![]() ![]() ![]() However, as has been argued by Matt Lewis, the murder of his nephews is not so obvious as one would at first glance believe. However, as is noted by Amin, Richard would not have known that events would unfold in this way. The son of Richard III is often neglected in historical recounts, after all he died in 1484, just one year after the princes in the tower. Murdering the princes, despite having already deemed them illegitimate, was necessary, as proven with Edward IV, to securing the throne. Nathen Amin has argued that Richard III was acting as a bad uncle in an attempt to be a good father. ![]() It has been argued that Richard had the most motive and could easily access the princes. The theory that Richard III killed the princes in the tower is the one most commonly accepted by historians, and originates from Tudor historians’, Polydore Vergil and Sir Thomas More’s, versions of events. Modern sympathisers of Richard III have created an almost cult-like following of people rushing to defend the person termed the ‘first victim of fake news’ by the Richard III society’s chair, and respected historian, Matt Lewis. In more recent years, however, there has been a more sympathetic reading of Richard III. This is the image which remains culturally embedded in the depiction of Richard. The key suspect is undoubtedly Richard III, arguably with the fate of his legacy being sealed in Shakespeare, with his depiction of the evil hunchback Richard III, so evil that he killed his nephews in their sleep. With the background laid out, it is now necessary to move to the suspects. In order to improve his claim, Henry Tudor promised to marry Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV, and sister to the princes in the tower. However, with the commotion of the illegitimisation of Edward V, Margaret seemed to change tack, with her aim no longer just to get her son back into England but get her son back as King. Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, had attempted to get her son out of Brittany and back to England since his exile began, and nearly succeeded under Edward IV, but his untimely death rendered this impossible. Soon after he is named Lord Protector a convenient piece of evidence emerges that claims to prove that Edward IV was secretly married before his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, the boys’ mother, making Edward IV a bigamist and Edward V illegitimate – and, most continently, made Richard the King of England.Īt the same time, in Brittany, Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, was in exile where he had been since 1471 as a relatively distant heir to the Lancastrians. Obviously, a 12-year-old cannot rule a country, and so, as was common in the fifteenth century, Edward’s brother, Richard III was named Lord Protector. His prematurity left his son, the 12-year-old Edward V, as king of England. Edward spent most of his time drinking, eating, and partying, which could have led to his early death in April 1483. Richard appeared happy in his position of Lord of the North and did not organise any rebellions against Edward, unlike his other brother George, whose treason was punished by drowning in a barrel of his favourite malmsey wine, as the rumour goes – some might argue a slightly psychopathic way to kill your own brother. Richard III was the fourth son of the House of York, a seemingly benign duke, who had served as Lord of the North under his brother Edward IV – the taller, more attractive, more charismatic, and king-like of the two. The muddied entanglements of the Wars of the Roses are so complex that they can make your brain hurt and want to trace it out in pencil and paper, so I shall try to make it as brief and simple as possible. It is not surprising that the background does not get overly focused on. However, the actual background and facts of the story often get lost within the drama of it all. The story is one of the best known in British history – most people know that ruthless King Richard killed his nephews, as Shakespeare would have us believe. The Princes in the Tower is an episode in British history so shrouded in mystery that still, over 500 years later, we are still discovering clues, still creating theories as to what might have happened to the boys. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |