"One of the most controversial rulers in the history of the British Isles, Richard remains something of an enigma to historians. Histories surrounding him range from Sir Thomas More and Shakespeare portraying him as evil incarnate, to some modern revisionists who would clear him of all guilt and proclaim him to be the greatest of the English monarchs. As with all things the truth is probably somewhere inbetween." Erik goes onto state, "I will go so far as to say, though, that Richard III has been "tried" on several occasions by different courts in this century and in every case he's been judged not-guilty, due to lack of evidence against him. Take that as you will."
Both kings, Richard and Henry come under debate about the killing of Edward V and Richard Duke of York. The sons of Edward IV were in a position to thwart the claim to the throne and somehow, both were killed! *Ruth Anne Vineyard attests:
"There are good arguments that either Richard III killed his nephews or that Henry VII did. Both had opportunity and strong reason for doing so. It is interesting to note, however, that there were at least ten heirs with better crown rights than Tudor who were alive and living free of any restraint under Richard III. All were eliminated, including Richard III's illegitimate son, John of Gloucester, within a few years of Tudor's ascention."*
All I can say to that is "Mmmmm, very interesting."
So were Richard and Henry good kings, did they serve England well?
Yet again, the answers are not so forthcoming, especially for Richard whose reign only lasted two years. Faced with a war that had been raging for almost 30 years and a treasury that had no doubt been depleted because of it, it's difficult to say. However he is seen as an heroic king and much versed in the art of battle. Henry however had more of a chance and he was generally seen as a successful king. He managed during his reign to accumulate wealth for the English monarchy and when he died, he left a substantial legacy to his son, Henry VIII.
There are certainly too many debatable issues for me to catalogue here. However if you're interested in further reading then the links that I have supplied should provide necessary reading. If you have any thoughts regarding this time in history, please share them with me. Either post a comment in my discussion area or email me directly and I'll take care of it. It would be great if we could keep an open discussion going on this!
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