Claim: Richard III of England was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The Battle of Bosworth Field -LRB- or Battle of Bosworth -RRB- was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses , the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century . Fought on 22 August 1485 , the battle was won by the Lancastrians . Their leader Henry Tudor , Earl of Richmond , by his victory became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty . His opponent , Richard III , the last king of the House of York , was killed in the battle . Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty , making it a defining moment of English and Welsh history .   Richard 's reign began in 1483 . At the request of his brother Edward IV , Richard was acting as Lord Protector for his son Edward V. Richard had Parliament declare Edward V illegitimate and ineligible for the throne , and took it for himself . Richard lost popularity when the boy and his younger brother disappeared after he incarcerated them in the Tower of London , and his support was further eroded by the popular belief that he was implicated in the death of his wife . Across the English Channel in Brittany , Henry Tudor , a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster , seized on Richard 's difficulties so that he could challenge his claim to the throne . Henry 's first attempt to invade England was frustrated by a storm in 1483 , but on his second attempt he arrived unopposed on 7 August 1485 on the southwest coast of Wales . Marching inland , Henry gathered support as he made for London . Richard mustered his troops and intercepted Henry 's army south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire . Thomas , Lord Stanley , and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield , but held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to support .   Richard divided his army , which outnumbered Henry 's , into three groups -LRB- or `` battles '' -RRB- . One was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland . Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford . Richard 's vanguard , commanded by Norfolk , attacked but struggled against Oxford 's men , and some of Norfolk 's troops fled the field . Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king , so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry and end the fight . Seeing the king 's knights separated from his army , the Stanleys intervened ; Sir William led his men to Henry 's aid , surrounding and killing Richard . After the battle Henry was crowned king below an oak tree in nearby Stoke Golding , now a residential garden .   Henry hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably ; the Battle of Bosworth was popularised to represent the Tudor dynasty as the start of a new age . From the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamorised as a victory of good over evil . The climax of William Shakespeare 's play Richard III provides a focal point for critics in later film adaptations . The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack of conclusive data , and memorials have been erected at different locations . In 1974 the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built on a site that has since been challenged by several scholars and historians . In October 2009 a team of researchers , who had performed geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area from 2003 , suggested a location two miles -LRB- 3.2 km -RRB- southwest of Ambion Hill .