lain at Bosworth. 1485.=--In August =1485=
Richmond landed at Milford Haven. As he marched on he was joined by
considerable numbers, but on August 22 he found Richard waiting for
him near Bosworth, with a host far larger than his own. Richard,
however, could not count on the fidelity of his own commanders. Lord
Stanley, who had married Richmond's widowed mother, the Lady Margaret
(see p. 334), together with his brother, Sir William Stanley, were
secretly in accord with Richmond, though they had placed themselves on
Richard's side. When the battle began Stanley openly joined Richmond,
whilst the Earl of Northumberland who was also nominally on Richard's
side withdrew his forces and stood aloof. Knowing that defeat was
certain, Richard, with the crown on his head, rushed into the thick of
the fight and met a soldier's death. After the battle the fallen crown
was discovered on a bush, and placed by Stanley, amidst shouts of
'King Henry!' on Richmond's head.

CHAPTER XXIII.

HENRY VII. 1485--1509.

LEADING DATES

Accession of Henry VII. 1485
The Battle of Stoke 1487
Poynings' Acts 1494
Capture of Perkin Warbeck 1497
Alliance with Scotland 1503
Death of Henry VII. 1509

[Illustration: Henry VII.: from an original picture in the National
Portrait Gallery.]

1. =The First Measures of Henry VII. 1485--1486.=--Henry VII. owed his
success not to a general uprising against Richard, but to a
combination of the nobles who had hitherto taken opposite sides. To
secure this combination he had promised to marry Elizabeth, the
heiress of the Yorkist family. Lest an attempt should be made to
challenge her title, Henry imprisoned in the Tower the Earl of
Warwick, the son of Clarence, who might possibly maintain that a
female was incapable of inheriting. He was indeed unwilling to have it
thought that he derived his title from a wife, and when Parliament met
on November 7 he obtained from it a recognition of his own right to
the throne, though it would have puzzled the most acute
controversialist to discover in what that right consisted. Parliament,
therefore, contented itself with declaring that the inheritance of the
crown was to 'be, rest, and abide in King