King Richard III | Britroyals Born: October 2, 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire Parents: Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville Relation to Elizabeth II: 14th great-granduncle House of: York Ascended to the throne: June 26, 1483 aged 30 years Crowned: July 6, 1483 at Westminster Abbey Married: Anne Neville, widow of Edward, Prince of Wales and daughter of Earl of Warwick Children: One son, plus several illegitimate children before his marriage Died: August 22, 1485 at Battle of Bosworth, Leicestershire, aged 32 years, 10 months, and 19 days Buried at: Leicester Reigned for: 2 years, 1 month, and 27 days Succeeded by: his distant cousin Henry VII King of England from 1483. The son of Richard, Duke of York, he was created Duke of Gloucester by his brother Edward IV, and distinguished himself in the Wars of the Roses.

On Edward's death 1483 he became protector to his nephew Edward V, and soon secured the crown for himself on the plea that Edward IV's sons were illegitimate. He proved a capable ruler, but the suspicion that he had murdered Edward V and his brother undermined his popularity. In 1485 Henry, Earl of Richmond (later Henry VII), raised a rebellion, and Richard III was defeated and killed at Bosworth. After Richard's death on the battlefield his rival was crowned King Henry VII and became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty which lasted until 1603. Richard was the last English king to die in battle. His body was taken to Leicester where it was buried at Greyfriars Church in a Franciscan Friary which was subsequently destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 to 1541. In September 2012 archeologists uncovered remains of the church buried underneath a car park and found a skeleton of a male showing curvature of the spine, a major head wound, and an arrowhead lodged in his spine.

On 4 Feb 2013 experts anounced that DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the kings's family. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference: "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard." T Bones of King Richard III His reburial was delayed by claims that as a son of the House of York he should be buried in York cathedral. However his remains were reburied in Leicester Cathedral on Thursday 26 March 2015. King Richard III's Signature The character of Queen Elizabeth in Richard III from LitCharts | The creators of SparkNotes Queen Margaret Wife to King Edward and mother to Edward Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and a daughter (also named Elizabeth) whom Richmond eventually marries, Elizabeth is progressively devastated by Richard's rise as he murders first her allies, Earl Rivers, Lord Grey, and Sir Vaughan, then her young sons, and then tries to marry her daughter. Queen Elizabeth Quotes in Richard III The Richard III quotes below are all either spoken by Queen Elizabeth or refer to Queen Elizabeth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ).

Note: all page and citation info for the quotes below refers to the Simon & Schuster edition of Richard III published in 1996. Act 1, Scene 3 Quotes Cannot a plain man live, and think no harm, But thus his simple truth must be abus'd With silken, sly, insinuating Jacks? Related Characters: Richard, Duke of Gloucester, King Richard III (speaker), Queen Elizabeth Related Themes: Download it! Queen Elizabeth Character Timeline in Richard III The timeline below shows where the character Queen Elizabeth appears in Richard III. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Act 1, Scene 1 ...that he will be murdered by a ‘G.' Richard explains that Edward's domineering wife, Queen Elizabeth, must be behind this, as she recently convinced her husband to imprison Lord Hastings, who... (full context) ..."we speak no treason," he says, he and Clarence are just complimenting King Richard, Queen Elizabeth, and their relatives. Brackenbury apologizes. Richard promises Clarence he will do everything possible to free...

(full context) Act 1, Scene 3 Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth's brother Earl Rivers, and Lord Grey worriedly discuss King Edward's health at the Palace.... (full context) ...King Edward. They report that the king wants to make peace between Richard and Queen Elizabeth's brothers. Richard enters complaining that Elizabeth and her friends have slandered him to the king.... (full context) ...and mother of Edward of Westminster, enters unnoticed. She berates everyone under her breath, accusing Elizabeth of stealing the throne that belongs to her, and accusing Richard of killing her husband... (full context) Queen Margaret starts hurling curses. She curses Elizabeth to "outlive [her] glory," her children, her husband, and her throne, as Margaret has. She... (full context) Sir William Catesby enters with a message from King Edward, who calls Elizabeth, Rivers and the other lords to his bedside. All exit but Richard, who recounts with... (full context) Act 2, Scene 1 Back at the Palace, King Edward announces to Queen Elizabeth, Dorset, Rivers, Hastings, Buckingham, Grey, and others that, though he is near death, he feels... (full context) ...to keep friendly peace and claims he has no enemies in all of England.

Queen Elizabeth asks the King to forgive Clarence and, when Richard interjects that Clarence is dead, everyone... (full context) Richard notes to Buckingham how pale "the guilty kindred" of Queen Elizabeth looked upon hearing Clarence was killed. "O, they did urge it still unto the king!"... (full context) Act 2, Scene 2 Queen Elizabeth enters distraught with Rivers and Dorset, and reports that King Edward is dead. The Duchess... (full context) Dorset and Rivers interrupt the women to urge Queen Elizabeth to have her son, young Edward Prince of Wales, crowned immediately. Richard, Buckingham, Stanley, Hastings,... (full context) Act 2, Scene 3 ...maternal and fraternal uncles are factious and include the dangerous Richard and haughty relatives of Elizabeth. "…were they to be rul'd, and not to rule," the citizen speculates, "This sickly land... (full context) Act 2, Scene 4 In a room at the Palace, the Archbishop of York, Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess, and the young Duke of York (young Edward Prince of Wales' younger brother)... (full context) ...Thomas Vaughan have been imprisoned by Richard and Buckingham. He doesn't know for what offense.

Elizabeth laments "the ruin of my house" and the Duchess cries out that she'd rather die... (full context) Act 3, Scene 1 ...The Lord Mayor of London enters and welcomes Edward. Hastings enters and reports that Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of York have taken sanctuary and thus can't come to meet the... (full context) ...discuss how to crown Richard instead. Richard further tells Catesby to inform Hastings that Queen Elizabeth's captive relatives (Hastings' enemies) will be killed the next day at Pomfret Castle. Catesby exits.... (full context) Act 3, Scene 3 ...Buckingham, and Hastings, but hopes that his own shed blood will exempt his sister Queen Elizabeth and her sons from any misfortune. They exit to be executed. (full context) Act 3, Scene 4 ...killed. Richard extends a withered arm as evidence of witchcraft worked against him by Queen Elizabeth and Mistress Shore. When Hastings' hesitates to agree the women are guilty, Richard orders Hastings... (full context) Act 4, Scene 1 At the Tower, Queen Elizabeth enters on one side with the Duchess and Dorset while Anne, now Richard's wife, and...

