Richard III : His Life & Character

Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England.

When his brother Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's son and successor, the 12-year-old King Edward V. There were two major rebellions against Richard. The first, in October 1483, was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and also notably by Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who was his first cousin once removed. The revolt collapsed and Stafford was executed at Salisbury near the Bull's Head Inn.

In August 1485, there was another rebellion against Richard, led by Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond (later King Henry VII), and his uncle Jasper. Henry Tudor landed in Pembrokeshire, his birthplace, with a small contingent of French troops, and marched through Wales recruiting foot soldiers and skilled archers. Richard died during the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last English king to die in battle (and the only one to do so on English soil since Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066).