"10 
HISTORY OF ENGLAND 
[1483-85 
6. RICHARD III. 1483-1485 
108. The end of the Wars of the Roses.—During his short 
reign, Richard ruled wisely and well. He abolished “ benev- 
olences” and treated the people fairly and justly. For the 
first time, he had laws translated into English and printed. 
In regard to printing he made an especially good law; 
though foreigners could not trade in England without 
paying a tax, yet any one who wished to write, print, 
bind, or sell books might do so as freely as if he had 
been born an Englishman. 
It is possible that if it had not been for the belief that he 
had murdered the princes, Richard might have remained on 
the throne without any effort being made to depose him; 
but, after this, both the nobles and the common people were 
every day more and more determined not to submit to his 
rule.‘ The leading men of the kingdom now set to work in 
sarnest to find a man strong enough to dethrone the king. 
There was one Lancastrian claimant to the throne whom 
neither Edward IV nor Richard III had been able to reach. 
This was Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, whose mother 
was descended from Edward III. He had long been living 
in exile; now some of the nobles planned to have him return 
and head a rebellion against Richard. 
Henry Tudor’s first attempt to enter England ended in 
failure. His fleet was scattercd by a storm, but in the 
summer of 1485 he came again, landing at Milford Haven 
on the coast of Wales. As Henry’s father was a Welshman, 
the pcople readily joined him. Richard mustered an army 
twice the size of Henry’s. But when the two armies met on 
Bosworth Field, Richard saw that he was betrayed; for part 
of his forces went over to the enemy and another part refused 
to fight. Richard and a few faithful men charged the enemy. 
His quick eye caught sight of his rival’s standard, and with 
a shout of “Treason!” he put spurs to his horse and 
dashed on, hoping to kill Henry in a hand-to-hand fight. 
The standard-bearer fell beneath his sword, but Richard 
was unhorsed, At last, after fighting bravely on foot.