Richard III - Historical Enigma in Honor of Royal Re-Burial March 26, 2015

I wrote this for my college English lit research paper (for which I received an A+!)...I still find Richard's story fascinating. Given our modern media's propensity to "slant a story," it shouldn't surprise me that the same could be true hundreds of years ago. I hope you enjoy...

Richard III:  Historical Enigma

            "I am a villain:  yet I lie, I am not...every tongue brings in a different tale, and every tale condemns me for a villain.  Perjury, in the highest degree."

            So speaks Shakespeare's King Richard in the most famous characterization of the Yorkist king who ruled England from 1483 to 1485.  Richard III's short reign, however, is not the reason for his fame.  Richard is best remembered as a diabolical hunchback who murdered his way to the throne.  The question of Richard's guilt or innocence in the alleged murder of his nephews has been argued for centuries.  On one hand, loyal Ricardians staunchly maintain Richard's innocence.  Yet on the other, history books still refer to Richard as the most probable perpetrator in the disappearance and likely murders.  Researchers have been unable to uncover any contemporary evidence.

            Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, was an excellent administrator and soldier, a fact acknowledged by historians certain of Richard's guilt in addition to defenders of his innocence.  A loyal subject who supported his brother, King Edward IV, even to the point of sharing his exile.

            Richard's brother, Edward IV, ruled during civil war -- the War of the Roses.  The Plantagenets were Yorkists, whose coat of arms depicted white roses.  The Lancastrian dynasty represented by roses of red.  Edward IV reigned during this turbulent period striving to resume peace and unity during his 22 years on the throne.  England embraced the blonde six-foot 'Sun of York' king with open arms and hearts.

            Three Yorkist brothers hold a unique notoriety in English history.  Edward, the eldest, was a renowned ladies' man; George, Duke of Clarence and the middle brother, remembered for drowning in a vat of ale.  And Richard, the youngest, remembered as a murderous uncle.

            The defamation of Richard's character can be traced to historians and chroniclers under Tudor reign.  Shakespeare's famous tragedy was written in 1597 -- 112 years after Richard's death.  Shakespeare's characterization was based upon Sir Thomas More's The Life and Reign of Richard the Third.  Sir Thomas More was five years old at the time of Richard's death in the Battle of Bosworth and a protege of Richard's worst enemy.

            Edward secretely married Elizabeth Woodville, an older, ambitious widow regarded as an upstart by peers of the realm.  After he made every effort to lure her, she admitted she was not good enough to be his queen, but protested she was far too good to become his mistress.  With Edward's reputation, it is surmised that the blue-eyed enchantress fended off Edward's amorous advances until he offered marriage and fulfilled his promise on May 1, 1464.

            This Queen Elizabeth exercised considerable influence over her husband.  Edward frequently detained his brother, George of Clarence, for overstepping the bounds of familial tolerance.  Edward eventually arrested Clarence for subtle and overtly treasonable acts.  Elizabeth Woodville's power was significant; it is probable Clarence was put to death at her insistence.

            Richard married Anne Neville in 1472, after securing her sanctuary from his brother Clarence.  Married to Anne's sister, Clarence's interest in who married his sister-in-law centered on the Neville sisters' inheritance.  King Edward interceded between George and Richard; Clarence agreed Richard could marry his sister-in-law provided Clarence did not have to share the Neville estates.  To the king's relief Richard accepted.

            The twenty-year-old bridegroom and his sixteen-year-old second cousin seemed compatible as they departed from court life.  In 1473, Anne gave birth to a son, whom they named Edward, doubtless in honor of his uncle.  It appears Richard's marriage was happy, that he gave Anne Neville his heart as well as his name.

            The drama of Richard's alleged treachery arose after the death of Edward, whose indulgent lifestyle eventually took its toll.

            At his deathbed, Edward summoned his court's two rival factions, but not his Queen.  Edward addressed those assembled with the authority not of a king, but of the dying.  Without love between them, his son, the kingdom and his court would all be brought to ruin.  They were moved to tears as Edward sighed and dismissed them.  The strength which the kingdom and his sons needed did not lie in these men.  There was only one man capable of ordering the realm and subduing the actions which split the court.  A man he loved well and who, he knew, loved him... Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

            Edward summoned his executors.  Lord Stanley was added to the king's will; the queen Elizabeth dropped.  With real humility, the weakening King asked his executors to pay his debts and distribute a good portion to the poor.  Then, aware his last minutes were numbered, he added the important codicil to his will, bequeathing his boy heir and his realm to the protection of his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester.. Richard's popularity gave Edward more than one reason to trust his remaining brother whose political allegiance, unlike that of Clarence, had not wavered. 

            Edward IV died on April 9, 1483, three weeks before his forty-first birthday.

            On learning of the death of his brother and liege, Richard hastened to London from the North in mourning attire.  Richard wrote letters to console the queen and assured all duty, fealty, and due obedience to his new king and lord, Edward the fifth.  Richard journeyed to York with a small retinue of knights where he performed a solemn funeral service and the accompanying nobility took oaths of fealty to the late king's son.  Taking the oath first was Richard himself.          Upon reaching the young king, Richard greeted him with affection and respect, kneeling to him as a king.  Edward V announced his impending departure so he could be crowned in all haste.

            Arrangements were made for Edward's funeral.  He lay in state for eight days attired in red leather shoes and wrapped in a white robe, watched over night and day until his burial on Sunday, April 20th.

