Today in History: The Battle of Bosworth Field

On this day, August 22, in 1485, Richard III was killed in Battle by the future Henry VII

"Before departing France, Henry had been in communication with the Stanleys to seek their support. Upon learning of the landing at Milford Haven, the Stanleys had mustered around 6,000 men and had effectively screened Henry's advance. During this time, he continued to meet with the brothers with the goal of securing their loyalty and support. Arriving at Leicester on August 20, Richard united with John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, one of his most trusted commanders, and the next day was joined by Henry Percy, Duke of Northumberland.

Pressing west with around 10,000 men, they intended to block Henry's advance. Moving through Sutton Cheney, Richard's army assumed a position to the southwest on Ambion Hill and made camp. Henry's 5,000 men camped a short distance away at White Moors, while the fence-sitting Stanleys were to the south near Dadlington. The next morning, Richard's forces formed on the hill with the vanguard under Norfolk on the right and the rearguard under Northumberland to the left. Henry, an inexperienced military leader, turned command of his army over to John de Vere, Earl of Oxford.

Dispatching messengers to the Stanleys, Henry asked them to declare their allegiance. Dodging the request, the Stanleys stated that they would offer their support once Henry had formed his men and issued his orders. Forced to move forward alone, Oxford formed Henry's smaller army into a single, compact block rather than dividing it into the traditional "battles." Advancing towards the hill, Oxford's right flank was protected by a marshy area. Harassing Oxford's men with artillery fire, Richard ordered Norfolk to move forward and attack.

After exchanges of arrows, the two forces collided and hand-to-hand combat ensued. Forming his men into an attacking wedge, Oxford's troops began to gain the upper hand. With Norfolk under heavy pressure, Richard called for aid from Northumberland. This was not forthcoming and the rearguard did not move. While some speculate that this was due to personal animosity between the duke and king, others argue that the terrain prevented Northumberland from reaching the fight. The situation worsened when Norfolk was struck in the face with an arrow and killed.

With the battle raging, Henry decided to move forward with his lifeguard to meet the Stanleys. Spotting this move, Richard sought to end the fight by killing Henry. Leading forward a body of 800 cavalry, Richard skirted around the main battle and charged after Henry's group. Slamming into them, Richard killed Henry's standard bearer and several of his bodyguards. Seeing this, Sir William Stanley led his men into the fight in defense of Henry. Surging forward, they nearly surrounded the king's men. Pushed back towards the marsh, Richard was unhorsed and forced to fight on foot. Fighting bravely to the end, Richard was finally cut down. Learning of Richard's death, Northumberland's men began to withdraw and those battling Oxford fled." Source: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars14011600/p/bosworth.htm

Richard's body was then stripped and thrown over a horse to be taken to Leicester. There it was displayed for two days to rrove that he was dead. Henry would later predate his reign to start at August 21, thus allowing him to execute those who had fought for Richard for treason, including Sir Richard Ratcliffe and Sir William Catesby.

Loyaute Me Lie

The Tour de Nesle Affair and its Consequences

King Philip IV, also known as Philip the Fair, had three sons, and a daughter named Isabella. Their names were Louis, Philip, and Charles in that order. All of them made good marriages as befitting their station. Louis married Marguerite of Burgundy and Philip married Jeanne of Burgundy. Charles married Jeanne’s sister, Blanche of Burgundy. The two sister’s were Marguerite’s cousin, so they were all related in one way or the other. Isabella married Edward II of England. The tale of that marriage is a whole other story, but Isabella does come into play in this story.

See, Isabella had given her sisters-in-law beautifully embroidered purses while on a state visit to France with her husband. The French Queen, Isabella’s mother, had recently died, and the Burgundian princesses had helped to bring life back into the French court. Isabella wanted to repay the kindness.

Back in England, two Norman knights had recently arrived at the English court of Edward II. Their names were Philip and Gautier d’Aulnay. This was nothing unusual: French and Norman knights were often in attendance. They caught the attention off many ladies at court. They were handsome and charming, but that wasn’t what drew Isabella’s attention. What drew Isabella’s eye, though, wasn’t their looks. They were wearing the same purses that Isabella had given to her sisters-in-law. She wondered if there wasn’t anything going on behind the scenes…

The brothers weren’t that discrete, and rumors soon began to reach King Philip. Isabella shared her suspicions and the two brothers were put under surveillance as well as the three Burgundian princesses. The Trail led them back to the Tour de Nesle, an old fortress on the Seine. The three ladies had basically transformed it into a bachelorette pad. All three women and the two knights were arrested, and the the two brothers were tortured. Under the torture, the men confessed to their adulterous deeds with Marguerite and Blanche. Jeane was not active in the affairs, but was present and was aware of the others’ infidelities. This was, of course, a big deal: if any of them were pregnant, they’d be passing off some bastard as the legitimate heir. The fate of the Capetian line was at stake. Punishment was swift and brutal.

