In conclusion I think that the most important reason for Richard making himself king was because he felt he deserved it. He was Edward V’s enforcer so killed his own brother to help him he also stabbed Henry VI to get his brother in power. He then felt he deserved the crown when his brother died.
- Henry had foreign support at Bosworth which helped him defeat Richard. There was other factors which helped him as well such as: Richards tactical mistakes and the lack of support Richard had in southern England.
Henry was in exile in Brittany for 14 years. This gave Henry time to plot against Richard without Richard being able to do anything about it. When Richard did try and capture Henry he fled to the king of France, Charles VIII. Charles buys Henry 2000 French mercenaries and enough boats to take them to England. Charles did this because there has been a long battle between France and England and anyone who is willing to attack the English crown the French would support. When Richard arrived in Britain he chose Wales to land because his uncle Jasper had a lot of land there and the Tudors hade many allies there. In between Wales and Bosworth Henry managed to rally 3000 more troops. This brought his numbers to 5000 troops.
Richard however did have many weaknesses which would have helped Henry to victory in Bosworth. Richard only had strong support in the north of England and wasn’t liked in the south. This meant that Richard couldn’t command from London where the parliament was.
People also saw him as a usurper because he locked the princes up and took the throne for himself and didn’t earn it. People even said he was a murderer claiming her killed the princes which would make it worse.
He also introduced forced loans because he needed more money. This was where he forced nobles to give him more money and had no intension of paying it back. Many nobles disliked him for this reason because they wanted their money and why should they give it to him and especially if he is bullying them in to giving it to them.
Henry also had many strengths which helped towards his victory. Such as the king of France who liked him for plotting against the English crown. This gave Henry a strong ally which with it he got money and troops.
Yorkists disliked Richard because he forced his way to become king. This meant the only person who could become monarch was Henry. After Christmas 1483 where he promised to marry Elizabeth of York, Richard’s niece and person he wanted to marry, the Yorkists gave Henry there support because the marriage would unite the Yorkists and Lancastrians.
Also one of Richard’s main families who were supposed to help him in the battle of Bosworth was Henrys stepfather. Lord Stanley was married to Margaret who was Henry’s mum. Stanley should have then felt a moral obligation to help his step son.
The actual events on the battle field also helped Henry win. Richard was based on top of a hill with 10,000 troops and Henry was at the bottom with 5,000 troops. This was good because if Richard had the high ground it would be easier to see the enemy and attack them. He could shoot arrows from on top and would hit them easier than Henry would. He could also attack Henry whose forces would be weaker after running up hill. Richard chose to charge downhill giving up his advantage and making it easier for Henry.
When his soldiers did get into battle they had their own personal feuds to settle so weren’t concentrated on the main battle and split into separate battles. This was bad because it meant that some men would rush in to find the person they want to kill and get attacked by more people. It also meant that the army created its own factions where each one had its own personal feud.
The Percy’s and the Stanley’s chose not to fight. The Percy’s who were in charge of the reserves stood and watched not joining for any side. Lord Stanley and his army stood and watched. William Stanley fought for Henry’s side turning the battle massively.
Some of Richards’s men started to give up the fight knowing that they were defeated. They gave up or just sat out and watched. Richard saw this and as a last desperate act charged at Henry personally. This was bad because not many soldiers joined him and this meant he was nearly alone attacking a lot of troops. He nearly reached Henry but his horse was taken from him and he refused a new horse. This was another tactical error because with a new horse he could have fled and still stayed alive. Because he didn’t take the horse he was massacred.
In conclusion foreign support was important however there was many other factors which were more important. I think the biggest factor was the fact that Richard made some big errors at Bosworth because I think if he stayed on the hill and allowed Henry to attack him he could have won since he had double the amount of soldiers.
