August 22, 1485 was a decisive day in the history of England. The day saw two kings of England and the closing and starting of new eras. The day started with the last Plantagenet King of England and ended with the first Tudor one. Richard III's death is generally regarded as the end of Medieval England and Henry VII's reign is considered the start of the Renaissance. Let's see how this momentous battle went down.  Here is a supposed map of the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard's Army is red and Henry's army is green. As you can see from the size of the armies drawn Richard should have had the advantage from the start. Richard did until he was betrayed by the Duke of Northumberland who refused to fight for his king and Lord Stanley who did not pick a side until he was sure that Henry was going to win. These betrayals were Richard's downfall and although he fought valiantly he became the last English King to be killed in battle. Richard was killed by Welsh pike men and his naked body was carried by horseback to the Greyfriars Church in Leicester where he was put on display for three days. He was then buried in the church choir and 10 years later Henry VII paid for a marble tomb for the King he had killed. Sadly this tomb was destroyed during the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries under Henry VII's son Henry VIII. 

His skeleton had 10 wounds and the wounds suggested that he lost his helmet during battle. He had numerous Portsmouth injuries known as "insult injuries". These were most likely inflicted by victorious knights who wanted to mock and humiliate their dead enemy as his body passed by on the way to town. They made sure to not do too much damage to his face though because Henry Tudor wanted the body to be recognizable so he could prove that Richard III was dead and that he was now King Henry VII. 

Unfortunately we did not make it to Bosworth Field. It was pouring rain and our day trip to Leicester was in danger because of all of the traffic and it was no small feet that we managed to get home at a reasonable hour. We did visit the location where the body was discovered last year. Pretty cool parking lot, eh? We weren't allowed to go any farther and I really wish I had called ahead to arrange a private tour of the dig. Although, the weather was so awful it might not have been worth it. The exhibit on Richard and the discovery of his body was fascinating. There was an interactive skeleton that displayed and explained the various markings on the body and showed that while Richard had scoliosis  the basis of which Shakespeare based his dis formed hunchback, it only raised his right should slightly and did not affect his fighting ability. The most interesting feeture of the discovery of the remains was that the skeleton did not have feet. Researchers believe that the various buildings that were built on the site in the years to follow disturbed the body and the feet were somehow lost. Scientists were able to prove that the skeleton they found under the parking lot was actually Richard III through DNA testing. Although Richard has no living decedents his sister Anne of York does and the DNA is a perfect match. Using his skull and advanced computer technology scientist were are able to reconstruct Richard's face. I will post a picture of me with the reconstructed head and a more detailed description of the process in a later post.