<h2><SPAN name="Chapter_XVII" id="Chapter_XVII"></SPAN><span class="smcap">Chapter XVII.</span></h2>
<h2><span class="smcap">The Field of Bosworth.</span></h2>
<p class="center">A.D. 1485-1492</p>
<div class="sidenote">Richmond goes on with his preparations at Paris.</div>
<p>In the mean time, while Richard had been occupied with the schemes and
manœuvres described in the last chapter, Richmond was going on
steadily in Paris with the preparations that he was making for a new
invasion of England. The King of France assisted him both by providing
him with money and aiding him in the enlistment of men. When Richmond
received the message from Elizabeth's mother declaring that the
proposed match between him and the princess must be broken off, and
heard that Richard had formed a plan for marrying the young lady
himself, he paid no regard to the tidings, but declared that he should
proceed with his plans as vigorously as ever, and that, whatever
counter-schemes they might form, they might rely upon it that he
should fully carry into effect his purpose, not only of deposing
Richard and reigning in his stead, but also of making the Princess
Elizabeth his wife, according to his original intention.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The expedition sails.</div>
<p>At length the expedition was ready, and the <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_321" id="Page_321"></SPAN></span>fleet conveying it set
sail from the port of Harfleur.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Richard issues a proclamation.</div>
<p>Richard attempted to arouse the people of England against the invaders
by a grand proclamation which he issued. In this proclamation he
designated the Earl of Richmond as "one Henry Tudor," who had no claim
whatever, of any kind, to the English throne, but who was coming to
attempt to seize it without any color of right. In order to obtain
assistance from the King of France, he had promised, the proclamation
said, "to surrender to him, in case he was successful, all the rich
possessions in France which at that time belonged to England, even
Calais itself; and he had promised, moreover, and given away, to the
traitors and foreigners who were coming with him, all the most
important and valuable places in the kingdom—archbishoprics,
bishoprics, duchies, earldoms, baronies, and many other inheritances
belonging of right to the English knights, esquires, and gentlemen who
were now in the possession of them. The proclamation farther declared
that the people who made up his army were robbers and murderers, and
rebels attainted by Parliament, many of whom had made themselves
infamous as cutthroats, adulterers, and extortioners."</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_322" id="Page_322"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>Richard closed his proclamation by calling upon all his subjects to
arm themselves, like true and good Englishmen, for the defense of
their wives, children, goods, and hereditaments, and he promised that
he himself, like a true and courageous prince, would put himself in
the forefront of the battle, and expose his royal person to the worst
of the dangers that were to be incurred in the defense of the country.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Plans of the campaign.<br/>The king goes to Nottingham.</div>
<p>At the same time that he issued this proclamation, Richard sent forth
orders to all parts of the kingdom, commanding the nobles and barons
to marshal their forces, and make ready to march at a moment's
warning. He dispatched detachments of his forces to the southward to
defend the southern coast, where he expected Richmond would land,
while he himself proceeded northward, toward the centre of the
kingdom, to assemble and organize his grand army. He made Nottingham
his head-quarters, and he gradually gathered around him, in that city,
a very large force.</p>
<p>In the mean time, while these movements and preparations had been
going on on both sides, the spring and the early part of the summer
passed away, and at length Richard, at Nottingham, in the month of
August, received the tidings that Richmond had landed at Milford
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_323" id="Page_323"></SPAN></span>Haven, on the southwestern coast of Wales, with a force of two or
three thousand men. Richard said that he was glad to hear it. "I am
glad," said he, "that at last he has come. I have now only to meet
him, and gain one decisive victory, and then the security of my
kingdom will be disturbed no more."</p>
<div class="sidenote">Richmond's hopes and expectations.<br/>The various negotiations.</div>
<p>Richmond did not rely wholly on the troops which he had brought with
him for the success of his cause. He believed that there was a great
and prevailing feeling of disaffection against Richard throughout
England, and that, as soon as it should appear that he, Richmond, was
really in earnest in his determination to claim and take the crown,
and that there was a reasonable prospect of the success of his
enterprise, great numbers of men, who were now ostensibly on Richard's
side, would forsake him and join the invader. So he sent secret
messengers throughout the kingdom to communicate with his friends, and
to open negotiations with those of Richard's adherents who might
possibly be inclined to change sides. In order to give time for these
negotiations to produce their effect, he resolved not to march at once
into the interior of the country, but to proceed slowly toward the
eastward, along the southern coast of Wales, awaiting intelligence.
This plan he <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></SPAN></span>pursued. His strength increased rapidly as he advanced.
At length, when he reached the eastern borders of Wales, he began to
feel strong enough to push forward into England to meet Richard, who
was all this time gathering his forces together at Nottingham, and
preparing for a very formidable resistance of the invader. He
accordingly advanced to Leicester, and thence to the town of Tamworth,
where there was a strong castle on a rock. He took possession of this
castle, and made it, for a time, his head-quarters.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Richard at Nottingham.<br/>He commences his march.</div>
<p>In the mean time, Richard, having received intelligence of Richmond's
movements, and having now made every thing ready for his own advance,
determined to delay no longer, but to go forth and meet his enemy.
