Date: 22nd August, 1485
Time: morning Duration - 2 hours
Location: Redmore Plain south of Bosworth, near Welsh border
Factions: Tudor vs York Victor: Tudor
Troops/inventory: Tudor - 5,000 - 7,000 men-at-arms (including archers), cannons York - 8,000 - 12,000 men-at-arms (including
archers), cannons
Injuries/fatalities of interest: Tudor
- Sir William Brandon
(slain)
York
- King Richard III (slain)
- John, Lord Howard, Duke of
Norfolk (slain)
- Sir Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey (captured)
- Sir Robert
Brackenbury (slain)
- Sir Richard Ratcliffe (slain); Sir Gervase Clifton
(slain)
- Walter, Lord Ferrers (slain)
- William Catesby (captured,
executed)
Total slain: 1,000 soldiers
Interesting bit: The Battle of Bosworth marked the end of 24 years of
Yorkist rule in England. Richard Plantagenet, now King Richard III was
killed. He was struck down while apparently making a final desperate charge
against Henry Tudor. It is said that he almost succeeded in bringing Henry
down, which is evidenced by the death of the young Tudor's standard-bearer.
As a standard-bearer of the time invariably stayed close to the commander he
was serving, it is generally accepted that Henry was involved in some form
of close combat. However, as we do know, it was Richard who met his demise.
The King was later stripped naked and paraded through town slung over the
back of a horse. His body was exposed to the public for two days, then
inferred in a stone coffin in the Grey Friars Church at Leicester. Years
later, when this church was destroyed, King Richard's bones were tipped into
a river, and the coffin used as a horse trough outside the White Horse Inn
in Gallow Tree Gate. Henry Tudor allegedly found Richard's crown under a
hawthorn bush near the battle site and was claimed King of England from that
day forward. This marked the beginning of the 120 year Tudor dynasty.