Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors (76 page)

Read Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors Online

Authors: Chris Skidmore

Tags: #England/Great Britain, #Nonfiction, #Tudors, #History, #Military & Fighting, #History, #15th Century

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.

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