Bosworth stands alongside Naseby and Hastings as one of the three most iconic battles ever fought on English soil. The action on 22 August 1485 brought to an end the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the Roses and heralded the dawn of the Tudor dynasty. However, Bosworth was also the most famous lost battlefield in England. Between 2005 and 2010, the techniques of battlefield archaeology were used in a major research programme to locate the site. Bosworth 1485: a battlefield rediscovered is the result. Using data from historical documents, landscape archaeology, metal detecting survey, ballistics and scientific analysis, the volume explores each aspect of the investigation – from the size of the armies, their weaponry, and the battlefield terrain to exciting new evidence of the early use of artillery – in order to identify where and how the fighting took place. Bosworth 1485 provides a fascinating and intricately researched new perspective on the event which, perhaps more than any other, marked the transition between medieval and early modern England.

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Copyright and Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 A battlefield lost
• 2 An historical perspective: the armies
  • Richard’s army and preparations
  • Henry’s army and preparations
  • The problem of numbers
• 3 An historical perspective: the battle
  • Prelude to the battle
  • Deployments
  • Movements and actions
  • Reflections
  • Defections
  • Aftermath
  • The battlefield location
• 4 The battlefield terrain
  • Reconstructing the historic landscape
  • Physical geography
  • The man-made landscape
• 5 Surveying the battle archaeology
  • Battlefield burials
  • Metal artefact scatters
  • Survey progress 2005–2010
  • Problems of interpretation
• 6 Interpreting the artefacts
• 7 Gunpowder weapons
  • The Bosworth projectiles
  • Bullets for handguns
  • Bullets for hand-cannon?
  • Round shot for artillery
  • The Bosworth round shot
• 8 A new perspective on the battle
• 9 Conclusion
• Appendices
  • Appendix 1: Catalogue of round shot and large calibre bullets
  • Appendix 2: Catalogue of medieval finds
  • Appendix 3: List of specialist reports
• Bibliography