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Each of these stories first appears in writing either in Sir Thomas More's The History of King Richard III, believed by some to be based on Morton's account, or on the writings of someone else who had heard the stories. (Historians are divided on the issue of Morton's importance as a source, some pointing out that More's own father was an Edwardian loyalist and well-connected in the government of the City of London.) The question of whether these stories were true was not of great interest to either Morton or More, history then still being regarded as a branch of literature. It was customary for histories to also serve as propaganda on both sides, to support and strengthen one's patron's cause. Not only that, but Morton, having been arrested by Richard III, had fled to exile in Flanders. He only returned when Henry VII was on the throne and was quickly promoted.

On June 22, 1483, outside St Paul's Cathedral, a statement was read out on behalf of Richard declaring for the first time that he was taking the throne for himself. When the members of Parliament met on June 25, it apparently heard evidence from a priest that he had conducted a marriage or betrothal between Edward IV and one Lady Eleanor Talbot (or Butler) before his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. Since even a betrothal was a legally binding "pre-contract" in the customs of the time, Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been bigamous, therefore all their children were illegitimate. Some of the proceedings of that Parliamentary session survive in a document known as Titulus Regius, which Parliament issued some months later explaining its actions and of which a single copy escaped the destruction of all copies of the Titulus Regius later ordered by Henry VII. The identity of the priest in question - thought to have been Edward IV's sometime Chancellor, Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells - is known from only one source, the French political commentator, Philippe de Commines. Titulus Regius also cited two further grounds upon which Edward IV's marriage had been invalid, namely that it was made "in a profane place" and that it was made "without the assent of the Lords".

Despite rumours that Richard's claims were true, evidence was lacking, and until recently it has generally been accepted that Richard's chief motive for taking the crown was that he felt that his own power and wealth would be threatened under Edward V, who was presumably sympathetic to his Woodville relatives. A recently-published theory claims that it was Edward IV who was illegitimate -see was Edward illegitimate? for details - but hard evidence is lacking.

Coronation

Richard's three elder brothers were all dead. His elder brother George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence had been attainted in connection with a treason charge, meaning that his children Margaret and Edward, Earl of Warwick were also removed from the line of succession - although they were not personally accused of treason and had been given other honors. On July 6, 1483, Richard was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Except for three earls not old enough to participate and a few lesser nobles, the entire peerage attended his coronation. He was the last Plantagenet king.

Death

Richard was known as a devout man and an efficient administrator. However, he was a Yorkist and heirless, and had ruthlessly removed the Woodvilles and their allies; he was therefore vulnerable to political opposition. His apparently loyal supporter, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, turned against him and was executed late in 1483 after joining with Henry Tudor in a failed attempt to overthrow Richard by force.

Richard's enemies united against him. According to local tradition in Leicester, Richard went to see a seer in the town before heading off for the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485 to meet Lancastrian forces led by Henry Tudor. She told him "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle his spur struck the bridge stone of the Bow Bridge; as his dead body was being carried back over the back of a horse his head struck the same stone and was broken open. Tudor succeeded Richard to become Henry VII, and cemented the succession by marrying the Yorkist heir, Elizabeth of York. Legends notwithstanding, Richard was abandoned at Bosworth by the Lords William Stanley and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, Stanley switching sides, which severely depleted his army's strength.It is said that Richard's naked body was paraded through the streets before being buried at Greyfriars Church, Leicester. According to one tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries his body was thrown into the nearby River Soar, although other evidence suggests that this may not be the case and that his burial site may currently be under a car park in Leicester. There is currently a memorial plaque on the site of the Cathedral where he may have once been buried. Skeletal remains recovered from the Soar and initially believed to be Richard's were later found to be those of an Anglo-Saxon warrior who died nearly 500 years before Richard was killed. This conclusion was made through both radiocarbon dating and the size of the body and the thickness of the bones. Richard is described in contemporary accounts as being rather short and slim. The greater probability is that despite the Dissolution, Richard's remains still are buried at the original site whereas the tombstone has been destroyed (see link below).

Succession

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 another nephew, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as his heir.

Present Heir

Currently, the law governing succession in Great Britain is the Act of Settlement 1701, under which Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is the legal heir. This act is presently recognized in the United Kingdom as part of the fundamental basis of the British constitution.If Edward IV's illegitimacy were accepted, then the heirs of George, Duke of Clarence would have been the heirs of the House of York and of the throne of England, according to the strict application of medieval Laws of Inheritance. If the United Kingdom decided, through some unknown process, that in accordance with this law, all monarchs since the 15th century had been pretenders, then all British law enacted since that time would be invalid (as it would be lacking the proper Royal Assent). This would invalidate all laws dealing with succession, including, but not limited to, the Act of Settlement. In such a world, the present heir to the throne would be Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (b.1942, formerly Lord Mauchline) who lives in Jerilderie, Australia.

Legacy

Richard's Council of the North greatly improved conditions for Northern England, as commoners of that region were formerly without any susbtantial economic activity independent of London. Its descendant position was Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Since his death, Richard III has become one of England's most controversial kings. Modern historians recognise the damage done to his reputation by "historians" of the next reign, and particularly by William Shakespeare. Among other things, Richard was represented as physically malformed, which in those days was accepted as evidence of an evil character. However, it has been demonstrated that he could not have carried out most of the crimes attributed to him. The major exception is the question of whether he was responsible for the deaths of his nephews, the "Princes in the Tower". The Richard III Society (membership approximately 4,000) was set up during the 20th century and has gathered considerable research material about his life and reign. Its members hold events and preserve the king's memory. The Society's database is impressive and is of great value to the historical research community.

The Society of Friends of King Richard III (membership approximately less than 50 in

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