Richard III: Ruthless tyrant or victim of history?

Richard was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire.

He was the twelfth child of Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest surviving son.

His father was one of the most powerful nobles in England and held a claim to the throne through his descent from Edward III.

Richard grew up during a period of fierce struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York, and his father was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460 when Richard was only eight years old.

The following year, his elder brother Edward defeated the Lancastrians and became King Edward IV. 

Richard spent much of his youth at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire under the care of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.

The Earl of Warwick, often known as the Kingmaker, trained him in military skills and chivalry.

Richard eventually married Warwick’s younger daughter, Anne Neville.

Richard gained a reputation for loyalty to Edward IV and served as a commander in the wars against the Lancastrians.

He played an important role at the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury in 1471, which secured the Yorkist hold on the throne.

Edward rewarded him with large estates in northern England and the title Duke of Gloucester.

As a result, Richard became the King’s trusted lieutenant in the north, where he governed effectively and earned the respect of many northern nobles. 

The death of Edward IV in April 1483 created a crisis, as Edward’s heir was his twelve-year-old son Edward V.

Richard was named as Lord Protector to govern until the boy came of age, but Richard took custody of Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York.

He declared that the late king’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of a previous contract, which declared Edward’s children not lawful heirs.

The Titulus Regius, which was passed by Parliament in June 1483, set out this argument in law, although Henry VII would later repeal  it after taking the throne himself.

Nevertheless, Richard was crowned King Richard III on 6 July 1483. The rapid nature of his actions shocked many of Edward IV’s former supporters, who believed that Richard had taken the throne. 

Edward V and his brother were lodged in the Tower of London, which was a royal residence as well as a prison.

After the summer of 1483, they disappeared from public view and rumours spread that Richard had ordered their deaths to secure his throne.

Chroniclers hostile to Richard, such as Dominic Mancini, wrote that the boys were seen less and less until they were "gone altogether".

Later accounts, including those of Thomas More, claimed that Richard sent agents to smother the princes in their sleep. 

However, no contemporary evidence proves what happened to the princes. While it is true that some historians argue that Richard ordered their murders, believing that they were a threat to his throne, others suggest that the boys may have been killed by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, or that they survived in secret.

In 1674, two small skeletons were found in the Tower during building work, and they were reburied in Westminster Abbey.

Scientific tests have never conclusively identified them as the princes. As a result, the mystery of their fate continues to divide scholars. 

Richard’s reign lasted just over two years, during which he introduced reforms that aimed to improve access to justice.

He promoted the use of English in certain legal proceedings and supported measures that made some courts easier for ordinary people to approach, although Latin continued to be used widely in official records.

He also introduced policies to protect the rights of merchants and to limit corruption among royal officials.

Richard also tried to strengthen royal authority in the north and relied on the support of powerful nobles, including the Earl of Northumberland.

Lord Stanley, however, remained cautious in his loyalty. 

His rule faced strong opposition from former supporters of Edward IV who resented Richard’s seizure of the throne.

The Duke of Buckingham led a rebellion in October 1483 which failed, but it showed how unstable Richard’s position had become.

Henry Tudor, who lived in Brittany as a Lancastrian exile, attracted support as an alternative claimant to the throne.

By 1485 Richard faced increasing threats from unhappy nobles who switched their allegiance to Henry. 

Henry Tudor landed in Wales on 7 August 1485, marched through Wales and the Midlands and gathered support.

Richard assembled an army and confronted Henry near Market Bosworth on 22 August 1485.

The battle began with fierce fighting between Richard’s larger army and Henry’s smaller but determined force.

At one point during the events, Richard saw an opportunity to kill Henry directly and led a cavalry charge towards him. 

Lord Stanley and his brother Sir William Stanley, who had promised support to both sides, intervened at a critical moment.

Their forces attacked Richard’s men, turning the battle in Henry’s favour. Richard refused to flee and fought bravely until he was surrounded and killed.

His crown was found on the battlefield and placed on Henry’s head. Henry was crowned Henry VII and founded the Tudor dynasty.

As an interesting aside, Richard was the last English king to die in battle. 

Richard III’s reputation has been influenced by Tudor campaign and later by Shakespeare’s play, which portrayed him as a deformed, murderous tyrant.

The Tudors had strong reasons to blacken Richard’s name to strengthen Henry VII’s claim to the throne.

As a result, the image of Richard as a usurper and child-killer became part of popular history. 

Modern historians have revisited Richard’s actions and questioned the trustworthiness of Tudor sources.

Some view him as a capable ruler who was probably described too harshly by his enemies.

Others argue that his seizure of the throne and the fate of the princes show that he was ruthless and ambitious.

The discovery of Richard’s skeleton under a car park in Leicester in 2012 sparked renewed interest in his life.

Studies of his remains confirmed that he had severe scoliosis, which caused one shoulder to be higher than the other, but he was otherwise healthy and physically strong. 

Debate over Richard III continues because historians must rely on sources written by his enemies or long after his death.

His reputation as either a tyrant or a victim of propaganda depends on how the evidence is understood.