            Custom required Parliamentary sanction of the Council's arrangements to govern the realm during Edward V's minority.  The English people were not entirely pleased by the prospect of another child-king and Richard made some effort to postpone the coronation.  The Council debated two options:  That Richard govern because Edward had so directed or that the government be carried on by many with the duke as chief.  The latter was chosen.

            Richard postponed the coronation until June 22nd.  On June 21, Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, revealed to Richard that the children of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward were illegitimate because the King had been betrothed to another when he secretly married Elizabeth.

            In medieval times, a betrothal contract was as binding as marriage vows.  Stillington officiated a ceremony in which Edward plighted his troth to an earl's daughter; therefore committed to marry her.  And so, the king's subsequent marriage to another woman was unlawful and their offspring illegitimate.  As Protector of the Realm and next of kin among Edward's legitimate family, Richard was within his rights in assuming the crown.

            Bishop Stillington was not a crony of Richard's, divulging his tale at a suspiciously opportune time.  Edward IV's amorous propensities were notorious enough to make Stillington's claim credible.  Stillington was closely associated with Richard's brother, the proverbial bad-penny-Clarence.  Shortly after Clarence's execution, Stillington was detained.  He paid a heavy fine and received a royal pardon upon his release in 1478.  His offense?  Uttering prejudicial words to the king and his state.

            It seems quite probable that Stillington let the precontract between Edward and Lady Eleanor slip to Clarence.  The king's coveting sibling likely intimidated Edward with this dangerous knowledge.  Perhaps this was the true reason for Clarence's execution and Elizabeth's  interest in his punishment.  Although pardoned and released, Stillington was held the Woodvilles' enmity.  Stillington explained to Richard that the betrothal was a secret undertaking which he alone witnessed.

            On June 22, 1483, Richard rode to hear Friar Ralph Shaa, who announced, "Bastard slips shall not take root".  Friar Shaa went on to say that by God's law as well as by worth, Richard was entitled to the crown as Edward's heir apparent was illegitimate due to the precontract with Lady Eleanor.  Thus, King Edward's offspring put aside and the Duke of Clarence's son disabled by Clarence's attainder, Richard of Gloucester was the true heir of York and rightful king.

            On Thursday, 26 June, Richard the Protector was offered a petition to become King.  Parliament's acceptance of Stillington's claim was incorporated into a statute entitled Titulus Regius which proclaimed Edward's children illegitimate and declared Richard the king of England.  After Richard agreed to accept the kingship, he rode to Westminster, beginning his reign the same day.

            Richard's short reign was fraught with intrigue.  He repressed an uprising in the favor of Henry Tudor, an heir to the house of York on the wrong side of the blanket many times over.  Preoccupied with matters of state, Richard endeavored to fulfill his promise to Elizabeth Woodville to see to the welfare of Edward's children. Edward's sons, Edward and Richard, were seen playing in the Tower as late as the summer of 1483.

            Although Richard's military and administrative campaigns proved successful, his personal life crumbled. In April 1484, a messenger informed Richard and Anne that their little son was dead.  Queen Anne did not outlive her son a year; her sorrow compounded by her inability to bear other children.  A solar eclipse occurred on the exact date of Anne's death, blotting out the light of the sun as Anne's demise darkened Richard's life.

            On August 22, 1485, atop a white destrier in full armor, Richard and his troops rode to Bosworth Field to meet Henry Tudor in battle.  Richard wore his crown upon his helmet to demonstrate to friend and foe alike that a King rode into battle. 

            Although Richard's men outnumbered Henry's, two allies withheld their assistance until Richard rode into the fray.  Henry Tudor stayed behind his force.  There may be factual foundation for the Shakespearean line, "A horse!  A horse!  My kingdom for a horse!" as Richard's courser may have floundered in the marsh before Richard was struck down and killed.

            Richard's crown landed upon a thornbush where it was retrieved and placed on Henry's head.  Richard's battered body stripped bare and slung over the back of a horse, he is the only English monarch since 1066 whose remains do not rest in a royal tomb.

            Henry Tudor became King Henry VII by force of arms.  As a great-grandson of an illegitimate son of a younger son of a king, Henry's claim to the throne was precarious.  To strengthen his claim and unite the houses of York and Lancaster, Henry married Edward's daughter, Elizabeth, in 1486.  But as a bastard herself, she was not worthy of being queen.  Henry repealed Titulus Regius to re-legitimize his prospective bride.  If the young princes were alive at that time, they were more of a threat to Henry than they had ever been to Richard.  By repealing Titulus Regius, Henry made the older boy king.

            How true were Shakespeare's lines, "I must be married to..." [Elizabeth] "...murder her brothers and then marry her" and "If I did take the kingdom from your son, to make amends, I'll give it to your daughter".  Although attributed to Richard, this speech would have been more appropriately consigned to Henry.

            No one knows the fates of the princes in the Tower.  Henry VII released the information that Sir James Tyrrel and a servant named Dighton confessed to the murder of the princes and their subsequent burial in the Tower.  But his action came only after Tyrrel's execution in 1502 -- almost twenty years after the supposed crime.  Only when threatened by Perkin Warbeck, posturing as Richard's nephew and namesake, did Henry acknowledge the boys' deaths.

            In the Tower for treason against Henry, It is suspicious that Henry gave Tyrrel a general pardon on June 16, 1486.  Even more incriminating, a scant month later, Henry gave Tyrrel a second general pardon.

            The Shakespearean-Tudor myth persists...perhaps an achievement in art, but an apparent travesty to historical justice.

                                                                   Works Cited

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