Part Twelve: Regent or Lord Protector?

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Oookay, our timelines are behind us and we can now delve into Richard III’s reign. If you missed the last two posts, I highly recommend taking a look (here and here), and it may be helpful to have the rundown on 1483 handy as you read through the below. Today we’re going to focus on the first wave of Richard’s assumption of power.

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Part Nine: Richard III as ‘Lord of the North’

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If you missed Part Eight covering George of Clarence’s death, you can catch up here.

In the weeks leading up to George’s execution, the House of York gathered in London for a happier matter – the marriage of the four-year-old Prince Richard, Duke of York and the five-year-old Anne Mowbray, daughter of the deceased John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. The event gathered nearly the entire family for one of the last times. The seven-year-old Prince of Wales joined his three elder sisters, Princesses Elizabeth, Mary, and Cecily. Edward IV’s mother, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York was given a place of honor, while the bride was escorted by the Earl of Lincoln (Edward IV’s nephew via his sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk). Richard, too, was there, however it’s unclear if he was joined by his wife, Anne Neville.

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Part Six: Richard III’s Marriage & the Neville Inheritance

Anne Neville

If you missed Part Five, you can catch up here.

Shortly after Edward IV’s restoration in 1471, Richard, Duke of Gloucester expressed his desire to marry Lady Anne Neville, daughter of the deceased Earl of Warwick and sister-in-law to his brother, George, Duke of Clarence. Anne, recently widowed by the death of the Lancastrian Prince Edward, was barely 15 and, following her pardon by Edward IV, living with George and her sister, Isabel.

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Part Five: Richard III & the Death of Henry VI

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Today we’re going to pick up where we left off, but we’re going to focus almost exclusively on the question of whether Richard III was involved in the execution of Henry VI.

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Part Four: Richard III, Warwick’s Rebellion & the Battle of Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury

Picking up where we left off: George, Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick’s rebellion in the summer of 1469 enhanced Richard’s position at Edward IV’s court. Around the same time that he joined Edward for his triumphant return to London, Isabella of Castile wrote a letter to her brother, King Henry IV, listing out four possible suitors, including, “the brother of the King of England.”

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Part Three: Richard III & the Nevilles

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You can catch up on the first two posts on Richard III here and here. Today, we’re going to pick up where we left off in 1461, with Richard and his brother, George, newly returned to England from the Burgundian court in time to see their brother, now Edward IV, crowned king.

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Part Two: Richard III’s Introduction to War & Burgundy

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Ok, we’re picking up where we left off yesterday with Richard III. You can catch up on how I’m approaching him here. As I mentioned yesterday, we know very little about Richard’s early years save that they were predominantly spent at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, and that his most constant companions were his sister, Margaret, and his brother, George. Our next glimpse of him comes in October 1459 when Richard was seven, by which time the first half of the Wars of the Roses was well underway.

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