222-663: Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York . His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field marked the end of the Middle Ages in England . Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother Edward IV . This
444-430: A Yorkist army at the Battle of Edgcote . Edward was allowed to resume his rule after Warwick failed to replace him with his brother George of Clarence . Within a year, Warwick launched an invasion of England alongside Henry VI's wife Margaret of Anjou . Edward fled to Flanders , and Henry VI was restored as king in 1470. Edward mounted a counter-invasion with aid from Burgundy a few months later, and killed Warwick at
666-470: A campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign. Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York , he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in
888-497: A cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine ( scoliosis ). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing , and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing. Following
1110-422: A claim to the throne based upon the principle that the son of the heir apparent (Edward, in this case) had priority in the line of succession over his uncles. Thus, Richard had a superior claim to the throne than his much older uncles: John, Edmund and Thomas. However, Richard was a minor; had no siblings; and his three living uncles (at the time of Edward III's death) were politically powerful and ambitious, so there
1332-408: A client kingdom of France, was derided and rejected by Parliament, which was predominately controlled by the knights fighting the war. Richard decided to negotiate a de facto peace directly with Charles without seeking Parliament's approval and agreed to marry his six-year-old daughter, Isabella of Valois . Richard used the interim peace to punish his political rivals. In 1397, he took his revenge on
1554-455: A close ally of Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou. Margaret herself wielded almost complete control over the pliable king Henry, and her close friendship with Somerset led many to suspect the two were having an affair; indeed, upon the birth of Henry and Margaret's son, Edward of Westminster in 1453, there were widespread rumours that Somerset was the father. On 15 April 1450, the English suffered
1776-532: A collection of all the individuals to whom a lord had gathered for service, and came to be one of the most fundamentally defining aspects of bastard feudalism. These affinities also had the means of tying the more powerful magnates to the lower nobility, although these relationships were now largely defined by personal connections that exhibited reciprocal benefit, rather than tenurial or feudal relationships that preceded bastard feudalism. Consequently, lords could now raise retinues they could implicitly trust, since
1998-448: A constitutional ruler, must ultimately accept the decisions of the prime minister and Cabinet, who by definition enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons. In Bagehot's words: "the sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy ... three rights – the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn." Although the royal prerogative is extensive and parliamentary approval
2220-476: A contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire , recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth . Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII. Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument
2442-542: A continued deterioration of the unstable political situation, which polarised around long-standing feuds between the more powerful noble families, in particular the Percy-Neville feud , and the Bonville-Courtenay feud , creating a volatile political climate ripe for civil war. To ensure the country could be governed, a Regency Council was established and, despite the protests of Margaret, was led by Richard of York, who
SECTION 10
#17328444558392664-499: A continued prosecution of a military solution against France. Suffolk and the Beaufort family frequently received large grants of money, land, and important government and military positions from the king, who preferred their less hawkish inclinations, redirecting much-needed resources away from Richard and Gloucester's campaigns in France, leading to Richard developing a bitter resentment for
2886-458: A corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius , but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry
3108-687: A decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster , only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George
3330-768: A declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York , called the " Princes in the Tower ", disappeared from the Tower of London around August 1483. There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham . Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor , landed in Wales with
3552-403: A demoralising effect on the king and his men. 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
3774-500: A difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime" and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, 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. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk , may have had
3996-434: A force of around 3,000–7,000 troops south toward London, where they were met by Henry's force of 2,000 at St Albans , north of London, on 22 May 1455. Though the ensuing struggle resulted in fewer than 160 casualties combined, it was a decisive Yorkist victory. King Henry VI had been taken prisoner by York's men, who had found the monarch hiding in a local tanner's shop , abandoned by his courtiers and advisors. Despite
4218-566: 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. During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482,
4440-432: A great heart." 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...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog." Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of
4662-505: A hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed". Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he
SECTION 20
#17328444558394884-494: A large extent a quarrel between Welsh Marcher Lords , who were also great English nobles, closely related to the English throne." The question of succession following the death of Edward III in 1377 is said by historian Ian Mortimer to be the root cause of the Wars of the Roses. Although Edward's succession seemed secure, there was a "sudden narrowing in the direct line of descent" near
5106-472: A leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens . In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier . He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from
5328-598: A major reversal in France at Formigny , which paved the way for the French reconquest of Normandy . That same year, there was a violent popular uprising in Kent, which is often seen as a precursor to the Wars of the Roses. The rebel manifesto, The Complaint of the Poor Commons of Kent , written under the stewardship of rebel leader Jack Cade, accused the crown of extortion, perversion of justice, and election fraud. The rebels occupied parts of London, and executed James Fiennes ,
5550-496: A majority in that House. The prime minister takes office by attending the monarch in a private audience, and after " kissing hands " that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. The sovereign also has the power to dismiss the prime minister, but the last time this power was exercised was in 1834, when William IV dismissed Lord Melbourne ; since then, prime ministers have only left office upon their resignation, which they are expected to offer to
5772-765: A man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne 's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby , Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon
5994-583: A marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries , his body was thrown into the River Soar , although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed
6216-617: A military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the " Auld Alliance "), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he
6438-449: A neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations. Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck , a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though
6660-473: A non-partisan manner. The UK Government has called the monarchy "a unique soft power and diplomatic asset". The Crown also occupies a unique cultural role, serving as an unofficial brand ambassador for British interests and values abroad, increasing tourism at home, and promoting charities throughout civil society . The British monarchy traces its origins from the petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval Scotland , which consolidated into
6882-517: A plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2,000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London , where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within
