Henry, with great pomp, proceeded the same evening to Leicester. Richard’s corpse was found amongst the slain, covered with wounds, dirt, and blood, and was hung perfectly naked across a horse, the feet dangling on one side and the hands on the other, behind Blanc Sanglier, pursuivant at arms, so called from the Boar Argent, the cognizance of Richard, and was carried in triumph to Leicester that afternoon. This disgusting spectacle was meant as a disgrace to Richard, but it was really a disgrace to Henry. Insults offered by the victor to the corpse of a soldier slain in battle, be he whom he may, evince a great degree of meanness or cowardice on the part of the former. The body was exposed to public view during two days in the Town Hall, and was then interred in the Grey Friars Church. At the destruction of religious houses, his remains were turned out of it by the town’s people, and there is reason to believe that they were got rid of, by being thrown into the river at the end of Bow Bridge, at Leicester; “borne out of the city, and contemptuously bestowed under the end of Bow Bridge, which giveth passage over a branch of Stoure, upon the west side of the towne.”—See Speed’s Annals, fo. 936; see also Thorsby’s Views in Leicestershire, p. 338. A stone coffin in which they had been deposited, was converted into a watering-trough at the White Horse Inn in Gallow Tree Gate, and was early in the last century broken to pieces. [170]
Happening to be in Leicester on the 5th of June, 1856, I did not omit to inquire for the Grey Friars Church; but although I discovered the street where it had stood, I found that every vestige of the church had disappeared.
There is a very absurd, but very common mistake, arising from the ignorance of authors, in stating that Richard wore his royal crown upon his helmet during the battle. Nothing can be more erroneous than such a statement. Richard was too old and experienced a soldier to put such a head-gear upon his helmet; nor could a real crown screwed to, or fastened upon a helmet, be worn for any rational purpose, during a battle. He, however, wore, as a distinguishing mark, and as an emblem of command, a comparatively small ornament, resembling a crown, upon his helmet, which was not at all strange or unprecedented; on the contrary, it was formerly a common practice. King Henry V. wore a similar ornament upon his helmet at the battle of Agincourt, in 1415, which was of some use, in sustaining the stroke of a battle-axe from the Duke of Alençon, which cleft it; and Thomas Duke of Clarence, second son of Henry IV., wore a coronet or circlet upon his helmet, when he was fighting valiantly, and slain at the battle of Baugé in France, in 1421; besides which, there are many monuments which I have seen in English cathedrals and churches, where the figures of warriors and men of rank are represented with ornaments resembling small crowns or coronets upon their helmets.
The account of the battle, and the description of the field, having been so fully given in the interesting work already mentioned, it would be superfluous for me to attempt to go into further particulars; I may, however, add, that the battle terminated in the defeat and death of Richard, rather in consequence of the defection of Lord Stanley and of his brother Sir William Stanley, and the indifference or disaffection of others, whom Richard relied upon, than of any valour or skill in Henry or his army.
Henry was immediately saluted as King of England by his forces; and, without waiting for the ratification of his claim by Parliament, or any other recognised authority, assumed the title of Henry VII.; and, scorning to be less tyrannical or less wicked than his predecessor, commenced his reign by putting to death, without any trial, and in cold blood, two days after the battle, William Catesby, [171] and two gentlemen from the North, of the name of Brecher, who had been taken prisoners; and sentencing to imprisonment for life, in the Tower, an innocent and defenceless boy, Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, whose only crime was his being the son of George Duke of Clarence, and the only surviving male of the royal house of Plantagenet, and whom Henry very wickedly at last put to death, in 1499. Henry also caused an act of attainder [172a] to be passed by Parliament, shortly after the battle, in which he had a great number of persons, who had been the subjects and adherents of Richard III., attainted, and declared guilty of high treason, and all their lands and possessions confiscated, on the alleged ground of their support of Richard against Henry, although Henry had never, previously to the battle of Bosworth, been recognised as King, nor had he even assumed the royal title or functions. It was, therefore, not only an iniquitous proceeding, but was an insult to the understandings of men, to treat any acts done by any persons in the service of the then reigning King, at the battle of Bosworth, as treasonable actions, committed against Henry. Those attainders and confiscations, affecting as they did the lives and property of many persons, whom Henry wished to destroy or crush, were acts of gross despotism and tyranny. [172b]
Many years ago, I saw, in the collection of Colonel Stretton, of Lenton Priory, in Nottinghamshire, some spurs and bridle-bits, said to be relics of Bosworth Field; and Grose, in his Military Antiquities, gives an engraving of a helmet found there. [173]
Many relics of the battle are described in Mr. Hutton’s work, which had been discovered there; besides which, human bones were found, about four years ago, in cutting a drain in a field, in front of the farm-house standing upon the slope of the hill, and called Amyon Hill Farm, mentioned before, belonging to Mr. Stuart, and occupied by Mr. Bradfield. The field where they were discovered, adjoins that in which King Richard’s Well is.
Mr. John Rubley informed me, that, not many years ago, he found a sword-hilt, upon the field of battle, which was afterwards given to Mr. Stuart. There are also a few relics of the battle preserved in the Public Museum at Leicester.
Persons desirous of visiting the field of battle, will find it expedient to go from Atherstone to Shenton, and soon after passing that village, instead of pursuing the road to Market Bosworth, to turn off to the right, by the road which leads from Shenton to Sutton Cheney, until they arrive at a large farm on the left, called Sutton Field Farm, occupied by Mr. Cooper, a considerable farmer. They should then turn off to the right, into a field road (which is passable in a carriage, but is not a good one for that purpose, and therefore walking is preferable), which ascends the northward side of Amyon Hill, frequently mentioned before, and cross its summit; and on the slope of the hill, on its southward side, is Amyon Hill Farm (which is upon the field of battle), and close to it, in an adjoining field, is King Richard’s Well. It is covered in with a small pyramid, built of rough stones, but is open on its south front; and on the inner wall, opposite to the open part, is the following inscription, cut in small Roman characters, from the pen of the reverend and learned Dr. Parr:—
AQVA EX HOC PVTEO HAVSTA
SITIM SEDAVIT
RICARDVS TERTIVS REX ANGLIAE
CVM HENRICO COMITE DE RICHMONDIA
ACERRIME ATQVE INFENSISSIME PRAELIANS
ET VITA PARITER AC SCEPTRO
ANTE NOCTEM CARITVRVS
XI KAL. SEPT. A.D. MCCCCLXXXV.