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189-580: Bosworth may refer to: Battle of Bosworth Field , a battle during the Wars of the Roses in 15th century England Places [ edit ] United Kingdom [ edit ] Husbands Bosworth , a village in South Leicestershire RAF Husbands Bosworth , a World War II aerodrome near Husbands Bosworth Market Bosworth , a town near
378-545: A Protestant, and former secretary to Lord Protector the Duke of Somerset and then to the Duke of Northumberland . Under Mary, he had been spared, and often visited Elizabeth, ostensibly to review her accounts and expenditure. Elizabeth also appointed her personal favourite, the son of the Duke of Northumberland Lord Robert Dudley , her Master of the Horse , giving him constant personal access to
567-503: A Yorkist princess. His opponent Richard III , the last king of the House of York, was killed during the battle, the last English monarch to fall in battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty , making it one of the defining moments of English history. Richard's reign began in 1483 when he ascended the throne after his twelve-year-old nephew, Edward V ,
756-669: A bishop of Flanders , learned of the scheme and warned the Tudors, who fled to France. The French court allowed them to stay; the Tudors were useful pawns to ensure that Richard's England did not interfere with French plans to annex Brittany. On 16 March 1485 Richard's queen, Anne Neville , died, and rumours spread across the country that she was murdered to pave the way for Richard to marry his niece, Elizabeth. Later findings though, showed that Richard had entered into negotiations to marry Joanna of Portugal and to marry off Elizabeth to Manuel, Duke of Beja . The gossip must have upset Henry across
945-597: A blow to the head from his broken lance. French mercenaries in Henry's retinue related how the attack had caught them off guard and that Henry sought protection by dismounting and concealing himself among them to present less of a target. Henry made no attempt to engage in combat himself. Oxford had left a small reserve of pike -equipped men with Henry. They slowed the pace of Richard's mounted charge, and bought Tudor some critical time. The remainder of Henry's bodyguards surrounded their master, and succeeded in keeping him away from
1134-660: A board game Bosworth Independent College , a boarding school in Northampton, England See also [ edit ] Bosworth Hall (disambiguation) , several halls in Leicestershire Bosworth fracture , an ankle fracture Boeswarthia , a genus of snout moths Bosworthia , a genus of alga Boxworth , a village in South Cambridgeshire Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
1323-433: A companion than a king. He was tall, handsome and cultured and generous in his gifts and affection and was said to be easy to get along with. The Henry that many people picture when they hear his name is the Henry of his later years, when he became obese, volatile, and was known for his great cruelty. Catherine did not bear Henry the sons he was desperate for; her first child, a daughter, was stillborn, and her second child,
1512-531: A contingent of guards and Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham , took Edward V into custody and arrested several prominent members of the Woodville family. After bringing the young king to London, Gloucester had the Queen's brother Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers , and her son by her first marriage Richard Grey executed, without trial, on charges of treason. On 13 June, Gloucester accused Hastings of plotting with
1701-443: A daughter, Elizabeth , named in honour of Henry's mother. Anne had two further pregnancies which ended in miscarriage. In 1536, Anne was arrested, along with six courtiers. Thomas Cromwell , Anne's former ally, stepped in again, claiming that she had taken lovers during her marriage to Henry, including her own brother, George Boleyn , and she was tried for high treason and incest . These charges were most likely fabricated, but she
1890-618: A flattering picture of Henry's reign, depicting the Battle of Bosworth as the final clash of the civil war and downplaying the subsequent uprisings. For England the Middle Ages ended in 1485, and English Heritage claims that other than William the Conqueror 's successful invasion of 1066, no other year holds more significance in English history. By portraying Richard as a hunchbacked tyrant who usurped
2079-507: A flattering portrait of her. She arrived in England in December 1539, and Henry rode to Rochester to meet her on 1 January 1540. Although the historian Gilbert Burnet claimed that Henry called her a Flanders Mare , there is no evidence that he said this; in truth, court ambassadors negotiating the marriage praised her beauty. Whatever the circumstances were, the marriage failed, and Anne agreed to
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#17328479949672268-453: A foreign match with a man that she had never seen before, so that also eliminated a large number of suitors. Despite the uncertainty of Elizabeth's – and therefore the Tudors' – hold on England, she never married. The closest she came to marriage was between 1579 and 1581, when she was courted by Francis, Duke of Anjou , the son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici . Despite Elizabeth's government constantly begging her to marry in
2457-431: A good relationship between her and Edward. Henry died on 28 January 1547. His will had reinstated his daughters by his annulled marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn to the line of succession . Edward, his nine-year-old son by Jane Seymour , succeeded as Edward VI of England . Unfortunately, the young King's kingdom was usually in turmoil between nobles who were trying to strengthen their own positions in
2646-423: A good relationship with his sister Elizabeth , who was a Protestant, albeit a moderate one, but this was strained when Elizabeth was accused of having an affair with the Duke of Somerset's brother, Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley , who had married Henry VIII's widow, Catherine Parr . Seymour had invaded Edward's apartments and had killed his dog in a scheme to forcefully gain control over him. Elizabeth
2835-531: A great threat to Richard, and the Yorkist king made several overtures to the Duke of Brittany to surrender the young Lancastrian. Francis refused, holding out for the possibility of better terms from Richard. In mid-1484 Francis was incapacitated by illness and while recuperating, his treasurer Pierre Landais took over the reins of government. Landais reached an agreement with Richard to send back Henry and his uncle in exchange for military and financial aid. John Morton,
3024-506: A group of Earls led by Charles Neville , the sixth Earl of Westmorland , and Thomas Percy , the seventh Earl of Northumberland attempted to depose Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots . In 1571, the Protestant-turned-Catholic Thomas Howard , the fourth Duke of Norfolk , had plans to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, and then replace Elizabeth with Mary. The plot , masterminded by Roberto di Ridolfi ,
3213-539: A marriage to an unattractive, obese man over 30 years her senior, had never wanted to marry Henry, and allegedly conducted an affair with the King's favourite, Thomas Culpeper , while Henry and she were married. During her questioning, Catherine first denied everything but eventually she was broken down and told of her infidelity and her pre-nuptial relations with other men. Henry, first enraged, threatened to torture her to death but later became overcome with grief and self-pity. She
3402-571: A moderate Protestant; she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn , who played a key role in the English Reformation in the 1520s. She had been brought up by Blanche Herbert Lady Troy . At her coronation in January 1559, many of the bishops – Catholic, appointed by Mary, who had expelled many of the Protestant clergymen when she became queen in 1553 – refused to perform the service in English. Eventually,
3591-590: A more southerly route, recruiting a force of Welshmen en route, variously estimated at 500 or 2,000 men, to swell Henry's army when they reunited at Cefn Digoll , Welshpool . By 15 or 16 August, Henry and his men had crossed the English border, making for the town of Shrewsbury . Since 22 June Richard had been aware of Henry's impending invasion, and had ordered his lords to maintain a high level of readiness. News of Henry's landing reached Richard on 11 August, but it took three to four days for his messengers to notify his lords of their king's mobilisation. On 16 August,
3780-492: A new will repudiating the 1544 will of Henry VIII. This gave the throne to his cousin Lady Jane Grey , the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor , who, after the death of Louis XII of France in 1515 had married Henry VIII's favourite Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk . Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, at the age of 15. With his death, the direct male line of the House of Tudor ended. The dying Edward VI, under
3969-421: A new, Catholic Habsburg line was finished, and her popularity further declined when she lost Calais — the last English territory on French soil — to Francis, Duke of Guise , in January 1558. Mary's reign, however, introduced a new coining system that would be used until the 18th century, and her marriage to Philip II created new trade routes for England. Mary's government took a number of steps towards reversing
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#17328479949674158-625: A peaceful annulment, assumed the title My Lady, the King's Sister , and received a large settlement, which included Richmond Palace , Hever Castle , and numerous other estates across the country. Although the marriage made sense in terms of foreign policy, Henry was still enraged and offended by the match. Henry chose to blame Cromwell for the failed marriage, and ordered him beheaded on 28 July 1540. Henry kept his word and took care of Anne in his last years alive; however, after his death Anne suffered from extreme financial hardship because Edward VI's councillors refused to give her any funds and confiscated
4347-403: A penchant for battle and was not much of a warrior; chroniclers such as Polydore Vergil and ambassadors like Pedro de Ayala found him more interested in commerce and finance. Having not fought in any battles, Henry recruited several experienced veterans to command his armies. John de Vere , 13th Earl of Oxford , was Henry's principal military commander. He was adept in the arts of war. At
4536-444: A protracted legal battle followed. Wolsey fell from favour in 1529 as a result of his failure to procure the annulment, and Henry appointed Thomas Cromwell in his place as chief minister c. 1532 . Despite his failure to produce the results that Henry wanted, Wolsey actively pursued the annulment (divorce was synonymous with annulment at that time). However, Wolsey never planned that Henry would marry Anne Boleyn , with whom
4725-503: A relationship which did nothing to win him Richard's favour. Despite these differences, Stanley did not join Buckingham's revolt in 1483. When Richard executed those conspirators who had been unable to flee England , he spared Lady Margaret. However, he declared her titles forfeit and transferred her estates to Stanley's name, to be held in trust for the Yorkist crown. Richard's act of mercy
4914-413: A response to the circumstances of Richard's death. Elton does not believe Bosworth Field has any true significance, pointing out that the 20th-century English public largely ignored the battle until its quincentennial celebration. In his view, the dearth of specific information about the battle—no-one even knows exactly where it took place—demonstrates its insignificance to English society. Elton considers
5103-417: A single large mass flanked by horsemen on the wings. The Lancastrians were harassed by Richard's cannon as they manoeuvred around the marsh, seeking firmer ground. Once Oxford and his men were clear of the marsh, Norfolk's battle and several contingents of Richard's group, under the command of Sir Robert Brackenbury , started to advance. Hails of arrows showered both sides as they closed. Oxford's men proved
5292-449: A son named Henry, Duke of Cornwall , died 52 days after birth. A further set of stillborn children followed, until a surviving daughter, Mary , was born in 1516. When it became clear to Henry that the Tudor line was at risk, he consulted his chief minister Cardinal Wolsey about the possibility of annulling his marriage to Catherine. Along with Henry's concern that he would not have an heir, it
5481-403: A useful source to ascertain certain details of the battle. The multitude of different accounts, mostly based on second- or third-hand information, has proved an obstacle to historians as they try to reconstruct the battle. Their common complaint is that, except for its outcome, very few details of the battle are found in the chronicles. According to historian Michael Hicks , the Battle of Bosworth
5670-401: A usurper. Their plans were coordinated by a Lancastrian, Henry's mother Lady Margaret, who was promoting her son as a candidate for the throne. The highest-ranking conspirator was Buckingham. No chronicles tell of the duke's motive in joining the plot, although historian Charles Ross proposes that Buckingham was trying to distance himself from a king who was becoming increasingly unpopular with
5859-509: A year. Mary married Philip at Winchester Cathedral , on 25 July 1554, and he thereby became king jure uxoris until her death. Philip found her unattractive, and only spent a minimal amount of time with her. Despite Mary believing she was pregnant numerous times during her five-year reign, she never bore children. Devastated that she rarely saw her husband, and anxious that she was not bearing an heir to Catholic England, Mary became bitter and resentful. In her determination to restore England to
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6048-457: Is accepted by some modern writers, but Mackie reasons that the French would not have released their elite Scottish knights and archers , and concludes that there were probably few Scottish troops in the army, although he accepts the presence of captains like Bernard Stewart, Lord of Aubigny . In their interpretations of the vague mentions of the battle in the old text, historians placed areas near
6237-458: Is one of the worst-recorded clashes of the Wars of the Roses. Henry tried to present his victory as a new beginning for the country; he hired chroniclers to portray his reign as a "modern age" with its dawn in 1485. Hicks states that the works of Vergil and the blind historian Bernard André , promoted by subsequent Tudor administrations, became the authoritative sources for writers for the next four hundred years. As such, Tudor literature paints
6426-475: Is symbolised by the heraldic emblem of the Tudor rose , a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. Henry VII and Elizabeth of York had seven children, four of whom survived early childhood: Henry VII's foreign policy had an objective of dynastic security: he formed an alliance with Scotland with the marriage in 1503 of his daughter Margaret to James IV of Scotland, and with Spain through
6615-416: Is the "one big battle"; no other fighting scene distracts the audience from this action, represented by a one-on-one sword fight between Henry Tudor and Richard III. Shakespeare uses their duel to bring a climactic end to the play and the Wars of the Roses; he also uses it to champion morality, portraying the "unequivocal triumph of good over evil". Richard, the villainous lead character, has been built up in
6804-449: The Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487. Oxford and Bedford led Henry's men, including several former supporters of Richard III. Henry won this battle easily, but other malcontents and conspiracies would follow. A rebellion in 1489 started with Northumberland's murder; military historian Michael C. C. Adams says that the author of a note, which was left next to Northumberland's body, blamed
6993-474: The English Channel . The loss of Elizabeth's hand in marriage could unravel the alliance between Henry's supporters who were Lancastrians and those who were loyalists to Edward IV. Anxious to secure his bride, Henry recruited mercenaries formerly in French service to supplement his following of exiles and set sail from France on 1 August. By the 15th century, English chivalric ideas of selfless service to
7182-553: The House of Lancaster , during the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses . However the descent from the Beauforts did not necessarily render Henry Tudor (Henry VII) heir to the throne, nor did the fact that his paternal grandmother, Catherine of Valois , had been Queen of England due to her first marriage to Henry V (although, this did make Henry VII a nephew of Henry VI). The legitimate claim
7371-567: The House of Plantagenet as rulers of the Kingdom of England, and were succeeded by the Scottish House of Stuart . The first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, descended through his mother from the House of Beaufort , a legitimised branch of the English royal House of Lancaster , a cadet house of the Plantagenets. The Tudor family rose to power and started the Tudor period in the wake of the Wars of
7560-606: The Tower of London saved him from the public humiliation and inevitable execution he would have suffered upon his arrival at the Tower. In order to allow Henry to dissolve his marriage and marry Anne Boleyn, the English parliament enacted laws breaking ties with Rome, and declaring the king Supreme Head of the Church of England (from Elizabeth I the monarch is known as the Supreme Governor of
7749-463: The Tower of London . Her father was pardoned, but his participation in Wyatt's rebellion led to his execution shortly after. Jane and her husband Lord Guildford were sentenced to death and beheaded on 12 February 1554. Jane was only 17 years old, and the cruel way in which her life had been lost for a throne she never desired aroused much sympathy among the public. Mary soon announced her intention to marry
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7938-470: The Treaty of Perpetual Peace , paving the way for the marriage of his daughter Margaret. One of the main concerns of Henry VII during his reign was the re-accumulation of the funds in the royal treasury. England had never been one of the wealthier European countries, and after the Wars of the Roses this was even more true. Through his strict monetary strategy, he was able to leave a considerable amount of money in
8127-598: The Warden of the East March , a position that was formerly hereditary for the Percys. He served under Richard during the 1482 invasion of Scotland, and the allure of being in a position to dominate the north of England if Richard went south to assume the crown was his likely motivation for supporting Richard's bid for kingship. However, after becoming king, Richard began moulding his nephew, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln , to manage
8316-449: The 'handmaiden of the Lord'. She never let anyone challenge her authority as queen, even though many people, who felt she was weak and should be married, tried to do so. The popularity of Elizabeth was extremely high, but her Privy Council , her Parliament and her subjects thought that the unmarried queen should take a husband; it was generally accepted that, once a queen regnant was married,
8505-827: The Battle of Barnet, he commanded the Lancastrian right wing and routed the division opposing him. However, as a result of confusion over identities, Oxford's group came under friendly fire from the Lancastrian main force and retreated from the field. The earl fled abroad and continued his fight against the Yorkists, raiding shipping and eventually capturing the island fort of St Michael's Mount in 1473. He surrendered after receiving no aid or reinforcement, but in 1484 escaped from prison and joined Henry's court in France, bringing along his erstwhile gaoler Sir James Blount . Oxford's presence raised morale in Henry's camp and troubled Richard III. In
8694-501: The Battle of Bosworth Field was popularised to represent his Tudor dynasty as the start of a new age, marking the end of the Middle Ages for England. From the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamourised as a victory of good over evil, and features as the climax of William Shakespeare 's play Richard III . The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack of conclusive data, and memorials have been erected at different locations. The Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre
8883-524: The Battle of Bosworth, being wary of Stanley, Richard took his son, Lord Strange , as hostage to discourage him from joining Henry. Henry's initial force consisted of the English and Welsh exiles who had gathered around Henry, combined with a contingent of mercenaries put at his disposal by Charles VIII of France . The history of Scottish author John Major (published in 1521) claims that Charles had granted Henry 5,000 men, of whom 1,000 were Scots, headed by Sir Alexander Bruce. No mention of Scottish soldiers
9072-412: The Beauforts legitimate by way of a papal bull the same year, confirmed by an Act of Parliament in 1397. A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster , King Henry IV , also recognised the Beauforts' legitimacy but declared the line ineligible for the throne. Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's descendants from his first marriage,
