|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
The Battle of Bosworth Field 22 August 1485
Prelude In 1483, the mighty warrior king, Edward IV died leaving to his 12-year-old son the crown of England. Edward’s will declared his brother, the experienced Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as Protector of his heir and realm until the young King could be crowned. Meanwhile though, the former Queen’s unpopular relations, the Woodvilles, made a pre-emptive coup in a bid to hang on to their former power and influence and seized the Royal treasury and fleet while making efforts to have the young prince crowned (and thus make Gloucester’s protectorate worthless). Fortunately for Gloucester, he and his party managed to apprehend his nephew and it was he, and not the Woodvilles, who entered London with the prince, now known as Edward V. In London however, events took an unpredicted turn when Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells disclosed to Gloucester and the council the existence of a pre-contract between Edward IV and Eleanor Butler. The pre-contract rendered Edward’s later marriage invalid and his children illegitimate. In view of this evidence Parliament declared Gloucester England’s King. Obviously, the Duke had much to gain from this episode and the story about the pre-contract could easily have been fabricated. Nevertheless, Richard became England’s legal sovereign. Richard III’s reign, however, was destined to be exceptionally short, for in 1485, for the second time in two years, an obscure Welshman known as Henry Tudor crossed the channel with an invasion force. Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, was a relation of the deceased Henry VI. While his claim to the throne was not a strong one, he was a focusing point for the many exiled Lancastrians and several discontented Yorkists (including the Woodvilles) who wished to rid England of Richard III. He had spent most of his life in exile, but in 1483, after the powerful Duke of Buckingham’s promise to rebel against Richard, he finally obtained the finances needed to invade England. Buckingham’s rebellion, however, was crushed and Tudor barely reached the English coast before hearing the news and heading home. The Campaign In 1485, back in France, the Lancastrian pretender received fresh financial aid for a rebellion – and just as importantly, promises of support from several leading Welsh land owners. Thus encouraged, he set off to invade England with a force of 2,000 French mercenaries and his own little band of followers led by the Earl of Oxford and Jasper Tudor. The invasion force landed in Pembrokeshire on 7 August and besieged Dale Castle before heading inland looking for the promised support. Through his spies Richard had been aware of the planned invasion for some time and had chosen to await it at Nottingham, hoping to make the most of the town’s location in central England to reach the rebels quickly wherever they landed. As is became apparent that the invasion was near, the powerful Lord Stanley asked leave of Richard to go home to his estates. Rightly suspecting his motives – Stanley had already secretly promised support to Tudor, who was a relation through marriage – the king ordered Stanley to leave his son behind, making him a hostage for his father’s good behavior. Upon receiving news of the rebels’ landing, Richard sent orders to his captains to muster their men and meet him at Leicester. Despite his custody of Lord Stanley’s son, the former and his brother Sir William made no attempt to stop Tudor as he passed through Wales, nor to join Richard with his army, gravely confirming what suspicions the king already had. While the Duke of Norfolk and his son, the Earl of Surrey were ever loyal, the results from his other captains were not very encouraging either. Richard learnt though his friends in York that Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland was not recruiting properly, while many other men, tired of war and its dangers simply ignored the royal summons. The rebel Tudor was also worried by the lack of men joining his army. The crowds did not flock to his banner as some had predicted and he was in a dangerous position for some time until finally joined by local powers such as Rhys ap Thomas and Sir Walter Herbert. Like King Richard, he was disappointed in Lord Stanley and his family who did not rush to join him, saying the time was not ripe – yet. The Battle While Henry advanced eastwards through Wales, Richard marched West to meet him. On the 22 of August 1485, four armies converged on the small village of Market Bosworth, two of them intent only on fighting; two on joining the winning side. For, while Richard’s 9000 men and Tudor’s 5000 prepared to do battle, those who would ultimately decide the issue watched from the sideline. Sir William Stanley and Thomas, Lord Stanley with combined armies 6000 strong took up positions perhaps to the north and south of the battlefield, or, more likely side by side to the south. Meanwhile the King advanced over Ambion Hill with the intention of deploying his army in the traditional manner, with three ‘battles’ drawn up in line opposite the enemy. The Earl of Northumberland however brought his ‘battle’ to a halt on the hill while still far away from the rebels – ostensibly to better defend against an attack by the Stanleys – in reality to await the outcome of the battle. Tudor chose not to attack with three battles but instead sent the bulk of his army with the experienced Earl of Oxford to attack the enemy vanguard under Norfolk, while the remainder was kept as two reserves. He was obviously still counting on the Stanleys for support to risk this, but they remained motionless as Richard was keeping Lord Stanley’s son hostage. In response to Richard’s own repeated threats, Stanley replied that he had other sons. He did not engage though, and Richard kept the traitor’s son alive, perhaps in the hope the Stanleys might yet fight on his behalf. The battle, once joined, according to Vergil was short, lasting only two hours. It started with the traditional bout of archery and cannon fire but men soon switched to hand-to-hand combat. In response to Oxford’s all out attack on his vanguard, Richard drew up his centre behind Norfolk and proceeded to reinforce him. At first Oxford pushed his counterpart’s men back up the hill some distance, but with the help of Richard’s reinforcements it was soon the rebels turn to give ground. While the Earl of Oxford was slowly pushed back, the Stanley brothers remained non-committal to either side. Knowing victory depended on their intervention, Tudor set forth with his small reserve force to persuade them to join him. Seeing the rebel leader’s banner traverse the field at a fair distance from his main army, Richard decided to lead a downhill charge in the hope of killing him and thus ending the battle. At about that time the King received the disappointing news that Norfolk had been killed. On hearing this, some counseled retreat and ‘urged [Richard] to fly’ but putting confidence in Norfolk’s son, Surrey, Richard persisted in leading a charge. Surrounded by several hundred mounted men of his household, he undertook the dangerous charge past the Stanleys to engage Tudor. At first the cavalcade seemed likely to succeed in killing the Welshman; in fact several of the men about him, including his standard bearer Sir William Brandon, were killed. It was at this moment, however, that outright treachery ensued…Sir William Stanley, seeing an opportunity to end the battle and put Tudor in his debt engaged the King’s small force. Richard was suddenly cut off from his main army as 2,500 men swirled round him and his household. The cry of ‘treason’ went up from his men as they were cut down, one by one. Many men of Richard’s household died trying to save him before he was completely surrounded and killed. With Richard dead his army disintegrated, having nothing left to fight for. Aftermath King Richard was both the second and last English King to die in battle. After the victory, Tudor had him stripped and paraded ignominiously through the streets of Leicester. Having married Edward IV’s eldest daughter, Henry further cemented his power by dating his reign from the day before Bosworth, making it possible to attain all those who fought against him as traitors. This unprecedented move allowed him to seize the extensive lands belonging to the dead King Richard, as well as the lands of his Yorkist supporters. Under Henry VII, the lords of England were weakened and the crown grew richer and stronger leading to the relatively peaceful and prosperous realm that would be inherited by the successful Tudor dynasty.
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
