Richard's army was also on the march. At Bosworth,
August 22, 1485, the two armies met in the last battle of the Wars of
the Roses. Richard fought fiercely, wearing his crown; and when he
was defeated and killed, the crown was placed on Henry's head.
The people of England did not care who ruled, Richard or Henry, as
long as he kept order, for they were very tired of civil war.
But the people of Wales welcomed Henry as a Welshman who would rule
them kindly and justly.
CHAPTER XVII--TUDOR ORDER
The Tudors--Henry VII., his son, Henry VIII., and his three
grandchildren, Edward VI. and Mary and Elizabeth--ruled England and
Wales from 1485 to 1603. Under them the people became united, law-
abiding, patriotic, and prosperous. The Tudor period is justly
regarded as the most glorious in British history, with its great
statesmen, its great adventurers, and its great poets.
The Tudors were loyally supported by Wales, by the military strength
of men like Sir Rees ap Thomas or the Earl of Pembroke, and by the
diplomatic skill of the Cecils. Under their rule--hard and
unmerciful, but just and efficient--the law became strong enough to
crush the mightiest and to shield the weakest. Welshmen found that,
even under their own sovereigns, their ancient language was regarded
as a hindrance and their patriotism as a possible source of trouble;
but they obtained the privileges of an equal race, and they were
pleased to regard themselves as a dominant one.
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