Accordingly, one morning, he marshaled his troops in the market-place
of Nottingham, "separating his foot-soldiers in two divisions, five
abreast, and dividing his cavalry so as to form two wide-spreading
wings." He placed his artillery, with the ammunition, in the centre,
reserving for himself a position in a space immediately behind it.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_325" id="Page_325"></SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i322.jpg" class="smallgap" width-obs="500" height-obs="383" alt="THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH." title="" /> <span class="caption">THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH.</span></div>
<div class="sidenote2">The long column.</div>
<p>When all was ready, he came out from the castle mounted upon a
milk-white charger. He wore, according to the custom of the times, a <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_327" id="Page_327"></SPAN></span>very magnificent armor, resplendent with gold and embroidery, and with
polished steel that glittered in the sun. Over his helmet he wore his
royal crown. He was preceded and followed, as he came out through the
castle gates and descended the winding way which led down from the
hill on which the castle stands, by guards splendidly dressed and
mounted—archers, and spearmen, and other men at arms—with ensigns
bearing innumerable pennants and banners. As soon as he joined the
army in the town the order was given to march, and so great was the
number of men that he had under his command that they were more than
an hour in marching out of Nottingham, and when all had finally issued
from the gate, the column covered the road for three miles.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Bosworth.</div>
<p>At length, after some days of manœuvring and marching, the two
armies came into the immediate vicinity of each other near the town of
Bosworth, at a place where there was a wide field, which has since
been greatly renowned in history as the Field of Bosworth. The two
armies advanced into the neighborhood of this field on the 19th and
20th days of August, and both sides began to prepare for battle.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The two armies.<br/>Richard's depression and anxiety.<br/>His painful suspicions.</div>
<p>The army which Richard commanded was far more numerous and imposing
than that of <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_328" id="Page_328"></SPAN></span>Richmond, and every thing, so far as outward appearances
were concerned, promised him an easy victory. And yet Richmond was
exultant in his confidence of success, while Richard was harassed with
gloomy forebodings. His mind was filled with perplexity and distress.
He believed that the leading nobles and generals on his side had
secretly resolved to betray him, and that they were prepared to
abandon him and go over to the enemy on the very field of battle,
unless he could gain advantages so decisive at the very commencement
of the conflict as to show that the cause of Richmond was hopeless.
Although Richard was morally convinced that this was the state of
things, he had no sufficient evidence of it to justify his taking any
action against the men that he suspected. He did not even dare to
express his suspicions, for he knew that if he were to do so, or even
to intimate that he felt suspicion, the only effect would be to
precipitate the consummation of the treachery that he feared, and
perhaps drive some to abandon him who had not yet fully resolved on
doing so. He was obliged, therefore, though suffering the greatest
anxiety and alarm, to suppress all indications of his uneasiness,
except to his most confidential friends. To them he appeared, as one
of them stated, <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_329" id="Page_329"></SPAN></span>"sore moved and broiled with melancholy and dolor,
and from time to time he cried out, asking vengeance of them that,
contrary to their oath and promise, were so deceiving him."</p>
<div class="sidenote">His remorse.</div>
<p>The recollection of the many crimes that he had committed in the
attainment of the power which he now feared he was about to lose
forever, harassed his mind and tormented his conscience, especially at
night. "He took ill rest at nights," says one of his biographers,
"using to lie long, waking and musing, sore wearied with care and
watch, and rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful dreams."</p>
<div class="sidenote">The battle.<br/>Richard betrayed.<br/>Defection of his men.</div>
<p>On the day of the battle Richard found the worst of his forebodings
fulfilled. In the early part of the day he took a position upon an
elevated portion of the ground, where he could survey the whole field,
and direct the movements of his troops. From this point he could see,
as the battle went on, one body of men after another go over to the
enemy. He was overwhelmed with vexation and rage. He cried out,
Treason! Treason! and, calling upon his guards and attendants to
follow him, he rushed down the hill, determined to force his way to
the part of the field where Richmond himself was stationed, with a
view of engaging him and killing him with his own hand. This, he
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_330" id="Page_330"></SPAN></span>thought, was the last hope that was now left him.</p>
<p>There was a spring of water, and a little brook flowing from it in a
part of the field where he had to pass. He stopped at this spring,
opened his helmet, and took a drink of the water. He then closed his
helmet and rode on.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Richard's Well.</div>
<p>This spring afterward received, from this circumstance, the name of
"Richard's Well," and it is known by that name to this day.</p>
<div class="sidenote">His despair.<br/>Terrible combat.</div>
<p>From the spring Richard rushed forward, attended by a few followers as
fearless as himself, in search of Richmond. He penetrated the enemies'
lines in the direction where he supposed Richmond was to be found, and
was soon surrounded by foes, whom he engaged desperately in a
hand-to-hand encounter of the most furious and reckless character. He
slew one or two of the foremost of those who surrounded him, calling
out all the time to Richmond to come out and meet him in single
combat. This Richmond would not do. In the mean time, many of
Richard's friends came up to his assistance. Some of these urged him
to retire, saying that it was useless for him to attempt to maintain
so unequal a contest, but he refused to go.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_331" id="Page_331"></SPAN></span></p>
<div class="sidenote">He refuses to fly.</div>
<p>"Not one foot will I fly," said he, "so long as breath bides within my
breast; for, by Him that shaped both sea and land, this day shall end
my battles or my life. I will die King of England."</p>
<p>So he fought on. Several faithful friends still adhered to him and
fought by his side. His standard-bearer stood his ground, with the
king's banner in his hand, until at last both his legs were cut off
under him, and he fell to the earth; still he would not let the banner
go, but clung to it with a convulsive grasp till he died.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Richard is killed.</div>
<p>At last Richard too was overpowered by the numbers that beset him.
