Richard III remains one of the most argued-over figures in English history. Few kings have acquired such a strange afterlife. He ruled for only two years, died violently in battle, vanished into a friary, reappeared beneath a Leicester car park and has spent the last five centuries being accused of almost everything short of personally inventing bad weather.
The old image is familiar. Richard is the crooked villain of Shakespeare, the cold uncle who murdered his nephews and clawed his way to the throne. The newer version is rather different. To some he is an intelligent administrator, a capable soldier and the victim of Tudor propaganda. The truth, frustratingly for those who like their history neat and tidy, lies somewhere between.
Richard was certainly ruthless. He lived in an age when softness was treated as a political defect and a king who hesitated often ended up dead. Yet he was also more complex than the caricature. He was brave to the point of recklessness, unusually interested in law and justice, and one of the last English kings to fight hand-to-hand in battle. When he charged at Bosworth in 1485, he was not directing events from a safe hilltop. He was in the thick of it, sword in hand, trying to kill his rival personally. It was glorious, desperate and, from a purely practical standpoint, perhaps not the best career move.
Early Life and Family
Richard was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. He was the youngest surviving son of Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. Through both parents he possessed formidable royal blood. The York family believed they had a stronger claim to the English throne than the ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI.
Richard grew up during the Wars of the Roses, which is rather like saying someone grew up during a family disagreement if the disagreement involved thousands of armed men and a regular habit of settling arguments with poleaxes.
His father was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460 and his elder brother Edmund died beside him. Richard and his brother George were sent abroad for safety. When another brother, Edward, defeated the Lancastrians and became Edward IV in 1461, Richard suddenly found himself the younger brother of a king.
He spent much of his youth in the household of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, later famous as the Kingmaker. Here he learned the skills expected of a nobleman: riding, weapons training, hunting, administration and command.
Richard Under Edward IV
During the reign of Edward IV, Richard emerged as one of the king’s most dependable supporters. Unlike their brother George, Duke of Clarence, who spent much of his life changing sides with the enthusiasm of a weather vane in a gale, Richard remained loyal.
He fought for Edward during the brief Lancastrian restoration of 1470 to 1471. Richard was present at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, two of the most decisive engagements of the Wars of the Roses.
Afterwards he was rewarded with extensive lands in the north of England. Richard became effectively the king’s lieutenant in the region. From bases at Middleham Castle and Sheriff Hutton he built up a reputation as an efficient administrator and military leader.
Northern records suggest that he was popular among many local gentry and townsmen. He intervened in disputes, supported the Council of the North and earned a reputation for hearing petitions personally. This does not make him a modern saint. Medieval government was still harsh and deeply unequal. Yet compared with many nobles of the period, Richard appears to have taken his responsibilities seriously.
The Road to the Throne
Edward IV died unexpectedly in April 1483. His heir, Edward V, was only twelve years old. Richard was appointed Lord Protector.
What followed remains one of the great political dramas in English history.
Richard took custody of the young king and his brother, Richard, Duke of York. Within weeks he declared that Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid, making their children illegitimate. Parliament accepted Richard’s claim and he was crowned Richard III on 6 July 1483.
The two princes were lodged in the Tower of London and then disappeared.
No subject connected to Richard produces more argument than the fate of the Princes in the Tower. There is no direct evidence proving that Richard ordered their deaths. There is also no convincing evidence that they survived. Richard certainly benefited from their disappearance and he had both the means and the opportunity.
As a historian, I find it difficult to escape the conclusion that Richard probably knew what happened. Whether he ordered the killings personally, allowed them to happen or simply failed to prevent them, the shadow of the princes hangs over his reign like a permanent thundercloud.
Richard III as King
Richard ruled from 1483 to 1485. His reign was brief but not inactive.
He introduced a number of reforms that were surprisingly forward-looking. He promoted the use of English in government documents instead of French. He improved access to bail, restricted corruption in the legal system and attempted to make justice more accessible.
His Parliament passed measures against forced loans and protected defendants from having property seized before conviction.
Richard also continued to strengthen the north and relied heavily on loyal retainers rather than older magnates he did not trust. That caution was understandable, though it also left him politically isolated.
The rebellion led by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, in 1483 showed how fragile Richard’s position had become. Although the revolt failed, it revealed that many former supporters were uneasy with the new king.