Richard III of England - Misplaced Pages Continue
7104-405: A promotion from Earl to Marquess (and would be made a Duke in 1448) for his efforts, the clauses of the treaty that required cession of lands to France were kept secret from the English public due to fears of a significant backlash, but Henry insisted on the treaty. Two years later in 1447, Suffolk succeeded in having Gloucester arrested for treason. Gloucester died while awaiting trial, with some at
7326-549: A refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which the king was an elevated figure. Richard's reign as Richard II of England was tumultuous, marked by increasing dissension between the monarch and several of the most powerful nobles. Richard ruled without a regency council despite his young age in order to exclude his uncle, John of Gaunt the Duke of Lancaster, from wielding legitimate power. Unpopular taxes which funded unsuccessful military expeditions in Europe triggered
7548-447: A reformer to demand better government, he was eventually imprisoned for much of 1452 and 1453. By the summer of the latter year, Richard seemed to have lost the power struggle. Throughout these quarrels, Henry himself had taken little part in proceedings. He displayed several symptoms of mental illness, possibly inherited from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France . His near-total lack of leadership in military matters had left
7770-473: A serious threat to the throne and attempted to cut off his supplies, however a French attack on Sandwich in August 1457 ignited fears of a French invasion, forcing Margaret to concede and provide Warwick with the funding he required to protect the realm. However, in February 1456, Henry recovered his mental faculties, and once again relieved York of his office as Lord Protector, reassuming personal governance over
7992-503: A sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having
8214-680: A similar relationship to the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland as to the government of the UK. The sovereign appoints the First Minister of Scotland on the nomination of the Scottish Parliament , and the First Minister of Wales on the nomination of the Senedd . In Scottish matters, the sovereign acts on the advice of the Scottish Government . However, as devolution
8436-514: A small force that quickly grew in numbers, meeting little resistance. With the support of much of the disaffected nobility, Bolingbroke deposed Richard and was crowned as Henry IV, the first Lancastrian monarch. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate. Richard's posthumous reputation has been shaped to a large extent by William Shakespeare , whose play Richard II portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for
8658-430: A son, Henry . The following year, Henry V died of dysentery , and his son ascended to the throne at just nine months old. Henry V's younger brothers produced no surviving legitimate heirs, leaving only the Beaufort family as alternative Lancastrian successors. As Richard of York grew into maturity and Henry VI's rule deteriorated, York's claim to the throne became more attractive. The revenue from his estates also made him
8880-415: A storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He
9102-455: A substantive shift in social dynamics in which the conscription-based feudal levy came to be replaced by a system of royal payment in return for military service by the magnates who served the monarch. Thus, instead of vassals rendering military service when called, they paid a portion of their income into their lord's treasury, who would supplement the owed service with hired retainers. These retinues were known as affinities ; essentially
Richard III of England - Misplaced Pages Continue
9324-508: A suspect. After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University , and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded
9546-413: A sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. Polydore Vergil , Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". The Burgundian chronicler, Jean Molinet , states that a Welshman struck the death blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It
9768-463: A valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford . From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy ,
9990-471: A vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England , written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than
10212-522: Is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation , and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar . In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by Philippa Langley with the assistance of the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory . The University of Leicester identified the human skeleton found at
10434-655: Is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs, loyal toasts, and salutes. " God Save the King " (or, alternatively, "God Save the Queen") is the British national anthem . Oaths of allegiance are made to the Sovereign and their lawful successors. The monarch takes little direct part in government. The authority to use the sovereign's formal powers is almost all delegated, either by statute or by convention , to ministers or officers of
10656-663: Is marked by the State Opening of Parliament , during which the monarch reads the speech from the throne in the chamber of the House of Lords, outlining the Government's legislative agenda. Prorogation usually occurs about one year after a session begins, and formally concludes the session. Dissolution ends a parliamentary term, and is followed by a general election for all seats in the House of Commons. If not dissolved sooner, Parliaments are automatically dissolved after five years. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 temporarily removed
10878-769: Is more limited in Wales, in Welsh matters the monarch acts on the advice of the prime minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The sovereign can veto any law passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly , if it is deemed unconstitutional by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland . The sovereign is deemed the "fount of justice"; although the monarch does not personally rule in judicial cases, judicial functions are performed in his or her name. For instance, prosecutions are brought on
11100-482: Is not formally required for its exercise, it is limited. Many Crown prerogatives have fallen out of use or have been permanently transferred to Parliament. For example, the sovereign cannot impose and collect new taxes; such an action requires the authorisation of an Act of Parliament. According to a parliamentary report, "The Crown cannot invent new prerogative powers", and Parliament can override any prerogative power by passing legislation. The royal prerogative includes
11322-409: Is used to pardon convicted offenders or reduce sentences. The sovereign is the " fount of honour ", the source of all honours and dignities in the United Kingdom. The Crown creates all peerages , appoints members of the orders of chivalry , grants knighthoods and awards other honours. Although peerages and most other honours are granted on the advice of the prime minister, some honours are within
SECTION 50
#173284445583911544-537: The Battle of Barnet . Henry was returned to prison, and his sole heir later killed by Edward at the Battle of Tewkesbury , followed by Henry's own death in the Tower of London , possibly on Edward's orders. Edward ruled unopposed for the next twelve years, during which England enjoyed a period of relative peace. Upon his death in April 1483, he was succeeded by the twelve-year-old Edward V , who reigned for 78 days until being deposed by his uncle Richard III . Richard assumed
11766-509: The Battle of Wakefield on 30 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 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of
11988-529: The British Army , and the Royal Air Force ), and accredits British High commissioners and ambassadors, and receives heads of missions from foreign states. The sovereign has the power to appoint the prime minister. In accordance with unwritten constitutional conventions, the monarch appoints the individual who commands the support of the House of Commons, usually the leader of a party or coalition that has
12210-756: The Castilian fleet in May 1458, and against a fleet of the Hanseatic League a few weeks later. His position in Calais also enabled him to establish relations with Charles VII of France , and Philip the Good of Burgundy , international connections that would serve him in the future. In response to the attacks, Warwick was summoned to London to face inquiries along with York and Salisbury. However, fearing arrest once they were isolated from their allies, they refused. York instead summoned
12432-458: The College of Arms . In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Davies has suggested that it
