During Edward IV’s reign, Richard had been given control of the North, where he had been popular amongst the nobles and common folk. As a king, he had a great deal of support there. However, once he put many of his Northern supporters in positions of power in the council and government, he made himself unpopular with the Southerners that had been ousted from their previous high status jobs. The Southerners resented the power given to the Northerners, and thus made it very difficult for Richard to increase the size of his political base, which was important for a secure government. If he were losing the support of the Southerners, they would turn to find someone else to support in the bid for kingship. The only really valid candidate was Henry Tudor, who was seeking refuge in France. With more support for Henry, the threat of Henry Tudor returning to England to challenge Richard was becoming more likely. This did not help the state of the nobility and how the government was run.
Many factions from Edward’s reign still existed, and could draw upon their resources to rise against Richard III should they want to oust him from power. Many supporters in the council could also turn against him and take him off the throne; the disquiet that was rising in the ranks of nobles was evident as many of them were on the council during Edward IV’s reign. They were mostly Southerners and had seen the way Richard had killed many of his opponents. Lord Ryvvers for example, was Elizabeth Woodville’s son from her first marriage. He was in charge of the Tower of London, and if he were allowed to live and keep his position, he would be valuable for potential troublemakers to recruit, as he could set free some of the most influential people that were prisoner within the Tower.
To add to the instability, many of Richard’s own Yorkists rebelled against his rule. During a time that many Lancastrians were still in the country, to have some of Richard’s own family supporters challenge his authority would note be good for public morale, governmental status or general support. Public support was very important as many of the nobles governed over a large section of land, should the nobles dislike Richard, the feeling would be passed down to the people that dwelled in the noble’s lands. Thus, any person wishing to challenge Richard would be able to call upon a large amount of resources to do so. One person in particular, the Duke of Buckingham rebelled against Richard’s rule. Buckingham was at one time considered an ally of Richard and to lose such a supporter would be a blow to Richard’s stability. The rebellion was successfully stopped, but the question of whether it would happen again with a bigger army was still lingering.
Richard’s foreign policy was not good for the stability of the government. James III did not like Richard. He had asked Richard for support, but Richard had given his support to the French instead, which angered many people, especially when it was made clear that he had chosen the wrong side. Scotland was close to England, and to lose such a potential ally would be fatal, as any rebel could hope to call on James III for support should they wish to usurp the throne. Indeed, James III decided to help the campaign of Henry Tudor, which would not be considered any good for the fail stability of the government.
A factor that was completely out of Richard’s control was the bad harvest that struck England. Bad harvests affected everybody and he was considered responsible for this. A bad harvest meant prices rose, the economy would slump, and with Richard’s train of poor luck (the death of his heir, wife, and various scandals of incest and murder) he was considered a bad omen, and the cause of such a poor crop. Having a reputation as a “wicked” man did not help him in the slightest. Many people would not ever get to see the king, so the portraits that were painted of him would be important in the way he was perceived.
Perhaps the most famous portrait of him is an anonymous portrait in the National Gallery, painted circa 1500. (After his death) It shows Richard as a very sallow regal figure, with a hunchback. In the times that this was painted and indeed when Richard was alive, being a hunchback was considered a sign of untrustworthiness, again not helping his campaign. He isn’t smiling or looking engaged, but is almost sneering in distaste, and seems busier with fiddling with the rings on his fingers than what is going on. A sign that would not be taken well by those who viewed this piece. Even though it was after his death, but only by five years, people’s impressions were still being formed on what he was like, this picture would not help their decisions.
The stability of Richard’s reign-
Richard had a large following in the North, as during the reign of Edward IV, he had been the governor there, and generally ruled them as if he was a king in his own kingdom. He knew he could count on them if ever he needed help. To increase his popularity further with the Northerners, almost like a guarantee, he gave them many of the choice jobs within the government and council. These people would know the way Richard wanted to rule, thus could make it a more stable government for Richard. Richard had the support of the Yorkists who wanted a Yorkist to rule England, and not to let the monarchy slip into the hands of the Lancastrians, they were happy as long as it was the house of York on the throne.
Many nobles disliked the Queen’s family during Edward’s reign. They were considered to be social climbers and not part of the group of old English families. Their fast climb into prestigious status angered many, and Richard (who also severely disliked the Woodvilles) disposed of them. This act gained him popularity with some of the nobles who had previously been unsure, and strengthened the loyalty of those who already supported him.
The rebellion that rose up against his rule, led by Buckingham was successfully crushed, leaving no doubt that he was able to deal with small uprisings and had a zero-tolerance policy towards them, which acted as a warning to anyone who might have been considering starting a new rebellion against him after the first one failed. This defeat of the rebels would be good for his policy and ruling.
Many of those who judged Richard favourably had heard of his success during Edward IV’s reign. Throughout Edward’s reign, Richard had shown no signs of treason or any reason to believe that he had been plotting to take the throne for himself. He had mostly never strayed down from the North; he had no reason to, and was on good terms with Edward. He had proved himself a competent ruler and administrator whilst acting as governor in the North. This reassurance that Richard would be a good king was sure to stabilise the government a certain amount. He had experience in the matters that surrounded the monarchy, and was well used to rebel uprisings, he knew how to deal with people.
One particular figure that was considered a great asset to have was the infamous “Kingmaker” Earl of Warwick. Richard had Warwick’s support by marrying his daughter Anne. Having such a great collaborator at hand would fortify his reign and help the government to regain the stability that had been foundering during the tempestuous events that led up to his coronation.
Adding to Richard’s popularity was his declaration to commit to justice. In such times that justice was poor and considered something of a desperate hope for the future, this would seem the perfect reputation-booster, whether it were what he really did want to do or not. He created a council of the North branching out the Royal Council in 1484. Which would help to keep the government as stable as possible as he would have the added input of extra council members.
The threat of Henry Tudor was small, he would not be able to simply march into London without outside help, help that at that moment seemed unlikely he would ever receive. The Duke of Brittany had abandoned Henry in 1484, he had been one of Henry’s most influential supporters. Henry was forced to flee back into France. It seemed that Henry’s cause was weakening at every chance.
Conclusion-
From the above two arguments it must be taken into account that Richard’s reign was incredibly short. It was not irregular for monarchs to kill any potential threats to their throne at such a time. Yet had Richard survived and perhaps remained in power for a longer period of time the fates of the two Princes which gave him the name of a evil murderer would have slowly been forgotten, and would not have mattered as much as it was blown up to be after his death. Richard had remained loyal through the entire reign of Edward IV and had not seemed to want the throne. The turmoil that he caused by taking the throne did upset the frail peace that had begun to settle, but with time, would have settled down once more had Richard had the time to work on the problem. He had proved himself to be an effective leader, which the government would have found necessary, and had the intention to stabilise the situation, as soon as he had eradicated any threats to his reign, which he considered first priority. The major cracks that endangered the stability of his government were the issuing of jobs to his Northern supporters that would have meant Southerner’s discontent, and the undeniable fact that he was not the rightful heir to the throne, and the rightful heir could not be located, due to Richard. These were cracks that would have healed in time, but would have taken a good deal of time to heal, time that Richard did not have.
