Bosworth

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0:00:02 > 0:00:07*

0:00:20 > 0:00:25His helmet encircled with the golden crown,

0:00:25 > 0:00:31Richard III, King of England, prepared himself for ordeal by battle.

0:00:34 > 0:00:40He rode out against the man who had vowed to wrest the crown from his head

0:00:40 > 0:00:44and sought to kill him in hand-to-hand combat.

0:00:44 > 0:00:50That spectacular flourish took place here on the 22nd of August, 1485.

0:00:50 > 0:00:57These fields, just west of Leicester, near the little town of Market Bosworth,

0:00:57 > 0:01:04saw the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, that bloody clash between the Houses of York and Lancaster.

0:01:04 > 0:01:10Richard's supporters had advised him to flee. He declined, retorting,

0:01:10 > 0:01:14"This day will I die as a King or win."

0:01:14 > 0:01:20It was a heroic gesture, far removed from the sneering villain of Shakespeare's play.

0:01:25 > 0:01:30Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was a capable, energetic man.

0:01:30 > 0:01:34He was a brave soldier and popular commander.

0:01:34 > 0:01:38He spent much of his time in the north,

0:01:38 > 0:01:43which he successfully ruled for his brother, the Yorkist king, Edward IV.

0:01:43 > 0:01:51Edward, son of the Duke of York, had defeated Lancastrian rivals and secured the crown. The opening words

0:01:51 > 0:01:55of Shakespeare's Richard III evoked the mood of the time:

0:01:55 > 0:02:00"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer

0:02:00 > 0:02:02"By this sun of York."

0:02:02 > 0:02:09But it was by no means a cloudless sky. As the story unfolds, we find a plot as murky

0:02:09 > 0:02:13as anything in Shakespeare. On Edward IV's death,

0:02:13 > 0:02:18his 12-year-old son succeeded to the throne as Edward V.

0:02:18 > 0:02:23His uncle Richard was appointed Protector until the boy came of age.

0:02:23 > 0:02:28The young King and his brother were lodged here in the Tower of London.

0:02:28 > 0:02:35In those days, the Tower wasn't just a prison, but the official royal residence in the city of London.

0:02:35 > 0:02:42The two young princes were looked after comfortably here in the royal apartments.

0:02:42 > 0:02:48Days before Edward's coronation, they were accused of being illegitimate.

0:02:48 > 0:02:54They couldn't succeed to the throne and Richard was invited to do so.

0:02:57 > 0:03:04In the weeks that followed, the princes were seen less and less in the Tower grounds.

0:03:04 > 0:03:07One day they disappeared altogether.

0:03:07 > 0:03:12In the 17th century, two bodies were found here behind this staircase.

0:03:12 > 0:03:20Were they the skeletons of the princes? Did Richard murder them or had servants done so on his behalf?

0:03:20 > 0:03:27The surviving evidence wouldn't convict Richard of complicity in their deaths,

0:03:27 > 0:03:31but he stood to gain by the demise of his nephews.

0:03:31 > 0:03:33Even today, it's a sensitive subject.

0:03:33 > 0:03:37There are people here

0:03:37 > 0:03:42that visit the Tower, some come purposely to see the bloody Tower.

0:03:42 > 0:03:48They feel strongly if we suggest Richard was responsible for their deaths.

0:03:48 > 0:03:51They jump on us with vengeance

0:03:51 > 0:03:57and it's difficult to defend yourself when talking to a large crowd.

0:03:58 > 0:04:05Whatever the truth, suspicion undermined the rightness of Richard's cause.

0:04:05 > 0:04:09His seizure of power opened old wounds.

0:04:09 > 0:04:14Discontented factions looked once more to the rival House of Lancaster.

0:04:14 > 0:04:21The spectre of bloody feud now threatened the peace Edward IV had brought to the country.

0:04:25 > 0:04:31The anti-Richard party turned to the Lancastrian claimant - Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond,

0:04:31 > 0:04:38grandson of a marriage between the widow of Henry V and a Welsh gentleman, Owen Tudor.

0:04:38 > 0:04:46The French King and the Duke of Brittany had given Henry a place of refuge for most of his life.

0:04:46 > 0:04:53And it was from across the Channel that he laid claim to the crown of England

0:04:53 > 0:04:55on Christmas Day, 1483.

0:04:55 > 0:05:03He was 26 years old and had few adherents, but he was determined to reach for the crown.

0:05:03 > 0:05:05The long road to Bosworth had begun.

0:05:05 > 0:05:09By 1485, Richard's position had worsened.

