Thursday 22 August 2013

This Day in History - Battle of Bosworth 22nd August 1485

It was this day in history that the Henry Tudor defeated Richard III in the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses. With the recent discovery of Richard's body at Greyfriars in Leicester, plus the screening of the BBC television series 'The White Queen', has raised considerable interest in this time period.

Following on from our visit earlier this year (click here) my brother and myself decided to once again to travel the fifty odd miles and spend a couple of nights in Leicester to explore the city at our leisure and to attend the anniversary re-enactment (I usually get some funny looks/reactions whenever I tell people where I go for my holidays).

On the Sunday we visited Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre for their 528th anniversary re-enactment. Once there we had the opportunity to attend the unofficial launch of the book "Bosworth 1485 A Battlefield Rediscovered" by Dr. Foard & Prof. Anne Curry. It's a fascinating read, finally revealing the location to the site that had been lost for hundreds of years. Also the authors convincingly argue that far less combatants were involved than is normally mentioned (the authors using different methods; Curry using the financial accounts and Foard using landscape archaeology to reach their conclusions). There are lots more fascinating insights but you'll have to buy the book to find out.
 
As the visitor centre was due to be refurbished Leicestershire County Council with Lottery funding understandably wanted to know exactly where the battle took place. The relevant experts were given three years to find the precise site of the battlefield after numerous locations had been proposed. The main purpose of the book records the results of this search.
 
In the talk, two years and fifty one weeks into the search Foard honestly admitted that he had given up hope of ever finding the site as no real evidence had been found. In what sounds like the plot from a thriller with just one week left he authorised one final use of metal detectors to check a field on the very outer edge of the possible locations. A small lead shot, just 30mm diameter and undoubtedly from a medieval weapon, saved the day. Given extra funding, and just as importantly time, the team went on to find over thirty pieces of various sized shot along with various other pieces of contemporary military providence.
View from Ambion Hill looking toward Fenn Lanes Farm - site of the conclusion of the battle of Bosworth.
 
One of the many reasons people had been looking in the wrong place was mainly due from the misreading of historical maps which is discussed in detail in the book. Even though the site had been noted during numerous occasions, including a skirmish during the English Civil War, the location itself was eventually lost. It turns out all previous thoughts were wrong, historians Hutton, Nichols, Jones, Wright, Burne, Williams all misplaced the site with only Foss (1998) getting near. The site is actually on the old Roman road (on the particular stretch called Fenn Lanes) between Leicester and Mancetter, located west of Dadlington and north-west Stoke Golding.
 
The location of a long gone marshy area that was pivotal to the battle had also proved problematic but a local farmer mentioned to the team that his tractor had previously become bogged down for three days in a certain field. Further testing confirmed this was the site of the medieval marsh. This was where the high status silver boar livery badge was discovered and probably the site where Richard III died in his attempt to charge Henry Tudor to ground. The vicinity is on private land but there are numerous public paths through the area. A visit to the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre is highly recommended to give you a good idea of the background, plus how and why it happened and where. 

All of this has motivated me to get underway with my own long delayed Wars of the Roses period figures (side by side with two other projects). A Dudley Council historian has given my a far clearer idea of how to proceed with painting the (unknown) livery of Lord Dudley and his retinue which should then enable me to finally publish my eight part posting for this fascinating character.

23 comments:

  1. Where they found him will make a much better story for history I think.

    Best wishes on your project!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fascinating story, it makes you wonder how many sites have been missed or 'moved' over the years. Best of luck with the new project Matt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael, that issue is more common than I realised. According to Foard Bosworth was relatively easy with only four areas to check (even if they were all wrong). A similar project to determine the actual location of the battle of Bannockburn (surprisingly) has nine possible locations!

      Delete
  3. Gothic armor and sallets are always impressive. Richard III is an interesting and tragic figure that I admire. Best, Dean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dean, the aesthetic of 15thC armour is very impressive. Richard is fascinating character from a period crammed full of interesting personalities.

      Delete
  4. One of my favorite periods in history. I'll look forward to seeing Lord Dudley and his retinue painted up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Ray, it may take a while but at least I can now make a start.

      Delete
    2. You're such a liar Ray, you said fantasy gaming was your favourite!

      Delete
    3. Sounds good to me Matt unlike the liar Ray!

      Delete
  5. Fascinating, look forward to your project.

    ReplyDelete
  6. matt
    I was at the Foarde/Curry alk at Bosworth too (managed to blg my way in at the last moment, so stood at the back) - very interesting stuff and am now avidly reading the book; starting on the armies composition sections.
    Looks like a great source of reference and am looking forward to sorting a refight of the battle, based on these findings etc.
    Cheers
    Simon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Simon,

      I was sitting directly behind Prof Curry (after she'd finished her talk obviously, she came across as a jolly pleasant schoolteacher type ). The explanation of the gradual drift of the battle site (due to the cross-swords i.e. 'X marks the spot') worked better in the slideshow presentation than in the book. Think it would have helped to have all the maps on one page and same scale.

      At least you'll be able to use less figures than previously thought in your refight.

      Delete
    2. I've heard Anne Curry talk before several times and always very insightful - very much leading the way on late medieval military research in UK. She's organising an Agincourt 2015 seminars at Southampton Uni in July '15, which I'm hoping to attend too.
      I was hoping that the book would have a map showing likely disposition of the 'battles', but there appears not to be - maybe able to place them from the supporting text (when I get to that chapter...).
      Simon.

      Delete
  7. I too look forward to more on this. For me though the 22nd August 1642 is the date, official start of the English Civil War. Maybe King Charles I should have picked a different day ;-)

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  8. Seems a bad day for English kings in general Ian. I have a few ECW figures that are progress on my workdesk, will have to get them finished.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Saw the documentary of the finding of the battlefield and fascinating stuff it was too, looks to have been a great visit to the site, and a good post read too.

    Good luck with the project, look forward to see the fruits of your labours.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very interesting, I hadn't realized that the battle site had been lost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sean, the site was 'misplaced' rather than lost - if that makes sense.

      Delete
  11. Great stuff Matt. Interesting and informed appraisal.

    I'll be reading the book soon, at present ploughing my way through everything I can read on Bosworth before digesting the Ford and Curry book.

    Anne Curry has been at the cutting edge of research into Medieval Warfare for some time now. I have all her copy, perhaps the most interesting one is that of her discussion in 'Agincourt, A New History' of the numbers or lack thereof the French on the day of the battle.

    Darrell.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you Darrell,

    Anne Curry stated in her talk that as with her better know Agincourt studies she went back to primary sources, something that is sometimes forgotten or ignored. They is still plenty more of the story: the lack of archery evidence, deployments etc. waiting to be 'discovered'.

    ReplyDelete