Four days to go…. #Bosworth2018
Preparations are well underway for the annual Bosworth Medieval Festival, taking place each year on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the fateful battle in 1485.
This year is a very special one for me as I will be attending with both published books – giving talks/readings and selling/signing at a stall in the Eagle Cabin. Another reason why it’s special is of course because this is the first year that a very different battle will take place.
At 11 am on both days, King Richard III will meet the challenge of pretender Henry Tudor – and for the first time in history will win the encounter.
How the organizers will arrange it is unknown to me. My guess is that, after more than 500 years of reflection, the Stanley brothers will make a different decision. Some will ask, how did it take them that long to come to the conclusion that their actions on that day in 1485 were wrong? Of course, William Stanley may often have thought that during what remained of his life – particularly as he stepped towards his death in 1495 at the hands of said Tudor.
Of course, another option is that the earl of Northumberland belatedly also realizes where his loyalties should lie. Maybe he also reflected on the mistakes he made on that day in August during the remaining few years of his life – perhaps also in those final seconds before he was killed by Yorkshire folk who may not have forgiven his inaction on that day four years before.
Whatever happens, there will be spectators there who will be cheering loudly for the King and the House of York – as they do every year, but generally without hope of a successful outcome.
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How might the past 533 years have been different had King Richard not been betrayed and instead claimed his victory on 22 August 1485?
mybook.to/TheKingsMan would have had a different conclusion. But, having said that, I wouldn’t have been compelled to write either book had Richard experienced the long and peaceful reign that should have been his destiny.