(full context) Stanley enters and summons Anne to Westminster to be crowned Richard's queen. Elizabeth wails in grief at the news of Richard becoming king. Anne, too, is distraught and... (full context) Act 4, Scene 4 ...mine enemies" before she heads off to France. She steps back into hiding when Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess enter. The two of them are crazed with grief at the murder... (full context) Elizabeth dittoes the Duchess' curse and starts to leave but Richard stops her and says he... (full context) Elizabeth rebuts all Richard's attempts to coax her into taking his side, calling him an evil... (full context) Act 4, Scene 5 ...will behead him if he finds out about Stanley's betrayal. Stanley also tells Urswick that Elizabeth has gladly agreed to give Richmond her daughter's hand in marriage. Urswick lists the many... (full context) Act 5, Scene 5 ...white rose and the red rose (the Houses of York and Lancaster) by marrying Queen Elizabeth's daughter. He declares "smooth'd-fac'd peace" for England from now on and prays to God for... (full context) Cite This Page Choose citation style: Ross, Margaret.

"Richard III Characters: Queen Elizabeth." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 17 Nov 2013. Web. 19 Jan 2017. Ross, Margaret. "Richard III Characters: Queen Elizabeth." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 17 Nov 2013. Web. 19 Jan 2017. Ross, Margaret. "Richard III Characters: Queen Elizabeth." LitCharts LLC, November 17, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2017. Ross, Margaret. "Richard III Characters: Queen Elizabeth." LitCharts LLC, November 17, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2017. Copy to Clipboard Richard III's DNA throws up infidelity surprise - BBC News BBC News Richard III's DNA throws up infidelity surprise By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website 2 December 2014 Close share panel Image copyright University of Leicester Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up a surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree. Scientists who studied genetic material from remains found in a Leicester car park say the finding might have profound historical implications.

Depending on where in the family tree it occurred, it could cast doubt on the Tudor claim to the English throne or, indeed, on Richard's. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. But it remains unknown when the break, or breaks, in the family lineage occurred. In 2012, scientists extracted genetic material from the remains discovered on the former site of Greyfriars Abbey, where Richard was interred after his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. 'Overwhelming evidence' Their analysis shows that DNA passed down on the maternal side matches that of living relatives, but genetic information passed down on the male side does not. We may have solved one historical puzzle, but in so doing, we opened up a whole new one Prof Kevin Schurer, University of Leicester However, there are a wealth of other details linking the body to the Plantagenet king. "If you put all the data together, the evidence is overwhelming that these are the remains of Richard III," said Dr Turi King from Leicester University, who led the study.

Speaking at a news briefing at the Wellcome Trust in London, she said that the lack of a match on the male side was not unexpected; Dr King's previous research has shown there is a 1-2% rate of "false paternity" per generation. The instance of female infidelity, or cuckolding, could have occurred anywhere in the numerous generations separating Richard III from the 5th Duke of Beaufort (1744-1803), whose living descendants provided samples of male-line DNA to be compared against that of Richard. Image copyright University of Leicester Image caption Wendy Duldig and Michael Ibsen are 14th cousins, descended from Richard's eldest sister Anne of York "We may have solved one historical puzzle, but in so doing, we opened up a whole new one," Prof Kevin Schurer, who was the genealogy specialist on the paper, told BBC News. Investigation of the male genealogy focused on the Y chromosome, a package of DNA that is passed down from father to son, much like a surname.

Most living male heirs of the 5th Duke of Beaufort were found to carry a relatively common Y chromosome type, which is different from the rare lineage found in the car park remains. Richard III and his royal rival, Henry Tudor (later Henry VII), were both descendants of King Edward III. The infidelity could, in theory, have occurred either on the branch leading back from Henry to Edward or on the branch leading from Richard to Edward. Henry's ancestor John of Gaunt was plagued by rumours of illegitimacy throughout his life, apparently prompted by the absence of Edward III at his birth. He was reportedly enraged by gossip suggesting he was the son of a Flemish butcher. "Hypothetically speaking, if John of Gaunt wasn't Edward III's son, it would have meant that (his son) Henry IV had no legitimate claim to the throne, nor Henry V, nor Henry VI," said Prof Schurer.

Image copyright University of Leicester Image caption Turi King says there is a greater than 99% probability that the body is that of Richard Asked whether a break in the branch of the tree leading to the Tudors could have implications for the legitimacy of the present-day royal family, Prof Schurer replied: "Royal succession isn't straightforward inheritance from fathers to sons, and/or daughters. History has taken a series of twists and turns." The breakage was statistically more likely to have occurred in the part of the family tree which does not affect Royal succession - the most recent stretch - simply because more links in the chain exist there. The lack of any match for the Y-chromosome lineage is quite curious and suggests an intriguing new avenue for dynastic DNA studies Prof Martin Richards, University of Huddersfield And Dr Anna Whitelock, a reader in early modern history at Royal Holloway - University of London, told BBC News: "It's important to note that Henry VII claimed the throne "by right of conquest" not blood or marriage - his claim was extremely tenuous. "Henry VII was descended from Edward III from the Beaufort line - the Beauforts were legitimised by half-brother Henry IV but not in succession.

Royal succession has been based on many things in the past: ability to lead troops, religion, connections - not always seniority by royal blood." She added: "The Queen's right to reign in based on the 1701 Act of Settlement that restricted succession to Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover. A medieval false paternity does not challenge the current Queen's right to reign." Blue-eyed and blond Richard's maternal-line - or mitochondrial - DNA was matched to two living relatives of his eldest sister Anne of York. Michael Ibsen and Wendy Duldig are 14th cousins and both carry the same extremely rare genetic lineage as the body in the car park. Richard III was defeated in battle by Henry Tudor, marking the end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the beginning of Tudor rule, which lasted until Queen Elizabeth I died childless in 1603. Richard's battered body was subsequently buried in Greyfriars. As the Leicester team uncovered the male skeleton, the curvature in its spine became obvious. The condition would have caused one of the man's shoulders to be higher than the other, just as a contemporary of Richard described. Genes involved in hair and eye colour were also tested.

The results suggest Richard III had blue eyes, matching one of the earliest known paintings of the king. However, the hair colour analysis gave a 77% probability that the individual was blond, which does not match the depiction. But the researchers say the test is most closely correlated with childhood hair, and in some blond children, hair darkens during adolescence. Image copyright University of Leicester Image caption The curvature in the spine of "Skeleton 1", later confirmed as Richard, was obvious during its excavation The researchers took all the information linking the body to Richard III and carried out a statistical test known as Bayesian analysis to determine the probability that the body was indeed his - or not. Despite the absence of a male-line genetic match, the results came back with a 99.999% probability that the body was that of the Plantagenet king. Commenting on the study, Prof Martin Richards, a population geneticist at the University of Huddersfield, told BBC News: "The work seems to have been done with great care and looks very convincing to me." He said Richard III's maternal DNA type was very rare, and carried an additional genetic variant not previously seen before that "seems to be unique amongst a database that includes several thousand Europeans".