Battles and Military Acumen
Richard III was, above all else, a soldier king. He had been fighting since his teens and possessed real battlefield experience. Unlike some medieval rulers who preferred to appear impressive from a comfortable distance, Richard had spent years in active command.
Battle of Barnet, 1471
At Barnet, Richard fought for his brother Edward IV against the Earl of Warwick.
The battle took place in thick fog and confusion. Units became disoriented and friendly forces attacked one another by mistake. Richard commanded part of the Yorkist vanguard and acquitted himself well.
Barnet ended with Warwick dead and the Lancastrian cause badly weakened.
Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471
Richard played an even more prominent role at Tewkesbury. Contemporary accounts suggest he commanded one wing of the Yorkist army.
The Yorkist victory destroyed the Lancastrian royal line. Prince Edward of Lancaster was killed and Henry VI died shortly afterwards.
Tewkesbury showed Richard’s strengths as a commander. He was disciplined, aggressive and capable of acting decisively under pressure.
Campaigns in Scotland
In 1482 Richard led an English campaign into Scotland. He captured Berwick-upon-Tweed, one of the most fiercely contested border towns in Britain.
Berwick remained in English hands afterwards. Militarily, this was one of Richard’s greatest achievements. Border warfare was difficult, expensive and usually inconclusive. Richard managed to gain territory and hold it.
Bosworth Field, 1485
Bosworth was Richard’s final battle and the one that fixed his place in history.
Henry Tudor landed in Wales in August 1485 and marched east. Richard gathered a larger army and confronted him near Market Bosworth on 22 August.
At first Richard held the stronger position. Then the Stanley family, who had been hovering between both sides with all the reliability of a cat considering whether to come indoors, intervened.
Seeing Henry exposed, Richard launched a direct cavalry charge aimed at killing him. It nearly worked. Richard cut down Henry’s standard-bearer and fought his way close to the pretender himself.
Then he was surrounded and killed.
It was a reckless gamble, but it was also an act of extraordinary courage. Richard died fighting with a determination that even his enemies admired. The chronicler Polydore Vergil wrote that Richard “alone was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies.”
Arms and Armour
Richard III would have worn the finest armour available in Europe. By the 1470s and 1480s English noblemen often imported armour from Italy or the Low Countries.
Richard’s battlefield equipment probably included:
- A full suit of late fifteenth-century plate armour
- A sallet or close-fitting helmet, possibly with a bevor protecting the chin and throat
- Plate gauntlets and articulated leg armour
- A surcoat or jupon bearing the royal arms of England
- A richly decorated sword worn at the hip
- A dagger or rondel dagger for close combat
Swords and Weapons
The typical knightly sword of Richard’s age was a hand-and-a-half longsword, designed for both cutting and thrusting. Surviving examples from the period often fit Oakeshott Types XVIII and XX.
Richard may also have carried:
- A longsword for mounted and foot combat
- A pollaxe, one of the deadliest weapons of the late medieval battlefield
- A mace for use against armoured opponents
- A lance when fighting as heavy cavalry
The pollaxe in particular deserves mention. Late medieval warfare was increasingly dominated by plate armour, and swords alone often struggled to penetrate it. The pollaxe, with its hammer, spike and axe head, was brutally effective. It was less elegant than a sword, certainly, but then medieval battlefields rarely rewarded elegance for very long.
What Richard III Probably Looked Like
For centuries Richard was depicted as hideously deformed. Tudor writers exaggerated his appearance to match his reputation.
The discovery of his skeleton in 2012 finally settled the question.
Richard had scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine. One shoulder would have been slightly higher than the other, but he did not have a withered arm or a grotesque hump. Contemporary armour could easily have concealed much of the asymmetry.
Modern facial reconstructions suggest a slender man with fine features, dark hair and a serious, intelligent expression.
He looks, in truth, far more like a tired courtier than a pantomime villain.
Death at Bosworth
Richard was killed during the fighting at Bosworth on 22 August 1485.
Examination of his skeleton revealed multiple wounds:
- Two severe injuries to the skull, probably delivered after his helmet had been lost or removed
- A cut to the jaw
- Wounds to the pelvis and ribs
The head wounds were fatal. One in particular appears to have been caused by a halberd or bill.
