Spotlight: Richard III

Name: Richard Plantagenet / Richard III

Title/s: Duke of Gloucester / King of England / Lord Protector

Birth / Death: 2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485

Spouse: Anne Neville 1456-1485

Children: Edward 1476-1484 (by Anne Neville) / John 1470-1499 (illegitimate, possibly by Alice Burgh) / Katherine bet. 1465 & 1470-1491 (illegitimate, possibly by Katherine Haute).

Parents: Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York 1411-1460 & Cecily Neville 1415-1495

Siblings: Joan 1438 / Anne 1439-1476 / Henry 1441 / Edward IV 1442-1483 / Edmund, Earl of Rutland 1443-1460 / Elizabeth 1444-1504 / Margaret 1446-1503 / William 1447 / John 1448 / George, Duke of Clarence 1449-1478 / Thomas 1451 / Ursula 1455

Noble Connections: Richard III was the brother of Edward IV. His father was the Duke of York and his brother was the Duke of Clarence. His mother was descended from the Earls of Warwick, and her nephew was Richard “Kingmaker” Neville, Earl of Warwick.

Events of their Lifetime: The Wars of the Roses. The key battles of Towton, Edgecote Moor, Barnet and Tewkesbury took place during Richard’s lifetime. He died in the Battle of Bosworth Field, where Henry VII took his crown.

Controversy: Richard III was controversial because of the dilemma of his final resting place, which was only discovered in 2013 under a car park in Leicester. There is controversy over where his final resting place should be: York or Leicester. He is also controversial because of his taking of the throne from the young Edward V, his own nephew, and whether it was in fact legal.

Works in Fiction:
Gregory, Philippa, The White Queen (2009)
Jarman, Rosemary Hawley, We Speak No Treason (1971)
Martyn, Isolde, The Devil in Ermine (2013)
Penman, Sharon Kay, The Sunne in Splendour (1982)
Shakespeare, William, Richard III (1591)
Tey, Josephine, The Daughter of Time (1951)
Townsend, Guy, To Prove a Villain (1985)

Portrayals on Screen:
Aneurin Barnard, The White Queen, 2013, 10 episodes
Peter Cook, Blackadder, 1983, 1 episode
Paul Daneman, An Age of Kings, 1960, 5 episodes
Laurence Olivier, Richard III, 1955, directed by Laurence Olivier
Al Pacino, Looking for Richard, 1996, directed by Al Pacino

Further Reading:
Abbott, Jacob, Richard III (1858)
Arthurson, I., ‘A Question of Loyalty’, Ricardian, 7 (1987)
Ashdown-Hill, John, The Last Days of Richard III (2010)
Buck, George, History of King Richard III (1979)
Carson, Annette, Richard III: the Maligned King (2008)
Cheetham, Anthony, The Life and Times of Richard III (1972)
Condon, M.M., ‘A Kaleidoscope of Treason: Fragments from the Bosworth Story’, Ricardian, 7 (1992)
Davies, C.S.L., ‘Richard III, Brittany and Henry Tudor 1483-5’, Nottingham Medieval Studies, 38 (1993)
Donno, Elizabeth Story, ‘Thomas More and Richard III’, Renaissance Quarterly, 35 (1982)
Drewett, Richard, The Trial of Richard III (1984)
Gairdner, James, A History of the Life and Reign of Richard III (1898)
Gresham, Stephen, ‘The Dramaturgy of Tyranny More’s Richard III and Sackville’s Complaint of Buckingham’, Albion, 10 (1978)
Hammond, P.W., Richard III: the Road to Bosworth Field (1985)
Hanham, Alison, Richard III and his Early Historians (1975)
Hanham, Alison, ‘Richard III Lord Hastings and the Historians’, English Historical Review, 87 (1972)
Hicks, Michael, Richard III (1991)
Hicks, Michael, Richard III and his Rivals: Magnates and their Motives in the Wars of the Roses (2003)
Horrox, R.E., Richard III: a Study of Service (1989)
Kendall, Paul Murray, Richard the Third (1955)
Lamb, V.B., The Betrayal of Richard III (1959)
Langley, Philippa, The Search for Richard III: the King’s Grave (2013)
Levine, Mortimer, ‘Richard III Usurper or Lawful King, Speculum, 34 (1959)
Licence, Amy, Richard III: the Road to Leicester (2014)
Markham, Clements, ‘Richard III a Doubtful Verdict Reviewed’, English Historical Review, 6 (1891)
Markham, Clements, Richard III: his Life and Character (1906)
Potter, Jeremy, Good King Richard? (1983)
Ross, Charles, Richard III (1999)
Schwyzer, Philip, ‘Lees and Moonshine Remembering Richard III 1485-1635’, Renaissance Quarterly, 63 (2010)
Seward, Desmond, Richard III: England’s Black Legend (1983)
Tudor-Craig, Pamela, Richard III (1973)
Warnicke, Retha, ‘Lord Morley’s Statements about Richard III’, Albion, 15 (1983)
Warnicke, Retha, ‘More’s Richard III and the Mystery Plays’, Historical Journal, 35 (1992)
Woodward, G.W.O., King Richard III (1972)

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