The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( BOZ -wərth) 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. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by an alliance of
Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists. 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. 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.