Wednesday 22 August 2012

Battle of Boswotrh 1485

Battle of Bosworth This day 1485 Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth thus ended the Plantagenet dynasty of 400 years and the Tudor age began which was to last over 100 years. Henry Tudor had an army almost half the size of Richards and there were also the Stanley Brothers just waiting on the sidelines just to see how things went and they were ready to jump in on the winning side at the right moment. Henry won the day and was given the crown which tradition says was found in a thorn bush There was the battle re-enactment last weekend on the battlefield which was great fun to watch. The whole weekend was given over to re-enactors of all types, blacksmiths, armourers, archers, mounted knights, cannons, musicians and falconers. All in all there were over 400 on the battlefield including Richard himself on a horse. There were enough archers to show what it would have been like at the time with lots of arrows being shot into the air towards the enemy side. The cannon fire was marvellous lots of noise and smoke there were thought to be 100 pieces of ordnance on the day. There mounted skills with knights showing their skills with weapons and even a joust! to keep the crowd entertained We went on a guided walk around the batted field and English Heritage have done a really good job with interpretation boards all around with commentary. Our guide was very good knowledgeable entertaining and funny, He used simple props of banners an arrow, a sword, a pike and a shield which he gave to people to act as the protagonists and even two young lads to act as the Princes in the Tower. Who History has recorded as being done to death by RichardIII The whole day was great fun and the weather was perfect too.