“Sketch a man in hideous colours, and you easily set the world against him.” The smear campaign tactic summarized in this quotation has been used throughout history, but rarely has it been applied so thoroughly and lastingly as it has been to destroy the life and reputation of Richard III, King of England 1483 – 1485. To this day, Richard is regarded by most as an horrific monster, a hunchbacked coward who had his two nephews cruelly murdered so that he could usurp the throne. Rarely has this story of Richard been questioned, and yet, when one does examine the fabric of it, one finds that it is badly patched over, with huge, gaping holes that cannot be missed. Keeping in mind that history is recorded by the winners, one must ask, “Who told the story? Who profited from its telling? How can we account for the patches on it and holes in it?” Answers to questions about the motive behind and profit from sketching Richard in “hideous colours” are to be found in the perso!
n of Henry Tudor, the historical ‘winner’ of the Throne of England, having defeated and killed Richard in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, thus becoming Henry VII, king of England, and established the Tudor dynasty.
First, let us consider the source from w
. . .
She was, as any mother and former queen would be, trying to safeguard her children’s future in any way that she possibly could. In any normal court, a blatant refusal of the monarch’s will would result in at least a loss of favour, at most in a loss of life. These few days just happened to be during the time of the princes’ alleged murders. Henry’s claim to the throne was marred by illegitimacies that set him lower on the scale than the little bastard princes. The proof lies in the fact that Clarence had only one son and the document clearly states that there was more than one child to be served. Beyond this, though, Buckingham’s great, great grandfather on his father’s side was Thomas of Woodstock, the youngest son of Edward III.
Most likely, More knew his story was flawed, for if he did any research at all, he would have known that Richard had, above all, no motive for killing his nephews. Not only that, but their survival would keep Henry Tudor away from Richard. This line was not marred in the slightest by illegitimacy.
Potter suggests numerable reasons why Richard may have chosen not to speak of his nephews’ whereabouts.
Approximate Word count =
3395
Approximate Pages =
14 (250 words per page double spaced)
Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.
| CREDIT CARD |
ONLINE CHECK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JOIN BY PHONE
|
|
|
