The Battle of Bosworth

On 11th August the ominous news was related to Richard at Nottingham that his rival had landed four days previously. The King marched out to meet him. On 22nd August, 1485, the two armies faced each other just south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire. Richard camped his army on Ambion Hill.

Said to have spent an uneasy night prior to the battle, Richard was disturbed by ghoulish nightmares and looked gaunt and pale on rising. Shakespeare depicts him as being haunted by the souls of his victims. No priest could be found in his camp that morning to celebrate mass. A fact that was whispered to be an ill omen at the time. As if to underline the fact that treachery had infiltrated his ranks, during the night, someone had pinned a rhyme to the Duke of Norfolk's tent:-

'Jack of Norfolk, be not so bold, For Dickon thy master, is bought and sold.'

The Stanleys cautiously situated their troops to the sides of Richard and Henry Tudor's camps, openly declaring for, nor joining either. The King demanded Lord Stanley and his brother join him and was ignored. He reacted by angrily ordering Lord Strange to be beheaded, an action which was not carried out by a subordinate, no doubt fearing for his own position, should the battle not go well for the King.

The royal army, larger than that of the rebels, was positioned along the crest of Ambion Hill. Though Richard was a seasoned campaigner, Henry had no experience in battle, Bosworth was his first field. He sent an appeal to the Stanleys to join him, but received the unerving response that the time was not yet ripe.

The Duke of Norfolk lead the vanguard of Richard's army, the King himself the centre, Northumberland had personally requested to be in the rear to watch the threatening Stanley's forces to the side.

Richard III's opponent at Bosworth, Henry Tudor

Norfolk opened the battle, leading the royal vanguard down the hill. Oxford, an experienced general, who commanded the Tudor army, skirted the hill with his men, unsure as yet of the intentions of the Stanleys. The Stanleys themselves, directed by the precarious position of Lord Strange, still made no move, but remained stationary, hovering in their menacing positions at both flanks of the battle, adding to the atmosphere of suspicion.

Oxford was heavily outnumbered and issued orders that his men were not to advance over ten feet from their standards. He had learned much from his disastrous experience at Barnet and feared he might loose command of his soldiers. He closed in, forming a wedge formation. Norfolk was killed in the fighting and his son the Earl of Surrey captured.

Ambion Hill, Bosworth battlefield

The eyes of the commanders remained on the looming and foreboding presence of the Stanleys, who still made no move. The air must have been thick with thoughts of treachery and self preservation. Northumberland, not having gained the power in the north he had expected from Richard, also made no move, but continued to watch the Stanleys, desiring that whatever the outcome of the battle, he, Northumberland, would be on the winning side. Richard was brought the onimous news of Norfolk's death and must have been in total despair and rage at the treachery surrounding him.

Sighting the Tudor's dragon standard, the King 'all inflamed with ire', after taking a drink from a spring later known as 'Dickon's Well', charged suicidally with his household straight for the person of Henry Tudor. It was both an impulsive and magnificently courageous gesture, if he could have just reached the Tudor, the issue would have been settled outright. Many of the Henry's supporters were killed in the headlong charge, including his massive standard bearer. Watching and waiting for his moment, Stanley saw that now was the time to bring in his troops. Richard, although urged to flee, valiantly refused, insisting he would remain King of England or die in battle.

The shifting Stanleys moved in for the kill and Richard 'fighting manfully in the midst of his enemies' was surrounded and fell, pierced by many wounds. (The spot where he is purported to have met his end is marked today by a plaque erected on the battlefield by the Richard III Society). Many fled on the king's death, others surrendered.

Lord Stanley retrieved England's crown, which Richard had inadvisedly worn throughout the battle, from under a hawthorn bush and placed it on the head of Henry Tudor, which was met by the exhilarated shouts of his army "King Henry, God save King Henry!" The Tudor age had begun.

Statue of Richard III at Leicester.

The new King of England, Henry VII then proceeded to Leicester. The body of King Richard III was treated with much indignity. Trussed naked over a horse and besmirched with mud, it was borne in parade to Leicester, a sad spectacle. It was exposed for two days at the Church of the Greyfriars at Leicester, where Richard III was later unceremoniously buried. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, Richard III's coffin was dug up and his bones were thrown into the river Soar. The coffin itself was said to have been later used as a drinking trough for horses.

At least three skulls have been recovered from the river, any of which could be the that of Richard III. One particular skeleton, which was discovered at Bow Bridge in the nineteenth century, was said at the time to be possibly be his.

The skeleton, which was apparently, almost complete, apart from a few of the bones of the feet, was found lying face up in the Soar. The bones were subjected to an examination by a local surgeon, Mr. H. Lankester. Lankaster was unable to determine the skeleton's gender due to mutilation of the pelvic area. However, he did state that it was that of a man much younger than Richard III. He also summarised that the small size of the bones was indicative of someone of 'somewhat below average height' and of 'weak muscular development'.

The skull displayed obvious cranium damage which it was thought, could be due to sword cuts. It was further examined by a medical practitioner who concluded it was of 'a man in early or middle life' ('not more than 30'), who was 'of short stature and slight frame'. The skull passed into the possesion of the Goddard family of Newton Harcourt Manor in Leicester.

Doubts have been cast as to whether Richard's remains were ever actually cast into the Soar at the Reformation. The father of the architect, Christopher Wren is reported as having been Richard's grave in the 17th century. The original site of Greyfriars has been lost under redevelopment. Many assert that his remains stll lie in the Greyfriars vicinity of Leicester.