Richard The Third

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RICHARD THE THIRD Paul Murray Kendall GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN

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biography of a of the history. English figures in controversial est evious works, whether frankly popular or of olarly stamp, have been largely devoted to guing a '' case " either for or against King ichard. They have too often relied, if ardently fending him, on wishful speculation or have ollowed the Tudor tradition of history, now no longer tenable, of showing him to be the ruthless \iUain of Shakespeare's melodrama. This biography offers an impartial study of ichard's enigmatic character and turbulent career, sed almost wholly upon the Pre-Tudor historical Xiis

can be called the

torious but actually

first

real

unknown King, one

Richard's own day, it includes much material as well as information obtainable when the Gairdner biography was blished. It removes Richard from the shadow of srepresentation and rumour. It artfully shapes chard's life into a drama of tragic passion and

urces

of

fresh

tirely

in thematic development and psychology. It evokes the neglected but colourful times in which Richard lived and the

lence,

complex

scinating in

array

W

of

a r wick

its

great figures whose lives touched his the Kingmaker, Margaret of Anjou, Louis

Edward the Fourth, Caxton, Jane Henry Tudor, and many others. A special section has been devoted to what is perhaps the most famous, and bitterly disputed, murder mystery the Eleventh,

Shore,

English annals

in

Tower." This is one

—that

of the " little Princes in

the

rhat has ever

^Jthor

is

most readable works

of the

come

into

its

of history

publisher's hands.

The

an American professor of English Litera-

^Hre, who after several years of research in his home ^antry, spent a year and a half in England seeking ^ftther material.

30s net

^

RICHARD THE THIRD

ICA

AN::

-apt

/t':a

PAUL MURRAY KENDALL

Richard the

Third

LONDON GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD

First published in

igSS

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private

study,

research,

or

criticism

review,

as

permitted under the Copyright Act, 191 1, no portion may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiry should be

@

George Allen

&

made

Unwin

to the publisher.

Ltd.,

ipSS

Printed in Great Britain in 1 2 point Bembo type by C. Tinling and Co. Ltd. Liverpool, London and Prescot

TO

MY TWO CAROLS

Preface

RICHARD THE THIRD

is

perhaps the most polemical figure in the reaches

of English history. Ever since the Tudor historians of the Sixteenth century developed their picture of an arch-villain, he has been the subject of bitter argument by those attacking or defending this view of him, which Shakespeare epitomizes in

popular tragedy, Richard

his

the Third,

In the course

of

been approached

this

long controversy Richard's career has usually

as stuff from

which

to create a *case'

and

his character

has been treated as a cardboard counter, black or white, to be pushed

back and forth in the struggles of the Great Debate. is

he a

Is

villain or

he not? Did he murder the Princes or did he not? Does the Tudor

tradition present

an accurate

likeness, or

is it

a base slander?

The books

written about Richard have been largely devoted to arguing the answers to these questions.

The

of argument are inimical to the art of biography. In this sense, it can be said that no life of Richard has even been written. The object of this volume is to attempt such a Ufe. I have sought to portray what manner of man Richard was, what manner of hfe he led, and something of the times of which he was a part. Moral judgments I have I

heats

left as far as possible

to the reader.

have ignored the Tudor tradition, except in so

to offer bits

of rehable evidence; and

I

far as

have based

this

it

appears

biography

almost entirely upon source material contemporary with Richard's day. Since Richard

so controversial a figure,

is

I

have provided in the

most debated of his hfe, the conclusions which I have drawn from conflicting or ambiguous testimony. Numbers which are asterisked refer to notes in which evidence is discussed or additional information is suppUcd;

notes an opportunity for the reader to criticize, in the passages

the other I is

numbers

refer simply to sources.

have tried to indicate

fact

and what

is

clearly, either in the text or the notes,

my own

what

conjecture; and for conjectures of any 7

PREFACE

8

have given the reasons or evidence on which the conjecture is based. If the events of Richard's hfe and the general shape of his character had been previously established, I would probably have importance

I

given freer rein to speculation. As

it is, I

have sought to

the facts, or as close an approach to the facts as

Nevertheless a biography

of

is

a

I

hew him out of

could make.

work of interpretation.

A

succession

does not create a hfe or reveal a character. The accuracy of

facts

my

portrait of Richard depends, in the last analysis, on the vahdity of the imaginative judgments that I have drawn from the facts. The

notes offer the reader

some opportunity of estimating

that vaUdity

for himself.

To

deal

with the

central' mystery

the 'Little Princes in the Tower'? that

is

deadly to biography.

I

of Richard's

—requires

life

—Who murdered

an analysis of evidence

have therefore transferred

my

discussion

of this enigma to an appendix (Appendix I). I have also provided, in Appendix II, a brief survey of the vicissitudes which Richard's reputation has encountered since he fell at Bosworth Field. I owe an especial debt of gratitude to Alec R. Myers, Lecturer in Medieval History in the University of Liverpool, for reading

my

manuscript and offering suggestions and emendations of the greatest value;

I

have been able to indicate in the notes only a few of

contributions,

and

I

can by no means indicate

my

his

appreciation of his

labours and his encouragement. I

am likewise

indebted to J. G. Edwards, Director of the Institute of

Historical Research; C.

H. WilUams, of King's College, the University

of London; Jack Simmons, the University of Leicester; K. B. McFarlane

and C. A.

J.

Armstrong, of Oxford University; Denys Hay, the

Bume. I am grateful for the me by the staffs of the London Library; the

University of Edinburgh; and Col. A. H. courtesy and help extended to Students'

Room,

Dept. of MSS., and the Reading

Room of the British

Museum; the University of London Library; the PubUc Record Office; and the Ohio University Library, particularly Miss Catherine Nelson. For friendly assistance of many kinds I can make only inadequate acknowledgment to Richard Hough; Edward Hodnett, Ohio University; Charles Allen Smart; Edward H. Davidson, the University of Illinois; and Paul Murphy, Ohio University.

My

research in

fellowship granted

England was accomplished during my tenure of a by The Fund for the Advancement of Education.

The Research Fund, Ohio

University, provided aid in the preparation

of the typescript. June, 1955.

P.

M. K.

CONTENTS PROLOGUE

page 15

THE KING'S BROTHER Richard,

Duke of Gloucester

27

The Lord of the North

105

THE KING Protector

and Defensor

153

Richard, by Grace of God

...

232

EPILOGUE APPENDIX

Who

I

Murdered

APPENDIX

373

the ^Little Princes*?

393

II

Richard*s Reputation

419

NOTES 1.

Notes for prologue and Richard, Duke of Gloucester

437

2.

Notes for The Lord of the North

452

3.

Notes for

460

4.

Notes for Richard, by Grace of God

5.

Notes for epilogue, appendix

Protector

and Defensor

i

.

.

.

and appendlx n

479 493

BIBLIOGRAPHY

500

INDEX

503

ILLUSTRATIONS

Richard the Third

frontispiece

Henry VI

Edward

facing page

IV

64

96

Elizabeth Woodville

224

Margaret Beaufort

256

Henry VII

320

MAPS England

page

Battle ofBarnet Battle of

94

Tewkesbury

102

Eve ofBosworth Battle

14

362

ofBosworth

363

GENEALOGICAL TREE Lancaster and York

page

12

of Ann(

Nev

P.

es

^*« 1

w

i S

5

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