A King Killed and a King Crowned in the Same Battle

On the 14th of August, 1485, was fought the celebrated battle of Bosworth Field. The prize to be gained was the crown of England and the hand of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. Richard III., the usurper of the crown, and Henry, Earl of Richmond, were rivals in this double sense.

The two armies met on Bosworth Field, Richard III. was killed, and the Earl of Richmond was crowned King of England with the title Henry VII.

This was the most important battle in its results since the battle of Hastings (1066); that battle brought the Feudal System into England in its most oppressive form,--this battle put an end to the Feudal System.

Besides this radical change, the death of Richard III. brought to a close the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England for 330 years. It also terminated the long civil wars of the Roses; Henry Richmond, Earl of Tudor, was the last heir of the House of Lancaster (Red-Rose), and his marriage with Elizabeth, heiress of the House of York (White Rose), "blended in a single line the long estranged families of the sons of Edward III."

The brief reign of Richard III. (1483-1485) has been immortalized by Shakespeare and placed almost beyond the effacing power of historical criticism. The reign of Henry VII. (1485-1509) marks the dawn of English liberty. Some fresh light has been thrown upon this and the preceding reign by a volume of state papers published by Longman. The House of Tudor (1485-1603), commencing with Henry VII., included Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth.