With the Princes declared illegitimate and locked in the Tower, Richard could crown himself king. But Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Bishop John Morton of Ely, soon became disillusioned with his rule. They were joined by Edward IV’s brother-in-law Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers, who had seen his lands confiscated and his brother Anthony executed.
Their plan to release young Edward V ended when they heard rumours that the Princes were dead. Stafford then plotted to return Henry Tudor from exile and marry him to Elizabeth of York, uniting the Houses of Lancaster and York. But his plan was thwarted when a storm stopped his ships reaching England.
King Richard sent Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Surrey, and Thomas Stanley to confront the rebels when he heard about the plot and they scattered. Stafford was arrested at Beaulieu Abbey in the New Forest, convicted of treason and beheaded on 2 November 1483 at Salisbury. His widow Catherine was married to Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford, and his post of Lord High Constable was given to Stanley.
Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Salisbury and Chester, was the only child of Richard III and Anne Neville. His sudden death from illness in 1484 at the age of 10 was seen by the king’s enemies as divine retribution for the disappearance of Edward IV’s sons, Edward and Richard.
Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, heir to the throne following Edward’s death. Edward IV’s nephew Edward Plantagenet had a superior claim but he had been attainted since his father George, Duke of Clarence, had been executed for treason in 1478. Richard III had also declared Edward’s marriage invalid making his children illegitimate and disqualifying them from the line of succession.
A number of supporters with different motives gathered around Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond, while he was in exile in Brittany. Philibert de Chandée entertained Henry and Francis, Duke of Brittany, and recognised Henry as the heir to the English throne. Philibert and Francis would command Henry’s French contingent during the invasion of England.
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, escaped from Hammes Castle, near Calais, and he persuaded the castle commander, James Blount, to join him. Henry was ‘ravished with joy incredible’ when he heard. Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford, taught Henry, his nephew, battle tactics while he organised the invasion.
Henry Tudor’s stepfather Thomas Stanley had immense power across the north-west. Stanley had demanded a balance of power between the Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and his mother’s family, the Woodvilles, following the death of Edward IV. But Richard had attacked Stanley’s supporters at a council meeting in June 1483; a wounded Stanley was imprisoned while Lord Hastings was executed. Stanley was released, but the new King Richard insisted he left his son George behind as a hostage before he returned to his northern estates.
Richard discovered that Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, was passing messages between Stanley’s wife Margaret Beaufort and Edward IV’s widow Elizabeth Woodville. So he confiscated her titles and instructed Stanley to keep her under house arrest. The exiled Henry Tudor had also been in contact with Thomas Stanley, looking for cooperation because he planned to land in Wales.
Henry landed at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire on 7 August and William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, reported the news to the king. Stanley was supposed to raise troops and join Richard but he excused himself saying he was too ill. George Stanley was also caught trying to escape. He confessed that he and his uncle William had conspired with Henry Tudor so Richard called him a traitor and took him hostage.
The armies of Richard and Henry met near Market Bosworth in Leicestershire on 22 August 1485. Thomas Stanley had recovered sufficiently to raise troops but he deployed them independently rather than alongside Richard’s. The king allegedly threatened to execute his son George if he did not join him on the battlefield, but Thomas replied, ‘sire, I have other sons’.
The battle did not go well for Richard because Henry’s French mercenaries fought off his early attacks. John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, commander of his vanguard was struck down in front of the king, and his son Thomas, Earl of Surrey, was wounded and taken prisoner. The tide of the battle was turning against the king but Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, would not or could not commit his reserve.
Thomas Stanley then made his decision and chose to support his stepson Henry Tudor, resulting in the defeat of the Yorkists; ‘King Richard alone was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies.’ He would be the last English king to die in battle. Stanley would place Richard’s crown on Henry’s head before their cheering troops.