Brutal way King Richard III was slaughtered at Battle of Bosworth

His brutal death at the hands of Henry Tudor’s forces was immortalised by William Shakespeare, with one line seared into our collective memory: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

And now a new sculpture trail is set to shine a light on this seismic moment in English royal history: King Richard III’s downfall and the rise of the Tudor dynasty.

In a quiet field 15 miles west of Leicester, Richard the Usurper, as his enemies branded him, was defeated in the final chapter of the War of the Roses, the civil war that raged between the houses of Lancaster and York in the second half of the 15th century.

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With those rumoured last words inked in history – or imagined – by Shakespeare, Richard was the last English monarch to fall on the battlefield, his head stoved in by a long-handled axe known as a halberd.

His death on August 22, 1485, ended the Yorkist line – and the Middle Ages – and ushered in the new era of Tudor rule.

And this month visitors can immerse themselves in the story on a 12-mile trail around rural Leicestershire, taking in ancient churches, sleepy villages, windswept fields, award-winning pubs and the historic town of Market Bosworth.

Historian Philippa Langley, who led the archeological project that discovered Richard III’s remains buried under a car
park in Leicester in 2012, tells the Mirror: “Bosworth is one of those moments where history turns on a sixpence.

“Arguably Bosworth was a paradigm shift, just as the Battle of Hastings had been in 1066. Which was the only other battle where a King of England was killed.”

Prior to Bosworth, Plantagenet kings Edward IV and Richard III had ­operated within a system of limited monarchy, and had governed through the regular use of parliament, she says.

“In Richard III’s reign he went even further and brought justice to the ­ordinary people through his laws. He brought in three of the key legal ­principles that we rely on today: the presumption of ­innocence, blind justice, and clear title to property.

“Richard was a progressive monarch who was levelling the playing field for everybody in society, he was putting England on a trajectory of everybody having access to justice.

“So when he dies at Bosworth, this is a huge moment because it is the victorious Henry Tudor who sweeps to power and is inspired by how the French king governs: with the monarch being the sole source of power.”

By 1485, the bloody War of the Roses had been raging for 30
years between two branches of the ­Plantagenet family who were descended from Edward III.

The House of Lancaster were descendants of John of Gaunt,
the third surviving son of King Edward, while the House of York were descended from his fourth son, Edmund of Langley.

By the time Yorkist King Edward IV died in 1483, the future of the monarchy was once again under threat from various factions.

The late king’s son, Edward V, was 12 when he came to the throne, prompting his uncle, Richard III, to be named Lord Protector to act on his behalf.

But Richard declared his father’s marriage to his mother Elizabeth Woodville illegal, meaning Edward and his younger brother Richard were illegitimate. Held in the Tower of London, they disappeared, likely killed to ensure they could never challenge the line of succession.

Richard was crowned king but faced upheaval from forces loyal to Henry Tudor, who had been garnering support during his exile in France.

“At this point, Henry had pretty much no claim to the throne,” says Philippa. “When he landed with his foreign invading force at Milford Haven in Wales, he is something like 30th in line.

“He was a very insecure, very paranoid but highly intelligent man. He knew he had to present himself as being a newer, better option than Richard.”

Henry and his troops made their way to London, picking up more soldiers who rallied to the Lancastrian cause.

“Whoever holds the capital holds the kingdom, so Richard and his army ride out from Leicester to intercept them,” explains Philippa. “And Bosworth ­battlefield is that fateful place they met.”

One of four sculptures erected on the trail is in St James’ Churchyard, Sutton Cheney, where it is believed Richard spent the evening before battle in prayer.

“It is reflective of who Richard III was,” says Philippa. “We know he was incredibly devout, even for the age in which he lived.”

On the day of battle, he led a cavalry charge against Henry’s forces in an attempt to kill his challenger. Despite breaking through enemy ranks
and unhorsing Henry’s standard bearer, he
was quickly surrounded and killed.

Even Henry’s official ­historian Polydore Vergil recorded “King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies”. His broken body, missing the back of its head, was stripped naked, thrown over a horse and paraded through Leicester as Tudor was crowned King Henry VII.

“This is the moment when the Tudor mythology starts – with Richard as the tyrant, the monster, the psychopath, and Henry VII as the person who saved England from this monster,” says Philippa. The bodies of the dead, on both sides, were brought to Dadlington and buried at St James the Greater church. This is also marked by a sculpture that promotes reconciliation.

“This is a special place for me because it is where men from Lancaster and York join together and rest at peace,” says Philippa.

King Henry VIII later granted a licence for a chantry priest to pray for the souls of the men who lay at Dadlington, putting an end to the years of inter-family conflict.

Richard’s body, after being put on display for two days in a Leicester church, was dumped in a hastily dug grave.

“It was too short for his body, so his head and shoulders were lifted in the grave, and he was buried without a coffin,” says Philippa.

“Local friars did what they could for him. When we found him his arms had been crossed over his pelvis and he’d been placed in one of their robes – a great honour.”

The Bosworth 1485 Trail opens officially on Friday – to coincide with the date of the battle – and looks to shine a light on the untold stories of the landscape that bore witness to history.

The concept came after the “huge amount of community spirit” shown when Richard’s remains were reinterred in Leicester Cathedral, says project officer Gemma Tallis, of Leicestershire Promotions.

“We wanted to put the spotlight on those villages where some of the more ­intimate stories haven’t yet been told,” she adds. “The course of English history changed in this landscape and for locals, that is enormous.”

• Check out richardiiicountry.com to dis­­cover more information.