Exhausted by his exertions, and weakened by loss of blood, he was
beaten down from his horse to the ground and killed. The royal crown
which he had worn so proudly into the battle was knocked from his head
in the dreadful affray, and trampled in the dust.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Transfer of the crown.</div>
<p>Lord Stanley, one of the chieftains who had abandoned Richard's cause
and gone over to the enemy, picked up the crown, all battered and
bloodstained as it was, and put it upon Richmond's head. From that
hour Richmond was recognized as King of England. He reigned under the
title of Henry the Seventh.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_332" id="Page_332"></SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i329.jpg" class="smallgap" width-obs="267" height-obs="300" alt="KING HENRY VII." title="" /> <span class="caption">KING HENRY VII.</span></div>
<div class="sidenote2">Flight of Richard's troops.<br/>Disposition of the body.</div>
<p>The few followers that had remained faithful to Richard's cause up to
this time now gave up the contest and fled. The victors lifted up the
dead body of the king, took off the armor, and then placed the body
across the back of a horse, behind a pursuivant-at-arms, who, thus
mounted, rode a little behind the new king as <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_333" id="Page_333"></SPAN></span>he retired from the
field of battle. Followed by this dreadful trophy of his victory, King
Henry entered the town of Leicester in triumph. The body of Richard
was exposed for three days, in a public place, to the view of all
beholders, in order that every body might be satisfied that he was
really dead, and then the new king proceeded by easy journeys to
London. The people came out to meet him all along the way, receiving
him every where with shouts and acclamations, and crying, "King Henry!
King Henry! Long live our sovereign lord, King Henry!"</p>
<div class="sidenote">Henry marries the princess.</div>
<p>For several weeks after his accession Henry's mind was occupied with
public affairs, but, as soon as the most urgent of the calls upon his
attention were disposed of, he renewed his proposals to the Princess
Elizabeth, and in January of the next year they were married. It seems
to have been a matter of no consequence to her whether one man or
another was her husband, provided he was only King of England, so that
she could be queen. Henry's motive, too, in marrying her, was equally
mercenary, his only object being to secure to himself, through her,
the right of inheritance to her father's claims to the throne. He
accordingly never pretended to feel any love for her, and, <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_334" id="Page_334"></SPAN></span>after his
marriage, he treated her with great coldness and neglect.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Queen Elizabeth Woodville.<br/>Last years of her life.</div>
<p>His conduct toward her poor mother, the dowager queen, Elizabeth
Woodville, was still more unfriendly. He sent her to a gloomy
monastery, called the Monastery of Bermondsey, and caused her to be
kept there in the custody of the monks, virtually a prisoner. The
reason which he assigned for this was his displeasure with her for
abandoning his cause, and breaking the engagement which she had made
with him for the marriage of her daughter to him, and also for giving
herself and her daughter up into Richard's hands, and joining with him
in the intrigues which Richard formed for connecting the princess with
his family. In this lonely retreat the widowed queen passed the
remainder of her days. She was not precisely a prisoner—at least, she
was not kept in close and continual confinement, for two or three
times, in the course of the few remaining years that she lived, she
was brought, on special occasions, to court, and treated there with a
certain degree of attention and respect. One of these occasions was
that of the baptism of her daughter's child.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_335" id="Page_335"></SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i332.jpg" class="smallgap" width-obs="500" height-obs="351" alt="THE MONASTERY OF BERMONDSEY." title="" /> <span class="caption">THE MONASTERY OF BERMONDSEY.</span></div>
<div class="sidenote2">Her death and burial.</div>
<p>In this lonely and cheerless retreat the queen lingered a few years,
and then died. Her body <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_337" id="Page_337"></SPAN></span>was conveyed to Windsor for interment, and her daughters and the
friends of her family were notified of the event. A very few came to
attend the funeral. Her daughter Elizabeth was indisposed, and did not
come. The interment took place at night. A few poor old men, in
tattered garments, were employed to officiate at the ceremony by
holding "old torches and torches' ends" to light the gloomy precincts
of the chapel during the time while the monks were chanting the
funeral dirge.</p>
<h3><span class="smcap">The End.</span></h3>
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