The Queen sent for the young Edward and Earl Rivers to come to London and for the King to be crowned without delay. Richard saw this as an attempt to prematurely terminate his protectorate and remove him permanently from the seat of power. If he did not make a move now, he would stand no chance of rule.
Lord Hastings possibly persuaded the Queen to send an escort of no more than 2000 men so as not to provoke Richard. Richard and the Duke of Buckingham rode out to intercept the royal escort. At Stoney Stratford, Richard and his followers caught Earl Rivers unawares, arresting him and three other members of the royal household, and taking custody of the young Edward.
On hearing of these events, Elizabeth withdrew to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey with the Marquis of Dorset, and Sir Edward Woodville fled to Brittany. Richard’s actions carried with them sinister connotations, and the strategic advantage now sat with Richard.
Richard and Edward V arrived in London on 4 May, and the council granted Richard full authority. The coronation was rescheduled for 22 June. Richard and the Council continued with the preparations for the coronation and remodelling the administration of the country. Buckingham was awarded jurisdiction of the West Country and the Welsh Marches. Certain members of the council began to fear that Richard might now have intentions for the throne.
Richard announced that a plot against him had been discovered and accused Lord Hastings of being the instigator. Indeed Hastings had been in negotiations with Elizabeth, but he has been a loyal supporter of Richard, and indeed integral to Richard’s actions against Rivers. However Hastings was accused of Treason, and without trial, or law of arms, was immediately executed and Archbishop John Rotherham, Bishop John Morton and Thomas, Lord Stanley were arrested. This was one of the many actions that would ultimately lead to Richard’s downfall.
The young King and his brother, Richard, Duke of York were interred into the royal apartments of the tower of London, removed from public view. Richard, with the support of Dr Edward Shaw, declared that His brother’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, as he had been previously contracted to Lady Eleanor Butler. This final move secured Richard the throne; by proclaiming the marriage unlawful, the Woodvilles were left in a political wilderness, and the children, thus being illegitimate could not reign, and Richard being the brother of Edward had the closest claim by blood. Richard was proclaimed King of England.
With the sudden disappearance, from public view, of the young princes about the time of Richards’s coronation it became popular public opinion that Richard had had them executed.
Buckingham chose this moment to stop supporting Richard. Reverting to his Lancastrian antecedents, he influenced the malcontents in the south and east, turning their attention to the exiled Earl of Richmond – Henry. Insurrections in the south and east were defeated, and Buckingham declared a rebel. He was captured, tried by law of arms and executed by November.
Richards’s treatment of Buckingham and Hastings left all in the council fearing for their own security. All the peace and reconciliation achieved by Edward between the noble houses was becoming unravelled. The Woodvilles and significant members of the council, rushed to support Henry.
Henry, Earl of Richmond was taken to Brittany by his uncle Jasper fearing reprisal, following his allegiance to Margaret of Anjou at the battle of Tewksbury in 1471, where Edward IV’s Yorkist’s crushed the Lancastrians.
Henry rose from being an exiled Lancastrian, to a strong contender to the Throne. Being a cousin of Richard, he had royal blood; indeed his royal heritage could be traced back to John of Gaunt. He was betrothed to Elizabeth, the elder sister to the princes, thus securing his alliance to the Woodvilles. Charles VIII, the King of France, also sympathetic to the Woodvilles and the Lancastrian cause, was equally prepared to assist Henry in his efforts.
There were also doubts as to whether Richard could escape the judgement of God. The strong public opinion that Richard had murdered his nephews was reinforced with the suspicious deaths of his own son and wife. Rumours of poisoning so damaged Richards’s reputation that even today he is portrayed as a monster. Through his own actions Richard was becoming more despised, and Henry a more favourable ruler.
Henry made his move on the 7th of August 1485. He arrived at Milford Haven in Wales, having been reassured that the Welsh would welcome him as a hero. He marched through Wales gaining small numbers of sympathisers, but no Magnates joined him, and recruits to his armies were relatively few. He made contact with his stepfather, Lord Stanley, who had previously displayed no reason for Richard to suspect his loyalty; Indeed Lord Stanley had assisted Richard in suppressing the uprisings in the south and capturing Buckingham, hoping that Lord Stanley’s massive power in Wales would garner him more men. However, Richard had custody of Lord Stanley’s son, thus ensuring that Lord Stanley could not openly assist his stepson. This action did little to gain the respect of the nobles; it demonstrated to them that Richard knew his power was diminishing, and that the only way to hold their loyalty was to yoke them with threats.
When Henry arrived at Bosworth, he had fewer than five thousand men and little military experience. Richard had nearly ten thousand men and an overwhelming advantage in skill. However Richard had demonstrated with Hastings and Buckingham, that loyalty did not guarantee you favour.
Richard, fearing treachery commanded the Earl of Northumberland to guard his flank in case Lord Stanley and his forces turned and assisted Henry. He rode out and actively sought Henry, his own reckless courage in battle dominated him and he purposefully exposed himself in an attempt to lure Henry into open combat. Seeing this, Lord Stanley ordered his forces against Richard. As they approached the Earl of Northumberland’s troops – ordered to defend Richard, they found no resistance. Richard had been betrayed, not only by Lord Stanley, whose loyalty was in question anyway, but also by Northumberland, a blow that Richard was not expecting.
The King was cut off and surrounded by both Henrys army and his own, which had now turned against him. He was killed.
To the people of England, God had avenged Richards’s murder of his wife, son and nephews. In receipt of God’s favour, Henry was immediately King.