12654-1024: The Duchy of Lancaster were primarily located in Gloucestershire , North Wales , Cheshire , and, ironically, in Yorkshire , while the estates of the Duke of York were spread throughout England and Wales, with many in the Welsh Marches . Historians disagree over which factors were the main causes of the wars. Edward III , who ruled England from 1327 to 1377, had five sons who survived into adulthood; Edward of Woodstock "the Black Prince" , Lionel of Antwerp , John of Gaunt , Edmund of Langley , and Thomas of Woodstock . Throughout his reign, he created duchies for his sons; Cornwall in 1337 for Edward, and in 1362 Clarence for Lionel and Lancaster for John. In 1385, during
12876-563: The February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed prime minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilson's Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party. The second followed the May 2010 general election , in which the Conservatives (the largest party) and Liberal Democrats (the third-largest party) agreed to form
13098-584: The Hanseatic merchants , 20,000 pounds , 36 ships and 1,200 men. They left Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness . The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he
13320-415: The House of Percy , led by Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland and Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester , to rebel multiple times against Henry. The first challenge was defeated at Shrewsbury in 1403 and Worcester was executed, while a second attempt failed at Bramham Moor in 1408, at which Northumberland was killed. Henry himself died in 1413, and was succeeded by his son, Henry of Monmouth , who
13542-576: The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) with France, as well as the quasi-military bastard feudalism resulting from the powerful duchies created by King Edward III . The mental instability of King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster revived his cousin Richard, Duke of York 's interest in a claim to the throne . Warfare began in 1455 with York's capture of Henry at the First Battle of St Albans , upon which York
SECTION 60
#173284445583913764-575: The Kingdom of Great Britain , and in 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Beginning in the 16th century, the monarch was the nominal head of what came to be the vast British Empire , which covered a quarter of the world's land area at its greatest extent in 1921. The title Emperor of India was added to the British monarch's titles between 1876 and 1948. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised
13986-455: The Kingdom of Scotland . Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms. On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V , succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of
14208-522: The Lascelles Principles , if a minority government asked to dissolve Parliament to call an early election to strengthen its position, the monarch could refuse and would do so under three conditions. When Harold Wilson requested a dissolution late in 1974, Queen Elizabeth II granted his request as Heath had already failed to form a coalition. The resulting general election gave Wilson a small majority. The monarch could in theory unilaterally dismiss
14430-480: The Mortimer family and had a son, Roger Mortimer , who technically would have the best legal claim of succession. However, a legal decree issued by Edward III in 1376 introduced complexity into the question of succession, since the letters patent he issued limited the right of succession to his male line , which placed his third son, John of Gaunt, ahead of Clarence's descendants, since the latter were descended through
14652-578: The Pale of Calais , shifting the balance of power in Europe, and ending the Hundred Years' War . Perhaps in reaction to the news, Henry suffered a complete mental breakdown, during which he failed to recognise his newborn son, Edward. On 22 March 1454, Cardinal John Kemp , the Lord Chancellor , died, and Henry could not be induced to nominate a successor, thus making government in the king's name constitutionally impossible. The lack of central authority led to
14874-453: The Peasant's Revolt in 1381, and Parliament's refusal to cooperate with the king's unpopular Lord Chancellor , Michael de la Pole , created a political crisis that seriously threatened to dethrone Richard. Richard had repeatedly switched his choice of heir throughout his reign to keep his political enemies at bay. The king's dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among
15096-501: The Second Battle of St Albans , but defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton . The Yorkist Edward was formally crowned in June 1461. In 1464, Edward married Elizabeth Woodville against the advice of Warwick, and reversed Warwick's policy of seeking closer ties with France. Warwick rebelled against Edward in 1469, leading to Edward's imprisonment after Warwick's supporters defeated
15318-482: The Treaty of Troyes . The treaty disinherited the French Dauphin Charles from the line of succession, married Charles' daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry, and acknowledged their future sons as legitimate successors to the French throne. Richard of York , the son of Richard of Conisburgh, was four years old when his father was executed. As his paternal uncle, Edward, 2nd Duke of York , had died at Agincourt without issue, Henry permitted Richard of York to inherit
15540-524: The United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state , with their powers regulated by the British Constitution . The term may also refer to the role of the royal family within the UK's broader political structure . The monarch since 8 September 2022 is King Charles III , who ascended the throne on the death of Queen Elizabeth II , his mother. The monarch and their immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties. Although formally
15762-450: The West Country . Margaret headed north to Scotland , where she successfully negotiated the use of Scottish troops and other aid for the Lancastrian cause from Queen Regent Mary of Guelders , in return for the surrender of Berwick , which a year prior, James II of Scotland , using the turmoil of the war as an opportunity tried to retake as well as Roxburgh . The latter, though successful, cost him his life. A similar successful negotiation
15984-406: The female line . Richard II , also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. During Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils, influenced by Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock . England then faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War . A major challenge of
16206-611: The heraldic badges associated with the two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet fighting for control of the English throne; the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster . Embryonic forms of this term were used in 1727 by Bevil Higgons , who described the quarrel between the two roses and by David Hume in The History of England (1754–1761): The people, divided in their affections, took different symbols of party:
16428-422: The 19th century. The constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the "dignified" rather than the "efficient" part of government. That part of the government's executive authority which remains theoretically and nominally vested in the sovereign is known as the royal prerogative . The monarch acts within the constraints of convention and precedent, exercising prerogative powers only on
16650-617: The Anglo-Saxon period, while the feudal system continued to develop. Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses , known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars , were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The wars were fought between supporters of the House of Lancaster and House of York , two rival cadet branches of
16872-556: The Appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". When John of Gaunt died in 1399, Richard confiscated the lands and titles of Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke whom he had exiled to France in 1398. In May 1399, Richard left England for a military expedition in Ireland, giving Bolingbroke the opportunity to return to England. Henry invaded England in June 1399 with
17094-502: The Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June. Bishop 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. The identity of Stillington
17316-672: The Bath . Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command. 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 , later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of
17538-524: The Beauforts. Suffolk continued to increase his influence at court as the principal architect of the Treaty of Tours in 1444 to broker peace between England and France. Suffolk successfully negotiated the marriage to Henry of Margaret of Anjou , only a distant relation of Charles VII through marriage rather than blood, in exchange for the strategically important lands of Maine and Anjou . Though Suffolk earned
17760-554: The Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take
