Usurpation of Richard of Gloucester

As an ally of Edward IV, Richard of Gloucester had shown himself a strong military leader and a faithful associate in the war against the Lancastrians. But he lived at a time when men were cruel and unscrupulous, ready to resort to acts of vengeance in order to overthrow their enemies and to attain their ambitions.

Richard with all his ability seems to have been in no way different from his brother, or from others who had been guilty of deeds of merciless brutality. He was charged with having murdered the son of Henry VI after the battle of Tewkesbury, with having stabbed Henry himself in the Tower, with having stirred up Edward to the execution of Clarence. Now, as regent for the young king, Edward V, he filled the measure of his evil deeds by slaying the nobles who opposed him and by putting out of the way the heirs to the throne.

First, in 1483, he struck down the Woodvilles, whom Edward had raised to positions of prominence, by causing Lord Rivers and Lord Grey to be executed, and by putting to death Lord Hastings of the king's council, who had joined the Woodvilles against him. Then, declaring that the marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid, and that their children were consequently illegitimate, he caused the king and the king's brother, the duke of York, to be seized and imprisoned in the Tower. Parliament, packed with the enemies of the Woodvilles, proclaimed Richard king on June 25, and on July 6 caused him to be crowned.' During the summer or autumn of 1483 the princes were put to death.' History has laid the crime at the feet of Richard, and there is no good reason to doubt the truth of the verdict. But the facts were not at first known, and Richard was able to retain his hold upon the people.

Richard III

For a year he ruled with no little wisdom, aiming evidently at strengthening his position by making friends with all classes. He concluded a truce with Scotland, entered into amicable arrangements with Burgundy and the papacy, released prisoners, and conciliated influential nobles by lavish grants and important offices. He continued Edward IV's policy of forbidding foreign imports and strengthening the navy, but he abolished the benevolences," whereby Edward had sought to obtain money for his wars.

All this proved vain. Steadily Richard's popularity decreased and his supporters deserted him. Before October, 1484, a conspiracy had been formed against him, under the headship of Henry, Earl of Richmond, who through his mother, Margaret Beaufort, niece of Edmund Somerset, was descended from John of Gaunt. Richard struggled to maintain his position, but misfortune after misfortune came upon him. His son died in 1484, his wife in 1485. Finally, when in June of the latter year Richmond landed at Milford Haven, Richard knew that his cause was lost. On Bosworth Field he was defeated and slain, and Richmond was proclaimed king as Henry VII. The Wars of the Roses were over, and for England the Middle Ages had ended.

The Results of the Wars

The Wars of the Roses had been a duel to the death between the great baronial families. In every case the victor had followed up the successful battle with vindictive cruelty, putting to death all those who fell into his hands. Warwick had commanded his men to slay all the knights and nobles at Northampton; Lord Clifford had stabbed the young Rutland, Richard of York's son, at Wakefield, with the cry, Thy father slew mine, and now I will slay thee! Those who were not killed in battle were, if captured, executed without mercy. After Towton nearly fifty Lancastrians of noble rank were beheaded, and after Tewkesbury many others of the same party suffered a like fate. In 1485 scarcely a Lancastrian of high rank was living, and even among the Yorkists many a family had lost its leading members. This meant that the factional family strife which had existed in one form or another for a century was over, and that feudalism as a political influence in England was dead.