A Horse, a Horse, My Kingdom for a Horse
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of
Bosworth (1485), the final major battle of that English civil war titled The
War of the Roses (this conflict was at the time sometimes referred to as the
Cousin’s War). It was at this battle
that King Richard III, variously identified as the last King from the House of
Plantagenet or the House of York, was killed. He was the last English King to
die in battle. Henry Tudor, the victor
at Bosworth, then became King Henry VII.
Henry’s victory in battle was if anything
surprising. Richard’s forces outnumbered
those of Henry. Meanwhile, William
Stanley held back his own force; if combined with that of Henry, that of
Richard would have been out-numbered.
Conversely, if Stanley joined with Richard, the weight of the forces
arrayed against Henry would have been overwhelming. Richard held William Stanley’s nephew George
(Lord Strange) as a hostage. That nephew’s father, Lord Thomas Stanley, was
married to Henry Tudor’s mother Margaret Beaufort. As battle was about to commence, Richard sent
word to Thomas Stanley that if the Stanley forces did not join with his, he
would execute Lord Strange (Henry Tudor’s step-brother). Stanley replied, “I have other sons.”
To provide but a taste as to why this
conflict was referred to as the Cousins War, consider that Thomas Stanley was
the brother of William Stanley, husband of Margaret Beaufort, she being the
mother of Henry Tudor. Ergo, William
Stanley was the brother-in-law to Henry’s mother. Thomas Stanley had previously been married to
Eleanor Neville, sister to Warwick the Kingmaker and aunt to Richard III’s
recently deceased wife Anne Neville. Anne Neville was a daughter of Warwick.
Richard’s attack upon Henry’s position
nearly succeeded; Henry’s standard-bearer William Brandon was killed at Henry’s
side. Polydore Virgil, a contemporary
historian/chronicler, recorded that Richard fought well. However, Richard’s fate was sealed when the
William Stanley and his troops, having until then not committed to either side,
rode against Richard’s infantry as his cavalry was separately moving against
Henry. Thomas Stanley would place the coronet (crown) of Richard III on Henry
Tudor’s head.
William Brandon’s son Charles, ultimately
Duke of Suffolk, would become the best friend of Henry VIII.
In 2012, Richard’s remains were located
in the course of excavations under a parking lot that now covers part of what
was the Blackfriars (Dominican) Church in Leicester, England; early 2013 saw
the announcement that testing had confirmed the remains were those of
Richard. In sad testimony to the modern
age, litigation ensued as to whether Richard should be re-buried in Leicester
Cathedral, apparently consistent with the terms of the agreement by which the
archaeological work was performed and other British law, or in York where
certain claimed descendants of Richard assert he would want to have been
buried. That question was resolved in
favor of Leicester, and in 2016 Richard III was laid to rest in Leicester
Cathedral.
Notwithstanding Polydore Virgil’s
positive comments as to Richard III (many of which are now disputed by
historians), in proof of the adage that the winners write the history, his
reputation was besmirched by various Tudor affiliates such as St. Thomas More
and William Shakespeare. The quote
above, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse,” is from Shakespeare’s play Richard
III, Act V, Scene IV. He is currently being reassessed by
historians who are not so indebted to supporting the legitimacy of the House of
Tudor. The “standard” biographies of Richard III are those of Paul Murray Kendall
and Charles Ross, each titled Richard III.
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