The fact that the Buckingham
Rebellion failed showed that he
needed more support
Welsh Heritage - "Son of the Prophecy"
Rhys Ap Thomas - owned South Wales (by Richard III but switched sides) gave 1800
welsh mercenaries
1471-1484 Henry
was supported by
the Duke Of
Brittany
Richards Weaknesses Prior To Bosworth
Ruler of the North
Gave it to his nephew the Earl of
Lincoln instead of
Northumberland who became
the Commander of Reserves (in
charge of the backup army)
As a result Northumberland didn't listen
to him on the battlefield and could be
argued as a factor to why Richard lost
Seen as an untrustworthy
king - caused people to walk
off of the battlefield because
they didn't want to risk their
lives for an untrustworthy
king
North &
South divide
Rumours about Princes in the tower - people thought Richard
was guilty of killing both of Edwards sons and therefore he lost
support and faced opposition because of this (e.g. Duke of
Buckingham & Lord Hastings
Re-introduces benevolence taxes
(noblemen taxes) because the Scottish
Invasion cost a lot of money therefore
he needed more to stabilise his reign
Richards problems at Bosworth
Charged towards Henry down Ambien
Hill (where he had a military advantage
on higher ground)
Lord Stanley controlled 1/3 of his troops (5,000)
Duke of Norfolk was
killed (Richards
Commander)
Northumberland watched
from the sides as a result of
not being given Ruler of the
North
Henry's Advantages Prior to Bosworth
On Christmas Day he promised to marry Elizabeth of York
Strengthens claim
Unites the two houses (
Yorkists & Lancastrians)
Gains support
Maregret Beaufort (mother)
promoting him to noblemen
Married to Lord Stanley so quite influential
She was the link between Henry and Buckingham
Learned from the mistakes
and failure of the Buckingham
rebellion that he needed more
support
Henrys Advantages at Bosworth
Only Lancastrian claimant
He had Lord Stanley as
a stepfather - very
influential
1471-1484 Henry was
supported by the Duke of
Brittany
Foreign Support
Richard III had no heirs tot he
throne and his wife was dead