to supplement his rebels and sailed for Wales, where his father’s family was from, in August.

Henry’s forces landed at Mill Bay on 7 August. Though he initially had only limited local support, he did benefit from the defection of several of Richard’s officers in Wales.  As the combined rebel army marched towards Shrewsbury, the gateway to England, Richard had been gathering the royal army.  On 11 August, Richard ordered his retainers to intercept Henry.  Although the seizure of London was ultimately the goal for Henry, he did not directly march towards the capital, instead he moved to confront the usurper king.  Several of Richard’s retainers had secretly reached out to Tudor ensuring him of their desire to overthrow Richard.

On 22 August 1485, the opposing forces met in the countryside near the town of Bosworth Market.  Tudor’s forces numbered between 5,000 and 8,000 against Richard’s 8,000 – 12,000.  Despite Richard’s numerical superiority, his position was disintegrating as he could not rely on loyalty of all his lieutenants.  The royal army was split into three divisions: one controlled by Richard, one under the command of the Duke of Norfolk, and the final commanded by the Earl of Northumberland.  Richard’s faltering reign was about to come to a crashing end.

The Duke of Norfolk led his division into combat as Tudor’s forces cleared the marsh on its way towards the royal army.  Norfolk’s men made little headway, and many started to flee the battlefield.  With one division stalled, Richard ordered the Earl of Northumberland to advance.  The Earl’s forces stayed stationary and did not advance, despite the first division faltering.  As the battle wore on and fate playing against him, Richard became increasingly impatient for a decisive victory.  He spotted Tudor amid the fighting and decided a cavalry charge directly at his opponent had the potential to end the entire war.  Richard ordered his mounted soldiers to charge and almost reached Tudor.

The pike-equipped Tudor infantry brought the royal cavalry’s charge to halt and bought Henry the time he needed.  One of Richard’s retainers, William Stanley, saw this as his opportunity to defect and led his retinue into the king’s bodyguard.  Tudor wisely stayed out of personal combat with Richard and watched as Stanley’s men overwhelmed the usurper king.  By most accounts Richard fought valiantly until repeated blows to the head finally killed him.  Once Richard fell, Northumberland and his contingent fled the battlefield and Norfolk perished on the field.  The small remnants of royal army disintegrated and fled Bosworth Field in disorder.

Chroniclers of Henry claimed he found Richard’s circlet, the crown his wore on his battle helm, in the aftermath of the battle.  Tudor claimed that he won the crown through right of combat and that he was henceforth King Henry VII.  Henry VII quickly marched on London and was crowned king.  Tudor richly rewarded those who supported him and made an attempt to not alienate his former opponents.  Despite his maternal link to the throne, he too was a usurper and could potentially be overthrown by a rival claimant.  Over the next several years, Henry VII spent much of his time putting down rebellions.  To further glorify his reign and strengthen the legitimacy of his dynasty, Henry commissioned multiple authors, chroniclers, and poets to celebrate his victories and praise his righteousness.  Perhaps the most famous post-Henry VII depiction of the Tudor legitimacy came from William Shakespeare’s Richard III, written during the reign of his granddaughter Elizabeth.

Immediately after the Battle of Bosworth in an attempt break any possibility of further claims against his reign, Tudor had Richard’s body stripped and placed on his horse.  The body was taken to Leicester to prove the usurper was dead and that Henry was now king of England.  Afterward the body was quietly buried in a plain tomb within the church at Greyfriars.  This church was later destroyed in 1538 when the friary was dissolved.  The location of the tomb was unknown until 2013 when construction of a car park in Leicester revealed Richard’s skeleton.  In 2015, after extensive DNA testing, it was formally announced that the remains were indeed Richard’s, and he was reinterred at the Leicester Cathedral.

For further reading:

John Ashdown-Hill.  The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of his DNA: The Book that Inspired the Dig.

Terry Breverton.  Henry VII: The Maligned Tudor King.

Dan Jones.  The Plantagenets. 

Michael Jones.  Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle.

Thomas Penn.  The Brothers York: A Royal Tragedy.

William Shakespeare.  Richard III.

Gladys Templeton.  Henry VII

Allison Weir.  Richard III and the Princes in the Tower.

Allison Weir.  The Princes in the Tower.

Allison Weir.  The Wars of the Roses.