0:05:09 > 0:05:17He was over-reliant on advisers like Sir Richard Radcliff, Sir William Catesby and Francis, Lord Lovell.

0:05:17 > 0:05:24A piece of contemporary doggerel linked them to the King's white boar badge.

0:05:24 > 0:05:29"The cat, the rat and Lovell the dog rule all England under the hog."

0:05:29 > 0:05:36As Richard took up residence at Nottingham, it was not the hog that best described him,

0:05:36 > 0:05:41but the spider on his web - well-placed to pounce

0:05:41 > 0:05:43on the Welsh upstart.

0:05:43 > 0:05:50On the 1st of August, 1485, Henry Tudor assembled his forces at the mouth of the Seine.

0:05:50 > 0:05:55He set sail from Harfleur in a small flotilla funded by the French King.

0:05:57 > 0:06:02A week later, after carefully skirting the coast of England,

0:06:02 > 0:06:05he landed at Milford Haven in Wales.

0:06:06 > 0:06:09It was a foreign invasion.

0:06:09 > 0:06:16Apart from a small group of English exiles, Henry's army consisted of 2,000 French mercenaries.

0:06:20 > 0:06:22His choice of Wales

0:06:22 > 0:06:25should come as no surprise.

0:06:25 > 0:06:32Although the country had lost its independence, its sense of national identity remained very strong.

0:06:32 > 0:06:40Henry was proud of his Welsh roots and hoped to encourage powerful Welsh contingents to his standard.

0:06:40 > 0:06:46A week's march across mid-Wales brought him to the borders of England.

0:06:51 > 0:06:55Henry had decided to cross the River Severn

0:06:55 > 0:06:59here at Shrewsbury and demanded the town's surrender.

0:06:59 > 0:07:06The local bailiff, Thomas Mitton, had sworn that Henry would only enter over his dead body.

0:07:06 > 0:07:12When the townspeople opened the gates, Mitton lay down and feigned death

0:07:12 > 0:07:15and Henry's horse walked over him.

0:07:15 > 0:07:22This may be a tall story, but most people would join what looked like the winning side.

0:07:25 > 0:07:28Having got to England,

0:07:28 > 0:07:30Henry now considered his next move.

0:07:30 > 0:07:35He spent the night here while he debated his plans.

0:07:35 > 0:07:37He could either head for London

0:07:37 > 0:07:44or try to attract the private armies of those families not committed to Richard.

0:07:45 > 0:07:52Most likely to join him were the Stanleys whose power base lay in North Wales and Lancashire.

0:07:52 > 0:07:59Power broking in England at this time was in the hands of the great feudal dynasties.

0:07:59 > 0:08:06Kings ruled only with the support of these families and their armies. Allegiances would shift.

0:08:06 > 0:08:14The Stanleys were outwardly loyal to Richard, but were hedging their bets by maintaining contact with Henry.

0:08:14 > 0:08:18Their role was to prove crucial over the next few days.

0:08:20 > 0:08:25Henry raised his red dragon standard and went east.

0:08:25 > 0:08:31He kept open his line of retreat into Wales, while moving closer to the Stanleys.

0:08:31 > 0:08:36There were two Stanleyite armies - one under Thomas, Lord Stanley,

0:08:36 > 0:08:43the other under his brother, Sir William. Lord Stanley just happened to be Henry's stepfather.

0:08:43 > 0:08:48The dragon, the hart and the white boar were on a collision course

0:08:48 > 0:08:51that would end on Bosworth Field.

0:09:02 > 0:09:07In a secluded vale near Merevale Abbey,

0:09:07 > 0:09:11Lord Stanley rode in for a secret meeting with Henry.

0:09:11 > 0:09:15We can't be sure what passed between the two men,

0:09:15 > 0:09:22but Henry agreed to offer battle the next day, confident the Stanleys would support him.

0:09:22 > 0:09:27This support was far from certain as Richard held Stanley's son

0:09:27 > 0:09:32as hostage for his father's good behaviour.

0:09:32 > 0:09:37Henry only had 5,000 men and knew that Richard would command far more.

0:09:37 > 0:09:42Without the Stanleys, he had little chance of winning any battle.

0:09:48 > 0:09:53Richard had indeed got his superior army, in numbers at least.

0:09:53 > 0:10:00On hearing of Henry's movements, he marched from Nottingham to Leicester where he assembled his army.

0:10:00 > 0:10:07On Sunday, the 21st of August, he led more than 10,000 men across this bridge towards Bosworth.

