End of an Era

28/09/1963

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This Saturday was a day so many people did not want to happen - it was the last day the market would be held in the city centre. A weekly event since the twelfth century, it was now to be no more. Peterborians lamented that it was just not the same. A common complaint was that 'they' - the council - had 'transplanted the heart of the city and dumped it in Cattle Market Road'. Predictably, the younger generation had a different view: they thought it was a good move. There were all the mod cons and, best of all, it was covered and therefore dry. (Harper-Tee, John, 'The Peterborough Story', Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 1992)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

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Death of Richard III and the Start of the Tudor Age

1485

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On the 22nd of August 1485, Henry Tudor beat King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard had been king for only two years. This was the last battle of the War of the Roses, and brought to an end Plantagenet rule of England. Henry Tudor became Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch.

Richard III's body was recently found in a car park in Leicester, where he had been buried after the battle. Analysis of his body showed that he did have a curvature of the spine (scoliosis) which would have meant that his right shoulder was higher than the left, though with a good tailor and custom armour this would not have been obvious.

His body also revealed 11 injuries occurring around time of death including two injuries at the base of his skull that are likely to have been fatal. His remains also show a penetrating injury to his pelvis where a weapon must have been thrust from behind, entering the right buttock and penetrating right through the body. This type of injury would be hard to do to an armoured body, so was likely to have occurred after death as a humiliation.

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Images:

1. Earliest surviving portrait of Richard III C. 1520, owned by the Society of Apothecaries (Public Domain)

2. Portrait of the young Henry VII, Musee Calvert, Avignon (Public Domain)

Richard III Born at Fotheringhay

1452

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Richard of Gloucester, later Richard III of England was born at Fotheringhay Castle. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. He was the supposed killer of 'The Princes in the Tower', his nephews Edward and Richard, the sons of his brother King Edward IV, and was portrayed as a villain in William Shakespeare's play 'Richard III'.

He died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 beaten by Henry Tudor, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor dynasty, so ending the War of the Roses.

In 2012 Richard III's body was found buried under a car park in Leicester and was re-interred in Leicester Cathedral. Analysis of his body showed that, as legend reported, he did have a curvature of the spine (scoliosis) which would have meant that his right shoulder was higher than the left, though with a good tailor and custom armour this would not have been obvious.

War of the Roses , Fotheringhay Castle , Richard III , Henry VII

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End of an Era

28/09/1963

Information

Death of Richard III and the Start of the Tudor Age

1485

Information

Richard III Born at Fotheringhay

1452

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Death of Richard III and th…

Richard III Born at Fotheri…

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End of an Era

28/09/1963

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Death of Richard III and the Start of the Tudor Age

1485

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Richard III Born at Fotheringhay

1452

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Death of Richard III and th…

Richard III Born at Fotheri…