Richard III's Reign

In October 1483 Richard suffered a serious setback with the rebellion of the Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham had up until now been the Richard's most loyal supporter, and he had been granted many rewards. This uprising was in the name of Henry Tudor, descended from John of Gaunt through the debarred Beaufort line, but he presented himself as the last of Lancaster and as a focus for rebellion for those disaffected with Richard's reign. It is unlikely Buckingham had any loyalty to Tudor, it was more likely he was hoping to use him to remove Richard and attempt his own usurpation. As a descendent of Thomas of Woodstock, he had arguably a better claim to the throne than Tudor's, whose was tainted by illegitimacy.

The rebellion stirred up by Buckingham was supposed to create an unstable atmosphere in England so Tudor, living in Brittany since 1471, could invade. Richard dealt with this rebellion with his usual efficiency and it was quickly put down. Buckingham was executed in Salisbury market place on 2 December 1483 and Tudor was forced to sail back to Brittany.

On Christmas Day 1483 Henry Tudor promised to marry Elizabeth of York if he became king. Tudor now presented a very real threat to Richard's throne. Richard now began to rely more and more on his northern supporters, which came to be resented by his southern subjects. It could have been at this time that he gave the order for the princes to be killed, in an attempt to secure his throne. (For a more detailed discussion on the fate of the princes, see my Richard III page).

Richard called his first and only parliament in January 1483. The first area of business was the authenticationof Richard's title. The Act, titulus regius, which reiterated Richard's right to the throne through inheritance. It reiterated the debarring of Edward IV's children because of his pre-contract and the debarring of Clarence's son because of his attainder. The next legislation covered the acts of attainders against the rebels from Buckingham's uprising. The remainder of the session was devoted mainly to the passing of acts designed to reform the legal system. One ensured that juries should be free from intimidation, another that bail be allowed to men arrested for a felony. Richard consulted some of the most able and learned men in England to help with the drafting of these acts.

Richard III's Usurpation	To Bosworth

or skip to a section.... Background Henry IV's Usurpation Henry V Henry VI The First Battles Edward IV's Usurpation An Uneasy Peace Warwick's Rebellion An Unlikely Alliance Edward IV's Reinstatement Edward IV's Second Reign Richard III's Usurpation To Bosworth Henry VII

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