"So I agree that their assessment of the match probability is very conservative and it's very likely to be him," Prof Richards said. He added that, given the apparent certainty of the body's identity, "the lack of any match for the Y-chromosome lineage is quite curious and suggests an intriguing new avenue for dynastic DNA studies". Dr Ross Barnett, a specialist in ancient DNA at the University of Copenhagen, agreed that the work was "interesting and thorough". Dr Barnett had previously raised questions over a preliminary analysis of the maternal-line DNA. But he told BBC News: "Now the paper is here and available for scrutiny, I have no further complaints. The team are excellent and I would expect the analysis to be robust." Richard III Society | RICHARD III | HIS LIFE A Brief Biography and Introduction to Richard's Reputation by Wendy E.A. Moorhen What follows is a brief factual biography of Richard III which provides links to more in-depth articles and papers on his life, career and reputation.

Boyhood Fotheringhay Castle by Julian Rowe, reproduced by kind permission of Peter Hammond Richard Plantagenet was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, and his wife, the former Cecily Neville. York, a cousin to the reigning King Henry VI, held senior government positions but was unpopular with the Lancastrian regime. York's disputes led to his early death at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460. His eldest son, Edward, seized the throne of England in March the following year and defeated the Lancastrians at Towton on 29 March. Middleham Castle ©Geoffrey Wheeler The young king Edward IV now assumed responsibility for the upbringing of his younger siblings who had hitherto experienced an unsettled childhood. The elder son, George, was created duke of Clarence and the younger, Richard, was created duke of Gloucester at the age of eight and entered the household of his cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, to begin his education as a nobleman. This took place primarily at the earl's Yorkshire estates of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton.

Meanwhile, King Edward clandestinely married a Lancastrian widow in 1464 and thus began to alienate Warwick, his most powerful ally, who had favoured a political match with a European princess. Over the next five years the relationship between king and 'over-mighty' earl deteriorated until civil strife was resumed in 1469 and the following year Edward was driven into exile. One of the causes of their dispute was the marriage of Warwick's elder daughter to Clarence without the king's permission. The Young Duke The Battle of Barnet © Geoffrey Wheeler Richard accompanied Edward to the continent and on their return to England in 1471 the eighteen-year-old duke was given command of the vanguard at the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. These battles were resounding Yorkist victories and both Warwick and the Lancastrian heir, Prince Edward of Wales, were killed. The former king, Henry VI, died a few days later in London. Richard now assumed the responsibilities of his position. He had been admiral of England since 1461 and he was now appointed constable.

King Edward granted Richard many of Warwick's forfeited estates and the following year the duke married Warwick's younger daughter Anne, who was the widow of Prince Edward who was killed at Tewkesbury. The Battle of Tewkesbury © Geoffrey Wheeler The couple took up residence in the north of England , which King Edward effectively entrusted to his brother, and Richard was created Warden of the West Marches of Scotland. Richard took his duties seriously and held the north against any Scottish incursions. In 1476, Duchess Anne gave birth to their only child, who became known as Edward of Middleham. During the remaining years of his brother's reign, Richard of Gloucester rarely left the north. Two such occasions included the invasion of France in 1475 and attending the parliament of 1478 when their brother Clarence was attainted for treason and privately executed. In the summer of 1482, Richard invaded Scotland at King Edward's behest. He was accompanied by the Scots king's brother, the duke of Albany. Richard and Albany marched as far as Edinburgh before Richard strategically withdrew over the border.

April - July 1483 On 9 April 1483 King Edward died, a few days short of his forty-first birthday. There had been no time to prepare for a transition of power and the heir, another Edward, was twelve years old. Factions were immediately formed, each believing that they had an important role to play in the government of England. There was the queen and her extensive family; the old nobility, represented in the former king's Council, which included the late king's friend and chamberlain, William, Lord Hastings; and his surviving brother, Richard, who was appointed the lord protector. Ludlow Castle At the time of his father's death, the new king was at Ludlow under the tutelage of his maternal uncle, Earl Rivers. The queen sent for them to come to London and for the king to be crowned without delay. Lord Hastings possibly sent messengers north to inform Richard of his brother's death and urge that he come immediately to London. Richard was joined on his journey south by the duke of Buckingham, a distant cousin. At Northampton, Richard and his followers met and arrested Earl Rivers.

Richard then moved on to Stony Stratford where the king was resting, made three further arrests and escorted his nephew to London. The queen, on hearing of these events, withdrew to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey with her family. Edward V arrived in London on 4 May, the day for which his coronation had been planned, and the event was rescheduled for 22 June. Richard and the Council continued with the preparations for the coronation and with the governance of the country, but on 13 June Richard announced that a plot against him had been discovered and accused Lord Hastings of being the instigator. The latter was immediately executed and Archbishop Thomas Rotherham, Bishop John Morton and Thomas, Lord Stanley, were arrested. On 16 June the young king's brother, Richard, Duke of York left sanctuary in Westminster Abbey and joined his brother in the royal apartments at the Tower. On 22 June Dr Ralph Shaa, brother of the mayor, declared to the citizens of London, that King Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was illegal. This was because of a pre-contract of marriage between Edward IV and Lady Eleanor Butler and the clandestine nature of the king's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.

The children of the marriage were declared illegitimate, and therefore barred from succession to the throne of England. Within four days Richard was acclaimed king of England. Richard the King King Richard III was crowned, together with his wife Anne, on 6 July at Westminster Abbey. Shortly afterwards the couple began a progress around the country which ended in York with the investiture of their son Edward as prince of Wales. In the autumn of 1483, however, King Richard suffered a serious set-back. His former supporter, the duke of Buckingham, became involved in a rebellion, based primarily in the west country and Kent. Although swiftly repressed, the effects were far-reaching and King Richard now began to rely more on his northern supporters, placing them in the offices left vacant by the rebels. The rebellion had been supported by a scion of the House of Lancaster, the exiled Henry Tudor, a descendant of King Edward III through his son John of Gaunt's legitimised Beaufort family. Tudor had assumed the role of representative of the Lancastrian line and had become the focus for disaffected English nobles and gentry.

On Christmas Day 1483, in Rennes Cathedral, Henry Tudor declared his intention of marrying King Edward IV's eldest daughter, the Lady Elizabeth, when he became king of England. He then spent the next eighteen months planning his invasion. King Richard meanwhile called his first, and only, parliament in January 1484. The legislation covered three main areas, the ratification of Richard as king, the passing of acts of attainder against the October rebels and the passing of a number of acts designed to reform part of the legal system. King Richard's reign was overshadowed by the threat of Tudor's invasion and by personal loss. Near the anniversary of the death of his brother, King Edward, Richard's son died and the king and queen shut themselves in their apartments at Nottingham Castle to mourn their loss. Richard's queen died less than a year later on 16 March 1485. Artwork from The Battle of Bosworth by Graham Turner © Osprey Publishing Ltd The long-awaited invasion came on 7 August 1485 when Tudor landed at Milford Haven in Wales.

