John Savage

Sir John Savage, KG, KB, PC (1444–1492), was an English knight of the Savage family, who was a noted military commander of the late 15th-century. Savage most notably fought at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where he commanded the left flank of the Tudor (Lancastrian) army to victory and is said to have personally slain the Duke of Norfolk in single combat. Earlier in the Wars of the Roses, Savage had been a supporter and friend of the Yorkist King Edward IV, fighting alongside him and helping him to victories at the Battle of Barnet in 1471 and the Battle of Tewkesbury later that same year, as well as joining the Duke of Gloucester's invasion of Scotland in 1482, where the Duke made him a Knight banneret. However, following the death of Edward and the Duke of Gloucester's ascension to the throne as Richard III the Savage family was viewed with suspicion due to their familial connection to the Stanleys, who were in turn connected to the Tudors. Consequently Savage was one of the prominent figures who invited Henry Tudor to invade England in 1485, a struggle which culminated in the Battle of Bosworth Field. After his victory Henry Tudor received the circlet of Richard from Savage's uncle Lord Stanley and was crowned King of England on the field of battle, taking the throne as Henry VII of England. The year following his victory at Bosworth, Henry VII sent Savage to arrest Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother Thomas Stafford, who had risen up against the king in the first major challenge to Henry's reign. Savage led a force to Culham where the two were seeking sanctuary and had them forcibly removed. The brothers were tried and found guilty, Sir Humphrey was executed whilst Thomas was pardoned. This event was notable enough for Pope Innocent VIII to announce a papal bull which established modifications affecting the privilege of sanctuary, significantly limiting its practical use and vindicating the actions taken by Savage on behalf of the King. Savage later served as one of two main cavalry commanders at the Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487, where leading Yorkists fought to put the pretender Lambert Simnel on the throne. This was the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, with the engagement ending in a decisive victory for the Tudors and leaving nearly all of Henry's Yorkist opponents dead. This victory served to end the previously significant factional divisions between those loyal to the houses of York and Lancaster.