"The last Yorkist King, Richard III (1452-1485), died fighting Henry Tudor in battle. For centuries controversy has raged over Richard and his character. Was he really the monster depicted in 15th and 16th century sources or a victim of Tudor propaganda?
Richard's elder brother, Edward IV, died suddenly in April 1483, leaving the throne to his 12 year old son, Edward Edward V (1470-1483). Within weeks of Edward IV's death, his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492) was declared invalid and his children thus illegitimate, and his younger brother, Richard, was declared King in Edward V's place. The deposed king and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York (1473-1483), disappeared into the Tower of London, where they became the famous "princes in the Tower".
William Shakespeare famously depicted Richard III as a murderous hunchback, while in his history of the reign, Thomas More characeterized the king in a similar manner. More considered that he was responsible for the murders of his two nephews, who were not seen alive after the summer of 1483. Most contemporaries do seem to believe that the princes were dead by late 1483, as can be seen from the fact that their mother, Edward IV's widow Queen Elizabeth Woodville, transferred her support to Henry Tudor, providing that he married her daughter. That the princes were murdered by Richard is the most likely explanation, although Henry Tudor and, implausibly, even his mother, Margaret Beaufort, have been suggested as possible murderers.
Many of the excesses of the Tudor depictions of Richard can be dismissed. The claim in John Rous's Historia Regum, which appeared soon after Richard's death, that the "tyrant" remained in his mother's womb for two years before "issuing forth with teeth and hair down to his shoulders" is clearly ridiculous, while the claims that he poisoned his wife and personally murdered the deposed Henry VI are probably also spurious. However, interestingly, when his body was identified early in 2013, it was discovered that he suffered from severe scoliosis of the spoine, something which would indeed have given his body a twisted appearance and is the source of the hunchback claims.
Richard III was a ruthless man. He disposed of a number of rivals on his way to the throne, such as ordering the summary executions of Queen Elizabeth Woodville's brother, Earl Rivers and son by her first marriage, Sir Richard Grey, as well as that of Lord Hastings, who had been a friend of Edward IV's. His deposition of his nephew based on the highly dubious claim that he was illegitimate was unprecedented. He did have a better hereditary claim to the throne than Henry Tudor, but his niece, Elizabeth of York, had an even stronger one.
Winning the Crown:
Henry Tudor was still living as an exile in Brittany when word arrived of Edward IV's death in April 1483. The ill-feeling towards Richard over the manner in which he had come to the throne, as well as the disappearance of his two nephews, led many Yorkist supporters to turn towards Henry Tudor ...
From Brittany, Henry Tudor began to send letters to leading figures in the kingdom, signing himself as "H.R." to demonstrate that, as far as he was concerned, he was already King of England. More practically, he asked them "to advance me to the furtherance of my rightful claim, due and lineal inheritance of that crown, and for the just depriving of that homicide and unnatural tyrant, which now unjustly bears dominion over you."
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While in France. Henry began to raise funds, with the King of France providing him with money for up to 4,000 men at arms. His mother also set about gathering money and support in England. In August 1485, he sailed from Harfleur; landing at Milford Haven. Henry immediately sent a message to his stepfather, Lord Stanley (1435-1504), who was a powerful magnate, but had hitherto refused to commit himself to his stepson's cause. Richard III, not unnaturally, suspected Stanley of sympathizing with the invader had already taken his eldest son, Lord Strange (1460-1503), hostage as a surety of his father's loyalty. Lord Strange's position meant that Stanley was not prepared to fully commit himself to Henry, but he and his brother, Sir William Stanley, both met with the younger man on 21 August, with Lord Stanely agreeing not to support the king. At the same time, he also sent four knights and their men to reinforce Henry's vanguard -a sure sign of his support ...
Henry's army was smaller, but he was confident and showed no fear as he rode up and down his line, encouraging his troops and urging them forwards. The battle of Bosworth Field is poorly documented, but it seems that it was Henry who moved first, after Richard's archers began to fire ... Richard showed great personal courage and, even when the battle began to turn against him, he refused the offer of a horse to allow him to flee. Instead, he waded deeper into the battle, moving towards Henry and killing his standard bearer, Sir William Brandon. Unfortunately for the last Yorkist King, it was at this moment that Sir William Stanley chose to intervene with his men helping to drive the king backwards. Overwhelmed, Richard fell in battle, becoming the last King of England to die in combat."