King Richard mobilised his forces and on 22 August king and invader joined battle at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. Despite Richard's superior army, the battle was lost when the king was slain after Sir William Stanley turned traitor in favour of his step-nephew, Henry Tudor, and led his forces into the battle on Tudor's side. Richard Plantagenet was the last king of England to die on the battlefield. Reputation The victor of Bosworth was to establish his own dynasty but his genealogical claim to the throne was both tenuous and cadet. It may also have been illegal without an act of parliament to amend Henry IV's legitimisation of his Beaufort siblings who were barred, together with their descendants, from inheriting the throne. Tudor wisely decided to claim the throne by right of conquest but was cognizant of the need to take every opportunity of enhancing his own reputation at the expense of his predecessor. Richard's actions and behaviour were the subject of attention and scrutiny and were presented, in the weeks and years after his death, as those of a wicked and unscrupulous tyrant.

Hastings' Windsor Stall Plate © Geoffrey Wheeler During his own lifetime, however, Richard's reputation was high, the loyal brother of Edward IV who administered the north of the realm and defended the country against the Scots. The premature death of Edward IV led to a national crisis in which Richard emerged as king. With the benefit of hindsight, historians have generally interpreted the fateful events of 1483 in the light of Richard being a calculating usurper. There are, of course, some contemporary criticisms and rumours about Richard but these are inevitable in view of his high profile. The decisive arrests of Rivers and others thus appear as pre-emptive acts to gain control of Edward V. The fact was that Richard had not been officially informed of his brother's death and that his sister-in-law sought to crown her son with unseemly haste, an act which would have reduced Richard's power to rule the king despite his appointment as Protector. Once crowned, Edward V would have ruled through his Council, the composition and performance of which could be manipulated by the Woodville faction. Richard's next decisive act was based on the revelation of a plot and the execution of its alleged leader, Hastings.

Traditional historians have accused Richard of inventing the plot in order to rid himself of Edward V's staunchest supporter. However, documents are extant which demonstrate that Richard was aware of the conspiracy before taking action, sought to obtain re-enforcements to support his protectorship and conducted a mop-up operation to neutralise other conspirators, all of which suggest that Richard was suppressing a genuine plot. The declaration of the illegality of Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville has been interpreted as a convenient excuse for Richard to overturn his nephew's succession and it was indeed a timely discovery. However, the legality of Richard's actions and of the 'precontract' dispute are still the subjects of academic debate. Once Richard was crowned and his nephews bastardised, the young princes were no longer an important factor at the Ricardian court. Their 'disappearance', however, led to the greatest controversy surrounding King Richard - did he kill his nephews? Signature with motto of King Richard. Redrawn by Piat Design Accusations of infanticide, however, were not enough for the historians seeking to defame the dead king.

The death of Richard's own wife came under suspicion with hints of him murdering her with poison, of murdering her former husband after the battle of Tewkesbury, of murdering King Henry VI, and even of his own brother Clarence, despite his treason being confirmed by the act of attainder passed by King Edward IV's own parliament. By the time the Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare penned what was to become one of his most popular and frequently performed plays, The Tragedy of King Richard III, the works of the anonymous Croyland Chronicler, John Rous, Bernard André, Polydore Vergil, Sir Thomas More, Edward Hall, Richard Grafton and Raphael Holinshed had been written. Shakespeare followed their tradition and presented his anti-hero as the murderous, deformed tyrant so well known to theatre, television and cinema audiences. Within a few years of its first production a backlash against the 'traditionalist' version of King Richard's history was written by Sir George Buck although it remained unpublished for some years.

Later in the sixteenth century, Richard's fate as the archetypal villain was sealed when John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is reputed to have said 'I take my history from Shakespeare' despite the fact that Richard's villainy was so over the top that the character has failed to gain acceptance as a real and identifiable person with many audiences. The Great Debate, as the study of Richard's reputation became known, truly began in the seventeenth century when Horace Walpole wrote his Historic Doubts and rattled the cages of the traditionalists. That debate is not yet over, with the majority of the British historical academic community still promoting Richard as an infanticide. Some academics have acknowledged that Richard was a talented administrator and that he cannot be held responsible for the deaths of Henry VI and his son, but their overall assessment is still that of an evil and avaricious man. This shift in his reputation has now led to new claims of avarice, in that his motivation for taking the throne is said to be found in his fear of losing the Neville inheritance.

Gaining a re-evaluation of Richard's reputation entails the painstaking task of examining the primary and Tudor sources and assessing his actions, both as duke and king, against the background of his times, his contemporaries, his predecessors and his successors. The art of rhetoric, so beloved of one of Richard's greatest critics, Sir Thomas More, comes into play as the interpretation of his actions, such as his 1484 legislation, which has been described as either 'enlightened' or 'divisive', depends on the writer's orientation. There is no clear evidence that Richard was guilty or innocent of his so-called 'crimes', but historians, whether detractors or sympathisers, must work with the information derived from the sources and endeavour to present a balanced view of this controversial figure. The most comprehensive study of Richard's posthumous reputation has been carried out by the Society's former chairman, the late Jeremy Potter, and published as Good King Richard? Reproduced by kind permission of the Society of Antiquaries. The 'how to …' hand-books, so popular in our own time, which cover a vast array of skills, behaviours, activities, etc. are not new.

In the fifteenth century, books abounded advising rulers on what was expected of them, such as 'mirrors' of princes or histories that gave shining examples of how a prince should behave. Richard III owned a number of such books and it appears he accepted the writers' teachings. In a paper presented by Anne Sutton at the Society's symposium held in 1984 at Jesus College, Cambridge (and subsequently published in Lordship, Loyalty and Law), she puts forward a very strong case that Richard, both as duke and king, followed the principles laid down for a prince and that he can be viewed as 'a perfect prince'. The following is a brief summary of some of those arguments. First, what were the requisite virtues? From The Declamation of Noblesse '… to be a curious searcer for our weal publyque, merry at home, laborious outward, besy to atteyne science, pyteous of them which has necessyte, namely to my fader, moder & kynne, welbyloued of my neyghbours, true to my frendes, obeysaunt & devoute in thynges relygious'.

In De Regimine Principum by Aegidius Colonna, a pupil of St Thomas Aquinas, Colonna's prince should be prudent, dignified but sympathetic, truthful, energetic, just but tempered with mercy, courageous but not rash, moderate in all things, magnanimous and munificent in his undertakings, a generous but careful rewarder of the deserving, he should love honour, be humble and friendly while commanding respect, have an equal as his wife with whom he shares secrets and above all love the common good and the welfare of the state. John Gower summed up the virtues as truth, largesse, love of justice, pity, and chastity in marriage. William Langland in The Vision of Piers Plowman presents 'a compelling image of a harmonious society bound together by law, loyalty and love'. Loyalty was a virtue that Richard embraced enthusiastically and included in his personal motto 'loyalté me lie'. The theme in all of these works is the personal virtue of the prince. In the middle ages public morality was the extension of private morality.