17982-474: The City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity" whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore , lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings
18204-573: 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 (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), 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
18426-542: The Crown , or other public bodies . Thus the acts of state done in the name of the Crown, such as Crown Appointments, even if personally performed by the monarch, such as the King's Speech and the State Opening of Parliament , depend upon decisions made elsewhere. In formal terms: The sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as granting honours . This role has been recognised since
18648-456: The Duke of Clarence. Langley's second son, Richard of Conisburgh , had married Anne de Mortimer , daughter of Roger Mortimer and sister of Edmund Mortimer . Anne's grandmother, Philippa of Clarence , was the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp. During the fourteenth century, the Mortimers were the most powerful marcher family in the kingdom. G.M. Trevelyan wrote that "the Wars of the Roses were to
18870-482: The English forces in France scattered and weak, which left them ripe for defeat at Formigny in 1450. Henry was described as more interested in matters of religion and learning, which, coupled with his timid and passive nature and, if not well-intentioned, aversion to warfare, made him an ineffectual king for the time. On 17 July 1453, the English forces in southern France suffered a catastrophic defeat at Castillon , and England lost all her possessions in France except for
19092-494: The Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed High Sheriff of Cumberland for five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year, he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate
19314-428: The Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes. During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised
19536-419: The Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset , on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal , in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle. At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles
19758-514: The Lancastrians and defeated them at Northampton on 10 July 1460. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham , John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury , John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont , and Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont were all killed defending their king. For a second time, Henry was taken prisoner by the Yorkists, who escorted him to London, compelling the surrender of the Tower garrison. That September, York returned from Ireland, and, at
19980-742: The Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread. As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out
20202-517: The Nevilles to rendezvous at his stronghold of Ludlow Castle in the Welsh Marches ; Warwick departed Calais with a portion of the garrison there to join the main Yorkist forces. Margaret had not been idle during this time and had been actively recruiting armed support for Henry, distributing a livery emblem of a silver swan to knights and squires enlisted by her personally. Before Warwick could join them,
20424-460: The Parliament of October that year, he made a symbolic gesture of his intention to claim the English crown by placing his hand upon the throne, an act which shocked the assembly. Even York's closest allies were not prepared to support such a move. Assessing York's claim, the judges felt that common law principles could not determine who had priority in the succession, and declared the matter "above
20646-598: The Percy family were gathering support. They were joined by Somerset and the Thomas Courtenay, 6th/14th Earl of Devon . York, his son the Earl of Rutland, and Salisbury left London to contain the Lancastrian threat in the north. On 16 December 1460, York's vanguard clashed with Somerset's forces from the West Country at the Battle of Worksop , and was defeated. On 21 December, York reached his fortress of Sandal Castle near
20868-557: The Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham , met Queen Elizabeth 's brother, with Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers , at Northampton . At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2,000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort
21090-423: The Roses. 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, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell , who
21312-653: The Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate." On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset ; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York . On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville,
21534-546: The University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII . He married
21756-443: The Wars of the Roses. Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed, he may have had a personality disorder , particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that
21978-555: The Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such
22200-462: The Welsh nobility. Glyndŵr's rebellion would outlast Henry's reign, and would not end until 1415. During the revolt, Glyndŵr received aid from members of the Tudors , a prominent Anglesey family and maternal cousins of Glyndŵr himself, who would come to play a defining role in the coming Wars of the Roses. Disputes over promises of land, money, and royal favour in exchange for their continued support drove
22422-510: The White Boar", is the oldest of several Ricardian groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews." King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom , commonly referred to as the British monarchy , is the form of government used by
22644-418: The Yorkist army of 5,000 troops under Salisbury was ambushed by a Lancastrian force twice their size under James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley at Blore Heath on 23 September 1459. The Lancastrian army was defeated, and Baron Audley himself killed in the fighting. In September, Warwick crossed over into England and made his way north to Ludlow. At nearby Ludford Bridge , the Yorkist forces were scattered due to
22866-612: The Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece. After the Battle of Bosworth, Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke , prior to being hastily and discreetly buried in the choir of Greyfriars Church in Leicester . In 1495, Henry VII paid 50 pounds for
23088-413: The Yorkists managed to retain the loyalty of the garrison. Fresh from their victory at Ludford Bridge, the Lancastrian faction assembled a " Parliament of Devils " at Coventry with the sole purpose of attainting York, his sons, Salisbury, and Warwick, however, the actions of this assembly caused many uncommitted lords to fear for their titles and property. In March 1460, Warwick sailed to Ireland under
23310-553: 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, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts. Richard's death at Bosworth marked the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence),
23532-443: The advice of ministers responsible to Parliament, often through the prime minister or Privy Council . In practice, prerogative powers are exercised only on the prime minister's advice – the prime minister, and not the sovereign, has control. The monarch holds a weekly audience with the prime minister; no records of these audiences are taken and the proceedings remain fully confidential. The monarch may express his or her views, but, as
23754-474: The blame for these losses. Additionally, the blame of the unfavourable request to cede Maine and Anjou to the French was laid at Suffolk's feet, though he continued to insist he made no promises during negotiations to such a demand. In 1450, Suffolk was arrested, imprisoned in the Tower of London , and impeached in the Commons. Henry intervened and instead exiled Suffolk for five years, but en route to Calais, Suffolk
23976-549: The book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian , referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders. Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he
24198-541: The claims of the rival House of York to control of the government. Henry, Somerset, and a select council of nobles elected to hold a Great Council at Leicester on 22 May, away from Somerset's enemies in London. Fearing that charges of treason would be brought against them, York and his allies gathered an army to intercept the royal party at St Albans , before they could reach the Council. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York led
24420-603: The control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641. 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
