The New Student's Reference Work/Richard III

Richard III of England, was the youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, and the great-grandson of Edmund, Duke of York, the fifth son of Edward III. He was born at Fotheringay, Oct. 2, 1452. On the defeat and death of their father in 1460, he and his brother George, afterwards duke of Clarence, were sent by their mother to Utrecht, where they remained until the crown was won from Henry VI by Edward IV, their older brother. In 1471 Richard led the van of his brother's army at Barnet, and took an active part m the decisive victory at Tewkesbury. It is claimed that after the battle he and Clarence murdered Prince Edward, son of Henry VI, and in some quarters it is believed * that .he was concerned in the murder of Henry himself in the Tower. Edward IV died on April 9, 1483, leaving Richard guardian of his son, Edward V, only 13 years of age; but, instead of faithfully fulfilling this trust, Richard placed the boy and his younger brother in the Tower and had himself proclaimed king. Not content with thus depriving young Edward of his crown, Richard caused him and his brother to be murdered while they were in the Tower, hoping thereby to make his own power the more secure. But Richard's numerous crimes made him so unpopular, that when Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, arrived in England with an invading force in 1485, he soon raised such an army that at the battle of Bosworth Richard lost both his crown and his life (August 22), and was succeeded by his antagonist as Henry VII.