'The king's will had to be controlled by a desire to serve the good of the community, the "common weal", and by obedience to the rule of natural law'. In the coronation oath the ideals of good rule are reduced to four basic clauses 'maintain the church, administer justice, uphold the laws of England, and defend your subjects' and the oath was translated into English for the first time at King Richard's coronation. The Church Reproduced by kind permission of the artist. Through the medium of sermons the church encouraged the rich to fulfil their obligations and help the poor. Richard's good intentions in this area are well documented. He promoted the court that became the Court of Requests where the poor could present their suits at Westminster. In Glamorgan, where he held considerable land, Richard attempted to reform the administration system within his lordship, and T.B. Pugh commented Richard 'had a genuine concern for the welfare of its inhabitants.' Of Richard's personal piety a little can be gleaned from his library, which included a bible and his own book of hours. There is also evidence of devotion to the saints and he presented a jewelled calvary containing relics of St Peter to York Minster.

As a prince Richard was obliged to make an outward show of piety and he created a number of religious foundations, such as the collegiate church at Middleham. The education of the clergy was also an interest and in 1477 he made a grant to Queens' College Cambridge to support four priests studying theology. The priests were charged to pray for Richard and his family, and rather poignantly, friends and associates who had died at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. Richard appears to have had a genuine interest in learned clergy and in education. During his royal progress following his coronation he stayed at Magdalen College, Oxford, and listened to learned disputations. Richard was surrounded by senior clergy whose reputations stood high, such as Bishop Thomas Langton and John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, was his chancellor. The Knight Reproduced by kind permission of the artist. The chivalric code encompassed the ideals of protecting the weak, fighting for justice, keeping the peace, serving the common weal and rejected evil behaviour.

Hand-books and romances, like those for princes, were in circulation, such as De Re Militari, a copy of which Richard commissioned, and Lull's Order of Chivalry dedicated by Caxton to Richard. Preparing for knighthood was part of Richard's education and from a young age he held the chivalric post of constable of England. As constable he had his own court of law which included the overseeing of the heralds, and ordinances for their good behaviour have been attributed to Richard. He obviously had a keen interest in their work, and as king he founded the College of Arms. A practical demonstration of Richard's military leadership, where he displayed the qualities of discipline and moderation, can be found in the Scottish campaign of 1482, described by Dr Norman MacDougall as a 'competent campaign' Richard was granted money to pay for an army of 20,000 for only four weeks and for 1,700 men for a further two weeks. He succeeded in capturing Berwick, marching to Edinburgh, which he occupied, controlled his army so they did not sack the city and returned to England within the timeframe.

The Law As both a magnate and administrator the law played an important role in Richard's affairs. As king it was to assume the greatest significance. Social harmony was the ultimate goal of the 'perfect prince', and the right and fair regulation of society by a recognition of mutual obligations between the different sections of the community, such 'as rich and poor, buyer and seller, citizen and foreigner, lord and liegeman' was enforced by law. As his brother's representative in the north Richard's ducal council became a source of arbitration and Richard showed concern for peaceful arbitration and judicial solutions. Westminster Hall When he left the north and appointed his nephew, the earl of Lincoln, as his successor, the ducal council became the Council of the North and its responsibilities and conduct were the subject of a set of articles. As an administrative institution it survived into the seventeenth century which perhaps bears testament to Richard's skill and foresight as an adminstrator. Richard's parliament of 1484 , apart from attending to the business of the king's title and the October rebellion, passed legislation which led Sir Francis Bacon to describe Richard as 'a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people'.

For example, Richard was concerned with the problem of corrupt and lazy officials and some of the statutes dealt with this problem. Richard's policy throughout his career was to set standards whereby officials were educated and sufficiently wealthy in order for them to be less vulnerable to corruption. At a session in the Star Chamber Richard personally brought to the attention of his justices connivance at altering a court record, the reporter of the session states that Richard was 'perturbed' that such cases should arise. Marriage Middleham by Graham Turner. Reproduced by kind permission of the artist. A stable private life was acknowledged as desirable by the mentors of princes and indeed the problems surrounding King Edward's marital arrangements were directly responsible for Richard's elevation to kingship. They provided Richard with a moral claim to the throne. Although little is known about the relationship between Richard and his wife, Anne Neville, their mutual grief at the loss of their son in 1484 and the fact that his two illegitimate children appear to have been begotten before his marriage, perhaps indicate the stability of Richard's own marriage.

Conclusion Dr Sutton concludes her paper with three contemporary comments on Richard's policy as Duke and as King by Dominic Mancini, Thomas Langton, Bishop of St David's, and Von Poppelau, a German knight, which can be found in Richard by his contemporaries . Further reading A curious searcher for our weal public': Richard III, Piety, Chivalry and the concept of the 'Good Prince' by Anne F. Sutton. Richard III, Loyalty, Lordship and Law edited by P.W. Hammond, London 1985. Revised edition 2000 and published by the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust. These are the proceedings of the 1983 Symposium. Available from the Society's Bookshop. Richard III's Books by Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs. Gloucester 1997 The Hours of Richard III by Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs. Gloucester 1990 Glamorgan County History: Volume 3 The Middle Ages edited by T.B. Pugh. Cardiff 1971. p. 203 Richard III and James III by Norman MacDougall.

Richard III Loyalty Lordship and Law edited by P.W. Hammond, see above. by Lynda Pidgeon based on an article by Mary O'Regan Introduction Medieval life was dominated by the Church. The year was shaped by the religious festivals of Easter, Christmas and Saints Days. While daily life was structured around the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, mass, penance, ordination, marriage and extreme unction. Until the Reformation in the sixteenth century there had only been the one Church, of which the Pope was Christ's representative on earth and salvation could only be found through the Church. Canterbury Cathedral The Church ministered to the spiritual and religious needs of the laity, provided hospitals for the sick, hostels for travellers, relief for the poor and education. As well as addressing peoples spiritual and social needs the church also acted as a court dealing with such matters as marriage disputes and witchcraft. Clerics also became involved in politics providing administrators for the state, many of whom held high office in the king's council. With such wide ranging involvement in the daily lives of people, it can be difficult to assess the extent to which people were genuinely pious or were simply following customary practices which gave them acceptance in their community.

Influences on Richard's Religion St Brigid of Sweden It is probable that Richard was influenced by his mother, Cecily, Duchess of York, who was considered one of the most saintly laywomen of her generation. In her later years she is known to have devoted most of her day to religious matters. Cecily was a follower of the devotio moderna, a regime of devotion put forward by Gerard de Groot of Flanders, in which lay practitioners built their lives around worship, prayer, study and contemplation. Their personal devotions focussed on the works of famous mystical writers, such as Mechtild of Hackeborn. She was a thirteenth-century Cistercian nun whose mystical visions were written down in her lifetime as Liber Specialis Gratie, sometimes called 'The Book of Ghostly Grace'. St Caterine of Sienna Cecily owned a copy of this book and was also known to be interested in the lives of St Catherine of Siena and St Brigid of Sweden. Richard's older sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, was also influenced by their mother's religious interests. Cecily taught her to set aside regular hours for prayer contemplation and reading.