24642-451: The coronation of Charles. Around this time, Henry's mother Catherine of Valois had remarried to Owen Tudor and bore two surviving sons; Edmund Tudor and Jasper Tudor , both of whom would play key roles in the concluding stages of the coming wars. Henry came of age in 1437 at age sixteen. However, Bedford had died two years earlier in 1435, and Beaufort largely withdrew himself from public affairs sometime thereafter, in part because of
24864-414: The couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first-degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it
25086-442: The crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham , whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view
25308-408: The defection of Warwick's Calais troops under Andrew Trollope . Forced to flee, York, who was still Lieutenant of Ireland, left for Dublin with his second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland , while Warwick and Salisbury sailed to Calais accompanied by York's heir, Edward, Earl of March . The Lancastrian faction appointed the new Duke of Somerset, Henry Beaufort to replace Warwick in Calais, however,
25530-539: The eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York , and Cecily Neville , and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the ' Wars of the Roses ', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists , who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to
25752-458: The end of his reign; Edward's two eldest sons, the heir apparent Edward, Duke of Cornwall ("the Black Prince") and Lionel, Duke of Clarence , had predeceased their father in 1376 and 1368 respectively. Edward III was survived by three sons with claims to the throne: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster ; Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York ; and Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester . The Black Prince had one surviving son, Richard , who had
25974-598: The evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also
26196-507: The evolution of the Dominions of the Empire into separate, self-governing countries within a Commonwealth of Nations . Also in this period, the monarchy in Ireland eventually became limited to Northern Ireland . In the years after World War II , the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, effectively bringing the Empire to an end. George VI and his successors adopted
26418-512: The first coalition government since World War II. The third occurred shortly thereafter, in June 2017 , when the Conservative Party lost its majority in a snap election, though the party remained in power as a minority government . The sovereign has the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament. Each parliamentary session begins with the sovereign's summons. The new parliamentary session
26640-606: The forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford , in East Anglia . In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England . In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings , as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he
26862-510: The form of the Southampton Plot . This was led by Sir Thomas Grey , Henry, Baron Scrope , and Richard of Conisburgh , the latter of whom was the second son of Edmund of Langley the 1st Duke of York. They intended to replace Henry with the young Edmund Mortimer , Richard of Conisburgh's brother-in-law, who was a great-great-grandson of Edward III and at one time the heir presumptive to Richard II. Mortimer remained loyal and informed Henry of
27084-554: The heir presumptive was in fact Edmund Mortimer , the great-grandson of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence . However, Mortimer was descended through the female line, inheriting the claim from his grandmother, Philippa . An important branch of the House of Lancaster was the House of Beaufort , whose members were descended from Gaunt by his mistress, Katherine Swynford . Originally illegitimate, they were legitimised by an Act of Parliament when Gaunt and Katherine later married. However, Henry IV excluded them from
27306-508: The imprisoned Richard as king. The attempt failed, all four conspirators were executed, and Richard died shortly thereafter "by means unknown" in Pontefract Castle . Further west in Wales , the Welsh had generally supported Richard's rule, and, welded to a myriad of other socio-economic problems, the accession of Henry triggered a major rebellion in Wales led by Owain Glyndŵr , a member of
27528-594: The influential, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant . By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In France, much of the territory conquered by Edward III had been lost, leading Richard to negotiate a peace treaty known as Truce of Leulinghem with Charles VI in July 1389. The peace proposal, which would effectively have made England
27750-567: The king's commander in France, either to mediate or defend him against Gloucester's accusations of treason. Overseas, the French had rallied around Joan of Arc and had inflicted major defeats on the English at Orléans , and Patay , reversing many of the gains made by Henry V and leading to the coronation of the Dauphin as Charles VII in Reims on 17 July 1429. Henry was formally crowned as Henry VI, aged 7, shortly thereafter on 6 November in response to
27972-552: The king's peace and punishing lawbreakers. Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of
28194-562: The king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal). Significant among Richard's defenders
28416-410: The kingdom. York removed Somerset from his position and imprisoned him in the Tower of London. In 1455, Henry made a surprise recovery from his mental instability, and reversed much of Richard of York's progress. Somerset was released and restored to favour, and York was forced out of court into exile. However, disaffected nobles, chiefly the Earl of Warwick and his father the Earl of Salisbury, backed
28638-561: The kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century. England was conquered by the Normans in 1066, after which Wales also gradually came under the control of Anglo-Normans . The process was completed in the 13th century when the Principality of Wales became a client state of the English kingdom. The Anglo-Normans also established the Lordship of Ireland . Meanwhile, Magna Carta began
28860-691: The law and passed their learning". Finding a lack of decisive support for his claim among the nobility who at this stage had no desire to usurp Henry, a compromise was reached: the Act of Accord was passed on 25 October 1460, which stated that following Henry's death, his son Edward would be disinherited, and the throne would pass to York. However, the compromise was quickly found to be unpalatable, and hostilities resumed. Queen Margaret and her son had fled to Lancastrian-held Harlech Castle , where they joined Henry's half-brother Jasper Tudor and Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter , who were recruiting troops in Wales and
29082-441: The line of succession to the throne. The House of York descended from Edmund of Langley, the fourth surviving son of Edward III and younger brother of John of Gaunt. The name derives from Langley's primary title as Duke of York, which he acquired in 1385 during the reign of his nephew, Richard II. The Yorkist claim on the throne, unlike the Lancastrian claim, was based upon the female line of descent , as descendants of Lionel,
29304-468: The magnates became powerful enough to defend the interests of their lord against even the authority of the monarch, as John of Gaunt, and later his son, Henry Bolingbroke , did against Richard. During the wars, disaffected magnates such as Richard of York and Warwick the Kingmaker were able to rely upon their complex network of servants and retainers to successfully defy the authority of Henry VI . The House of Lancaster descended from John of Gaunt,
29526-498: The mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George
29748-440: The men of the affinity owed their positions to their patron. These affinities were often much larger than the number of men the lord actually knew, since the members of the affinity also knew and supported each other. Under the reign of Richard II , this created a power struggle with the magnates, as Richard sought to increase the size of his own affinities as a counterweight to the growing retinues of his nobles. The retinues of
29970-521: The monarch has authority over the government —which is known as " His/Her Majesty's Government "—this power may only be used according to laws enacted in Parliament and within constraints of convention and precedent . In practice the monarch's role, including that of Head of the Armed Forces , is limited to functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the prime minister , which are performed in
30192-421: The monarch to dismiss them; such ministers are euphemistically described as "leaving the government". In a hung parliament where no party or coalition holds a majority, the monarch has an increased degree of latitude in choosing the individual likely to command the most support, though it would usually be the leader of the largest party. Since 1945, there have only been three hung parliaments. The first followed