After the battle, Richard’s naked body was slung over a horse and carried to Leicester. It was displayed publicly to prove that he was dead.
He was buried hastily in the church of the Greyfriars friary.
Then, for centuries, he disappeared.
The Discovery of Richard III
In 2012 archaeologists excavating a car park in Leicester discovered a skeleton beneath the old site of Greyfriars.
The remains showed scoliosis and battle wounds consistent with Richard’s death. DNA testing linked the skeleton to living descendants of Richard’s sister Anne of York.
The discovery was one of the most remarkable archaeological finds in modern British history. Historians dream about moments like this and usually have to settle for a damp charter and an argument about handwriting.
Instead, Richard III turned up beneath a parking bay.
Latest Archaeology and Scientific Findings
Recent studies have revealed more about Richard’s life than perhaps he would have found entirely comfortable.
Analysis of his teeth and bones suggests that his diet became far richer after he became king. He consumed more wine, freshwater fish and expensive meats.
Scientific work has also shown:
- Richard suffered from scoliosis from adolescence
- He probably remained physically active and could still fight effectively
- He had no sign of a withered arm
- His injuries are entirely consistent with death in close combat at Bosworth
Archaeologists have continued to study the Greyfriars site and the battlefield itself. Finds from Bosworth include cannonballs, badges, buckles and fragments of weapons.
There is still debate about the exact location of the main fighting. Battlefield archaeology has shifted the likely site several miles from where earlier generations placed it.
Artefacts and Where to See Them
Several places in Britain contain artefacts or exhibitions connected with Richard III and his reign.
Leicester Cathedral
Richard III was reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015. His tomb can be visited there.
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Built on the site of the Greyfriars discovery, the visitor centre contains:
- Information on the excavation
- Replicas of Richard’s armour and weapons
- Displays on the Wars of the Roses
- Material on the forensic reconstruction of his face
York Minster
York retains a strong connection to Richard. He was particularly associated with the north and remains more warmly regarded there than in much of the south.
The minster and surrounding museums contain material relating to the House of York and Richard’s reign.
Middleham Castle
Middleham in Yorkshire was Richard’s favourite residence and effectively his northern home.
Visitors can still explore the castle where he spent much of his adult life.
Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre
The battlefield museum contains:
- Weapons and armour from the late fifteenth century
- Artefacts recovered from the battlefield
- Exhibits explaining the final battle of Richard III
Richard III and Shakespeare
Much of Richard’s reputation comes from Shakespeare’s play Richard III.
Shakespeare wrote under the Tudor dynasty, whose founder, Henry VII, had defeated Richard at Bosworth. Unsurprisingly, the play does Richard few favours.
Shakespeare’s Richard is brilliant, witty, sinister and gloriously wicked. Historically he is also wildly unreliable.
The famous image of Richard as a twisted monster owes more to theatre than to fact. Yet Shakespeare’s version has proved so entertaining that it has overshadowed the real man for centuries.
As a piece of drama it is magnificent. As a guide to history it belongs in roughly the same category as using a pirate film to study seventeenth-century naval logistics.
Was Richard III a Good King?
This depends entirely on what question is being asked.
Was he an able administrator? Yes.
Was he a competent military commander? Certainly.
Was he politically ruthless? Absolutely.
Did he probably play some role in the disappearance of the princes? Very likely.
Richard III was neither a flawless hero nor a pure villain. He was a hard, intelligent and ambitious man shaped by one of the most violent periods in English history.
The tragedy of Richard is that his better qualities are impossible to separate from the darker choices that brought him to the throne.
He remains fascinating because he resists easy judgement. Even now, over five hundred years later, he still manages to start arguments in pubs, universities and museum gift shops.
Seven Swords Takeaway
Richard III was England’s last Plantagenet king and the last English monarch to die in battle. His reign was short, dramatic and surrounded by controversy.
He fought bravely, governed with more ability than many expected and left behind a reputation so tangled that historians are still trying to unravel it.
The discovery of his remains transformed our understanding of him. We now know that he was not the monstrous figure of Tudor legend. He was a real man, flawed, ambitious, physically slight, politically dangerous and brave enough to charge into battle when every sensible instinct should perhaps have suggested otherwise.
That, in the end, may be why Richard III continues to fascinate. He is not easy to like, nor easy to dismiss. He is simply impossible to ignore.
