Discussed in the first instalment: Henry Tudor's claim to the English crown.
Henry Tudor and Richard III- the last York King- two entirely different men, battling it out on this 22 day of August for life or death. Without digging away at the surface, at the beginning of the day it could have been simply believed Richard would easily defeat this threat to his monarchy. Crowned and anointed King, a competent leader with a well-equipped and experienced army, he seemed to have all the pluses on his side.
Except for one important thing.
Richard the third at Bosworth Field was not the Richard of times past. Despite the fact he went into battle determined to 'do or die', even before this battle began I see him here as a defeated man. Recently widowed of Anne Neville, his beloved wife, who had died a very hard death from consumption, all his legitimate children were also all dead. The very last one, Edward, Richard's eleven- year old son and heir, dying only months prior to his mother. Starting with Edward IV's death, a brother Richard served devotedly from his youngest years, life for Richard had been personal disaster after personal disaster. And as well as these personal disasters, there were all the political disasters inflicting him at every turn. Yes, for Richard, the youngest and last remaining son of Richard, Duke of York, being made King brought no good fortune.
Of all the Kings of England, Richard is one of my three favourites. Put against the context of the times, I have faith in Richard's sincerity and attempts to live a good life. Probably the most maligned of all English Kings, Richard was accused by the Tudor propaganda machine of slandering his mother (Edward IV born as a result of her unfaithfulness), murdering the saintly Henry VI in the Tower of London, just after he heartlessly killed his son Edward on the battlefield.
Though he may have obeyed his brother's orders to 'put away' Henry VI, I think it unlikely Edward employed his nineteen-year old brother as some kind of henchman - even to the extent of having Richard arrange the drowning of their brother George in a barrel of his favourite wine. In Richard's brief time as King the accusations continue. Some of Richard's supposed sins then include desiring to wed and bed his own niece, the eighteen-year old Elizabeth of York. Indeed, to achieve this end, Anne Neville's death wasn't because of consumption - rather her death was through poison, a poison administered nightly by her husband.
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