Richard III Biography

After his father’s death, Richard was taken into the care of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Warwick was instrumental in deposing Henry VI and replacing him with Richard's eldest brother, Edward.

During the reign of his brother, Edward IV, Richard demonstrated his loyalty, as well as his prodigious skill as a military commander, and was rewarded with the title Duke of Gloucester, and the position of Governor of the North.

Richard married the widowed Anne Neville, daughter of the late Earl of Warwick. They had one son, Edward Plantagenet, but he died young.

On the death of Edward IV, Richard was entrusted with the role of protector to the king's sons, his young nephews. But he took them into custody at the Tower of London (where they later died). Two months later Richard accepted the throne himself, after Parliament declared the two boys illegitimate.

Richard then charged the supporters of the young princes with treason and had them executed. They included Richard Grey, and Edward V's chamberlain, Sir Thomas Vaughn.

Richard was the last Plantagenet king. By the time of his last stand against the Lancastrians, he was a widower without a legitimate son. After his son's death, he had initially named his nephew, Edward, Earl of Warwick, Clarence's young son and also the nephew of Queen Anne Neville, as his heir. After Anne's death, however, Richard named John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as his heir.

His enemies united against him, and he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485, by Lancastrian forces led by Henry Tudor.