9261-499: The Catholic faith and to secure her throne from Protestant threats, she had over 280 Protestants burnt at the stake in the Marian persecutions , between 1554 and 1558. Protestants came to hate her as "Bloody Mary." Charles Dickens stated that "as bloody Queen Mary this woman has become famous, and as Bloody Queen Mary she will ever be remembered with horror and detestation". Mary's dream of
9450-444: The Catholic religion in England. Henry called her his "rose without a thorn", but the marriage ended in failure. Henry's infatuation with Catherine started before the end of his marriage with Anne when she was still a member of Anne's court. Catherine was young and vivacious, but Henry's age made him less inclined to use Catherine in the bedroom; rather, he preferred to admire her, which Catherine soon grew tired of. Catherine, forced into
9639-597: The Church of England ( Supreme Head , the title used by her father and brother, was seen as inappropriate for a woman ruler). These acts, known collectively as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , made it compulsory to attend church services every Sunday; and imposed an oath on clergymen and statesmen to recognise the Church of England , the independence of the Church of England from the Catholic Church, and
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#17328479949679828-529: The Church of England ), thus severing the ecclesiastical structure of England from the Catholic Church and the Pope. The newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury , Thomas Cranmer , was then able to declare Henry's marriage to Catherine void . Catherine was banished from court, and she spent the last three years of her life in various English houses under "protectorship", similar to house arrest. This allowed Henry to marry Anne Boleyn. She gave birth on 7 September 1533 to
10017-502: The Duke of Anjou away. Elizabeth knew that the continuation of the Tudor line was now impossible; she was forty-eight in 1581, and too old to bear children. By far the most dangerous threat to the Tudor line during Elizabeth's reign was the Spanish Armada of 1588, launched by Elizabeth's old suitor Philip II of Spain and commanded by Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno , the seventh Duke of Medina Sidonia . The Spanish invasion fleet outnumbered
10206-501: The Duke of Norfolk, had lost all their power and influence. Norfolk himself was still a committed Catholic, and he was nearly persuaded to arrest Catherine for preaching Lutheran doctrines to Henry while she attended his ill health. However, she managed to reconcile with the King after vowing that she had only argued about religion with him to take his mind off the suffering caused by his ulcerous leg. Her peacemaking also helped reconcile Henry with his daughters Mary and Elizabeth and fostered
10395-679: The English throne. In 1471 the Yorkists defeated their rivals in the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury . The Lancastrian King Henry VI and his only son, Edward of Westminster , died in the aftermath of the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their deaths left the House of Lancaster with no direct claimants to the throne. The Yorkist king, Edward IV , was in complete control of England. He attainted those who refused to submit to his rule, such as Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry , naming them traitors and confiscating their lands. The Tudors tried to flee to France but strong winds forced them to land in Brittany , which
10584-424: The Roses (1455–1487), which left the main House of Lancaster (with which the Tudors were aligned) extinct in the male line. Henry VII (a descendant of Edward III , and the son of Edmund Tudor , a half-brother of Henry VI ) succeeded in presenting himself as a candidate not only for traditional Lancastrian supporters, but also for discontented supporters of their rival Plantagenet cadet House of York , and he took
10773-592: The Spanish prince, Philip , son of her cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . The prospect of a marriage alliance with Spain proved extremely unpopular with the English people, who were worried that Spain would use England as a satellite, involving England in wars without the popular support of the people. Popular discontent grew; a Protestant courtier, Thomas Wyatt the younger , led a rebellion against Mary aiming to depose and replace her with her half-sister Elizabeth . The plot
10962-578: The Treasury for his son and successor, Henry VIII . Although it is debated whether Henry VII was a great king, he certainly was a successful one if only because he restored the nation's finances, strengthened the judicial system and successfully denied all other claimants to the throne, thus further securing it for his heir. The new King Henry VIII succeeded to the throne on 22 April 1509. He married Catherine of Aragon on 11 June; they were crowned at Westminster Abbey on 24 June. Catherine had previously been
11151-716: The Tudor era, as did the English Reformation in religion, impacting the future of the Crown. Elizabeth I was the longest serving Tudor monarch at 44 years, and her reign- known as the Elizabethan Era - provided a period of stability after the short, troubled reigns of her siblings. When Elizabeth I died childless, her cousin of the Scottish House of Stuart succeeded her, in the Union of the Crowns of 24 March 1603. The first Stuart to become King of England ( r. 1603–1625 ), James VI and I ,
11340-449: The Welsh form of Theodore , but Modern Welsh Tudur , Old Welsh Tutir is originally not a variant but a different and completely unrelated name, etymologically identical with Gaulish Toutorix , from Proto-Celtic *toutā "people, tribe" and *rīxs "king" (compare Modern Welsh tud "territory" and rhi "king" respectively), corresponding to Germanic Theodoric . Owen Tudor was one of
11529-579: The Woodvilles and had him beheaded. Nine days later the Three Estates of the Realm, an informal Parliament declared the marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth illegal, rendering their children illegitimate and disqualifying them from the throne. With his brother's children out of the way, he was next in the line of succession and was proclaimed King Richard III on 26 June. The timing and extrajudicial nature of
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#173284799496711718-430: The Yorkist army started to gather; Norfolk set off for Leicester , the assembly point, that night. The city of York, a historical stronghold of Richard's family, asked the king for instructions, and receiving a reply three days later sent 80 men to join the king. Simultaneously Northumberland, whose northern territory was the most distant from the capital, had gathered his men and ridden to Leicester. Although London
11907-432: The Yorkist king's reign remained officially in the annals of England history. The proclamation of Edward IV's children as illegitimate was also reversed, restoring Elizabeth's status to a royal princess. The marriage of Elizabeth, the heiress to the House of York, to Henry, the master of the House of Lancaster, marked the end of the feud between the two houses and the start of the Tudor dynasty . The royal matrimony, however,
12096-538: The Yorkist king. Meanwhile, seeing Richard embroiled with Henry's men and separated from his main force, William Stanley made his move and rode to the aid of Henry. Now outnumbered, Richard's group was surrounded and gradually pressed back. Richard's force was driven several hundred yards away from Tudor, near to the edge of a marsh, into which the king's horse toppled. Richard, now unhorsed, gathered himself and rallied his dwindling followers, supposedly refusing to retreat: "God forbid that I retreat one step. I will either win
12285-646: The Yorkists and appointing him as Constable of the Tower and admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine . For his kin, Henry created Jasper Tudor the Duke of Bedford . He returned to his mother the lands and grants stripped from her by Richard, and proved to be a filial son, granting her a place of honour in the palace and faithfully attending to her throughout his reign. Parliament's declaration of Margaret as femme sole effectively empowered her; she no longer needed to manage her estates through Stanley. Elton points out that despite his initial largesse, Henry's supporters at Bosworth would enjoy his special favour for only
12474-419: The Yorkists in 1461, losing his titles and estates; however, Edward released him eight years later and restored his earldom. From that time Northumberland served the Yorkist crown, helping to defend northern England and maintain its peace. Initially the earl had issues with Richard III as Edward groomed his brother to be the leading power of the north. Northumberland was mollified when he was promised he would be
12663-588: The annals of English history, because "the victory was determined, not by those who fought, but by those who delayed fighting until they were sure of being on the winning side." Historians such as Adams and Horrox believe that Richard lost the battle not for any mythic reasons, but because of morale and loyalty problems in his army. Most of the common soldiers found it difficult to fight for a liege whom they distrusted, and some lords believed that their situation might improve if Richard were dethroned. According to Adams, against such duplicities Richard's desperate charge
12852-431: The aspersions cast on Northumberland's loyalty, suggesting instead that Ambion Hill's narrow ridge hindered him from joining the battle. The earl would have had to either go through his allies or execute a wide flanking move—near impossible to perform given the standard of drill at the time—to engage Oxford's men. At this juncture Richard saw Henry at some distance behind his main force. Seeing this, Richard decided to end
13041-684: The attack on Henry immediately. Stanley replied that he had other sons. Incensed, Richard gave the order to behead Strange but his officers temporised, saying that battle was imminent, and it would be more convenient to carry out the execution afterwards. Henry had also sent messengers to Stanley asking him to declare his allegiance. The reply was evasive—the Stanleys would "naturally" come, after Henry had given orders to his army and arranged them for battle. Henry had no choice but to confront Richard's forces alone. Well aware of his own military inexperience, Henry handed command of his army to Oxford and retired to
13230-425: The authority of Elizabeth as Supreme Governor. Elizabeth made it clear that if they refused the oath the first time, they would have a second opportunity, after which, if the oath was not sworn, the offenders would be deprived of their offices and estates. Even though Elizabeth was only twenty-five when she came to the throne, she was absolutely sure of her God-given place to be the queen and of her responsibilities as
