Editing Battle of Bosworth Field (section)

==Factions==
[[File:Richard vs Henry at Bosworth (lens corrected).jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Two men in armour stand opposite each other. They wear crowns and hold swords in their hands. Above the man on the left is a flag of a white boar and a white rose. Above the man on the right is a flag of a red dragon and a red rose. Above and between the two roses is a white rose superimposed on a red rose.|A stained-glass window in St James's Church, [[Sutton Cheney]], commemorates the Battle of Bosworth fought nearby and the leaders of the combatants, [[Richard III]] (left) and [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] (right).]]
By the 15th century, English [[chivalric]] ideas of selfless service to the king had been [[Bastard feudalism|corrupted]].{{sfn|Harriss|2007|pp=184–185}} Armed forces were raised mostly through musters in individual estates; every able-bodied man had to respond to his lord's call to arms, and each noble had authority over his [[Militia (English)|militia]]. Although a king could raise personal militia from his lands, he could muster a large army only through the support of his nobles. Richard, like his predecessors, had to win over these men by granting gifts and maintaining cordial relationships.{{sfn|Downing|1992|pp=159–160}} Powerful nobles could demand greater incentives to remain on the liege's side or else they might turn against him.{{sfn|Downing|1992|p=59}} Three groups, each with its own agenda, stood on Bosworth Field: Richard III and his Yorkist army; his challenger, Henry Tudor, who championed the Lancastrian cause; and the fence-sitting Stanleys.{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|p=47}}

===Yorkist===
Small and slender, Richard III did not have the robust physique associated with many of his Plantagenet predecessors.{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=138}} However, he enjoyed very rough sports and activities that were considered manly.{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=142}} His performances on the battlefield impressed his brother greatly, and he became Edward's right-hand man.{{sfn|Ross|1999|pp=21–22}} During the 1480s Richard defended the northern borders of England. In 1482, Edward charged him to lead an army into Scotland with the aim of replacing [[James III of Scotland|King James III]] with the [[Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany|Duke of Albany]].{{sfn|Ross|1999|pp=44–45}} Richard's army [[Capture of Berwick (1482)|broke through the Scottish defences and occupied the capital]], Edinburgh, but Albany decided to give up his claim to the throne in return for the post of Lieutenant General of Scotland. As well as obtaining a guarantee that the Scottish government would concede territories and diplomatic benefits to the English crown, Richard's campaign retook the town of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], which the Scots had conquered in 1460.{{sfn|Ross|1999|pp=45–47}} Edward was not satisfied by these gains,{{sfn|Lander|1981|p=327}} which, according to Ross, could have been greater if Richard had been resolute enough to capitalise on the situation while in control of Edinburgh.{{sfn|Ross|1997|pp=289–290}} In her analysis of Richard's character, Christine Carpenter sees him as a soldier who was more used to taking orders than giving them.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=210}} However, he was not averse to displaying his militaristic streak; on ascending the throne he made known his desire to lead a [[Crusading movement|crusade]] against "not only the Turks, but all [his] foes".{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=142}}

Richard's most loyal subject was [[John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk]].{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=168}} The duke had served Richard's brother for many years and had been one of Edward IV's closer confidants.{{sfn|Ross|1997|p=226}} He was a military veteran, having fought in the [[Battle of Towton]] in 1461 and served as Hastings' deputy at Calais in 1471.{{sfn|Ross|1997|pp=36, 181}} Ross speculates that he bore a grudge against Edward for depriving him of a fortune. Norfolk was due to inherit a share of the wealthy Mowbray estate on the death of eight-year-old [[Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk|Anne de Mowbray]], the last of her family. However, Edward convinced Parliament to circumvent the law of inheritance and transfer the estate to his younger son, who was married to Anne. Consequently, Howard supported Richard III in deposing Edward's sons, for which he received the dukedom of Norfolk and his original share of the Mowbray estate.{{sfn|Ross|1999|pp=35–38, 175}}

[[Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland]], also supported Richard's ascension to the throne of England. The Percys were loyal Lancastrians, but Edward IV eventually won the earl's allegiance. Northumberland had been captured and imprisoned by the Yorkists in 1461, losing his titles and estates; however, Edward released him eight years later and restored his earldom.{{sfn|Hicks|2002|p=280}} From that time Northumberland served the Yorkist crown, helping to defend northern England and maintain its peace.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=180}} Initially the earl had issues with Richard III as Edward groomed his brother to be the leading power of the north. Northumberland was mollified when he was promised he would be the [[Lord Warden of the Marches|Warden of the East March]], a position that was formerly hereditary for the Percys.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=185}} He served under Richard during the 1482 invasion of Scotland, and the allure of being in a position to dominate the north of England if Richard went south to assume the crown was his likely motivation for supporting Richard's bid for kingship.{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=78}} However, after becoming king, Richard began moulding his nephew, [[John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln]], to manage the north, passing over Northumberland for the position. According to Carpenter, although the earl was amply compensated, he despaired of any possibility of advancement under Richard.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=215}}

