The
Battle of Bosworth
Primary
and Contemporary Sources
From Bennett,
Michael, The Battle of Bosworth, reprinted by kind permission
of the author. HTML markup by Judie C. Gall.
II. Independent
English Reporters
DATE: 1486.
AUTHOR: Possibly John Russell, or other ex-civil servant in his
entourage. TEXT: 'Historiae Croylandensis,' in W. Fulman
(ed.) Rerum Anglicarum Scriptorum Veterum, Vol. I (Oxford,
1684), pp. 573-5. Emendation from A. Hanham, Richard III
and the Early Historians 1483-1535 (Oxford, 1975), p.100.
(Latin; own translation; see translation in Ingulph's
Chronicles,
ed. H.T. Riley (London, 1893), pp. 501-5.)
With Henry
Tudor and his men advancing towards him, King Richard felt it
necessary "to move the army, though its numbers were not
yet fully made up, from Nottingham, and to come to Leicester.
Here was found ready to fight for the king a greater number of
soldiers than had ever been seen before in England assembled on
one side. On the Sunday before the feast of Bartholomew the Apostle,
the king proceeded on his way, amid the greatest pomp, and wearing
the crown on his head; being attended by John Howard, duke of
Norfolk, and Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, and other mighty
lords, knights and esquires, together with a countless multitude
of the common people. On leaving Leicester, he was informed by
scouts where the enemy most probably intended to spend the next
night; upon which, he encamped near the abbey of Merevale, at
a distance of about eight miles from town.
'The chief
men of the opposing army were: in the first place, Henry, earl
of Richmond, whom they called their King Henry VII; John Vere,
earl of Oxford; John, Lord Welles, of Welles, uncle to Henry VII;
Thomas, Lord Stanley and William his brother; Edward Woodville,
brother of Queen Elizabeth, a most valiant knight; John Cheney,
John Savage, Robert Willoughby, William Berkeley, James Blount,
Thomas Arundel, Richard Edgecombe, Edward Poynings, Richard Guilford,
and many others who had been raised to knighthood, both before
the present troubles and at the beginning of this campaign. Of
churchmen present as counsellors, who likewise had suffered exile,
there were the venerable father, Peter, bishop of Exeter, the
flower of the knighthood of his country, Master Robert Morton,
clerk of the roll of the chancery, Christopher Urswick, and Richard
Fox, who were subsequently appointed almoner and secretary, respectively,
together with many others.
'At day-break
on Monday morning there were no chaplains on King Richard's side
ready to celebrate mass, nor any breakfast prepared to restore
his flagging spirits. For he had seen dreadful visions in the
night, in which he was surrounded by a multitude of demons, as
he himself testified in the morning. He consequently presented
a countenance which, always drawn, was on this occasion more livid
and ghastly than ususal, and asserted that the issue of this day's
battle, to whichever side the victory was granted, would be the
utter destruction of the kingdom of England. He declared that
it was his intention, if he proved the victor, to crush all the
traitors on the opposing side; and at the same time he predicted
that his adversary would do the same to the supporters of his
party, if victory should fall to him. At length with the enemy
commander and his soldiers approaching at a fair pace, the king
ordered that Lord Strange should be instantly beheaded. The persons
to whom this duty was entrusted, however, seeing that the issue
was doubtful in the extreme, and that a matter of more weight
than the destruction of one man was in hand, deferred performance
of the king's cruel order, left the man to his own disposal and
returned to the thickest of the fight.
'A most fierce
battle thus began between the two sides. The earl of Richmond
with his men proceeded directly against King Richard. For his
part, the earl of Oxford, the next in rank in the army and a most
valiant soldier, drew up his forces, consisting of a large body
of French and English troops, opposite the wing in which the duke
of Norfolk had taken up his position. In the place where the earl
of Northumberland was posted, with a large company of reasonably
good men, no engagement could be discerned, and no battle blows
given or received. In the end a glorious victory was given by
heaven to the earl of Richmond, now sole king, along with a most
precious crown, which King Richard had previously worn on his
head. For in the thick of the fight, and not in the act of flight,
King Richard fell in the field, struck by many mortal wounds,
as a bold and most valiant p rince. Then the duke of Norfolk,
Sir Richard Radcliffe, Sir Robert Brackenbury, keeper of the Tower
of London, John Kendal, secretary, Sir Robert Percy, controller
of the king's household, Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers, and many
others were slain in this fierce battle, and many, especially
northerners, in whom the king so greatly trusted, took flight
without engaging; and there was left no part of the opposing army
of sufficient significance or substance for the glorious victor
Henry VII to engage, and so add to his experience in battle.
'Thus through
this battle peace was obtained for the whole of the realm. King
Richard's body was found among the other slain. * * * Many other
insults were heaped on it, and not very humanely, a halter was
thrown around the neck, and it was carried to Leicester. The new
king, graced with the crown he won with such distinction, proceeded
to the same place. Meanwhile, many nobles and others were taken
into captivity, most notably, Henry, earl of Northumberland, and
Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, first-born of the deceased duke
of Norfolk. There was also taken prisoner William Catesby, who
was pre-eminent among all the counsellors of the late king, and
whose head was cut off at Leicester, as a last reward for his
excellent service. Also, two yeomen from the West Country, named
Bracher, who fell into the hands of the victors, were hanged.
Moreover, there has been no word, nor has it been written or remembered,
that any other persons, after the end of the fighting, were dealt
with in this fashion, but that, on the contrary, the new prince
showed mercy to all. He began to receive the praises of all, as
if he were an angel sent from heaven, through whom God had deigned
to visit His people, and to deliver them from the evils with which
it had been previously and immoderately afflicted.
'And thus
concluding this history ... (we) have brought the narrative down
to this battle, which was fought near Merevale, and which took
place on 22 August, 1485.'
Return to
Primary and Contemporary Sources
DATE: c.
1490. AUTHOR: John Rous (d. 1492), a Warwickshire priest. TEXT:
Historia Johannis Rossi Warwicensis de Regibus Anglie,
ed. T. Hearne (London, 1716), p. 218. (Latin; own translation;
see also version in Hanham, Early Historians, pp. 123-4.)
'At length,
as the life of King Richard neared its evening, many secretly
left him and joining the exiled southerners became adherents of
Henry, earl of Richmond, nephew of Henry VI, by his uterine brother.
Landing at Milford Haven in Wales on the Feast of the Transfiguration
with a relatively small band, Henry gained many followers on the
road. When finally he met King Richard and his great army on the
eighth day of the feast of the Assumption A.D. 1485, on the border
of Warwickshire and Leicestershire, he slew him in the field of
battle.
'This King
Richard, who in his time was cruel beyond measure, reigned for
three years and a little more, in the way that Antichrist is to
reign, and like him, he was confounded at the peak of his fortunes.
For having with him the crown itself, together with a great mass
of treasure, he was suddenly cut down like a wretch in the thick
of his army by a comparatively small force of armed men. But yet,
if I may say the truth to his credit, though small in body and
feeble of limb, he bore himself like a gallant knight and acted
with distinction as his own champion until his last breath, shouting
oftentimes that he was betrayed and crying "Treason! Treason!
Treason!" So, tasting what he had often served to others,
he ended his life most miserably, and finally was buried in the
choir of the Friars Minor at Leicester.'
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