Aftermath

The Battle of Bosworth did not bring long-term peace to England. Those still loyal to the memory of Richard III opposed the new regime and there was unrest during the months following Bosworth.

Persistent rumours of the survival of one or both of he sons of Edward IV circulated the country. In 1487 an invasion championing the claim of a young man named ‘King Edward’ (more commonly known now as Lambert Simnel) was defeated but the threat from another in the name of Richard of York (Perkin Warbeck), dragged on for many years and only concluded with his execution in 1499.

Heavy taxation led to rebellions in 1489 and 1497. It appeared the English had little love for their conqueror king and although the words were written for another monarch ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’, they were just as suited to Henry Tudor. Only when his son, another Henry, became king – the product of both the houses of Lancaster and York – was there any kind of acceptance for ‘the Tudors’.