Editing Richard III of England (section)

==Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field==
{{Main|Battle of Bosworth Field|Exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England}}
[[File:Memorial to King Richard III of England in Leicester Cathedral.jpg|thumb|Former memorial [[ledger stone]] to Richard III in the choir of [[Leicester Cathedral]], since replaced by his stone tomb (as illustrated further below)]]
On 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]]. Richard rode a white [[Courser (horse)|courser]] (an especially swift and strong horse).{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|p=365}} The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's.{{sfnp|Jones|2014}} The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by [[Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby|Baron Stanley]] (made Earl of Derby in October), [[William Stanley (Battle of Bosworth)|Sir William Stanley]], and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|p=367}}{{sfnp|Chrimes|1999|p=55}} The role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place.{{sfnp|Ross|1981|p=218|ps=. "Northumberland's rearguard was never seriously engaged, nor could be, whatever the proclivities of its commander".}}

The physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray.{{sfnp|Ross|1981|p=222}} Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime" and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat.{{sfnp|Bennett|2008}}<ref>{{harvp|Bennett|2008|ps=. "Sir William Stanley was among the first to rally to Edward, and he may have brought [Thomas Stanley]'s good wishes with him ... Appointed steward of the king's household late in 1471, [Thomas Stanley] was thenceforward a regular member of the royal council. }}</ref>{{sfnp|Ross|1981|p=186}}{{sfnp|Gillingham|1981|p=244}} The death of Richard's close companion [[John Howard, Duke of Norfolk]], may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor.{{sfnp|Ross|1981|pp=218, 222}}

[[File:The death of Richard III at Bosworth.jpg|thumb|left|18th-century illustration of the death of Richard III at the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]]]]
All accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing [[John Cheyne, Baron Cheyne|Sir John Cheyne]], a well-known [[joust]]ing champion, killing Henry's [[standard bearer]] [[William Brandon (standard-bearer)|Sir William Brandon]] and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed.{{sfnp|Ross|1981|pp=223–224}} [[Polydore Vergil]], Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies".{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|p=368}} The Burgundian chronicler, [[Jean Molinet]], states that a Welshman struck the death blow with a [[halberd]] while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground.{{sfnp|Griffiths|1993|p=43}} It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull.{{sfnp|Penn|2013|p=9}} The contemporary Welsh poet [[Guto'r Glyn]] implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, [[Rhys ap Thomas]], or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head".{{sfnp|Griffiths|1993|p=43}}{{sfnp|Rees|2008|p=211|ps=. "The original Welsh is 'Lladd y baedd, eilliodd ei ben'. The usual meaning of ''eilliodd'' is 'shaved', which might mean 'chopped off' or 'sliced'"}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Jeffrey L. |date=2009 |title=Sir Rhys ap Thomas |url=http://www.castlewales.com/rhysap.html |website=Castles of Wales Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124220243/http://www.castlewales.com/rhysap.html |archive-date=24 November 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=4 February 2013}}</ref>

The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet.<ref>{{cite news |last=Watson |first=Greig |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21245346 |title=Richard III dig: Grim clues to the death of a king |publisher=[[BBC News]] |location=London |date=4 February 2013 |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon."<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--agency credited as author--> |title=Richard III died in battle after losing helmet, new research shows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/16/richard-iii-died-battle-losing-helmet-new-research |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=<!--Guardian Media Group (omitted as substantially similar to newspaper name)--> |location=London |agency=Press Association |date=16 September 2014 |access-date=18 September 2018}}</ref> The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--no credited author--> |title=King Richard III killed by blows to skull |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-29222775 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |location=London |date=17 September 2014 |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.

[[File:Original grave of Richard III.jpg|thumb|Richard III's grave in 2013]]
After the Battle of Bosworth, Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate [[Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke]],{{sfnp|Ashdown-Hill|Johnson|Johnson|Langley|2014}} prior to being hastily and discreetly buried in the choir of [[Greyfriars, Leicester|Greyfriars Church]] in [[Leicester]].{{sfnp|Ashdown-Hill|2013|p=94}}{{sfnp|Baldwin|1986|pp=21–22}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schürer |first1=Kevin |title=The King in the Car Park: The Discovery and Identification of Richard III – Professor Kevin Schürer |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XKeevzp9Zs |website=Youtube |date=12 November 2015 |access-date=7 May 2022 |language=en |quote=22:53–23:33}}</ref> In 1495, Henry VII paid 50 pounds for a marble and alabaster monument.{{sfnp|Baldwin|1986|pp=21–22}} According to a discredited tradition, during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], his body was thrown into the [[River Soar]],{{sfnp|Baldwin|1986}}<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--no credited author--> |title='Strong evidence' Richard III's body has been found – with a curved spine |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9537600/Strong-evidence-Richard-IIIs-body-has-been-found-with-a-curved-spine.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912224825/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9537600/Strong-evidence-Richard-IIIs-body-has-been-found-with-a-curved-spine.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 September 2012 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |publisher=<!--Telegraph Media Group (omitted as substantially similar to newspaper name)--> |location=London |date=12 September 2012 |access-date=5 February 2013}}</ref> although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars.{{sfnp|Baldwin|1986|pp=21–22}} The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development,{{sfnp|Baldwin|1986|p=24}} until [[Exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England|archaeological investigations in 2012]] revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.{{sfnp|Ashdown-Hill|2015}}

According to another tradition, Richard consulted a [[wikt:seer|seer]] in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his [[spur]] struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.<ref>{{cite web |title=Legends about the Battle of Bosworth |publisher=Richard III Society, American Branch |url=http://www.r3.org/bosworth/legends.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060725225433/http://www.r3.org/bosworth/legends.html |archive-date=25 July 2006 |access-date=5 July 2009}}</ref>