Another reason for Richard’s position being undermined was his decision to alienate many nobles by favouritism towards Northerners. He used Northern nobles to control areas in the South where he was not liked- ‘plantations policy’. He trusted these nobles but here lost any support of those who considered those lands to be their right.
While Richard was liked in the North; proven by his success on his progress especially in York, he never adequately reconciled himself to those in the South and as a result, the opposition which grew during July and August 1483 became stronger and more widespread. Sometimes there were uprisings and Richard’s companion Buckingham defected to lead them. The mistake of Richard was great here in losing what should have been a loyal friend. Blame could be placed on the murder of the princes, or that Buckingham was not sufficiently rewarded for his role in the usurpation. Whatever the reason Richard was to regret it as although his rebellion was crushed and Buckingham executed, many leading Yorkists such as Giles Daubeney fled to join Henry Tudor after this debacle. Moreover, Tudor learned valuable lessons from Buckingham’s mistakes wich lead to his ultimate success such as where to land (near Milford Haven in ground that would support him.)
However another short-term factor suggests that Richard was in fact overthrown not entirely due to his own mistakes. The death of Richard’s wife and son was of course out of his control yet these deaths, and his mistakes which lost him sympathy beforehand, inclined people to deduce that Richard was being punished by God and spread rumours that Richard had poisoned his wife in order to have an incestuous second marriage with his niece, Elizabeth of York. Despite Richard’s attempts to repress and punish those who repeated slanderous rumours with help from Southampton, Windsor and York, Henry Tudor began to appear as a more credible alternative for the throne.
Another factor which supplemented Richard’s downfall was his impetuous charge to kill Henry Tudor personally at Bosworth which isolated him from his army which led to his capture and death. Before this, his greater experience at war meant it was in his favour. However , Richard’s lack of support from the nobility, illustrated by Lord Stanley’s last minute defection to Henry’s side, saved Tudor from Richard. Richard was consequently surrounded by Stanley’s men and his army put to flight.
Finally, in the end, Richard’s unpopular decisions were to blame for his downfall. His usurpation resulted in such unpopularity that combined with the forces beyond his control and no attempt to allay the South resulted in his downfall at Bosworth on August 22 1485.
by
pseudonymegg (student)
