Battle of Bosworth Field 22 August 1485 Lancastrian Henry Tudor Yorkist Richard III Plantagenet dynasty Wars of the Roses
Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field (22 August 1485) was Lancastrian Henry Tudor's defeat of Yorkist Richard III, ending the Plantagenet dynasty to begin a new Tudor dynasty. Historically, the battle is considered to have marked the end of the Wars of the Roses as well as the Middle Ages in England, although further battles were fought in the years that followed as Yorkist pretenders unsuccessfully fought to reclaim the crown. The fight was perhaps the last significant Medieval battle, and Richard III was the last English monarch to have been killed in battle. After avoiding Viscount Lovell's fleet sent by the king to stop him, Henry Tudor landed at Milford Haven on 7 August with a small force — consisting mainly of French and Breton mercenaries — in an attempt to claim the throne of England. Richard III had fought similar battles with Lancastrian usurpers in the past, and though Henry did not have his opponent's military experience, he was accompanied by his uncle, Jasper Tudor, 1st Earl of Pembroke (later 1st Duke of Bedford) and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, each a seasoned soldier. Henry gathered supporters in the course of his journey through his father's native Wales, and by the time he arrived in the Midlands, he had amassed an army of an estimated 5,000 men. The King, by contrast, could command nearly 8,000. The decisive factor in the battle was to be the conduct of the Stanley brothers — Sir William Stanley and Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley, the latter being Henry's stepfather. Richard had good cause to distrust them, but was dependent on their continued loyalty. Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, with Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley and their troops, watched the beginning of the engagement as the rest of Richard's army fought Henry's French mercenaries and loyal exiles. The Stanleys seem to have taken up a position some distance away from the two main armies.
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