Historians and genealogists have been very excited in recent weeks by the confirmation that the skeleton found under a car park in Leicester is that of King Richard III. But who was Richard III, why was he under a parking lot, and what can this find tell us about this much-maligned king?
First – the facts. He was born on October 2, 1452, at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, the son of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. Richard Plantagenet was the great-grandson of Edward III through Edward’s fifth son, Edmund of Langley, Duke of York. Cecily Neville’s maternal grandfather was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, third son of Edward III.
Richard therefore had a good claim to the English throne. But at the time of his birth, the Wars of the Roses were vying for the throne between the Lancaster line (symbolized by the red rose) and the York line (symbolized by the white rose). The Lancastrians were descended from John of Gaunt and thus believed they had a stronger claim. However, through marriage the Yorkist line could also claim descent from Edward III’s third son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, so he believed his claim to be stronger.
The Lancastrian Henry VI was a peace-loving king who suffered through periods of mental crisis. This left his throne vulnerable to attack from the York line and eventually the Lancastrians were defeated and Richard’s elder brother became Edward IV.
Edward had two sons, Edward and Richard by his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. Edward had secretly married Elizabeth, as she was an unpopular choice among his family and friends, and some believed the marriage had been invalid. Upon Edward’s death, his first child became Edward V.
This is where the character of Richard III starts to get a bit bleak. After his brother’s death, Richard seized the throne, claiming that Edward’s children were illegitimate and therefore not in line. Young Edward and his brother were sent “for his protection” to the Tower of London, and then mysteriously disappeared, presumably murdered.
Richard III has always been the prime suspect in his murders, but there has never been any hard evidence other than that it was in his best interest for them to be out of the way.
But now, a new threat to Richard came from Edmund Tudor’s son Henry, who could also claim descent from John of Gaunt from both of his fathers. Henry defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and thus founded the Tudor dynasty, becoming Henry VII, the father of Henry VIII. To unite the two warring houses, he married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV.
We know that Richard III died during the Battle of Bosworth, probably from a blow to the head. But how did he end up in a parking lot? After his death, he was buried in a hastily dug grave beneath Greyfriars Church in Leicester without any coffin or shroud. During Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, Greyfriars Church was demolished, and as the area developed its location was forgotten and rebuilt.
The big question for all historians, and one that may never be fully answered, is whether or not he was the villain he was believed to be. Much of our image of Richard comes from one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, Richard III. However, we must remember that Shakespeare was writing under a Tudor monarch, and writing anything that might undermine the validity of the dynasty would have been an extremely dangerous act. It is also very likely that, little more than a century after his death, the common consensus would have been very much against him. Sometimes it is only centuries after an event that we can become objective.
The question of who killed the princes in the tower is possibly one of the greatest murder mysteries of all time. The blame certainly pointed towards Richard, being his uncle and ‘protector’, and someone who had a vested interest in their not existing. But on the other hand, was Richard the victim of a very clever setup, one that would not be easily refuted?
The truth is that the recent reappearance of Richard after more than 500 years is going to open the debate for new historical investigations and the reevaluation of his character. Maybe it’s time we ask again who was Richard III Really?