When Margaret became duchess of Burgundy she made contact with leading theologians and reformers in the Low Countries, giving generously to the church to found convents and build churches and monasteries. Margaret's foundations were also practical; the convent she founded at Binche provided a hospital, orphanage and school for girls. Richard's Religious Books Richard's Religious Books We may have an indication of Richard's religious tastes, and possibly his spiritual life, in his personal library. It has been estimated that 'of the eleven books that he probably owned only four can be called devotional' (Sutton and Visser-Fuchs, p.84), a Book of Hours, relatively simply written and decorated. For Scripture he owned an English translation of the New Testament and an English verse paraphrase of the Old Testament. Like his mother he had The Book of Special Grace of Mechtild of Hackeborn, for meditation. The book also bears the name of his wife Anne Neville, and might as easily reflect her religious tastes. Meditation demands solitude and freedom from interruption, something more easily attained by an aristocratic woman than a man, especially one engaged in a busy public life, such as Richard was, as both duke and king.

Much has been made of the fact that Richard owned an English New Testament translated by John Wycliffe, raising the question that he was sympathetic to Lollard ideas. However the copy owned by Richard was an earlier, orthodox translation by Wycliffe to which no taint of heresy was attached. It is not known how easily Richard read and understood Latin, but an interest in reading the Gospels in the vernacular suggests an intention to absorb its message as perfectly as possible. Richard III's Prayer Richard's Prayer It is Richard Ill's Book of Hours that has borne the weight of later conjectures concerning Richard's piety. In particular a prayer that was added to the book after it came into Richard's possession. This has been closely analysed in the hope of throwing light on everything from his spiritual life to his mental health. Richard's own circumstances have been taken to be directly relevant to words and phrases used in the prayer, as if it were composed with the king in mind, however texts of it have been found dating from the fourteenth century, and originating in places as far apart as Italy, Catalonia and Burgundy. It is a long prayer, designed for use by anyone in distress, anxiety, infirmity or affliction of any kind.

The prayer seems to have been particularly valued by other medieval rulers: known owners of books containing it include Alexander, Prince of Poland, Maximilian I, Frederick of Aragon, and successive Dukes of Burgundy. Recitation of the prayer on thirty successive days was enjoined, in the belief that God would then turn the supplicant's troubles to 'joy and comfort.' Without additions peculiar to a single owner, the normal contents of a Book of Hours were, principally, formal prayers of the Church designed for public recitation but suitable also for private use. The main constituent was the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a simpler, shorter version of the Divine Office, making it suitable for laypeople to pray either alone or with a companion. Like the Divine Office it was divided into sections corresponding to hours of the day: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline. If Richard III used his Book of Hours regularly he would have made himself conscious of God continually during the day. In addition the book contained many prayers directed to and praising the Virgin Mary.

Devotion to the Mother of God was popular among both clergy and laity at all times during the Middle Ages, and there is no reason to think that Richard III was any exception. His Religious Donations According to John Rous in his Anglica Historia, 'King Richard was praiseworthy for his building, as at Westminster, Nottingham, Warwick, York and Middleham, and many other places, which can be viewed. He founded a noble chantry for a hundred priests in the cathedral of York, and another college at Middleham. He founded another in the church of St Mary of Barking, by the Tower of London, and endowed the Queen's College at Cambridge with 500 marks annual rent.' Jonathon Hughes suggests that Richard had an 'excessive preoccupation with chantry masses… He was responsible for ten chantry or collegiate foundations (apart from his patronage of Queen's College, Cambridge) and he distributed a stream of largesse to religious houses, parish churches, houses of friars, chapels and chantries'. He adds that many of Richard's gifts were small and mostly given in the north, where he established most of his foundations.

St Mary & St Akelda Church, Middleham Richard's surviving, and best known collegiate foundation is that at Middleham. On 21 February 1478 he obtained a licence to found and endow the college, which was to be served by a dean, six chaplains, five clerks and six choristers. As well as providing prayers for himself, his wife and son, prayers were to be offered for his surviving siblings, the king and queen, and his mother. Masses were also to be said for the soul of his father and his deceased brothers and sisters. However the college was not only to serve as a house of prayer, it was to contribute towards the better education of the clergy and improve services in the locality. The same licence also gave Richard permission to endow a college at Barnard Castle, comprising a dean and twelve priests. The endowment was valued at 400 marks per annum, twice the size of Middleham. All of these foundations would have been overshadowed by Richard's plan to establish a college of 100 priests at York Minster in 1483. While Richard may have been concerned about his own soul, his was not a unique preoccupation.

What his grants also demonstrate is his concern for the poor or those who lived in remote areas, and that they should have the benefit not only of a priest but one who was educated. If he was concerned for his own soul he was also concerned for the souls of his people, especially those in the north. Conclusion Sutton and Visser-Fuchs place Richard firmly in his time: 'Richard's religion was that of the later middle ages, humanised, fervent and personal within the strong and controlling framework of the church.' They assess from the known facts about him that 'his private piety was no different from that of his contemporaries, although his sorrows and cares may have been greater than most people's. He directed his attention to the same things: he, too, adopted favourite saints to be his patrons and intermediaries with God and had particular objects of veneration.' Richard left no spiritual or other writings which would help us. But he owned religious books, whose character leads one to suppose that they were for use rather than ornament. He founded colleges and chantries and he gave alms generously in comparison to others. He probably, prayed every day, and no doubt attended Mass and other services of the church regularly.

We know he had a confessor, so he will have received the Sacrament of Penance regularly too. As far as we can judge, Richard fulfilled his obligations and more, and for a medieval prince that was remarkable. Books Consulted • The Piety of Cecily, Duchess of York: A Study in Late Mediaeval Culture' by C.A.J. Armstrong in For Hilaire Belloc, ed. Douglas Woodruff (1942).

Further Reading • The Medieval Church in Manuscripts, Justin Clegg, British Library, 2003 • The Hours of Richard III, Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Stroud, 1990 • Richard III's Books, Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Stroud, 1997 • Richard III, Charles Ross, 1981, pbk.1988 • Margaret of York Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503, Christine Weightman, Gloucester, 1989 • The Religious Life of Richard III Piety and Prayer in the North of England, Jonathan Hughes, Stroud, 1997 • British Library Harleian Maunuscript 433, 4 volumes, eds., Rosemary Horrox & P.W. Hammond, London, 1982 • Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, A.J. Pollard, Stroud, 1991 Artillery. From The Battle of Bosworth by Graham Turner © Osprey Publishing Ltd. A number of pieces of direct evidence survive for Richard III's personal interests, the 'things he liked'.

Most personal of all, perhaps, is his 'confession' in his letter to Louis XI, King of France, who had presented him, in 1480 when he was still duke of Gloucester, with a 'great bombard', the largest and most expensive gunpowder weapon available at the time. Richard thanked the king in a letter and added 'I have always taken and still take great pleasure in artillery and I assure you it will be a special treasure to me'. There was, of course, nothing unusual in a twenty-six-year-old nobleman being fascinated by such weapons: they were part of the most up-to-date military technology of the day. Crusade We gain intimate information of a different nature about Richard's interests from the account of the Silesian traveller, Nicolas von Popplau, who met the king in the spring of 1484. Von Popplau reports how Richard was able to express admiration at his guest's mastery of the Latin tongue; praises the choir employed by the king as 'the sweetest music he had ever heard', describes the magnificence of the king's meal and the great ceremony that accompanied it, but also his graciousness to his guest.

