The New Murrey and Blue blog

The above painting depicts the way the body of Richard III was humiliated and desecrated before he was taken back to Leicester after Bosworth. The fallen king had been humiliated and desecrated on the battlefield, and then treated like a sack of rubbish as he was conveyed back to Leicester. That a King of England was treated this disgraceful way should be a matter of eternal shame for the miserable Tudors and their supporters.

Aided and abetted by the likes of Morton, More and Shakespeare, the House of Tudor has a lot to answer for when it comes to the endless poisoning of Richard’s reputation. So it’s always refreshing to find a balanced, straightforward account of his life that uses documentary evidence. There’s no messing around, just a chronological list of what Richard was doing, when and where he did it, and whether or not his actions were reasonable under the prevailing circumstances.

So go this National Archives link https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/richard-iii/ to see if you agree with me.⁽¹⁾ It is fair about the unease in some quarters when the illegitimacy of Edward IV’s sons was revealed; it would be astonishing if there weren’t any! And if Richard made mistakes, he made them for the right reasons. He should have remained in London after his coronation not embarked upon a progress that took him many miles away, leaving the capital open to trouble, especially from his enemies, such as the Woodvilles.⁽²⁾

Oh, if only that final cavalry charge at Bosworth had eliminated Henry Tudor, how different things might have been for the history of England.

⁽¹⁾ I can’t find the date of publication for this National Archives article but it appears to concern documents known up to Richard’s reinterment in Leicester Cathedral. So the astonishing new research/documents discovered by Philippa Langley’s Missing Princes Project—and the exciting news in the offing from that intriguing church window in Coldridge—aren’t included. For further information, go to the following links:

https://murreyandblue.org/2024/03/27/the-gelderland-document-proof-of-life-of-richard-duke-of-york-alias-perkin-warbeck/

https://murreyandblue.org/2024/01/16/more-praise-for-philippa-langleys-discoveries-concerning-the-princes-in-the-tower/

https://murreyandblue.org/2023/12/26/revealing-richard-an-appraisal-by-philippa-langley-mbe/

https://murreyandblue.org/2023/08/18/philippa-langleys-new-announcement/

https://murreyandblue.org/2022/04/09/edward-v-the-coldridge-mystery-and-the-telegraph-article/

⁽²⁾ For more information about the Woodvilles and the background to their rise to prominence, go here https://richardiii.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/15-Parvenues-and-Politics-The-Woodvilles-Edward-IV-and-the-Baronage-1464-1469.pdf.