13419-421: The battle as a king, or die as one." In the fighting Richard's banner man—Sir Percival Thirlwall —lost his legs, but held the Yorkist banner aloft until he was killed. It is likely that James Harrington also died in the charge. The king's trusted advisor Richard Ratcliffe was also slain. Polydore Vergil , Henry Tudor's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in
13608-462: The battle as just one part of Henry's struggles to establish his reign, underscoring his point by noting that the young king had to spend ten more years pacifying factions and rebellions to secure his throne. Mackie asserts that, in hindsight, Bosworth Field is notable as the decisive battle that established a dynasty which would rule unchallenged over England for more than a hundred years. Mackie notes that contemporary historians of that time, wary of
13797-405: The battle. Shakespeare's account of the battle was mostly based on chroniclers Edward Hall 's and Raphael Holinshed 's dramatic versions of history, which were sourced from Vergil's chronicle. However, Shakespeare's attitude towards Richard was shaped by scholar Thomas More , whose writings displayed extreme bias against the Yorkist king. The result of these influences is a script that vilifies
13986-466: The battlefield impressed his brother greatly, and he became Edward's right-hand man. During the 1480s Richard defended the northern borders of England. In 1482, Edward charged him to lead an army into Scotland with the aim of replacing King James III with the Duke of Albany . Richard's army broke through the Scottish defences and occupied the capital , Edinburgh, but Albany decided to give up his claim to
14175-473: The battles of Shakespeare's earlier play, Henry VI, Part 3 , as a "formidable swordsman and a courageous military leader"—in contrast to the dastardly means by which he becomes king in Richard III . Although the Battle of Bosworth has only five sentences to direct it, three scenes and more than four hundred lines precede the action, developing the background and motivations for the characters in anticipation of
14364-424: The bodyguards for the queen dowager Catherine of Valois , whose husband, Henry V , had died in 1422. Evidence suggests that the two were secretly married in 1428. Two sons born of the marriage, Edmund and Jasper , were among the most loyal supporters of the House of Lancaster in its struggle against the House of York. Henry VI ennobled his half-brothers: Edmund became Earl of Richmond on 15 December 1449 and
14553-961: The border of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada People [ edit ] Bosworth (surname) , a surname and a list of people with the name Baron Bosworth , former title for the Duke of Berwick Given name [ edit ] Frank Bosworth Brandegee (1864–1924), United States Representative and Senator from Connecticut William Bosworth Castle (1897–1990), American physician and physiologist who transformed hematology George Bosworth Churchill (1866–1925), American politician, Representative from Massachusetts, academic, editor Louis Bosworth Hurt (1885–1929), English landscape artist Stephen Bosworth Pound (1833–1911), pioneer lawyer, senator and judge in Nebraska, USA Benjamin Bosworth Smith (1784–1884), American Protestant Episcopal bishop Other [ edit ] Bosworth (game) ,
14742-593: The campaign was probably Rhys ap Thomas , who was the leading figure in West Wales. Richard had appointed Rhys Lieutenant in West Wales for his refusal to join Buckingham's rebellion, asking that he surrender his son Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas as surety, although by some accounts Rhys had managed to evade this condition. However, Henry successfully courted Rhys, offering the lieutenancy of all Wales in exchange for his fealty. Henry marched via Aberystwyth while Rhys followed
14931-522: The cheers of both the ruling class and the common people. When Elizabeth came to the throne, there was much apprehension among members of the council appointed by Mary, because many of them (as noted by the Spanish ambassador) had participated in several plots against Elizabeth, such as her imprisonment in the Tower, trying to force her to marry a foreign prince and thereby sending her out of the realm, and even pushing for her death. In response to their fear, she chose as her chief minister Sir William Cecil ,
15120-405: The circlet. Historians Stanley Chrimes and Sydney Anglo dismiss the legend of the circlet's finding in a hawthorn bush ; none of the contemporary sources reported such an event. Ross, however, does not ignore the legend. He argues that the hawthorn bush would not be part of Henry's coat of arms if it did not have a strong relationship to his ascendance. Baldwin points out that a hawthorn bush motif
15309-424: The confrontation with Richard so that he could gather more recruits to his cause. Henry had been communicating on friendly terms with the Stanleys for some time before setting foot in England, and the Stanleys had mobilised their forces on hearing of Henry's landing. They ranged themselves ahead of Henry's march through the English countryside, meeting twice in secret with Henry as he moved through Staffordshire. At
15498-498: The council, led by his chief rival, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick , who created himself Duke of Northumberland shortly after his rise. Northumberland effectively became Lord Protector, but he did not use this title, learning from the mistakes his predecessor made. Northumberland was furiously ambitious, and aimed to secure Protestant uniformity while making himself rich with land and money in the process. He ordered churches to be stripped of all traditional Catholic symbolism, resulting in
15687-453: The council. Having offended many in their quest for wealth and power, the Woodville family was not popular. To frustrate the Woodvilles' ambitions, Lord Hastings and other members of the council turned to the new king's uncle—Richard, Duke of Gloucester , brother of Edward IV. The courtiers urged Gloucester to assume the role of Protector quickly, as had been previously requested by his now dead brother. On 29 April Gloucester, accompanied by
15876-456: The crucial point of a battle, earned him the loyalty of his men, who felt he would not needlessly send them to their deaths. Lord Stanley 's relations with the king's brother, the eventual Richard III , were not cordial. The two had conflicts that erupted into violence around March 1470. Furthermore, having taken Lady Margaret as his second wife in June 1472, Stanley was Henry Tudor's stepfather,
16065-515: The decision to execute an anointed queen. Finally, she was persuaded of Mary's (treasonous) complicity in the plotting against her, and she signed the death warrant in 1586. Mary was executed at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587, to the outrage of Catholic Europe. There are many reasons debated as to why Elizabeth never married. It was rumoured that she was in love with Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester , and that on one of her summer progresses she had birthed his illegitimate child. This rumour
16254-403: The deeds done to obtain the throne for Richard won him no popularity, and rumours that spoke ill of the new king spread throughout England. After they were declared bastards, the two princes were confined in the Tower of London and never seen in public again. In October 1483, a conspiracy emerged to displace him from the throne. The rebels were mostly loyalists to Edward IV, who saw Richard as
16443-438: The duel, Shakespeare requests more alarums after Richard's councillor, William Catesby , announces that the king is "[enacting] more wonders than a man". Richard punctuates his entrance with the classic line, "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!" He refuses to withdraw, continuing to seek to slay Henry's doubles until he has killed his nemesis. There is no documentary evidence that Henry had five decoys at Bosworth Field;
16632-482: The earl for Richard's death. Contemporary accounts of the Battle of Bosworth can be found in four main sources, one of which is the English Croyland Chronicle , written by a senior Yorkist chronicler who relied on second-hand information from nobles and soldiers. The other accounts were written by foreigners—Vergil, Jean Molinet, and Diego de Valera. Whereas Molinet was sympathetic to Richard, Vergil
16821-443: The early stages of the Wars of the Roses, the Stanleys of Cheshire had been predominantly Lancastrians. Sir William Stanley , however, was a staunch Yorkist supporter, fighting in the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459 and helping Hastings to put down uprisings against Edward IV in 1471. When Richard took the crown, Sir William showed no inclination to turn against the new king, refraining from joining Buckingham's rebellion, for which he
17010-469: The early years of her reign, it was now persuading Elizabeth not to marry the French prince, for his mother, Catherine de' Medici, was suspected of ordering the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of tens of thousands of French Protestant Huguenots in 1572. Elizabeth bowed to public feeling against the marriage, learning from the mistake her sister, Mary I , made when she married Philip II of Spain , and sent
17199-512: The estate to his younger son, who was married to Anne. Consequently, Howard supported Richard III in deposing Edward's sons, for which he received the dukedom of Norfolk and his original share of the Mowbray estate. Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland , also supported Richard's ascension to the throne of England. The Percys were loyal Lancastrians, but Edward IV eventually won the earl's allegiance. Northumberland had been captured and imprisoned by
17388-423: The field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry and end the fight. Seeing the king's knights separated from his army, the Stanleys intervened; Sir William led his men to Henry's aid, surrounding and killing Richard. After the battle, Henry was crowned king. Henry hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably;
17577-471: The fight quickly by killing the enemy commander. He led a charge of mounted men around the melee and tore into Henry's group; several accounts state that Richard's force numbered 800–1000 knights, but Ross says it was more likely that Richard was accompanied only by his household men and closest friends. Richard killed Henry's standard-bearer Sir William Brandon in the initial charge and unhorsed burly John Cheyne , Edward IV's former standard-bearer, with