Their conversation, which almost made the king forget to eat, was wide ranging: it went from the Latin origin of the name of Pontefract to the exact date of the annual ceremony of feet washing on Maundy Thursday. The king asked von Popplau about continental princes and their affairs, and about the Turks in particular. Having been told how the king of Hungary had recently gained a great victory over them, Richard enviously exclaimed: 'I would like my kingdom and land to lie where the land and kingdom of the king of Hungary lies, on the Turkish frontier itself', and continued: 'Then I would certainly, with my own people alone, without the help of other kings, princes or lords, completely drive away not only the Turks, but all my enemies and opponents!'. His enthusiastic remark shows his confidence in his own military abilities as well as his awareness of the international situation, which made it impossible to create an alliance between the ever-squabbling princes of western Europe and organise a concerted attack on the Turks. The general impression of Richard that we get from von Popplau's account is that of a magnificent and thoughtful princely host, who took a great interest in many, diverse matters.

Top of page Jewellery The Middleham Jewel Another indication of what Richard liked can be found in the will of Sir John Pilkington, a long standing servant of the house of York. He left a special bequest to Richard of his 'great emerald set in gold' which, during Sir John's lifetime, Richard had admired so much that he offered 100 marks (£66 13s. 4d.) for it. In the same context should be mentioned one of those prejudices, or rather 'myths', about Richard III which have sprung up over the years: the curious idea that he was a 'fop', a dandy. This is based on the misunderstanding, by several generations of historians, of the contents of the surviving Great Wardrobe accounts, which list among other things the materials needed for the robes worn by the fifteenth-century kings. These may appear unusually sumptuous but in fact merely illustrate the standard norms of a medieval court and its splendours. Books Richard's Religious Books Finally and most importantly there is Richard's undoubted liking for books. His surviving 'library' is a remarkable collection, covering most medieval interests and fields of knowledge, except medicine, law, and theology.

Striking is the fact that he put his name in his books, not as common a practice in his day as one might think. The bias of his collection, if there is one, is towards history and the history books together covered nearly everything from mythical beginnings to his own day: the story of Troy by Guido delle Collone and the lives of the British kings by Geoffrey of Monmouth, both in Latin (St Petersburg, Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library MS Lat. F IV 74 and 76), a chronicle of England, in Latin, covering the period from the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to the coronation of King John in 1199 (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 96), and a history of France, in French, covering the period 1270-1380.

Five of his books were religious/devotional: his book of hours (London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 474), a collection of Old Testament stories in verse (Longleat House, Library of the Marquess of Bath, MS 257), the New Testament in English translation, an unusual book for a prince to own at the time (New York, Public Library, MS De Ricci 67), a life of St Katherine in Latin by the Italian Pietro Carmeliano (Richard's own copy does not survive) and the English translation of work of St Mechtild of Hackeborn, which may have been his wife's (London, British Library, MS Egerton 2006).

On military and chivalric matters he had an English translation of Vegetius' De re militari, a standard work on the training of soldiers and warfare in general (British Library, MS Royal 18 A xii), Ramon Lull's Order of Chivalry, a manual on knighthood translated and printed by William Caxton in 1484, William Worcester's Boke of Noblesse and his Documents on the War in France, a treatise and a set of documents advertising the renewal of the war in France (British Library MS Royal 18 B xxii, and Lambeth Palace Library MS 506), and several rolls of arms. To these can be added a number of genealogical rolls and the most famous of medieval 'mirrors for princes' Giles of Rome's De regimine principum in Latin (Lambeth Palace, MS Arc. L 40.2 / L 26). Unusual texts, probably owned by Richard, were a collection of letters on statecraft ascribed to the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris, edited by Pietro Carmeliano (Dublin, Trinity College, MS 429).

Top of page Manuscript and Print There are several interesting general aspects to Richard's collection of books: he had no preference for manuscript over print, and did not demand that all his books were new, or sumptuously decorated. Through the quirks of survival his collection includes one of merely two surviving copies of the English translation of Mechtild of Hackeborn's Book of Special Grace, the only extant copy of a prose translation of the romance of Ipomedon (Library of the Marquess of Bath, MS 257), the only manuscript copy of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae known to have belonged to a medieval king of England, and one of the two surviving texts of the Prophecy of the Eagle with a particular Commentary, which was added to the Historia. The proportion of romances in Richard's collection was unusually high: Lydgate's Siege of Thebes, Chaucer's Knight's Tale and Clerk's Tale, the Prose Ipomedon, (all in the marquess of Bath's ms.) the Prose Tristan in French (British Library, MS Harley 49).

Caxton was at the height of his production during Richard's brief reign and dedicated his Order of Chivalry to the king, and most important of all in the context of printing: when Richard's parliament took measures to control alien workers and their goods in England, books and their makers were specifically exempted. There can be little doubt that among the kings of England, of any period, Richard's interest in books and the booktrade is unusual and remarkable. Sources • Anne F. Sutton, '"A Curious Searcher for our Weal Public": Richard III, Piety, Chivalry and the Concept of the "Good Prince"', in Richard III. Loyalty, Lordship and Law, ed. P.W. Hammond, London 1986, repr. 2000. • Anne F. Sutton, 'The Court and its Culture', in John Gillingham, ed., Richard III. A Medieval Kingship, London 1993. • Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Richard III's Books. Ideals and Reality in the Life and Library of a Medieval Prince, Stroud 1997.

Richard by his Contemporaries Richard's Military Reputation In 1471 King Edward was determined to regain his throne and he joined battle against his cousin and former ally, the earl of Warwick, at Barnet. The vanguard was led by the eighteen-year-old Richard and his success was recorded in the poem On the Recovery of the Throne by Edward IV: The duke of Glocetter, that nobill prynce, Yonge of age and victorius in batayle, To the honour of Ectour [Hector] that he myghte comens, Grace hym folowith, fortune, and good spede. In 1475 King Edward mounted an expedition to France but quarrelled with his ally and brother-in-law, the duke of Burgundy, and made peace with the French king. Richard appeared to have hoped for a glorious campaign on the lines of Henry V's in 1415 and it was recorded that: Original artwork by Gerry Hitch 'king of England was accommodated by the King of France with whatever he wanted, even to the very torches and candles.

The Duke of Gloucester, the King of England's brother, and some other persons of quality, were not present at this interview, as being averse to the treaty; but they recollected themselves afterwards, the Duke of Gloucester waited on the king our master at Amiens.' Following Richard's campaign to Scotland in 1482, his brother, King Edward IV, wrote to Pope Sixtus IV thus: 'Have resolved to state what was achieved this summer in Scotland, that the truth may be known. Thank God, the giver all good gifts, for the support received from our most loving brother, whose success is so proven that he alone would suffice to chastise the whole kingdom of Scotland. This year we appointed our very dear brother Richard Duke of Gloucester to command the same army which we ourselves intended to have led last year, had not adverse turmoil hindered us. … The noble band of victors, however, spared the supplicant and prostrate citizens, the churches, and not only the widows, orphans, and minors, but all persons found there unarmed.' Richard as 'Good Lord' The King.

