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.
III. Foreign
Reporters and Chroniclers
DATE: Early
1486. AUTHOR: Diego de Valera, Castilian courtier. TEXT: E.M.
Nokes and G. Wheeler, 'A Spanish account of the battle of Bosworth',
The Ricardian, 2, no. 36 (1972), 2. (Spanish; in translation.)
Entering
England by way of Wales, and conquering all before him, Henry
Tudor 'crossed as far as a town called Coventry, near which King
Richard stood in the field with as many as 70,000 combatants.
But ... previous to his entry into England, he had the assurance
that my Lord "Tamerlant", one of the principal nobles
of England, and sundry other leading men, who had given him their
oath and seals, would give him assistance when they came to battle
and would fight against King Richard, and so they did. Though
his people came with faint heart, as not knowing the secret but
fully aware of the multitude of King Richard's army, he greatly
heartened them to come to the battlefield.
'When King
Richard was certified of the near approach of Earl Henry in battle
array, he ordered his lines and entrusted the van to his grand
chamberlain with 7,000 fighting men. My Lord "Tamerlant"
with King Richard's left wing left his position and passed in
front of the king's vanguard with 10,000 men, then, turning his
back on Earl Henry, he began to fight fiercely against the king's
van, and so did all the others who had plighted their faith to
Earl Henry. Now when Salazar, your little vassal, who was there
in King Richard's service, saw the treason of the king's people,
he went up to him and said: "Sire, take steps to put your
pers on in safety, without expecting to have the victory in today's
battle, owing to the manifest treason in your following".
But the king replied: "Salazar, God forbid I yield one step.
This day I will die as king or win". Then he placed over
his head-armour the crown royal, which they declare be worth 120,000
crowns, and having donned his coat-of-arms began to fight with
much vigour, putting heart into those that remained loyal, so
that by his sole effort he upheld the battle for a long time.
But in the end the king's army was beaten and he himself was killed,
and in this battle above 10,000 are said to have perished, on
both sides. Salazar fought bravely, but for all this was able
to escape. There died most of those who loyally served the king,
and there was lost all the king's treasure, which he brought with
him into the field. After winning this victory Earl Henry was
at once acclaimed king by all parties. He ordered the dead king
to be placed in a little hermitage near the place of battle, and
had him covered from the waist downward with a black rag of poor
quality, ordering him to be exposed there for three days to the
universal gaze.' [Back to Contemporary
and Tudor Accounts]
DATE: c.
1490. AUTHOR: Philippe de Commines, French-Burgundian chronicler.
TEXT: Memoirs de Philippe de Commynes, ed. L.M.F. Dupont,
3 vols. (Paris, 1840, 1843, 1847), II, pp. 159-60. (French; own
translation; see translation in P. de Commynes, Memoirs.
The Reign of Louis XI, 1461-1483, ed. M. Jones (Harmondsworth,
1972), p. 355).
Assisted
by the king of France, Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond launches
an expedition from Normandy and lands in Wales. 'King Richard
marched against him, but Lord Stanley, an English knight and husband
of the earl's mother, brought him 26,000 men. They fought a battle.
King Richard was slain in the fighting and the earl of Richmond
was crowned king of England. Was this mere chance? It was truly
the judgement of Almighty God!' [Back to Contemporary
and Tudor Accounts]
DATE: c.
1490. AUTHOR: Jean Molinet, historiographer to Burgundian court.
TEXT: Chroniques de Jean Molinet (1474-1506), ed. G.
Doutrepont and O. Jodogne, 3 vols. (Academie Royale de Belgique,
Classe des Lettres et des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Collection
des Anciens Auteurs Belges, Brussels, 1935-7), I, pp. 434-6. (French;
own translation, with assistance from Professor I.H. Smith, Department
of Modern Languages, University of Tasmania).
When the
armies came together, 'King Richard prepared his "battles",
where there was a vanguard and a rearguard; he had around 60,000
combatants and a great number of cannons. The leader of the vanguard
was Lord John Howard, whom King Richard had made duke of Norfolk,
granting him lands and lordships confiscated from the earl of
Oxford. Another lord, Brackenbury, captain of the Tower of London,
was also in command of the van, which had 11,000 or 12,000 men
altogether. The place was chosen and the day assigned for the
eighth day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to battle
power against power. The French also made their preparations marching
against the English, being in the field a quarter league away.