30414-415: The monarch upon losing their majority in the House of Commons. While the sovereign also appoints and may dismiss every other Minister of the Crown , by convention they do so only on the recommendation of the prime minister. It is therefore the prime minister who controls the composition of the government. In practice, the prime minister will request a member of the government resign in preference to advising
30636-515: The name on a scene in William Shakespeare 's play Henry VI, Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4), set in the gardens of the Temple Church , where a number of noblemen and a lawyer pick red or white roses to symbolically display their loyalty to the Lancastrian or Yorkist faction respectively. During Shakespeare's time, the conflict was simply referred to as the "civil wars". The Yorkist faction used
30858-422: The office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household. The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between
31080-555: The other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem." Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as
31302-409: 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, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling
31524-423: The partisans of the house of Lancaster chose the red rose as their mark of distinction; those of York were denominated from the white; and these civil wars were thus known over Europe by the name of the quarrel between the two roses. The modern term Wars of the Roses came into common use in the early 19th century following the publication of the 1829 novel Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott . Scott based
31746-489: The paucity of casualties on either side, many of York and the Neville family's most influential foes were killed, including Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset , Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland , and Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford . With the king in his custody and many of his key rivals dead, York was again appointed Lord Protector by Parliament , and the Yorkist faction regained their position of influence. York's allies were soon in ascendancy thanks to
31968-600: The personal gift of the sovereign and are not granted on ministerial advice. The sovereign alone appoints members of the Order of the Garter , the Order of the Thistle , the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of Merit . The sovereign is personally immune from criminal prosecution or arrest, as well as from civil actions, and their property is not subject to execution or foreclosure . The Crown , however, as distinct from
32190-495: The plot, who had all three ringleaders executed. Henry captured Harfleur on 22 September and inflicted a decisive defeat on the French at Agincourt on 25 October which wiped out a significant part of the French nobility. Agincourt and Henry's subsequent campaigns firmly entrenched the legitimacy of the Lancastrian monarchy and Henry's pursuit of his claims on the French throne. In 1420, Henry and Charles VI of France signed
32412-512: The powers to appoint and dismiss ministers, regulate the civil service, issue passports, declare war, make peace, direct the actions of the military, and negotiate and ratify treaties, alliances, and international agreements. However, a treaty cannot alter the domestic laws of the United Kingdom; an Act of Parliament is necessary in such cases. The sovereign is the Head of the Armed Forces (the Royal Navy ,
32634-479: The present borders of England, though its constituent parts retained strong regional identities. The 11th century saw England become more stable, despite a number of wars with the Danes, which resulted in a Danish monarchy for one generation. The conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy , was crucial in terms of both political and social change. The new monarch continued the centralisation of power begun in
32856-417: The prime minister, but in practice, the prime minister's term nowadays comes to an end only by electoral defeat, death, or resignation. Before a bill passed by the legislative Houses can become law, royal assent (the monarch's approval) is required. In theory, assent can either be granted (making the bill law) or withheld (vetoing the bill), but since 1708 assent has always been granted. The sovereign has
33078-410: The process of reducing the English monarch's political powers. In the 16th century, English and Scottish monarchs played a central role in what became the religious English Reformation and Scottish Reformation , and the English king became King of Ireland . Beginning in 1603, the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign . From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by
33300-579: The protection of the Gascon Lord of Duras to concert plans with York, evading the royal fleet commanded by Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter , before they returned to Calais. In late June 1460, Warwick, Salisbury, and Edward of March crossed the Channel and rode north to London, where they enjoyed widespread support. Salisbury was left with a force to besiege the Tower of London , while Warwick and March pursued Henry northward. The Yorkists caught up with
33522-589: The realm. Despite the tenuous peace, disorder was returning to the kingdom as sporadic fighting once more broke out between the Neville and Percy families. To quell the growing discontent, Henry attempted to broker a public display of reconciliation between the two sides at St. Paul's Cathedral on 25 March 1458, however, no sooner had the procession dispersed than the plotting resumed. Meanwhile, as Henry attempted in vain to secure peace in England, Warwick, in disregard of royal authority, had conducted attacks against
33744-623: The region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North ; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche , [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln , president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of
33966-486: The reign of Richard II , Edmund became Duke of York and Thomas became the Duke of Gloucester . Dukedoms had hitherto never been conferred by any English monarch upon a subject until the creation of the Duchy of Cornwall in 1337, and their genesis spawned a powerful new class of English nobility with claims to the throne and, theoretically, enough power to vie for it, since the new duchies provided Edward's sons and their heirs presumptive with an income independent of
34188-447: The reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and the young king played a central part in the successful suppression of this crisis. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative , Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated
34410-515: The relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been having an affair with Anne. Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to
34632-448: The republican Commonwealth of England , which followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . Following the installation of William III and Mary II as co-monarchs in the Glorious Revolution , the Bill of Rights 1689 , and its Scottish counterpart the Claim of Right Act 1689 , further curtailed the power of the monarchy and excluded Catholics from succession to the throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create
34854-415: The restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers , escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu . On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland . It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward
35076-511: The ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open. 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; when Richard himself became king, he maintained
35298-422: The rise to prominence of his ally William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk as the dominant personality in the royal court. Like Beaufort, Suffolk favoured a diplomatic rather than a military solution to the deteriorating situation in France, a position which resonated with Henry, who was by nature averse to violence and bloodshed. Suffolk was opposed by Gloucester and the rising Richard of York , both of whom favoured
35520-400: The rival houses through marriage with Elizabeth of York , Edward IV's eldest daughter and heir. The wars concluded in 1487, with Henry VII's defeat of the remaining Yorkist opposition at Stoke Field . The House of Tudor would rule England until 1603, a period that saw the strengthening of the monarchy and the end of the medieval period in England . The name "Wars of the Roses" refers to
35742-431: The royal House of Plantagenet . The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit their claim to the throne through the female line . Conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England. The Wars of the Roses were rooted in English socio-economic troubles caused by
