On the 22nd of August 1485, the last English monarch to die in battle fell into the marshy ground of Leicestershire, ending a century of civil war. Richard III, the final king of the House of York, was not killed by a single heroic duel as later plays would suggest, but was surrounded and hacked to death by a group of soldiers after his horse became stuck in the mud. His death marked the end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the beginning of the Tudor era, yet the exact details of his final moments remain shrouded in conflicting accounts. While some sources claim a Welshman named Rhys ap Thomas delivered the fatal blow with a halberd, others suggest the king was overwhelmed by a mob of Lancastrians. The discovery of his skeleton in 2012 confirmed he suffered eleven wounds, nine of them to the head, proving the violence of his final stand. This single day transformed the political landscape of England, turning a desperate invasion into a new dynasty.
The Usurper's Rise
Richard III's path to the throne began in 1483 when he seized power from his twelve-year-old nephew, Edward V, declaring the boy and his brother illegitimate. The two princes disappeared into the Tower of London and were never seen again, fueling rumors that Richard had murdered them to secure his crown. His reign was marked by immediate unpopularity, as he executed Lord Hastings and other nobles without trial to remove potential threats. Richard's decision to take the throne was driven by a desire to protect his brother's legacy, but his methods alienated powerful allies like the Duke of Buckingham. The Yorkist king's paranoia grew as he faced conspiracies from Lancastrian exiles, including Henry Tudor, who was living in Brittany. Richard's inability to manage the nobility and his harsh treatment of potential rivals created a vacuum of support that Henry Tudor would soon exploit to claim the English throne.The Welsh Claimant
Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, was a distant descendant of the House of Lancaster with a weak claim to the throne, yet he became the focal point of resistance against Richard III. Born in 1457, Henry spent his early years in Wales and later in exile in Brittany and France, where he was protected by the Duke of Brittany. His mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, orchestrated his rise to power, marrying him to Elizabeth of York to unite the warring houses. Henry's first attempt to invade England in 1483 failed when a storm scattered his fleet, but he returned in 1485 with a small force of mercenaries and exiles. Landing at Mill Bay on the 7th of August 1485, Henry marched inland through Wales, gaining support from local leaders like Rhys ap Thomas. His journey was not a triumphant parade but a slow, calculated advance through hostile territory, relying on the defection of key nobles to build an army capable of challenging Richard.