'The king
had the artillery of his army fire on the earl of Richmond, and
so the French, knowing by the king's shot the lie of the land
and the order of his battle, resolved, in order to avoid the fire,
to mass their troops against the flank rather than the front of
the king's battle. Thus they obtained the mastery of his vanguard,
which after several feats of arms on both sides was dispersed.
In this conflict was taken the duke of Norfolk with his son. The
former was taken to the earl of Richmond, who sent him on to the
earl of Oxford, who had him dispatched.
'The vanguard
of King Richard, which was put to flight, was picked off by Lord
Stanley who with all of 20,000 combatants came at a good place
to the aid of the earl. The earl of Northumberland, who was on
the king's side with 10,000 men, ought to have charged the French,
but did nothing except to flee, both he and his company, to abandon
his King RIchard, for he had an undertaking with the earl of Richmond,
as had some others who deserted him in his need. The king bore
himself valiantly according to his destiny, and wore the crown
on his head; but when he saw this discomforture and found himself
alone on the field he thought to run after the others. His horse
leapt into a march from which it could not retrieve itself. One
of the Welshmen then came after him, and struck him dead with
a halberd, and another took his body and put it before him on
his horse and carried it, hair hanging as one would bear a sheep.
'And so he
who miserably killed numerous people, ended his days iniquitously
and filthily in the dirt and mire, and he who had despoiled churches
was displayed to the people naked and without any clothing, and
without any royal solemnity was buried at the entrance to a village
church.
'The vanguard
[or in one text 'rearguard'] which the grand chamberlain of England
led, seeing Richard dead, turned in flight; and there were in
this battle only 300 slain on either side.' [Back to Contemporary
and Tudor Accounts]
DATE: Before
1521. AUTHOR: John Major, (d. 1550), Scots theologian and historian.
TEXT: J. Major. A History of Greater Britain, ed. A.
Constable (Scottish Historical Society, 1892), p. 393. (Latin;
in translation.)
This chronicle
related that the king of France supplied Henry Tudor with 5,000
men, including 1,000 Scots, for the invasion of England, and that
'John son of Robert Haddington was chief and leader of the Scots.'
[Back to Contemporary and Tudor Accounts]
DATE: 1570s,
but drawing on oral tradition. AUTHOR: Robert Lindsay of Pittscottie.
TEXT: The Historie of Scotland from the Slauchter of King
James the First to the Ane Thousande Fyve Hundreith Thrie Scoir
Fyftein Yeir, written and collected by Robert Lindesay of Pittscottie,
ed. A.J.G. Makay, 3 vols. (Scottish Text Society, 1899-1911),
I, pp. 190-9. (Middle Scots; slightly modernized.)
Henry Tudor
arrives in England with 10,000 men, including 3,000 Englishmen,
6,000 Frenchmen and 1,000 Scots, namely the Scots company under
Sir Alexander Bruce of Earlshall. Richard raises a vast army to
resist him, numbering 100,000. Henry secretly tries to win over
key nobles, most especially Lord Stanley, who was 'captain of
1,000 bows of ordinance which was a great part of King Richard's
vanguard', promising to make him the greatest lord in the land,
and Sir 'Edward" Brackenbury, lieutenant of the Tower of London,
captain of the ordnance in the royal vanguard. The two lords first
demand of King Richard that he restore the lands of certain friends,
formerly in the service of Edward IV. When he refuses, telling
them to ask for rewards when they have performed service, they
offer their support to Henry Tudor and promise to 'set the crown
upon his head'. Henry is pleased and arrays his men, now 30,000
strong, with the vanguard of 10,000 men under the command of Alexander
Bruce. Richard has to give battle, and determines to wear his
crown. While in a tent, it is stolen for a short while by a Highlander
called MacGregor.
The next
day the two armies meet. Richard positions his vanguard with his
great artillery. Henry marches forward first, but the royal vanguard
'that should have opposed them gave them place and let them go
by, themselves turned around and faced King Richard as if they
had been his enemies'. The two battle lines fight 'stoutly for
a long while with uncertain victory, but at last many of King
Richard's battle fled from him and passed to Prince Henry dreading
that vicotry should fall to him at length. Some others of King
Richard's army stood and looked on while they saw who had the
victory. But this King Richard fought so cruelly that he was slain,
for he would not be taken, and there was slain on his party with
him the duke of Norfolk with many other lords and gentlemen and
in like manner was taken alive his son the earl of Surrey and
had to the Tower of London and put in prison where he remained
a long time ever he was relieved. By this King Henry passed over
this battle and won the victory thereof, and that by the Scots'
and Frenchmen's support.'
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