0:10:07 > 0:10:11As he crossed, his spur struck against the stone.

0:10:11 > 0:10:16We are told that one of those wise women who always seem to be on hand

0:10:16 > 0:10:20warned that this was where his head would be broken.

0:10:20 > 0:10:23Scarcely an encouraging prophecy.

0:10:28 > 0:10:36Richard was an experienced commander who helped beat the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury 14 years before.

0:10:36 > 0:10:43And he chose this rising ground just south of Market Bosworth to deploy his army.

0:10:43 > 0:10:49It gave him a good view of the surrounding countryside and the movements of his enemy.

0:10:49 > 0:10:56It was a strong position and he had the bigger army, but he was clearly a worried man.

0:11:00 > 0:11:03Richard camped for the night

0:11:03 > 0:11:08near Sutton Cheney within striking distance of his opponent.

0:11:08 > 0:11:12It is said that he spent a troubled night.

0:11:12 > 0:11:17Was it a guilty conscience or concern about desertions

0:11:17 > 0:11:23and the loyalty of those who had sworn allegiance to him, especially the Stanleys?

0:11:37 > 0:11:44It is said that just before the battle, Richard heard Mass here in Sutton Cheney church.

0:11:44 > 0:11:51He was a devout man, and as he prayed, he must have hoped the Lord would protect him from treachery.

0:11:51 > 0:11:57He knew he had the superior force, but did he have the hearts of men?

0:11:58 > 0:12:04Betrayal was his greatest fear, yet he was committed to fighting, whatever the risk.

0:12:06 > 0:12:09In Sutton Cheney today,

0:12:09 > 0:12:13there's a lot of sympathy amongst the villagers for Richard.

0:12:13 > 0:12:18I feel that Shakespeare did a lot of bad for him,

0:12:18 > 0:12:22but I don't think he was that bad a man.

0:12:22 > 0:12:30People around here are more for Richard because of the local connections.

0:12:30 > 0:12:37He was around Leicester and also Warwick, so therefore people around this area, it was close...

0:12:37 > 0:12:42- He's a bit of a local hero? - That's right, yes.

0:12:42 > 0:12:46The church has become something of a shrine.

0:12:46 > 0:12:53People pay their respects to the man they see as the victim of Shakespearean misrepresentation.

0:12:53 > 0:12:58I got around to reading a prayer of King Richard's.

0:12:58 > 0:13:02Anyone who can write as profoundly as that...

0:13:02 > 0:13:07Basically a Christian man couldn't possibly have done those deeds.

0:13:07 > 0:13:10I'm certain of it.

0:13:10 > 0:13:15So you think that he was a good man who has been misjudged by history?

0:13:15 > 0:13:22Exactly. And if he was physically handicapped, in those days that was enough to condemn anyone.

0:13:22 > 0:13:29But, um... I don't believe that he was the bad man that he was painted.

0:13:31 > 0:13:34I think it's just a prayerful place.

0:13:34 > 0:13:41And he probably found that, if he was a pious man, that was the place to be

0:13:41 > 0:13:44a short while before the battle.

0:13:48 > 0:13:55It's almost never easy to be absolutely sure of the location of a medieval battle.

0:13:55 > 0:14:02In the case of Bosworth, although contemporary accounts speak of a battle in Redmore Plain,

0:14:02 > 0:14:07that place name no longer survives. The landscape has changed.

0:14:07 > 0:14:12There are more hedges and the Victorians built this railway line

0:14:12 > 0:14:15across part of the site.

0:14:26 > 0:14:32Happily, it now has its terminus at the point where Henry lined up his troops

0:14:32 > 0:14:37to confront Richard's forces up there on Ambion Hill.

0:14:41 > 0:14:45At 5.15 that morning, as the sun rose,

0:14:45 > 0:14:53Richard drew the whole of his army out of their encampments and arrayed his battle line to face the enemy.

0:14:53 > 0:14:58We can't be sure of the exact position of the rival armies,

0:14:58 > 0:15:03but the Stanleys were on the sideline when battle commenced.

0:15:03 > 0:15:08The Bosworth Visitors' Centre puts Richard here on Ambion Hill,

0:15:08 > 0:15:11Henry down there at its foot

0:15:11 > 0:15:16and the Stanleys over there able to intervene on either side.

0:15:26 > 0:15:31The two armies manoeuvred into battle formation.

0:15:31 > 0:15:36They drew up in lines facing each other - tightly packed

0:15:36 > 0:15:40because of the cramped contours of the hill.

0:15:43 > 0:15:46Richard, King of England!