17766-425: The first time. Had she lived a little longer, Catholicism, which she worked so hard to restore into the realm, might have taken deeper roots than it did. However, her actions in pursuit of this goal arguably spurred on the Protestant cause, through the many people she killed. Mary died on 17 November 1558 at the age of 42. Elizabeth I, who was staying at Hatfield House at the time of her accession, rode to London to
17955-434: The foot of Ambion Hill as likely regions where the two armies clashed, and thought up possible scenarios of the engagement. In their recreations of the battle, Henry started by moving his army towards Ambion Hill where Richard and his men stood. As Henry's army advanced past the marsh at the southwestern foot of the hill, Richard sent a message to Stanley, threatening to execute his son, Lord Strange , if Stanley did not join
18144-500: The friary's dissolution in 1538, and the location of Richard's tomb was long uncertain. On 12 September 2012, archaeologists announced the discovery of a buried skeleton with spinal abnormalities and head injuries under a car park in Leicester, and their suspicions that it was Richard III. On 4 February 2013, it was announced that DNA testing had convinced Leicester University scientists and researchers "beyond reasonable doubt" that
18333-663: The full union of England and the Principality of Wales in 1542 ( Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 ), and successfully asserting English authority over the Kingdom of Ireland (proclaimed by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 ). They also maintained the nominal English claim to the Kingdom of France ; although none of them made substance of it, Henry VIII fought wars with France primarily as a matter of international alliances but also asserting claim to
18522-610: The growing unpopularity of Richard III (King of England from 1483), she was able to forge an alliance with discontented Yorkists in support of her son. Two years after Richard III was crowned, Henry and Jasper sailed from the mouth of the Seine to the Milford Haven Waterway and defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Upon this victory, Henry Tudor proclaimed himself King Henry VII. Upon becoming king in 1485, Henry VII moved rapidly to secure his hold on
18711-440: The home of Lord Herbert , a leading Yorkist. Following the murder of Henry VI and death of his son, Edward , at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, Henry became the person upon whom the Lancastrian cause rested. Concerned for his young nephew's life, Jasper Tudor took Henry to Brittany for safety. Lady Margaret remained in England and remarried, living quietly while advancing the Lancastrian (and her son's) cause. Capitalizing on
18900-563: The homes she had been given. She pleaded to her brother to let her return home, but he only sent a few agents who tried to assist in helping her situation and refused to let her return home. Anne died on 16 July 1557 in Chelsea Manor . The fifth marriage was to the young Catherine Howard , niece of the Catholic Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk . Catherine was promoted by Norfolk in the hope that she would persuade Henry to restore
19089-411: The husband would relieve the woman of the burdens of head of state . Also, without an heir, the Tudor line would end; the risk of civil war between rival claimants was a possibility if Elizabeth died childless. Numerous suitors from nearly all European nations sent ambassadors to English court to put forward their suit. Risk of death came dangerously close in 1564 when Elizabeth caught smallpox ; when she
19278-556: The idea was Shakespeare's invention. He drew inspiration from Henry IV 's use of them at the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) to amplify the perception of Richard's courage on the battlefield. Similarly, the single combat between Henry and Richard is Shakespeare's creation. The True Tragedy of Richard III , by an unknown playwright, earlier than Shakespeare's, has no signs of staging such an encounter: its stage directions give no hint of visible combat. House of Tudor The House of Tudor ( / ˈ tj uː d ər / TEW -dər )
19467-416: The illegitimate children of the 14th century English prince John of Gaunt , the third surviving son of Edward III. Beaufort's mother was Gaunt's long-term mistress, Katherine Swynford . The descendants of an illegitimate child of English royalty would normally have no claim on the throne, although Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396, when John Beaufort was 25. The church then retroactively declared
19656-471: The inflation, budgetary deficits, poverty, and trade crisis of her kingdom. She explored the commercial potential of Russian, African, and Baltic markets, revised the customs system, worked to counter the currency debasements of her predecessors, amalgamated several revenue courts, and strengthened the governing authority of the middling and larger towns. Mary also welcomed the first Russian ambassador to England , creating relations between England and Russia for
19845-630: The king had become enamoured while she served as a lady-in-waiting in Queen Catherine's household. It is unclear how far Wolsey was actually responsible for the English Reformation , but it is very clear that Henry's desire to marry Anne Boleyn precipitated the schism with Rome. Henry's concern about having an heir to secure his family line and to increase his security while alive would have prompted him to ask for an annulment sooner or later, whether Anne had precipitated it or not. Only Wolsey's sudden death at Leicester on 29 November 1530 on his journey to
20034-523: The king had been corrupted . Armed forces were raised mostly through musters in individual estates; every able-bodied man had to respond to his lord's call to arms, and each noble had authority over his militia . Although a king could raise personal militia from his lands, he could muster a large army only through the support of his nobles. Richard, like his predecessors, had to win over these men by granting gifts and maintaining cordial relationships. Powerful nobles could demand greater incentives to remain on
20223-401: The king had murdered, including Buckingham. Richard is portrayed as suffering a pang of conscience, but as he speaks he regains his confidence and asserts that he will be evil, if such needed to retain his crown. The fight between the two armies is simulated by rowdy noises made off-stage ( alarums or alarms) while actors walk on-stage, deliver their lines, and exit. To build anticipation for
20412-539: The king's fate, and Norfolk was killed by the knight Sir John Savage in single combat according to the Ballad of Lady Bessy. Although he claimed fourth-generation, maternal Lancastrian descendancy, Henry seized the crown by right of conquest. After the battle, Richard's circlet is said to have been found and brought to Henry, who was proclaimed king at the top of Crown Hill, near the village of Stoke Golding. According to Vergil, Henry's official historian, Lord Stanley found
20601-576: The king's favour when he designed and pushed through the Laws in Wales Acts , uniting England and Wales. In 1540, Henry married for the fourth time to the daughter of a Protestant German duke, Anne of Cleves , thus forming an alliance with the Protestant German states. Henry was reluctant to marry again, especially to a Protestant, but he was persuaded when the court painter Hans Holbein the Younger showed him
20790-459: The king, and Shakespeare had few qualms about departing from history to incite drama. Margaret of Anjou died in 1482, but Shakespeare had her speak to Richard's mother before the battle to foreshadow Richard's fate and fulfill the prophecy she had given in Henry VI . Shakespeare exaggerated the cause of Richard's restless night before the battle, imagining it as a haunting by the ghosts of those whom
20979-547: The kingdom by using the Regency in their favour. Although Henry had specified a group of men to act as regents during Edward's minority, Edward Seymour , the young king's uncle, quickly seized control and created himself Duke of Somerset on 15 February 1547. His domination of the Privy Council , the king's most senior body of advisers, was unchallenged. Somerset aimed to unite England and Scotland by marrying Edward to his cousin,
21168-482: The last attempt a female made at ruling in her own right had resulted in disaster when Henry II's mother, Empress Matilda , and her cousin, Stephen of Blois , fought bitterly for the throne in the 12th century. Dukes (except Aquitaine ) and Princes of Wales are noted, as are the monarchs' reigns. † =Killed in action; [REDACTED] =Executed See also Family tree of English monarchs Sources: Henry Tudor had, however, something that
21357-498: The leading Welsh Lancastrian Rhys ap Thomas , or one of his men, killed the king, writing that he "Lladd y baedd, eilliodd ei ben" ("Killed the boar, shaved his head"). Analysis of King Richard's skeletal remains found 11 wounds, nine of them to the head; a blade consistent with a halberd had sliced off part of the rear of Richard's skull, suggesting he had lost his helmet. Richard's forces disintegrated as news of his death spread. Northumberland and his men fled north on seeing
21546-449: The left flank; he had approximately 4,000 men, many of them mounted. Standing on the hilltop, Richard had a wide, unobstructed view of the area. He could see the Stanleys and their 4,000–6,000 men holding positions on and around Dadlington Hill, while to the southwest was Henry's army. Henry's force has been variously estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 men, his original landing force of exiles and mercenaries having been augmented by
21735-476: The liege's side or else they might turn against him. Three groups, each with its own agenda, stood on Bosworth Field: Richard III and his Yorkist army; his challenger, Henry Tudor, who championed the Lancastrian cause; and the fence-sitting Stanleys. Small and slender, Richard III did not have the robust physique associated with many of his Plantagenet predecessors. However, he enjoyed very rough sports and activities that were considered manly. His performances on
21924-535: The marriage of his son Arthur to Catherine of Aragon , cementing an alliance with the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile . The newlyweds spent their honeymoon at Ludlow Castle , the traditional seat of the Prince of Wales . However, four months after the marriage, Arthur died, leaving his younger brother Henry as heir apparent. Henry VII acquired a papal dispensation allowing prince Henry to marry Arthur's widow; however, Henry VII delayed
22113-677: The marriage. Henry VII limited his involvement in European politics. He went to war only twice: once in 1489 during the French–Breton War and the invasion of Brittany, and in 1496–1497 in revenge for Scottish support of Perkin Warbeck and for the Scottish invasion of northern England. Henry VII made peace with France in 1492 and the war against Scotland was abandoned because of the Cornish rebellion of 1497 . Henry VII made peace with James IV in 1502 with
