[MR] Wikipedia: Battle of Bosworth Field

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1485, the Battle of Bosworth Field ended the brief reign of
Richard III, and brought the Tudor dynasty to the English throne. It also
ended the Wars of the Roses, which had ravaged England for 32 years as the
House of York battled the House of Lancaster for the crown.

Pick a side if you wish: the Yorkists (the white rose) or the Lancastrians
(the red rose, of which the Welsh Tudor branch and the Stanleys were the
only major Lancastrian factions left by the end). Although the Lancastrians
enjoyed the legitimacy of having the crown at the beginning of the war,
everybody "played dirty" during the long and brutal struggle, tarnishing
both houses.

Richard III in particular comes off as the great villain of the whole era,
thanks to his ruthless murder of the "two princes in the Tower",
elimination of any other possible opponents within his own family, and
usurpation of the crown. Of course, his sinister reputation was later
enhanced by Tudor propagandists, culminating with him being portrayed as
one of history/literature's greatest monsters by Shakespeare. Richard was
hardly the misshapen hunchback Shakespeare describes. He did have a crooked
spine, but was a capable and courageous knight.

The Battle of Bosworth Field pitted a formidable Yorkist army numbering
between 7,500 and 12,000 men backed by artillery, versus Henry Tudor's
smaller Lancastrian force of some 5,000 to 8,000 made up mostly of the
Stanley family and their affinity, bolstered by some 2,000 Frenchmen.
During the fighting, Richard gambled on a cavalry charge against Henry
Tudor and his household knights who had become separated from his main
force. The charge failed, and the Yorkists were soon surrounded by
Stanleys. Richard was unhorsed and whacked in the head with a halberd,
though he suffered a total of 11 wounds. As news of the King's death
spread, his army crumbled and fled.

The Battle of Bosworth Field is described at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