The men were publicly castrated, flayed alive, and then decapitated. The women were a tad more more fortunate. All three went on trial before the Paris Parliament. Prince Philip intervened for his wife, Jeanne, and she was found not guilty. The other two were not so lucky. Blanche and Marguerite were found guilty, had their heads shaved, and were sent to the Château Gaillard, where they were imprisoned underground.

A few months after this whole unfortunate incident, Philip IV died, probably in shame. The crown, of course, went to his oldest son, Louis, who became Louis X. Technically he had a daughter, Jeanne, from his marriage to Marguerite, but since the incident, her paternity had been called into question. Luckily for Louis, Marguerite died soon after his ascension to the throne, leaving him available to remarry. Louis remarried immediately and very quickly got his new wife pregnant. Alas, Louis died after a game of tennis and his baby son soon died after he did.

Louis still had that daughter, Jeanne, from his first marriage to Marguerite that I mentioned earlier; but, considering the questionable paternity and (more importantly) the fact that she was four years old, no one much objected when Philip, Louis’s next brother, took the crown. The moment he took the crown, Philip convened the Three Estates of France and confirmed Salic Law, which stated that women could not inherit (different from, say, primogeniture in England which stated that women could inherit; just after all the boys). This took the orphan Jeanne right out of the equation. Unfortunately, Philip and his male heir soon died as well. He left behind, four daughters, but under his father’s own edict, they could not inherit.

And so we come to the third and final brother, King Charles. He was still technically married to Blanche from before, who was still currently imprisoned in the Château Gaillard. Despite her imprisonment, she managed to eke out some some comfort with one of her jailers and gave him a child. Charles used this to gain an annulment, and married again twice, but still without male heirs.

Salic Law disallowed the throne to pass to Isabella, but she tried to win the claim for her son, Edward III of England. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have the Hundred Years War.

On this day in history...

     Edward IV, King of England and  of France and Lord of Ireland, died today (April 9) in 1483. He fell fatally ill on Easter 1483, and lasted for about three weeks (give or take), just enough to adjust his will- the most notable change to name his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as his Lord Protector.  He was just shy of his forty-first birthday (April 28). He was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He was succeeded by his son,  His motto was modus et ordo (method and order). Edward, Prince of Wales, who became Edward V, though he was never crowned.

    It is not definitively known what caused his death. Everything from pneumonia to typhoid to poison has been theorized. Perhaps he just let himself go?

    All I have to say is...Loyaulte Me Lie.

    Source: Wikipedia and my own memory.

Light in the, "Dark Ages"?

    One of the biggest modern-day criticisms of the Middle Ages is a lack of knowledge. While there is some truth to this, many Universities were founded by the Church during this time. By Columbus’s time, most people knew that the Earth was round. I don’t think that knowledge was as lacking as we think it was.

The dialect of English which was shaped by the Vikings

The dialect of English which was shaped by the Vikings: The story of a dialect of Old English that was strongly influenced by Old Norse during the early Middle Ages, namely the Northumbrian dialect.

Medieval Times given an unfair Reputation?

         Does anyone else feel that Medieval Times are unfairly vilified nowadays? Of, course, if you’re speaking about hygiene, you’re probably right-but no one is really speaking about hygiene when that ask this question, do they? Was life any better or worse than in any other age? What do you guys think?

How a deal made by a French King eventually led to 1066

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We all (hopefully) might know about the invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. What you might not know is how that came to be in the first place.

In the 800s .A.D., one of the biggest problems facing Christian Europe was invasion by Vikings. The first Viking invasion on the West (before then, Vikings had only gone East to raid) was on the monastery at Lindsfarne (off the coast off England) in 793 .A.D., in the Anglo-Saxon city-state/Kingdom of Northumbria.
In the beginning, many Kings thought that they could just make the Vikings go away by bribing them with lots of gold. Sometimes that worked; sometimes that didn’t.
A lot of them may have taken, and did take it as a sign of weakness, which inspired them to return more. This was especially the case in England, but also in France. One such deal was between the King of France and a Viking named Ralf (Latinized Rollo). The descendants of Charlemagne had never been as good as the man himself; always weak and willing to give in. Finally, however, instead of gold; one King of France decided to give the Vikings something infinitely more valuable: land. It included a title, legitimacy, etc. Rollo accepted. Of course there were some conditions: conversion to Christianity, an expectation to fight against other Vikings, etc. Since they were, “Northmen,” or ,”Norsemen,” the area the settled became known as, “Normandy.” Rollo’s great-grandson was William the Conqueror himself! That is how the deal affected 1066 and World History.