22302-537: The mayor. The rebellion worried Somerset, now Lord Protector , and he sent an army to impose a military solution to the rebellion. The rebellion hardened the Crown against Catholics. Fear of Catholicism focused on Edward's elder half-sister, Mary , who was a pious and devout Catholic. Although called before the Privy Council several times to renounce her faith and stop hearing the Catholic Mass, she refused. Edward had
22491-519: The news, was made queen on 10 July. However, despite the efforts of the Duke of Northumberland and Jane's father, the Duke of Suffolk, the public's support was with Lady Mary, the rightful heir according to Henry VIII's will. On 19 July Suffolk persuaded his daughter to relinquish the throne, which she had never wanted, to Mary. Mary's supporters joined her in a triumphal procession to London, accompanied by her younger sister Elizabeth . Lady Jane and her father were arrested for high treason and imprisoned in
22680-515: The night at the Blue Boar inn (demolished 1836). Northumberland arrived the following day. The royal army proceeded westwards to intercept Henry's march on London. Passing Sutton Cheney , Richard moved his army towards Ambion Hill —which he thought would be of tactical value—and made camp on it. Richard's sleep was not peaceful and, according to the Croyland Chronicle , in the morning his face
22869-419: The north in Henry's name. Henry proved prepared to accept those who submitted to him regardless of their former allegiances. Of his supporters, Henry rewarded the Stanleys the most generously. Aside from making William his chamberlain, he bestowed the earldom of Derby upon Lord Stanley along with grants and offices in other estates. Henry rewarded Oxford by restoring to him the lands and titles confiscated by
23058-540: The north, passing over Northumberland for the position. According to Carpenter, although the earl was amply compensated, he despaired of any possibility of advancement under Richard. Henry Tudor was unfamiliar with the arts of war and was a stranger to the land he was trying to conquer. He spent the first fourteen years of his life in Wales and the next fourteen in Brittany and France. Slender but strong and decisive, Henry lacked
23247-733: The others did not. He had an army which defeated the last Yorkist king, Richard III , in the field of battle and the support of powerful nobles to take the crown by right of conquest . Richard III's accession to the throne had proved controversial, even among the Yorkists. Henry Tudor, as Henry VII, and his son by Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII eliminated other claimants to the throne, including his first cousin once removed, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury , and her son Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu , as well as Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter . On 1 November 1455, John Beaufort's granddaughter, Margaret Beaufort , married Henry VI 's maternal half-brother Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond . It
23436-519: The people. Michael Jones and Malcolm Underwood suggest that Margaret deceived Buckingham into thinking the rebels supported him to be king. The plan was to stage uprisings within a short time in southern and western England, overwhelming Richard's forces. Buckingham would support the rebels by invading from Wales, while Henry came in by sea. Bad timing and weather wrecked the plot. An uprising in Kent started 10 days prematurely, alerting Richard to muster
23625-484: The pressure of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, named his cousin and Northumberland's daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey , as his successor due to her Protestant beliefs. Edward's reluctance to follow the line of succession, which named his half-sister Mary as next in line, stemmed from his knowledge that Mary, firmly Catholic, would restore England to the Vatican. Lady Jane Grey was consistently at court after her father
23814-488: The queen. Elizabeth had a long, turbulent path to the throne. She had a number of problems during her childhood, the main one being after the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn . When Anne was beheaded, Henry declared Elizabeth illegitimate and she would, therefore, not be able to inherit the throne. Henry returned her to the line of succession in the Third Succession Act of 1543. After the death of her father, she
24003-406: The rear with his bodyguards. Oxford, seeing the vast line of Richard's army strung along the ridgeline, decided to keep his men together instead of splitting them into the traditional three battles: vanguard, centre, and rearguard. He ordered the troops to stray no further than 10 feet (3.0 m) from their banners, fearing that they would become enveloped. Individual groups clumped together, forming
24192-491: The recruits gathered in Wales and the English border counties (in the latter area probably mustered chiefly by the Talbot interest), and by deserters from Richard's army. Historian John Mackie believes that 1,800 French mercenaries, led by Philibert de Chandée, formed the core of Henry's army. John Mair , writing thirty-five years after the battle, claimed that this force contained a significant Scottish component, and this claim
24381-535: The relatively minor Bishop of Carlisle , Owen Oglethorpe , performed the ceremony; but when Oglethorpe attempted to perform traditional Catholic parts of the coronation, Elizabeth got up and left. Following the coronation, two important acts were passed through Parliament: the Act of Uniformity 1558 and the Act of Supremacy 1558 , establishing the Protestant Church of England and creating Elizabeth Supreme Governor of
24570-501: The remains were those of King Richard. On 26 March 2015, these remains were ceremonially buried in Leicester Cathedral . Richard's tomb was unveiled on the following day. Henry dismissed the mercenaries in his force, retaining only a small core of local soldiers to form a " Yeomen of his Garde ", and proceeded to establish his rule of England. Parliament reversed his attainder and recorded Richard's kingship as illegal, although
24759-593: The royal army and take steps to put down the insurrections. Richard's spies informed him of Buckingham's activities, and the king's men captured and destroyed the bridges across the River Severn . When Buckingham and his army reached the river, they found it swollen and impossible to cross because of a violent storm that broke on 15 October. Buckingham was trapped and had no safe place to retreat; his Welsh enemies seized his home castle after he had set forth with his army. The duke abandoned his plans and fled to Wem , where he
24948-466: The second of these, at Atherstone in Warwickshire, they conferred "in what sort to arraign battle with King Richard, whom they heard to be not far off". On 21 August, the Stanleys were making camp on the slopes of a hill north of Dadlington , while Henry encamped his army at White Moors to the northwest of their camp. On 20 August, Richard rode from Nottingham to Leicester, joining Norfolk. He spent
25137-517: The short term; in later years, he would instead promote those who best served his interests. Like the kings before him, Henry faced dissenters. The first open revolt occurred two years after Bosworth Field; Lambert Simnel claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick , who was Edward IV's nephew. The Earl of Lincoln backed him for the throne and led rebel forces in the name of the House of York. The rebel army fended off several attacks by Northumberland's forces, before engaging Henry's army at
25326-532: The simplicity often seen in Church of England churches today. A revision of the Book of Common Prayer was published in 1552. When Edward VI became ill in 1553, his advisers looked to the possible imminent accession of the Catholic Lady Mary, and feared that she would overturn all the reforms made during Edward's reign. Perhaps surprisingly, it was the dying Edward himself who feared a return to Catholicism, and wrote
25515-589: The site of the Battle of Bosworth in south-western Leicestershire Bosworth (UK Parliament constituency) , in south-western Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth , a local government district in south-western Leicestershire, originally named Bosworth North America [ edit ] Bosworth, Missouri , a city in Carroll County, Missouri, United States Lake Bosworth, Washington , in Snohomish County, Washington, United States Mount Bosworth , on
25704-595: The situation while in control of Edinburgh. In her analysis of Richard's character, Christine Carpenter sees him as a soldier who was more used to taking orders than giving them. However, he was not averse to displaying his militaristic streak; on ascending the throne he made known his desire to lead a crusade against "not only the Turks, but all [his] foes". Richard's most loyal subject was John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk . The duke had served Richard's brother for many years and had been one of Edward IV's closer confidants. He
25893-654: The southwest coast of Wales. Marching inland, Henry gathered support as he made for London. Richard hurriedly mustered his troops and intercepted Henry's army near Ambion Hill , south of the town of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire . Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley also brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be most advantageous to support, initially lending only four knights to Henry's cause; these were: Sir Robert Tunstall, Sir John Savage (nephew of Lord Stanley), Sir Hugh Persall and Sir Humphrey Stanley. Sir John Savage
26082-475: The steadier in the ensuing hand-to-hand combat; they held their ground and several of Norfolk's men fled the field. Norfolk lost one of his senior officers, Walter Devereux , in this early clash. Recognising that his force was at a disadvantage, Richard signalled for Northumberland to assist but Northumberland's group showed no signs of movement. Historians, such as Horrox and Pugh, believe Northumberland chose not to aid his king for personal reasons. Ross doubts
26271-453: The thickest press of his enemies". Richard had come within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies
26460-428: The three royal successions during the long Wars of the Roses, considered Bosworth Field just another in a lengthy series of such battles. It was through the works and efforts of Francis Bacon and his successors that the public started to believe the battle had decided their futures by bringing about "the fall of a tyrant". William Shakespeare gives prominence to the Battle of Bosworth in his play, Richard III . It
