On this day in history, 22nd August 1485, the forces of the returned exile Henry Tudor met those of King Richard III in battle in rural Leicestershire.
Henry Tudor’s forces were victorious and Richard III was killed. Henry Tudor became King Henry VII and the Tudor period began.
Let me explain what happened on this day in 1485, and how Henry Tudor was victorious even though Richard III came into battle with a huge advantage…
You can find out more about the lead-up to Bosworth, the battle and what happened afterwards in Nathen Amin’s talk on the Tudor Society website – click here.
Richard 111’s reign like Richard 11 Henry V1 and Mary Tudor has been seen by many as a failure, the mystery of what happened to the princes who died in his care, has never been solved, but I doubt very much that they escaped and fled abroad and that their remains are indeed, lying in the urn in Westminster, though he had loyal followers in the north, he was seen as a tyrant in the south and his seizure of his nephews crown was seen as a red light to his arch enemy, Henry Tudor across the sea who thus realised along with his ambitious mother, that crowns could be won after all, Bosworth was the scene of much carnage and hundreds of years later, the site was established at Ambion Hill and a plaque in memorium to the last Plantagenet king was erected, the battle has been immortalised in plays namely by Shakespeare and in the following centuries, in painting’s and in film too, Laurence Olivier in the lead role, based on Shakespeare’s play, today Richard still divides opinion hundreds of books are still being written about him, and there is a Richard 111 Society which was established in the early 20th century, and in America to, Bosworth was one of those defining moments in English history and seen by his detractors as the triumph of good over evil, to his supporters as the terrible murder of the last English king, who fought valiantly for his crown and country.