Across the English Channel Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richard's difficulties and laid claim to the throne.

The boy and his younger brother Richard soon disappeared, to the consternation of many, and Richard's support was further eroded by unfounded rumours of his involvement in the death of his wife. Richard's reign began in 1483 when he seized the throne from his twelve-year-old nephew Edward V. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, making it one of the defining moments of English history. His opponent Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed during the battle, the last English monarch to die in combat. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty by his victory and subsequent marriage to a Yorkist princess. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by an alliance of Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists. 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 extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century.