26649-479: The throne by right of conquest . Following his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field (22 August 1485), he reinforced his position in 1486 by fulfilling his 1483 vow to marry Elizabeth of York , daughter of King Edward IV and the heiress of the Yorkist claim to the throne, thus symbolically uniting the former warring factions of Lancaster and York under the new dynasty (represented by the Tudor rose ). The Tudors extended their power beyond modern England, achieving
26838-465: The throne by killing his nephews, the Tudor historians attached a sense of myth to the battle: it became an epic clash between good and evil with a satisfying moral outcome. According to Reader Colin Burrow, André was so overwhelmed by the historic significance of the battle that he represented it with a blank page in his Henry VII (1502). For Professor Peter Saccio, the battle was indeed a unique clash in
27027-495: The throne in return for the post of Lieutenant General of Scotland. As well as obtaining a guarantee that the Scottish government would concede territories and diplomatic benefits to the English crown, Richard's campaign retook the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed , which the Scots had conquered in 1460. Edward was not satisfied by these gains, which, according to Ross, could have been greater if Richard had been resolute enough to capitalise on
27216-430: The throne, he had very little interest in actually ruling; rather, he preferred to indulge in luxuries and to partake in sports. He let others control the kingdom for the first two years of his reign, and then when he became more interested in military strategy, he took more interest in ruling his own realm. In his younger years, Henry was described as a man of gentle friendliness, gentle in debate, and who acted as more of
27405-500: The throne. Henry Tudor, the only remaining Lancastrian noble with a trace of the royal bloodline, had a weak claim to the throne, and Edward regarded him as "a nobody". The Duke of Brittany, however, viewed Henry as a valuable tool to bargain for England's aid in conflicts with France, and kept the Tudors under his protection. Edward IV died 12 years after Tewkesbury in April 1483. His 12-year-old elder son succeeded him as King Edward V ;
27594-423: The throne. On 18 January 1486 at Westminster Abbey , he honoured a pledge made three years earlier and married Elizabeth of York , daughter of King Edward IV. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. The marriage unified the warring houses of Lancaster and York and gave the couple's children a strong claim to the throne. The unification of the two houses through this marriage
27783-692: The title Bosworth . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bosworth&oldid=1176946272 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Battle of Bosworth Field [REDACTED] House of Tudor ( Lancastrian ) Supported by: Kingdom of France The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( / ˈ b ɒ z w ər θ / BOZ -wərth )
27972-497: The title. After him, his daughter Mary I lost control of all territory in France permanently with the Siege of Calais in 1558. In total, the Tudor monarchs ruled their domains for 118 years. Henry VIII ( r. 1509–1547 ) was the only son of Henry VII to live to the age of maturity, and he proved a dominant ruler. Issues around royal succession (including marriage and the succession rights of women) became major political themes during
28161-533: The true prince and "the youth of Brittany defeating the Saxons " in order to bring their country back to glory. When Henry moved to Haverfordwest , the county town of Pembrokeshire , Richard's lieutenant in South Wales, Sir Walter Herbert, failed to move against Henry, and two of his officers, Richard Griffith and Evan Morgan, deserted to Henry with their men. The most important defector to Henry in this early stage of
28350-458: The wife of Henry's older brother Arthur (died 1502); this fact made the course of their marriage a rocky one from the start. A papal dispensation had to be granted for Henry to be able to marry Catherine, and the negotiations took some time. Despite the fact that Henry's father died before he was married to Catherine, he was determined to marry her anyway and to make sure that everyone knew he intended on being his own master. When Henry first came to
28539-403: The young Mary, Queen of Scots , and aimed to forcibly impose the English Reformation on the Church of Scotland . Somerset led a large and well equipped army to Scotland, where he and the Scottish regent James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran , commanded their armies at the Battle of Pinkie on 10 September 1547. The English won the battle, and after this Queen Mary was smuggled to France, where she
28728-399: The younger son, nine-year-old Richard of Shrewsbury , was next in line to the throne. Edward V was too young to rule and a Royal Council was established to rule the country until the king's coming of age. Some among the council were worried when it became apparent that the relatives of Edward V's mother, Elizabeth Woodville , were plotting to use their control of the young king to dominate
28917-431: Was "more livid and ghastly than usual". The Yorkist army, variously estimated at between 7,500 and 12,000 men, deployed on the hilltop along the ridgeline from west to east. Norfolk's force (or " battle " in the parlance of the time) of spearmen stood on the right flank, protecting the cannon and about 1,200 archers. Richard's group, comprising 3,000 infantry, formed the centre. Northumberland's men guarded
29106-460: Was a great-grandson of Henry VII's daughter Margaret Tudor , who in 1503 had married James IV of Scotland in accordance with the 1502 Treaty of Perpetual Peace . A connection persists to the present 21st century, as Charles III is a ninth-generation descendant of George I , who in turn was James VI and I's great-grandson. The Tudors descended from King Edward III on Henry VII 's mother's side from John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset , one of
29295-433: Was a military veteran, having fought in the Battle of Towton in 1461 and served as Hastings' deputy at Calais in 1471. Ross speculates that he bore a grudge against Edward for depriving him of a fortune. Norfolk was due to inherit a share of the wealthy Mowbray estate on the death of eight-year-old Anne de Mowbray , the last of her family. However, Edward convinced Parliament to circumvent the law of inheritance and transfer
29484-461: Was a semi-independent duchy, where they were taken into the custody of Duke Francis II . Henry's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort , was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt , uncle of King Richard II and father of King Henry IV . The Beauforts were originally bastards , but Richard II legitimised them through an Act of Parliament, a decision quickly modified by a royal decree of Henry IV ordering that their descendants were not eligible to inherit
29673-402: Was a talented writer. She was supposedly a very skilled musician as well, in both singing and playing the lute. After the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt the Younger in 1554, Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower of London . No proof could be found that Elizabeth was involved and she was released and retired to the countryside until the death of her half-sister, Mary I of England . Elizabeth was
29862-565: Was accused of treason and was executed on 13 February 1542, destroying the English Catholic holdouts' hopes of a national reconciliation with the Catholic Church. Her execution also marked the end of the Howard family's power and influence within the English court. By the time Henry conducted another marriage with his final wife Catherine Parr in July 1543, the old Roman Catholic advisers, including
30051-401: Was already used by the House of Lancaster, and Henry merely added the crown. In Vergil's chronicle, 100 of Henry's men, compared to 1,000 of Richard's, died in this battle—a ratio Chrimes believes to be an exaggeration. The bodies of the fallen were brought to St James Church at Dadlington for burial. However, Henry denied any immediate rest for Richard; instead the last Yorkist king's corpse
30240-469: Was also obvious to his court that he was becoming tired of his aging wife, who was six years older than he was. Wolsey visited Rome, where he hoped to get the Pope's consent for an annulment. However, the Holy See was reluctant to rescind the earlier papal dispensation and felt heavy pressure from Catherine's nephew, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , in support of his aunt. Catherine contested the proceedings, and
30429-431: Was amply rewarded. Sir William's elder brother, Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley , was not as steadfast. By 1485, he had served three kings, namely Henry VI , Edward IV , and Richard III . Lord Stanley 's skilled political manoeuvrings—vacillating between opposing sides until it was clear who would be the winner—gained him high positions; he was Henry's chamberlain and Edward's steward. His non-committal stance, until
30618-516: Was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd , a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois . The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and the Lordship of Ireland (later the Kingdom of Ireland ) for 118 years with five monarchs: Henry VII , Henry VIII , Edward VI , Mary I and Elizabeth I . The Tudors succeeded
30807-410: Was betrayed by his servant and arrested by Richard's men. On 2 November he was executed. Henry had attempted a landing on 10 October (or 19 October), but his fleet was scattered by a storm. He reached the coast of England (at either Plymouth or Poole ) and a group of soldiers hailed him to come ashore. They were, in fact, Richard's men, prepared to capture Henry once he set foot on English soil. Henry
30996-493: Was betrothed to the Dauphin , the future King Francis II of France . Despite Somerset's disappointment that no Scottish marriage would take place, his victory at Pinkie made his position appear unassailable. Edward VI was taught that he had to lead religious reform. In 1549, the Crown ordered the publication of the Book of Common Prayer , containing the forms of worship for daily and Sunday church services. The controversial new book
31185-458: Was built in 1974, on a site that has since been challenged by several scholars and historians. In October 2009, a team of researchers who had performed geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area since 2003 suggested a location two miles (3.2 km) southwest of Ambion Hill . During the 15th century civil war raged across England as the Houses of York and Lancaster fought each other for
