Richard III Biography

Dromo's Den

RICHARD III (1452–85). King of England from 1483 to 1485. He was the youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, and was born at Fotheringay Castle on Oct. 2, 1452. His boyhood was passed amid the struggles of the Wars of the Roses, in which he experienced both imprisonment and exile. In 1461, after the accession of his brother Edward IV to the throne, he was made Duke of Gloucester, although but a lad of nine years, and throughout the Wars of the Roses ha remained faithful to his brother, rendering him most valuable assistance. He rejected the overtures of Warwick and shared Edward's exile in 1470–71, and in the latter year he commanded the vanguard of the Yorkist's army at the final victories of Barnet and Tewkesbury. For all these services he was richly rewarded. In 1469 he was made High Constable of England and in 1478 Great Chamberlain, besides receiving numerous other grants and offices. He stood highest in the royal councils, proving a capable statesman, and in 1480–82 he conducted successful campaigns against the Scots, and as Warden of the West Marches he brought that country into such subjection that the Parliament of 1483 granted this office to him and his heirs forever.

Upon his death in the same year Edward IV left to Richard the care of his heir, Edward V, then but 13 years old, and the administration of his kingdom. Richard was at the time in the north, but before his arrival at London he was recognized by the royal council as Protector of the realm. He soon overthrew the unpopular party of the Woodvilles, the Queen's relatives, who aimed to control the government, and finally imprisoned Edward V and his younger brother. Parliament thereupon declared that he was the rightful King, on the ground that Edward IV's marriage with Elizabeth Woodville was illegal. A deputation of lords and commons presented these conclusions to Richard, who assumed the crown on June 26, 1483. After his accession the King courted popularity with considerable success. He made a royal progress through the midland and northern counties and was everywhere received with joy and loyalty. While Richard was thus engaged in the north, plots for the rescue of the captive princes were being hatched in the south. To end these conspiracies Richard about this time probably had his prisoners put to death, and the popular belief that he was responsible for their death cost him his crown and his life. The Duke of Buckingham, who was involved in these plots, thereupon planned a rebellion in favor of the Earl of Richmond, the Lancastrian claimant of the throne. A general uprising was planned for October 18, which was to extend throughout southern England and Wales, but the King's adherents repressed the insurrection in the south and cut the bridges over the Severn. The heavy autumn rains prevented Buckingham from crossing the river from the Welsh side, and the same storms frustrated the intended invasion by Richmond. Buckingham was taken prisoner and executed.

The remainder of Richard's brief reign was spent in preparations for the final struggle with Lancaster. By wise laws and politic acts he sought to win the affections of the people and by extensive military preparations to baffle the expected invasion. In order to unite the Yorkist party Richard intended to marry his son and heir to Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Edward IV, and on the death of his son he proposed marrying her (his niece) himself, but was obliged to renounce this plan on account of popular opposition. On Aug. 7, 1485, the Earl of Richmond landed at Milford Haven and was joined by the Welsh chieftains in his advance on Shrewsbury. Richard hastened to meet him, and the hostile armies faced each other on Bosworth Field. When, however, Richard ordered the attack, he found his troops half-hearted, and the Stanleys, whom he had summoned to his aid from Lancashire, joined the enemy. The result was that Richard was defeated and slain (Aug. 22, 1485), and the Earl of Richmond became King of England as Henry VII.

There has been much discussion over the character of Richard III. The chroniclers of the following reign, from whom we have derived our knowledge of him, wrote to please the Tudors. They pictured him as a monster, both physically and morally, and the genius of Shakespeare has fixed this conception in the public mind. He is said to have been undersized and a hunchback, with his left shoulder lower than the right. His look was said by Polydore Vergil to be full of malice and deceit and by Sir Thomas More to be warlike and, hard-favored. But contemporary portraits, of which several survive, show a thoughtful, anxious face and no trace of deformity. A hunchback could not have performed the feats of valor which he accomplished at Barnet, Tewkesbury, and Bosworth. But of his unscrupulous character there can be no doubt, although many of the accusations of his enemies are unfounded. He and his brother Clarence were said to have caused the death of Edward, the heir of the house of Lancaster, after the battle of Tewkesbury. But even if this be true there were many similar executions in the Wars of the Roses. There is nothing to prove that he caused the murder of Henry VI or had any part in the accusation and conviction of his brother Clarence. From all these deaths Edward IV, and not Richard, was chief beneficiary. The murder of his two nephews in the Tower was, however, quite generally ascribed to Richard's orders.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIX (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 799.