35964-423: The royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2,000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially, declare vested interests and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east and its responsibilities included land disputes, keeping of
36186-428: The same conciliar structure in his absence. 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 . It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under
36408-407: The side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold , the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury , in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role. During his adolescence, and due to
36630-414: The site as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating , comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, identification of trauma sustained at Bosworth and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne . He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015. Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire ,
36852-414: The site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river. According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on
37074-441: The sovereign or the state, thereby allowing them to establish and maintain their own private military retinues. Over time, these duchies began to exacerbate the structural defects inherent in so-called " bastard feudalism ", a somewhat controversial term coined in 1885 by historian Charles Plummer but largely defined by Plummer's contemporary, William Stubbs . During the reign of Edward's grandfather, Edward I , Stubbs describes
37296-427: The sovereign's authority to dissolve Parliament, however, this power was restored by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 . The sovereign's power of prorogation was unaffected, which is a regular feature of the parliamentary calendar . In 1950 the King's Private Secretary Sir Alan "Tommy" Lascelles , writing pseudonymously to The Times newspaper, asserted a constitutional convention: according to
37518-430: The sovereign's behalf, and courts derive their authority from the Crown. The common law holds that the sovereign "can do no wrong", and so cannot be prosecuted for criminal offences. The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 allows civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the government), but not lawsuits against the monarch personally. The sovereign exercises the "prerogative of mercy", which
37740-413: The sovereign's property without permission. Following Viking raids and settlement in the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex emerged as the dominant English kingdom. Alfred the Great secured Wessex, achieved dominance over western Mercia , and assumed the title "King of the Anglo-Saxons". His grandson Æthelstan was the first king to rule over a unitary kingdom roughly corresponding to
37962-407: The sovereign, can be the subject of proceedings for tort and contract since 1947 . There are more than 160 laws granting express immunity to the sovereign or their property in various respects. For example, the sovereign is exempt from anti-discrimination legislation and other workers' rights, health and safety, or pensions laws, as well as numerous taxes, and environmental inspectors cannot enter
38184-443: The stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason. Richard was granted the Dukedom of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England , including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained
38406-418: 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
38628-544: The symbol of the white rose from early in the conflict, but the red rose of Lancaster was introduced only after the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. After Henry's victory and marriage to Elizabeth of York , the heir of Edward IV , the two roses were combined to form the Tudor rose , to symbolise the union of the two claims. The use of the rose itself as a cognizance stemmed from Edward I 's use of "a golden rose stalked proper". Often, owing to nobles holding multiple titles, more than one badge
38850-556: The temporarily stabilised situation, particularly the young Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , who, in his capacity as Captain of Calais , had conducted anti-piracy operations in the English Channel . Warwick rapidly overtook his father, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury , as York's key ally, protecting York from retribution in Parliament. Warwick's position as commander of the strategically important port of Calais also gave him command of England's largest standing army . Henry's consort, Margaret of Anjou , considered Warwick
39072-689: The term is rarely used today, the fifteen Commonwealth realms are, with respect to their monarch, in personal union . The monarch is also head of state of the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories . King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
39294-437: The third surviving son of Edward III. The name derives from Gaunt's primary title as Duke of Lancaster, which he held by right of his spouse , Blanche of Lancaster . The Lancastrian claim on the throne had received preference from Edward III which explicitly emphasised the male line of descent . Henry IV based his right to depose Richard II and subsequent assumption of the throne upon this claim, since it could be argued that
39516-442: The throne amid controversies regarding the disappearance of Edward IV's two sons . He was met with a short-lived but major revolt and a wave of Yorkist defections. Amid the chaos, Henry Tudor , a descendant of Edward III through Lady Margaret Beaufort and a veteran Lancastrian, returned from exile with an army and defeated and killed Richard at Bosworth Field in 1485. Tudor then assumed the English throne as Henry VII and united
39738-517: The throne and marry Elizabeth , eldest daughter of Edward IV. It has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany , enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais , who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England. Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into
39960-513: The throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou , and the Lancastrians , who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham , and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier , Archbishop of Canterbury . When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland , were killed at
40182-554: 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
40404-472: The throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as
40626-424: The time suspecting that Suffolk had had him poisoned. Richard of York was stripped of his prestigious command in France and sent to govern the relatively distant Lordship of Ireland with a ten-year term of office, where he could not interfere with affairs at court. During this time, England continued to suffer reversals in France. Suffolk, who was now the principal power behind the throne , could not avoid taking
40848-449: The title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fourteen other independent sovereign states that share the same person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms . Although the monarch is shared, each country is sovereign and independent of the others, and the monarch has a different, specific, and official national title and style for each realm. Although
41070-421: The title and lands of the Duchy of York . When Edmund Mortimer died childless in 1425, Richard of York also inherited the Earldom of March and Mortimer's claim to the throne through his late mother, Edmund Mortimer's sister. Henry, who himself had three younger brothers and had recently married Catherine, did not doubt that the Lancastrian claim on the crown was secure. On 6 December 1421, Catherine gave birth to
41292-439: The uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom , the monarch (exclusively referred to in legislation as "the Sovereign ", and styled His or Her Majesty ) is the head of state . The monarch's image is used to signify British sovereignty and government authority – their profile, for instance, appears on Bank of England notes and all British coins and their portrait in government buildings. The Sovereign
41514-420: The unpopular Lord High Treasurer . They dispersed after they were supposedly pardoned but several ringleaders, including Cade, were later executed. After the rebellion, the grievances of Cade and his followers formed the basis of Richard of York's opposition to a royal government from which he felt unduly excluded. Richard of York used the opportunity to return from Ireland and went to London. Angling himself as
41736-403: The upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of
41958-434: The vanguard at the Battle of Barnet , in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter , although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicate he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against
