England

Bosworth Field, 1485

Henry Tudor was young, dynamic, and had many who liked him. That was about the extent of the list of reasons why Henry should be king. He had only the remotest of claims to blood relations to the Plantagenets, but the time for claiming the English throne by any sort of normal succession had long passed. The only question now was whether Henry could win victory in the field against a commander who had proved himself in a number of battles.

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King Richard's standard
on Bosworth Field

By July, enough refugees had come to Brittany that Henry felt the time was right. The Tudor fleet sailed from Rouen on 1 August 1485, landing in Pembrokeshire on 7 August. He marched into Shropshire and began picking up adherents.

Richard assembled his army at the old Yorkist stronghold of Nottingham. His most powerful supporters were John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. By his own right, Richard commanded a good many troops, so the Tudor forces were heavily outnumbered.

They met at Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. One of the key players, Lord Stanley, at the last minute refused to fight on Richard's side. On seeing this, Richard ordered Northumberland to shield the army from Stanley.

Percy refused. At that moment, Richard realized he was betrayed. What had seemed to be overwhelming superiority was an illusion. When Richard spotted Henry's banner not too far away, he decided his one chance to was kill the man around whom the opposition had rallied.

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Battle of Bosworth Field

He charged. Richard was ferocious on the battlefield and was able to cut his way through all who opposed him. He got close enough to kill Henry's bannerman. But then, seeing the battle teetering, Lord Stanley threw his lot in with Tudor and fell upon Richard's forces from the flank.

The royals were cut to ribbons. Richard refused to flee, crying out "Treason! Treason!" This is the occasion of Shakespeare's famous line: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" He died fighting.