• Lifetime: 1452 – 1485
• Period he reigned as King of England: 26 June 1483 - 22 Aug,1485. His coronation was on 6 July 1483
• Born: King Richard III was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringay Castle
• Close family connections or relatives: He was the son of Richard, Duke of York (1411-1460) and Cecily Neville (1415-1495)
• Date succeeded to the throne of England: 26 June 1483
• Married: Anne Neville (c. 1456-1485) on 12 July 1472
• Date when King Richard III died: 22 August 1485 when he was killed and his supporters defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Leicestershire
• Cause of the Death of King Richard III: His body was found gashed, bleeding, and stripped on the battlefield and was thrown across a horse and carried into Leicester
• Character of King Richard III: History is written by the victors and the character of King Richard III was totally besmirched by the Tudors
• Accomplishments and Achievements or why King Richard III was famous: The main suspect in the murder of the Princes in the Tower. His defeat at Bosworth Field by Henry Tudor ended the Plantagenet dynasty and the Wars of the Roses and heralded the Tudor dynasty
• Richard III was greatly maligned by the Tudors and the play by Richard III by William Shakespeare. King Richard III is the only King of England not to have a tomb. It is said that King Henry VIII ordered that his bones were dug up and thrown away and his coffin was used as a horse trough
• New evidence suggests that the little prince in the Tower, King Edward V, was in fact a bastard. The son of a Rouen archer. If this is true King Richard III was in fact the real heir to throne of England and not the son of King Edward IV.

King Richard III
The story and biography of King Richard III which contains interesting information, facts & the history about the life of King Richard III

Timeline of King Richard III

The story of King Richard III ( Nickname : Richard Crookback )
In 1483 King Edward IV, Richard's brother, died leaving two young sons. The boy king was on his way to his coronation in London but was intercepted by his uncle, and Protector ( who would become Richard III ). Edward was escorted to London and then to the Tower. On the 16th June 1483 he was joined by his brother Prince Richard. The coronation was cancelled.

On June 25 1483 Parliament declared the two little princes illegitimate and, as next in line to the throne, their uncle and Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was declared the true King. The two little princes were never seen again. The thirteen year old King and his ten year old brother mysteriously disappeared in the Tower after being declared illegitimate. They were believed to have been murdered and are referred to as the Little Princes in the Tower.

History is written by the victors and Richard's name and even his physical description, have been besmirched by many later historians. William Shakespeare depicted King Richard III as an evil, murderous hunchback a description which would have been applauded by the Tudors as their dynasty replaced the Plantagenets.

Richard III. seems to have wished to be a good and great king but his reign was beset with plots and treachery.  His home was unhappy, for his son, for whose sake he had striven so hard to be king, died while just a boy, and Anne, his much loved wife, not long after. Plots involving his former staunch friend, the Duke of Buckingham were discovered. The Beauforts, the children of the younger family of John of Gaunt and the commoner Katherine Swynford, had survived the disputes between the Houses of York and Lancaster. Lady Margaret Beauforthad married a Welsh gentleman named Edmund Tudor, and they had a son called Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond.

After the death of his first wife, Anne Neville, plans were made for King Richard III to marry the eldest daughter of Edward IV -Elizabeth, or Lady Bessee, as she was called. Elizabeth was horrified and she promised herself that, if Henry Tudor would come and overthrow Richard, she would marry him. Elizabeth of York sent him a ring in pledge of her promise. Henry was in Brittany when he received the letter. He kissed the ring, but waited long before he made up his mind to try his fortune. He sailed in a French ship, and landed at Milford Haven where he received considerable support. Richard, though very angry, was not much alarmed, for he knew Henry Tudor had never seen a battle.

The Death of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field
King Richard III marched out to meet him, and a terrible fight took place at Redmore Heath, near Market Bosworth, where, after long and desperate struggling, Richard was overwhelmed and slain, his banner taken, and his men either killed or driven from the field. His body was found gashed, bleeding, and stripped; and thus was thrown across a horse and carried into Leicester, where he had slept the night before. The crown he had worn over his helmet was picked up from the branches of a hawthorn, and set on the head of Henry Tudor. Richard was the last king of the Plantagenet family, who had ruled over England for more than three hundred years. The Battle of Bosworth Field likewise finished the whole bloody war of the Red and White Roses.