Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI’s wife and fierce defender of the Lancastrian cause.
Edward IV (left), whose controversial choice of bride, Elizabeth Woodville (right), caused divisions among the York royal family.
Anthony Rivers presents a work of literature to Edward IV, whose eldest son Edward, the future Edward V, is at his side.
Elizabeth of York, Edward IV’s eldest daughter and future wife of Henry Tudor. Their marriage would unite the houses of Lancaster and York.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, his wife Anne Neville and their son Edward of Middleham, as depicted in the Rous Roll.
William Catesby, one of Richard’s loyal dependants, whose support was crucial in Richard’s seizure of the throne. He was also one of the few men on Richard’s side at Bosworth to be executed after the battle.
John, Lord Howard, first Duke of Norfolk. Norfolk’s support for Richard’s usurpation was rewarded with a dukedom. He loyally served the king, and led the vanguard of Richard’s forces into battle at Bosworth.
A French drawing of the young Henry Tudor.
The tomb of Duke Francis II of Brittany in Nantes Cathedral.
Louis XI (left), whose son Charles VIII (right) inherited the French throne aged thirteen. His regency council, led by his sister Anne of Beaujeu (below), gave support to Henry Tudor after his flight to France.
The chateau at Suscinio, in Morbihan, Brittany, where Henry and Jasper Tudor were sent by Duke Francis in 1472.
The fortress of Largoët, situated near the town of Elven north-east of Vannes. At fifty-seven metres high its great keep, known as the Tower of Elven, is the tallest in France. Henry spent eighteen months imprisoned on the sixth floor.
The Lancastrian, John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, whose arrival at Henry Tudor’s exiled court in 1484 proved a turning point for Henry. Oxford successfully led the vanguard at Bosworth, with Henry’s forces reliant on his military expertise.
The former Lancastrian Reginald Bray, one of Margaret Beaufort’s household servants, played a critical role in Buckingham’s rebellion, recruiting supporters among the gentry.
Christopher Urswick, Margaret Beaufort’s confessor. His decisive action in travelling to Brittany in 1484 to warn Henry Tudor of the danger in remaining at Duke Francis’ court prompted Henry’s flight to France.
Mill Bay, near Dale on the Milford Peninsula: the scene of Henry Tudor’s landing on the evening of 7 August 1485.
Rhys ap Thomas, whose eventual support for Henry Tudor in his march through Wales gave a welcome boost to the campaign.
Merevale Church, Atherstone, originally the Gate Chapel of the Cistercian Merevale Abbey, where Henry Tudor met with the Stanleys shortly before engaging battle at Bosworth.
The Welsh Gate, Shrewsbury, where Thomas Mytton initially refused Henry Tudor entry into the town.
The Blue Boar Inn, Leicester. Tradition records that Richard lodged in the town before travelling to Ambion Hill ready for battle. Originally named the White Boar, its name was altered on Henry’s accession.
Sir Gervase Clifton, a former Esquire of the Body to Edward IV, who fought on Richard’s side at Bosworth, yet survived and was later pardoned by Henry VII.
Roger Wake of Blisworth, Northamptonshire, brother-in-law to William Catesby. Wake survived the battle and petitioned against his attainder claiming he had fought under duress. He was later pardoned by Henry VII.
Simon Digby, who defected to Henry Tudor’s side shortly before the battle.
Sir John Cheyney, reportedly six feet eight inches tall, who was unhorsed by Richard III in the final moments of the battle. side shortly before the battle.
Looking out across the fields where Richard’s final last stand may have taken place, and where archaeological investigations in 2012 discovered significant numbers of cannon balls and vital clues, such as a silver gilt badge of a boar, Richard III’s insignia.
The battle of Bosworth from an early sixteenth-century relief carving, originally commissioned for the Earl of Oxford’s residence at Castle Hedingham. In the centre, Henry rides over Richard III, who is clutching his crown.
A panoramic view of the battlefield at Bosworth, known by contemporaries as Redemore, taken from the top of the tower at St Margaret’s Church, Stoke Golding.
A gold signet ring depicting Richard’s insignia of the boar found near the battlefield.
The collection of thirty-four cannon balls discovered at the battlefield site.
The Bosworth Crucifix. Discovered in the eighteenth century, its roundels are emblazoned with the Yorkist sun.
Evidence of Richard’s forces at Bosworth: this silver gilt boar badge would have been worn by a gentleman in the king’s army. Could it have been lost in the fighting or in flight?
A broken sword handle, discovered in 2012: clear evidence that hand-to-hand combat took place in the Redemore plain.
Richard III’s prayer book, which the king took to the battle with him. Henry later gave the manuscript to his mother Margaret.
A lead badge representing the Yorkist sun, which was probably worn by an ordinary soldier in Richard’s army.
The golden badge of an eagle with a snake in its mouth, discovered at a separate location, possibly near the windmill where the Duke of Norfolk was captured and Richard’s vanguard was defeated.
The gravesite of Richard III, discovered in August 2012 under a carpark on the site of Greyfriars Church. The hands of the skeleton have been tied.
The bones of Richard III clearly demonstrate a noticeable curvature of the spine known as scoliosis.
Wounds inflicted on Richard’s skull include a severe blow to the back of his head, slicing through the bone that would have certainly proved fatal and a puncture wound at the top of the skull. In total, ten wounds to the skeleton have been identified.
St James’ Church, Dadlington, where the ‘bones and bodies’ of the Bosworth dead were buried. In 1511, Henry VIII signed a warrant allowing the churchwardens to fundraise for a battlefield chapel.
A terracotta bust of Henry VII by Pietro Torrigiano.
blog and newsletter
For literary discussion, author insight,
book news, exclusive content,
recipes and giveaways, visit the
Weidenfeld & Nicolson blog and
sign up for the newsletter at:
www.wnblog.co.uk
For breaking news, reviews and exclusive competitions
Follow us @wnbooks
Find us facebook.com/WNfiction
Copyright
A Phoenix Paperbacks ebook
First published in Great Britain in 2013
by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Ebook first published in 2013
by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
This ebook published in 2014
by Phoenix
© Chris Skidmore 2013
The right of Chris Skidmore to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2978-6377-9
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Orion House
5 Upper Saint Martin’s Lane
London, WC2H 9EA
An Hachette UK company
www.orionbooks.co.uk
Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors Page 55