Richard III Research Paper

Richard III, the twelfth of thirteen of Richard Plantagenet and Cicely Nevill’s children, was born in 1452. As a young boy he developed a fierce loyalty towards his older brother Edward IV who became king in 1461. Edward married and had ten children by Elizabeth Woodville. During Edward’s reign, Richard was made Duke of York in the same year of brother’s coronation. Richard married Anne Nevill in 1472 and they had one son, who was also named Edward. In 1483 Edward IV’s health began to fail and before his death, he made Richard the Lord Protector of his two sons, Edward and Richard, the heirs to the throne. Several months passed and Richard continued to dutifully fulfill this role. Soon after the king’s death evidence was soon put forth proving

On many occasions throughout his life he proved himself to be trustworthy. His older brother Edward IV made Richard a duke and a knight at a very young age. He did many kind things and the people who were under his protection had very high opinions of him. Later on Edward entrusted him with his life, the lives of his children, and his kingdom. Fierce loyalty was another noble quality which Richard possessed; his motto was “loyalty binds me.” Richard developed a devout loyalty to Edward IV; he faithfully served and fought for him, he never questioned his commands, and always obeyed them. This loyalty was put to the test many times, yet he still remained loyal, even to a fault. Only on one occasion this was not applicable. In addition to these virtues, Richard was not an overly ambitious man; he was not desirous of power and did not abuse the power given to him. He never once tried to attain or even request more power from Edward IV, even though he easily could have. He had control over the armies in the north of England, which were loyal to him and yet he only used them to fulfill Edward’s commands. He was content simply as a duke, a knight, and protector against Scotland; he had and showed no reason to desire more power. When Edward made an agreement to receive wealth from the king of France, Richard did not accept because he valued his honor more than wealth and power. What power he had was not abused. Edward gave

Many state that Richard’s motive for killing the young princes was to cement his place as king. This is faulty reasoning; he certainly did not need the boys dead in order to gain the throne. Richard appeared to take no action against the princes until he heard from Bishop Stillington of the pre-contract and between their father and another woman by the name of Eleanor Butler. On learning this, Parliament enacted Titulus Regius. Richard could have easily taken the case to a Church court and declared the children illegitimate. He did not want to do this because it would make his whole family illegitimate. He clearly did not want that. Instead, Richard had the boys placed in the Tower under careful protection and the rest of their family went into sanctuary. There was no reason for Richard to kill his nephews because the people supported him, not the Woodville’s, of whom his nephews were descendants. Even if the people would have rallied to Edward's sons, there was no reason for Richard to kill them because the people would have then simply rallied to the remaining nine heirs, of whom three were males. Richard III had the boys locked in the Tower of London and there was no way for them to get out. Therefore, there was no reason to have them killed. His own right to the crown was unassailable, proved by Act of Parliament and public acclamation; the boys were out of the