How to cast a “Richard III”

Here is a Guardian article about Arthur Hughes, who qualifies for the role in that he is male, disabled (in a subtle way) and was only thirty when chosen by the Royal Shakespeare Company, as was Richard III in June 1483 when chosen by the Three Estates. He isn’t an octogenarian, a woman or pretending…

The Summer of 1483: Who Was Doing What, Where, With Whom and Why.

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Today a guest post from Annette Carson, author of many excellent books about Richard III and his times including The Maligned King, Richard III, A Small Guide to a Great Debate, Richard Duke of Gloucester as Lord Protector & Constable of England and a new translation of Mancini. Annette was also…

The Three Estates – and a useful comparison

In June 1483, as we all know, the Three Estates of England met, declared the throne vacant due to the illegitimacy of Edward IV’s offspring. They also decided that the Duke of Clarence‘s children were barred by his attainder, thereby offering the Crown to the Duke of Gloucester. The usually hostile Gairdner, as we know,…

Gairdner said it …

” … one might almost look upon it (the Duke of Gloucester’s selection as rightful heir) … as a constitutional election.” (History of The Life and Reign of Richard the Third (p.121) as cited in The Maligned King (p.117)).

V.B. Lamb’s unanswered questions

(see this article) If Henry VII “knew” that Edward IV‘s sons were dead by the time of his accession, why did he take nineteen years to produce any “evidence”, particularly when two individuals appeared claiming to be one or both of those “Princes” in 1487 and 1491? If he “knew” that Edward IV hadn’t committed…

The four Southampton rebels….?

Well, this article starts off as follows:- “….WHEN King Edward IV died in April 1483, his brother Richard of Gloucester was named Lord Protector of Edward’s son, the 12-year-old Edward V…. “….But before Edward could be crowned, Richard arranged for his parents’ marriage to be declared invalid, making the Princes illegitimate and ineligible for the…

So the options for those “Princes” are:

“Lambert Simnel” was Edward V. Sir John Evans was Edward V. Sir Edward Guildford was Edward V and Dr. John Clement was Richard of Shrewsbury or his son. “Perkin Warbeck” was Richard of Shrewsbury. Richard of Eastwell was Richard of Shrewsbury. Obviously, some of these are mutually exclusive but some are compatible. Even before the…

A modern parallel

The Three Estates offered Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the crown when his brother’s bigamy was exposed, thereby bastardising his sons. Something very similar happened as recently as 1997, although there was DNA involved and not a bishop. Anthony, 3rd Baron Moynihan, died in Manila during 1991, after an eventful life that had included five marriages,…

Richard III’s claims about Edward V’s bastardy had “traction”….

Here’s a link to an interesting article about the bastardy of Edward V, and the reception of Richard’s claims concerning it. Specifically with regard to the IPM of Hastings. You can download the full PDF. And as a ‘taster’:- “….Richard’s claim that Edward V was a bastard did have traction in the localities after the…

Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York

Richard Shrewsbury Duke of York was the second son of King Edward IV. We don’t know a lot about him because he was not the heir to the throne but notwithstanding this, he is one of the most investigated historical characters being him one of the well known “Princes” in the Tower. We have not…