42180-421: The way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall. Almost immediately after assuming the throne, Henry IV faced an attempted deposition known as the " Epiphany Rising " in 1400 by John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury , John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter , Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey , and the Thomas Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester , to re-install
42402-554: The wealthiest magnate in the kingdom. From early childhood, Henry VI was surrounded by quarrelsome councillors and advisors. His younger surviving paternal uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , sought to be named Lord Protector until Henry came of age, and deliberately courted the popularity of the common people for his own ends, but was opposed by his half-uncle, Cardinal Henry Beaufort . On several occasions, Beaufort called on John, Duke of Bedford , Gloucester's older brother and nominal regent to Henry, to return from his post as
42624-497: The year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London , then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan , in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from
42846-419: Was Horace Walpole . In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror , stating he now believed that Richard could have committed
43068-483: Was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made." Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours , surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts,
43290-496: Was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", to blame a disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take
43512-569: Was 600 men. Edward V had been sent further south to Stony Stratford . 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 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland . Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will. After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of
43734-417: Was appointed Lord Protector and Chief Councillor on 27 March 1454. York appointed his brother-in-law, Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury to the post of Chancellor, backing the Nevilles against their chief adversary, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland . In backing the Nevilles, York gained a key ally, Salisbury's son Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , one of the wealthiest and most powerful magnates in
43956-403: Was appointed Lord Protector by Parliament . Fighting resumed four years later when Yorkists led by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick captured Henry again at the Battle of Northampton . After attempting to seize the throne, York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield , and his son Edward inherited his claim per the controversial Act of Accord . The Yorkists lost custody of Henry in 1461 after
44178-488: Was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England . Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick
44400-492: Was captured and executed on 2 May 1450. Suffolk was succeeded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset , nephew of Henry Beaufort, as the leader of the faction pursuing peace with France, who had been appointed as Richard's replacement as commander in France in 1448. Somerset's political position was somewhat fragile, as English military failures in 1449 following a resumption of hostilities left him vulnerable to criticism from Richard's allies at court. Somerset had by this time become
44622-474: Was confined to those in "continuous employ of a lord", thus excluding, for example, mercenary companies. For example, Henry Tudor's forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon , while the Yorkist army used Richard III's personal device of a white boar . While the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster , the corresponding duchy and dukedom had little to do with these cities. The lands and offices attached to
44844-437: Was considerable uncertainty within the realm over who should inherit the throne. Ultimately, Edward was succeeded by his grandson who was crowned Richard II at just 10 years old. Under the laws of primogeniture , if Richard died without a legitimate heir, his successors would be the descendants of Lionel of Antwerp the Duke of Clarence, Edward III's second eldest son. Clarence's only child, his daughter Philippa , married into
45066-502: Was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury , near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville , later married Jasper Tudor , the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany , in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu , who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485. On 22 August 1485, Richard met
45288-428: Was crowned Henry V. To cement his position as king both domestically and abroad, Henry revived old dynastic claims to the French throne , and, using commercial disputes and the support France loaned to Owain Glyndŵr as a casus belli , invaded France in 1415 . While not plagued by constant rebellions as his father's reign was, Henry V faced a major challenge to his authority on the eve of his expedition to France in
45510-460: Was during the period known as the Wars of the Roses , an era when two branches of the royal family contested the throne; Edward and Richard were Yorkists . In 1472, Richard married Anne Neville , daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and widow of Edward of Westminster , son of Henry VI . He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard
45732-468: Was executed by Henry VII in 1499. 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, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of
45954-441: Was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse , who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with
46176-516: Was granted 10,000 pounds for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany , brother of King James III of Scotland . Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick as part of the English invasion of Scotland . The castle held out until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from
46398-425: Was his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville . It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As
46620-453: Was known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines . On 22 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, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to
46842-408: Was made for the use of French troops and aid for the Lancastrians cause that same year, this time in return for the surrender of Jersey , thus having the Auld Alliance backing the Lancastrian side to prevent the Yorkist ruled England from joining the Burgundian State in its war with France, a scenario that neither ally had the stomach for. The Lancastrians rallied in the North of England , where
47064-589: Was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander. Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity , including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr , who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led
47286-419: Was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V . Before arrangements were complete for Edward V's coronation, scheduled for 22 June 1483, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, Edward and his siblings were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed
47508-437: Was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick . The Countess, who
47730-436: Was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others. Some 20th-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross , "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns
47952-655: Was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years. In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy
48174-483: Was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas , or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from
48396-406: Was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs. The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through
48618-418: Was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely , were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine , under his protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to
48840-435: Was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley , and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. The role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. The physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with
49062-450: Was used: Edward IV , for example, used both his sun in splendour as Earl of March , but also his father's falcon and fetterlock as Duke of York . Badges were not always distinct; at the Battle of Barnet , Edward's 'sun' was very similar to the Earl of Oxford's Vere star , which caused fatal confusion in the fighting. Many participants wore livery badges associated with their immediate liege lords or patrons. The wearing of livery
49284-490: Was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner , who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography . Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with
#838161