0:15:46 > 0:15:53The rival commanders were experienced. The blue boar of the Earl of Oxford led Henry's vanguard.

0:15:53 > 0:15:58The King's trusted commander was John Howard, Duke of Norfolk.

0:15:58 > 0:16:03Richard himself sat on the crest and watched anxiously.

0:16:03 > 0:16:10If he trusted Norfolk, he was not sure of the Earl of Northumberland who commanded the reserves.

0:16:10 > 0:16:13DEATH TO THE TRAITOR, RICHARD!

0:16:20 > 0:16:25First to engage were the archers, ranks of longbowmen

0:16:25 > 0:16:30who sent a withering rain of arrows down on their enemy.

0:16:30 > 0:16:33But the longbow was not the winner

0:16:33 > 0:16:39it had been at Agincourt. Both sides had them in numbers, and except at close range,

0:16:39 > 0:16:44they were unlikely to penetrate plate armour.

0:16:44 > 0:16:51- More deadly in this respect was the crossbow. - This is a 15th-century crossbow.

0:16:51 > 0:16:55This attachment at the top is a windlass.

0:16:55 > 0:17:01It operates pulleys at the bottom which were attached to the string.

0:17:01 > 0:17:05What happens is, as I turn it,

0:17:05 > 0:17:11the pulley system allows the string to be drawn up towards the nut where it's held.

0:17:11 > 0:17:14It's not taking much pressure

0:17:14 > 0:17:17for me to draw this up.

0:17:21 > 0:17:24The back has a lever

0:17:24 > 0:17:27and that locks this nut in position.

0:17:28 > 0:17:31And this allows me then

0:17:31 > 0:17:33to loosen off the pulley system.

0:17:33 > 0:17:38And the pulley system actually comes right off.

0:17:38 > 0:17:42Now you're in position to put a bolt on.

0:17:42 > 0:17:45These bolts have leather fletchings.

0:17:45 > 0:17:47Why leather rather than feathers?

0:17:47 > 0:17:51The power which the crossbow produces,

0:17:51 > 0:17:59it folds back feathers and this makes the bolt spin out of control. The advantage of the crossbow

0:17:59 > 0:18:06is that it can be held in one position while it is loaded until it's ready to fire.

0:18:06 > 0:18:13With a longbow, you would have to stand up, draw and then fire, so there's a difference in the time.

0:18:13 > 0:18:21The disadvantage is that it takes so long to fire that 15 or 16 arrows could be shot in the time

0:18:21 > 0:18:26that it takes one crossbowman to load and fire.

0:18:31 > 0:18:39But if the bow was on the way out, another form of firepower was making its early appearance.

0:18:39 > 0:18:44These stone cannonballs were found at Bosworth. They're evidence

0:18:44 > 0:18:51that if much that happened wouldn't have shocked the men who fought at Hastings 400 years before,

0:18:51 > 0:18:54in one respect war had moved on.

0:18:54 > 0:18:59Into the stench of blood, sweat and ordure

0:18:59 > 0:19:03was now laced the bad-egg stink of black powder.

0:19:05 > 0:19:13This early breech-loader could smash bones. It may not have been accurate, but it was noisy.

0:19:13 > 0:19:17And a mass target didn't require precision.

0:19:24 > 0:19:29The two lines of infantry moved steadily towards each other.

0:19:35 > 0:19:41The impetus of Richard's downhill charge failed to push the enemy back.

0:19:41 > 0:19:47Oxford held his line. This led to an hour of bitter hand-to-hand fighting.

0:19:53 > 0:19:56Medieval battle is well summed up

0:19:56 > 0:20:03as bloody murder. Many of the infantrymen on both sides would have carried weapons like this.

0:20:03 > 0:20:11It's called a bill. It can stab, hack or drag a horseman from his charger.

0:20:11 > 0:20:18It might have started life as an agricultural implement and it's cheap and nasty.

0:20:18 > 0:20:24This is an up-market version - a poleaxe, used by men-at-arms on foot.

0:20:24 > 0:20:28It can cut, stab and this is designed

0:20:28 > 0:20:32to break armour by sheer physical impact.

0:20:45 > 0:20:49It was a time to settle old scores.

0:20:49 > 0:20:56Personal enemies sought each other out and engaged in hand-to-hand duels.

0:21:03 > 0:21:06Richard had his own grudge.

0:21:06 > 0:21:13Furious that the Stanleys sat in the wings, he ordered the beheading of Lord Stanley's son,

0:21:13 > 0:21:15whom he held as hostage.

