Richard III of England
On the 2nd of October 1452, a boy named Richard was born inside the stone walls of Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. He entered the world as the eleventh child of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. His early years unfolded against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, a prolonged period of political instability and intermittent civil conflict in England during the latter half of the fifteenth century. On one side were the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father, and on the other, the Lancastrians, who remained loyal to King Henry VI. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England. Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury. When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on the 30th of December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on the 28th of June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight. In the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1,000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who was his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville. By the age of 17, he had an independent command. During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou, Richard escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On the 2nd of October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court.
On the death of Edward IV on the 9th of April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him, with Richard being named Lord Protector of the Realm. At Baron Hastings' urging, Richard left his base in Yorkshire for London in order to assume his role. On the 29th of April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on the 25th of June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on the 4th of May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2,000-man army.
Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. On the 22nd of June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on the 26th of June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 6th of July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius. The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains the primary suspect.
On the 22nd of August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser, an especially swift and strong horse. The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of Treason before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley, Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Despite appearing a pillar of the Ricardian regime, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor. All accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed.
Richard's Council of the North, described as his one major institutional innovation, derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence, made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues.
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard. During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a good lord who punished oppressors of the commons, adding that he had a great heart. In 1483, the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers. His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath. Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being a hypocrite and a crookback.
On the 24th of August 2012, the University of Leicester, Leicester City Council, and the Richard III Society announced that they were initiating a search for the remains of King Richard. The project was managed by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking for Richard Project with the archaeology run by University of Leicester Archaeological Services. The participants looked for the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church to find his remains. By comparing fixed points between maps, the church was found, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern city centre car park. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir. On the 12th of September, it was announced that the skeleton might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male, it was buried beneath the choir of the church, and there was severe scoliosis of the spine. There was also what appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine, and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a shallow orifice which was probably caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull that was probably inflicted by a sword.
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Common questions
When and where was Richard III of England born?
Richard III of England was born on the 2nd of October 1452 inside Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. He entered the world as the eleventh child of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville.
How did Richard III of England become King of England after Edward IV died?
Richard III of England became King of England by accepting a petition from London citizens and nobles to assume the throne following claims that his brother's marriage was invalid. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 6th of July 1483 after Parliament confirmed his title with Titulus Regius in January 1484.
What happened during the Battle of Bosworth Field for Richard III of England?
Richard III of England fought bravely at the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August 1485 but was killed when surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men. His army numbered approximately 8,000 while Henry Tudor commanded about 5,000 troops before Richard led a cavalry charge deep into enemy ranks.
Which legal reforms did Richard III of England implement during his reign?
Richard III of England instituted the Court of Requests in December 1483 to help poor people access justice and improved bail laws in January 1484 to protect suspected felons. He also founded the College of Arms in 1484 and ordered the translation of Laws and Statutes from French into English.
When were the remains of Richard III of England discovered and where?
The University of Leicester announced the discovery of Richard III of England's skeleton beneath the former Greyfriars Church site on the 12th of September 2012. The search project located the body under a modern city centre car park after identifying the church foundations through map comparisons.