===Lancastrians===
[[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]] was unfamiliar with the arts of war and was a stranger to the land he was trying to conquer. He spent the first fourteen years of his life in Wales and the next fourteen in Brittany and France.{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|pp=3, 15–17}} Slender but strong and decisive, Henry lacked a penchant for battle and was not much of a warrior; chroniclers such as [[Polydore Vergil]] and ambassadors like [[Pedro de Ayala]] found him more interested in commerce and finance.{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|pp=299, 301, 318}} Having not fought in any battles,{{sfn|Saccio|2000|p=183}} Henry recruited several experienced veterans to command his armies.{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=211}} 
<!-- Mediaeval historian Thomas Brynmor Pugh believes that instead of participating in the battle, [[Jasper Tudor]] stayed behind in Wales to secure an escape route for his nephew, in case the battle was lost.{{sfn|Pugh|1992|p=50}}-->
[[John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford|John de Vere]], 13th [[Earl of Oxford]], was Henry's principal military commander.{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|p=54}} He was adept in the arts of war. At the Battle of Barnet, he commanded the Lancastrian right wing and routed the division opposing him. However, as a result of confusion over identities, Oxford's group came under [[friendly fire]] from the Lancastrian main force and retreated from the field. The earl fled abroad and continued his fight against the Yorkists, raiding shipping and eventually capturing the island fort of [[St Michael's Mount]] in 1473. He surrendered after receiving no aid or reinforcement, but in 1484 escaped from prison and joined Henry's court in France, bringing along his erstwhile gaoler [[James Blount (English soldier)|Sir James Blount]].{{sfn|Britnell|1997|p=101}} Oxford's presence raised morale in Henry's camp and troubled Richard III.{{sfn|Gravett|1999|p=15}}

===Stanleys===
In the early stages of the Wars of the Roses, the Stanleys of Cheshire had been predominantly Lancastrians.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=159}} Sir [[William Stanley (Battle of Bosworth)|William Stanley]], however, was a staunch Yorkist supporter, fighting in the [[Battle of Blore Heath]] in 1459 and helping Hastings to put down uprisings against Edward IV in 1471.<ref>{{harvnb|Hicks|2002|p=163}}; {{harvnb|Ross|1997|p=164}}.</ref> When Richard took the crown, Sir William showed no inclination to turn against the new king, refraining from joining Buckingham's rebellion, for which he was amply rewarded.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=212}} Sir William's elder brother, [[Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby|Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley]], was not as steadfast. By 1485, he had served three kings, namely [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], [[Edward IV]] and [[Richard III]]. [[Lord Stanley]]'s skilled political manoeuvrings—vacillating between opposing sides until it was clear who would be the winner—gained him high positions;{{sfn|Coward|1983|pp=2, 9–10}} he was Henry's chamberlain and Edward's steward.{{sfn|Ross|1997|p=334}} His non-committal stance, until the crucial point of a battle, earned him the loyalty of his men, who felt he would not needlessly send them to their deaths.{{sfn|Gravett|1999|p=15}}

[[Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby|Lord Stanley]]'s relations with the king's brother, the eventual [[Richard III]], were not cordial. The two had conflicts that erupted into violence around March 1470.{{sfn|Ross|1997|p=134}} Furthermore, having taken [[Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby|Lady Margaret]] as his second wife in June 1472,{{sfn|Jones|Underwood|1993|p=59}} Stanley was Henry Tudor's stepfather, a relationship which did nothing to win him Richard's favour. Despite these differences, Stanley did not join [[Buckingham's revolt]] in 1483.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=212}} When Richard executed those conspirators who had been unable to flee [[England]],{{sfn|Ross|1999|p=117}} he spared Lady Margaret. However, he declared her titles forfeit and transferred her estates to Stanley's name, to be held in trust for the [[Yorkist]] crown. Richard's act of mercy was calculated to reconcile him with Stanley,{{sfn|Jones|Underwood|1993|p=64}} but it may have been to no avail—Carpenter has identified a further cause of friction in Richard's intention to reopen an old land dispute that involved Thomas Stanley and the Harrington family.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=216}} Edward IV had ruled the case in favour of Stanley in 1473,{{sfn|Ross|1997|p=409}} but Richard planned to overturn his brother's ruling and give the wealthy estate to the Harringtons.{{sfn|Carpenter|2002|p=216}} Immediately before the Battle of Bosworth, being wary of Stanley, Richard took his son, [[George Stanley, 9th Baron Strange|Lord Strange]], as hostage to discourage him from joining Henry.{{sfn|Horrox|1991|p=323}}