0:21:17 > 0:21:21Richard's order was never carried out,

0:21:21 > 0:21:28perhaps through confusion, but more likely because his men were hedging their bets.

0:21:32 > 0:21:37In armour weighing seven stone, men were quickly exhausted

0:21:37 > 0:21:41and commanders needed to bring up reserves of fresh men.

0:21:41 > 0:21:47Unfortunately for Richard, his rearguard under Northumberland

0:21:47 > 0:21:52displayed what has been described as "masterly reluctance to intervene".

0:21:55 > 0:21:58Battles at this time

0:21:58 > 0:22:03were rarely fought to the bitter end. With the King making little progress,

0:22:03 > 0:22:08his men, it is said, broke off from their fighting for a little while,

0:22:08 > 0:22:15and there are suggestions that some of them, their hearts never really in the battle, began to slip away.

0:22:16 > 0:22:24With the battle turning against him, Richard's companions urged him to flee. He would have none of it.

0:22:24 > 0:22:32Then from his vantage point up here, he saw Henry with a small escort ride round to their left flank,

0:22:32 > 0:22:34perhaps to confer with the Stanleys.

0:22:34 > 0:22:39If he could kill Henry in single combat, the battle might yet be won.

0:22:39 > 0:22:45Richard, fired by anger, charged out of the side of his line of battle

0:22:45 > 0:22:48towards him.

0:22:57 > 0:23:04Even those who had no love for Richard, or who wrote when Henry or his descendants were on the throne,

0:23:04 > 0:23:12cannot deny Richard the glory of his last moments. At full charge, he headed straight for Henry.

0:23:12 > 0:23:16To his opponents, he was a formidable sight.

0:23:16 > 0:23:22With the point of his lance, he transfixed Sir William Brandon, Henry's standard-bearer.

0:23:22 > 0:23:29Then with sword or battle-axe, he hacked his way towards the Pretender and nearly reached him.

0:23:29 > 0:23:32At the critical moment,

0:23:32 > 0:23:36the Stanleys threw in their lot with Henry.

0:23:36 > 0:23:43Sir William Stanley with a force of 5,000 men plunged into Richard's escort with the war cry, "Stanley!"

0:23:43 > 0:23:48Lord Stanley remained behind and didn't take part in the fighting,

0:23:48 > 0:23:53but Sir William's intervention was decisive.

0:24:17 > 0:24:21Richard's position was hopeless. He lost his horse,

0:24:21 > 0:24:28possibly in this boggy ground, and his companions offered him another to escape on.

0:24:28 > 0:24:33He refused, and as a contemporary tells us, "He was pitifully slain,

0:24:33 > 0:24:37"fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies."

0:24:37 > 0:24:45This memorial marks a possible spot where he fell and was hacked to death as he writhed on the ground,

0:24:45 > 0:24:47last of the Plantagenets.

0:25:38 > 0:25:44It was probably on this hill at Stoke Golding, overlooking part of the battlefield,

0:25:44 > 0:25:51that Henry thanked his comrades-in-arms and had the crown placed on his head.

0:25:51 > 0:25:55Even today, it's still called Crown Hill.

0:25:55 > 0:26:02Those present were seeing the beginning of one of the most successful dynasties

0:26:02 > 0:26:04 in English history - the Tudors.

0:26:21 > 0:26:26And what of Richard? His body was brought back to Leicester

0:26:26 > 0:26:29slung across a packhorse.

0:26:29 > 0:26:36It is said that his head hit the same stone that his spur had clipped on his way to Bosworth.

0:26:36 > 0:26:40Richard was stripped of the dignity of kingship.

0:26:40 > 0:26:45His naked body, spattered with blood and mire, was put on public display

0:26:45 > 0:26:50before being buried in a nearby Franciscan friary.

0:27:04 > 0:27:11Going back to the quincentenary in 1985, a family visited a week after that.

0:27:11 > 0:27:15I said, "Why didn't you come last week?"

0:27:15 > 0:27:17 "We daren't. Our name's Stanley!"

0:27:24 > 0:27:29Henry was the victor and history was written by his apologists,

0:27:29 > 0:27:36but we love an underdog, and Richard still lives in people's imagination, while Henry is largely forgotten.

0:27:36 > 0:27:39There are no statues of Henry,

0:27:39 > 0:27:46but here in Leicester, this striking figure of Richard proclaims his last act of defiant chivalry

0:27:46 > 0:27:49on Bosworth Field.

0:28:09 > 0:28:14Subtitles by Calum Short, Subtext, for BBC Subtitling 1997