Original artwork by Gerry Hitch From the Mayor and the Council of the city of York (1476) for his support: 'The saide day and tyme by the forsaide Maire and Counsaile it was holie agreed and assented that the Duk of Gloucestre shall for his grete labour of now late made unto the kinges good grace for the conservacion of the liberties of this Citie, that he shalbe presented at his commyng to the citie with vj swannes and vj pikes'. In his role as a 'good lord' Richard would have been asked to act as an executor.

One such example is found in the will of Sir John Pilkington who came from an influential northern family: '… Item I will that my son Edward beforwith after my dethe be had to my lorde of Gloucestre and my lorde Chambrelane, hertly beseching thame as they will in my name sesuch [beseech] the king is goode grace that myn executors may have the wardeshipp and mariege of my said son … I lowly and hertly besuche my lorde of Gloucestre and my lorde Chambrelane, that they will, at the reverence of God, by myn executors …' Richard's Reaction on the Death of George, Duke of Clarence In 1478 Richard's brother George, duke of Clarence, was arrested by the king and tried for treason, found guilty and privately executed.

Dominic Mancini, an Italian who visited England in 1483, wrote about Richard's reaction: 'At that time Richard, duke of Gloucester, was so overcome with grief for his brother, that he could not dissimulate so well, but that he was overheard to say that he would one day avenge his brother's death.' Original artwork by Gerry Hitch 'I trust to God sune, by Michelmasse, the Kyng shal be at London. He contents the people wher he goys best that ever did prince; for many a poor man that hath suffred wrong many days have be relevyd and helpyd by hym and his commands in his progresse. And in many grete citeis and townis wer grete summis of mony gif hym which he hath refusyd.

On my trouth I lykyd never the condicions of ony prince so wel as his; God hathe sent hym to us for the wele of us al …' John Rous of Warwick recorded in the Rous Roll: 'The moost myghty prynce Rychard … all avarice set asyde, rewled hys subiettys in hys realme ful commendabylly, poneschynge offenders of hys lawes, specially extorcioners and oppressors of hys comyns, and chereschynge tho that were vertues, by the whyche dyscrete guydynge he gat gret thank of God and love of all his subiettys ryche and pore and gret laud of the people of all othyr landys a bowt hym.' Richard was concerned about justice, both for the individual and its administration. A Year Book reports one of his most famous acts, when he called together all his justices and posed three questions concerning specific cases. This record provides an idea of Richard's comprehension of and commitment to his coronation oath to uphold the law and its proper procedures. The second question was this.

If some justice of the Peace had taken a bill of indictment which had not been found by the jury, and enrolled it among other indictments 'well and truly found' etc. shall there be any punishment thereupon for such justice so doing?

And this question was carefully argued among the justices separately and among themselves, … And all being agreed, the justices gave the King in his Council in the Star Chamber their answer to his question in this wise: that above such defaults enquiry ought to be made by a commission of at least twelve jurors, and thereupon the party, having been presented, accused and convicted, shall lose the office and pay fine to the King according to the degree of the misprision etc.' William Caxton, the printer, dedicated his translation of Raymond Lull's Order of Chivalry to King Richard: ' … And thus thys lytyl book I presente to my redoubted, naturel and most dradde soverayne lord, kyng Rychard kyng of Englond and of Fraunce, to thende that he commaunde this book to be had and redde unto other yong lordes, knyghtes and gentylmen within this royame, that the noble ordre of chyvalrye be herafter better used & honoured than hit hath ben in late dayes passed. And herin he shalle do a noble & vertuouse dede.

And I shalle pray almyghty God for his long lyf & prosperous welfare, & that he may have victory of al his enemyes, and after this short & transitory lyf to have everlasting lyf in heven where as is joy and blysse, world without ende, Amen.' Richard's death was poignantly recorded in the minutes of the Council of York: ' … king Richard late mercifully reigning upon us was thrugh grete treason of the duc of Northfolk [sic] and many other that turned ayenst hyme, with many other lordes and nobilles of this north parties was piteously slane murdred to the grete hevynesse of this citie …' A Posthumous Accolade Richard III. Original artwork by Gerry Hitch This accolade for Richard comes from an unexpected source. In 1513 Lord Dacre, Warden of the Western Marches, wrote a letter which was summarised in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

Dacre seemed to feel intimidated by the reputations of Richard and the earl of Northumberland resulting from a raid they had made into Tevydale in the 1480s, which Dacre was expected to repeat. Nine years later, he is still concerned at their exploits in a letter to Wolsey who responds that, as they took effectual measures to punish and repress offenders, he hopes Dacre will obey his wholesome and friendly admonition and acquire, 'as good a character as they did'. Further Reading Top of page Richard's Death Bob Woosnam-Savage of the Royal Armouries will contribute to this section when his research, in conjunction with the University of Leicester Archaeological Services on King Richard's skeleton, is complete. Ricardian Burial Myths & the Discovery of Richard III's Body by Dr John Ashdown Hill How do you find the lost body of a medieval monarch? First, you need to know … … where he was buried! What Richard's tomb might have looked like The tomb was probably set in place in the summer of 1495. Traditionally, popular accounts of this tomb described it as a cheap memorial, but this was untrue.

Full accounts for the cost of the tomb do not survive - but the accounts we do have showed that it cost at least as much as the tomb which Richard's mother, Cecily Duchess of York, commissioned for herself. However, alabaster does not weather well when exposed to the elements. Once the church of the dissolved priory became roofless in 1538, the alabaster royal tomb would have started to decay. Later, around the end of the sixteenth century the site was redeveloped by Alderman Herrick of Leicester as his garden. He must have removed any remaining traces of the alabaster tomb and erected his inscribed pillar in its place. No trace of either the Richard III's alabaster tomb or of Herrick's pillar was discovered during the 2012 excavation. Richard III's Epitaph Texts published in the seventeenth century claimed to be the epitaph from Richard III's alabaster tomb. The texts were in Latin, but one of the publications included a somewhat inaccurate translation in seventeenth-century English. Based on the language of the translation, many historians dismissed the epitaph as a fabrication.

In the course of my research I discovered that manuscript texts of the epitaph survived, one of which dated from before the Dissolution (so it could have been directly copied from Richard's tomb). The epitaph concentrated on praising Henry VII's generosity - but it was also fairly polite about Richard III, and acknowledged his bravery. The 2012 dig found no obvious trace of the epitaph. However, brass letters were discovered near Richard's grave site, which probably came from a late medieval tomb inscription (or inscriptions). • You can see Dr John Ashdown Hill's presentation at The Society's Leicester Conference held on the 2nd March 2013.

Question: What was the name of the queen of Richard III?
Answer: ANNE