Richard III in the North

by M. J. Trow

Overview

Richard III is England’s most controversial king. Forever associated with the murder of his nephews, the Princes in the Tower, he divides the nation. As spectacular as his death at Bosworth in August 1485 – the last king of England to die in battle – the astonishing discovery of his bones under a Leicester car park five centuries later renewed interest in him and reopened old debates. Is he the world’s most wicked uncle; or is he (in the words of the man who most smeared him) ‘a prince more sinned against than sinning’?

Richard was not born in the North; neither did he die there, but this detailed look at his life, tracing his steps over the thirty-three years that he lived, focuses on the area that he loved and made his own. As Lord of the North, he had castles at Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, Penrith and Sandal. He fought the Scots along the northern border and on their own territory. His son was born at Middleham and was invested as Prince of Wales at York Minster, where Richard planned to set up a college of 100 priests.

His white boar device can be found in obscure corners of churches and castles; his laws, framed in the single parliament of his short reign, gave rights to the people who served him and loved him north of the Trent. And when he felt threatened or outnumbered by his enemies during the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses, it was to the men of the North that he turned for support and advice. They became his knights of the body; members of the Council of the North which outlived Richard by a 150 years. They died with him at Bosworth.

Although we cannot divorce Richard from the violent politics of the day or from events that happened far to the South, it was in the North that Richard’s heart lay.

The North was his home. It was the place he loved.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526777171
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	12/28/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	1,220,103
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

M. J.Trow is a crime historian who has written several books on Jack the Ripper and the murders of his time. One of them, 'Quest for a Killer' featured as a documentary for the Discovery Channel in 2009. He has conducted his own Ripper walks in Whitechapel and is a regular lecturer at the annual Ripper conferences held each summer.

Table of Contents

Author's Note vi

Acknowledgements vii

Prologue: Looking for Richard viii

Chronology xiv

Chapter 1 Conisbrough 1

Chapter 2 Raby 6

Chapter 3 Ludlow 18

Chapter 4 Wakefield 25

Chapter 5 Towton 40

Chapter 6 Middleham and Sheriff Hutton 55

Chapter 7 Barnet and Tewkesbury 64

Chapter 8 Lord of the North 77

Chapter 9 Scotland 93

Chapter 10 Pontefract 100

Chapter 11 The Black Deeps 112

Chapter 12 Royal Progress 123

Chapter 13 Bosworth 133

Chapter 14 Beneath Swaledale 144

Epilogue: The Angel of the North? 149

Appendix I Richard's Places in the North 155

Appendix II The Murders of Richard III 165

Select Bibliography 170

Index 172