Richard III of England was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field.
Battle of Bosworth Field . His opponent , Richard III , the last king of the House of York , was killed in the battle . House of Plantagenet . The rivalry between the House of Plantagenet 's two cadet branches of York and Lancaster brought about the Wars of the Roses , a decades-long fight for the English succession , culminating in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 , when the reign of the Plantagenets and the English Middle Ages both met their end with the death of King Richard III . Richard III of England . His defeat at Bosworth Field , the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses , marked the end of the Middle Ages in England . Richard was struck down in the conflict , making him the last English king to die in battle on home soil and the first since Harold Godwinson ( who was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 ) .