The
Battle of Bosworth (or
Bosworth Field) 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.