31374-580: Was calculated to reconcile him with Stanley, but it may have been to no avail—Carpenter has identified a further cause of friction in Richard's intention to reopen an old land dispute that involved Thomas Stanley and the Harrington family. Edward IV had ruled the case in favour of Stanley in 1473, but Richard planned to overturn his brother's ruling and give the wealthy estate to the Harringtons. Immediately before
31563-407: Was declared illegitimate after her parents' marriage was annulled , Mary was the strongest legitimate claimant. Despite this, Elizabeth would not name Mary her heir; as she had experienced during the reign of her predecessor Mary I, the opposition could flock around the heir if they were disheartened with Elizabeth's rule. Numerous threats to the Tudor line occurred during Elizabeth's reign. In 1569,
31752-476: Was declared illegitimate. The boy and his younger brother Richard soon disappeared, and their fate remains a mystery. Across the English Channel Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richard's difficulties and laid claim to the throne. Henry's first attempt to invade England in 1483 foundered in a storm, but his second arrived unopposed on 7 August 1485 on
31941-455: Was delayed until Henry was crowned king and had established his claim on the throne firmly enough to preclude that of Elizabeth and her kin. Henry further convinced Parliament to backdate his reign to the day before the battle, enabling him retrospectively to declare as traitors those who had fought against him at Bosworth Field. Northumberland, who had remained inactive during the battle, was imprisoned but later released and reinstated to pacify
32130-726: Was discovered and Howard was beheaded . The next major uprising was in 1601, when Robert Devereux , the second Earl of Essex , attempted to raise the city of London against Elizabeth's government. The city of London proved unwilling to rebel; Essex and most of his co-rebels were executed. Threats also came from abroad. In 1570, Pope Pius V issued a Papal bull , Regnans in Excelsis , excommunicating Elizabeth, and releasing her subjects from their allegiance to her. Elizabeth came under pressure from Parliament to execute Mary, Queen of Scots, to prevent any further attempts to replace her; though faced with several official requests, she vacillated over
32319-417: Was discovered, and Wyatt's supporters were hunted down and killed. Wyatt himself was tortured, in the hope that he would give evidence that Elizabeth was involved so that Mary could have her executed for treason. Wyatt refused to implicate Elizabeth, and he was beheaded in April 1554. Elizabeth spent two months imprisoned at the Tower of London , and then was placed under house arrest at Woodstock Palace for
32508-503: Was found guilty and executed in May 1536. Henry married again, for a third time, to Jane Seymour , the daughter of a Wiltshire knight, and with whom he had become enamoured while she was still a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne. Jane became pregnant, and in 1537 produced a son, who became King Edward VI following Henry's death in 1547. Jane died of puerperal fever only a few days after the birth, leaving Henry devastated. Cromwell continued to gain
32697-400: Was his father, Owen Tudor ( Welsh : Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur ap Goronwy ap Tudur ap Goronwy ap Ednyfed Fychan ), who abandoned the Welsh patronymic naming practice and adopted a fixed surname. When he did, he did not choose, as was generally the custom, his father's name, Maredudd, but chose that of his grandfather, Tudur ap Goronwy , instead. This name is sometimes given as Tewdwr ,
32886-462: Was his goal, Henry did not move directly towards the city. After resting in Shrewsbury, his forces went eastwards and picked up Sir Gilbert Talbot and other English allies, including deserters from Richard's forces. Although its size had increased substantially since the landing, Henry's army was still considerably outnumbered by Richard's forces. Henry's pace through Staffordshire was slow, delaying
33075-407: Was in Henry's service and drew information from the king and his subjects to portray them in a good light. Diego de Valera, whose information Ross regards as unreliable, compiled his work from letters of Spanish merchants. However, other historians have used Valera's work to deduce possibly valuable insights not readily evident in other sources. Ross finds the poem, The Ballad of Bosworth Field ,
33264-417: Was interviewed by one of Edward's advisers, and she was eventually found not to be guilty, despite forced confessions from her servants Kat Ashley and Sir Thomas Parry . Thomas Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549. Lord Protector Somerset was also losing favour. After forcibly removing Edward VI to Windsor Castle , with the intention of keeping him hostage, Somerset was removed from power by members of
33453-507: Was just one of many that swirled around the two's long-standing friendship. However, more important to focus on were the disasters that many women, such as her mother Anne Boleyn , suffered due to being married into the royal family. Her sister Mary's marriage to Philip brought great contempt to the country, for many of her subjects despised Spain and Philip and feared that he would try to take complete control. Recalling her father's disdain for Anne of Cleves , Elizabeth also refused to enter into
33642-497: Was made Duke of Suffolk in October 1551. Her mother, Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk , was the daughter of Mary Tudor , the sister of Henry VIII. On 21 May 1553, Jane was married to Northumberland's son, Lord Guildford Dudley . This was a political move organised by the Duke to ensure that Protestantism stayed the national religion if Jane were to become queen. Edward died on 6 July 1553 and 16-year-old Jane, who fainted when she heard
33831-722: Was made by subsequent English historians. Henry's crossing of the English Channel in 1485 was without incident. Thirty ships sailed from Harfleur on 1 August and, with fair winds behind them, landed in his native Wales , at Mill Bay (near Dale ) on the north side of Milford Haven on 7 August, easily capturing nearby Dale Castle . Henry received a muted response from the local population. No joyous welcome awaited him on shore, and at first few individual Welshmen joined his army as it marched inland. Historian Geoffrey Elton suggests only Henry's ardent supporters felt pride over his Welsh blood. His arrival had been hailed by contemporary Welsh bards such as Dafydd Ddu and Gruffydd ap Dafydd as
34020-449: Was married to Lady Margaret Beaufort , the great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, the progenitor of the house of Lancaster; Jasper became Earl of Pembroke on 23 November 1452. Edmund died on 3 November 1456. On 28 January 1457, his widow Margaret, who was only 13 at the time, gave birth to a son, Henry Tudor, at her brother-in-law's residence at Pembroke Castle . Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, spent his childhood at Raglan Castle ,
34209-485: Was most at risk, she named Robert Dudley as Lord Protector in the event of her death. After her recovery, she appointed Dudley to the Privy Council and created him Earl of Leicester , in the hope that he would marry Mary, Queen of Scots . Mary rejected him, and instead married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , a descendant of Henry VII , giving Mary a stronger claim to the English throne. Although many Catholics were loyal to Elizabeth, many also believed that, because Elizabeth
34398-518: Was not deceived and returned to Brittany, abandoning the invasion. Without Buckingham or Henry, the rebellion was easily crushed by Richard. The survivors of the failed uprisings fled to Brittany, where they openly supported Henry's claim to the throne. At Christmas, Henry Tudor swore an oath in Rennes Cathedral to marry Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York , to unite the warring houses of York and Lancaster. Henry's rising prominence made him
34587-552: Was not welcomed by either reformers or Catholic conservatives; it was especially condemned in Devon and Cornwall , where traditional Catholic loyalty was at its strongest. In Cornwall at the time, many of the people could only speak the Cornish language , so the uniform English Bibles and church services were not understood by many. This caused the Prayer Book Rebellion , in which groups of Cornish non-conformists gathered round
34776-506: Was placed in command of the left flank of Henry's army. Richard divided his army, which outnumbered Henry's, into three groups (or "battles"). One was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland . Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford . Richard's vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against Oxford's men, and some of Norfolk's troops fled
34965-573: Was raised by his widow, Catherine Parr and her new husband Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley . Seymour may have groomed and sexually abused her, but their relationship was seen instead as an affair and caused scandal. During the interrogations, she answered truthfully and boldly and all charges were dropped. Seymour, however, was executed on 20 March 1549. Elizabeth was an excellent student, well-schooled in Latin, French, Italian, and somewhat in Greek, and
35154-567: Was stripped naked and strapped across a horse. His body was brought to Leicester and openly exhibited to prove that he was dead. Early accounts suggest that this was in the major Lancastrian collegiate foundation, the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke . After two days, the corpse was interred in a plain tomb, within the church of the Greyfriars . The church was demolished following
35343-409: Was that of Henry Tudor's wife, Elizabeth of York , as daughter to Edward IV, and descendant of the second son of Edward III, Lionel, Duke of Clarence , and also his fourth son, Edmund, Duke of York . As she had no surviving brothers , Elizabeth had the strongest claim to the crown as de facto heiress of the House of York , but while she became queen consort , she did not rule as queen regnant ; for
35532-437: Was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses , the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by an alliance of Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond , became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty by his victory and subsequent marriage to
35721-432: Was the only knightly behaviour on the field. As fellow historian Michael Bennet puts it, the attack was "the swan-song of [mediaeval] English chivalry". Adams believes this view was shared at the time by the printer William Caxton , who enjoyed sponsorship from Edward IV and Richard III. Nine days after the battle, Caxton published Thomas Malory 's story about chivalry and death by betrayal— Le Morte d'Arthur —seemingly as
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