Richard III

Richard III (1452-1485), king of England (1483-1485), of the house of York.

Richard was born on October 2, 1452, in Fotheringhay Castle, youngest son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd duke of York, and was named duke of Gloucester in 1461. Richard fought for his brother, later King Edward IV, under the Yorkist banner during the Wars of the Roses. On the death of Edward in 1483, Richard took over the care of Edward’s young heir, King Edward V, and the administration of the kingdom. Richard soon overthrew the unpopular party of the Woodvilles, relatives of the queen mother, who aimed to control the government. Parliament then declared that Richard was the rightful king, on the grounds that the marriage of Edward IV with Elizabeth Woodville had been illegal because he had contracted earlier to marry another woman. Richard, to ensure his position as king, confined Edward and his brother Richard to the Tower of London. There, some time afterward, both nephews were put to death. Except for later supposition, no substantial evidence exists that Richard had them assassinated.

The new king courted popularity with considerable success. He promoted English interests abroad and involved himself in domestic reform. Following the death of the young princes, however, public favor turned away from Richard and toward Henry, Earl of Richmond, who was the head of the rival house of Lancaster. On August 7, 1485, Henry landed at Milford Haven, Wales, collecting allies as he advanced toward England. Richard hastened to meet him, and the hostile armies faced each other on Bosworth Field. Richard fought valiantly but was defeated and slain, and the Earl of Richmond became Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England.

Although Richard, the last king of the house of York, did usurp the throne, little doubt exists that his unscrupulousness has been overemphasized by his enemies and by Tudor historians seeking to strengthen the Lancastrian position. His baseness is strongly exaggerated in Shakespeare's play Richard III.