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Richard, Duke of Gloucester (1452 - 1485), from 1483 '''King Richard III''', was the sixth son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and brother of King Edward IV of England, who had seized the throne from the reigning king, Henry VI. (The complicated relationships of the various branches of [[The House of Plantagenet]] were the principal cause of the "[[Wars of the Roses]]", in which Richard distinguished himself.) On Edward's death, he seized the throne from Edward's son (called Edward V, though he was never actually crowned), declaring him and his younger brother Richard of York bastards. (Traditionally, Richard had his nephews murdered in the Tower of London; this has been much disputed since at least late Tudor times.) A rebellion led by Henry [[The House of Tudor|Tudor]], Earl of Richmond, arose, and Richard was killed fighting for his kingdom at Bosworth Field.
Richard's traditional reputation was largely formed by Sir Thomas More's ''History of king Richard the thirde'', which (possibly based on the reminiscences of John Morton, Bishop of Ely) depicts Gloucester as a [[Red Right Hand|hunch-backed, withered-armed]] Machiavellian villain. More's account formed the basis for [[
Nevertheless, Richard's [[Retcon|rehabilitation]] started fairly early. In the reign of James I (''i.e''., after the death of the [[The Virgin Queen|last]] of the [[The House of Tudor|Tudors]]), the antiquarian [[wikipedia:George Buck|Sir George Buck]] discovered the suppressed ''Titulus Regius'' that set forth the Parliamentary explanation for Richard's assumption of the throne and claimed he had seen a letter (now lost, if it ever existed at all) from Edward V's sister, Elizabeth of York, which established the friendly relations between them, and wrote his ''History of King Richard III'' in an attempt to moderate the king's negative image. Unfortunately, Buck died insane, and his history was published only after his death, by his grandson (1646). Nevertheless, the concept of a Richard slandered by Henry Tudor (considered by most a man of few scruples) gained a strong following, and has influenced historians, either positively or negatively, ever since.
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* [[Josephine Tey]]'s ''[[The Daughter of Time]]'' is probably the 20th century work that re-started the [[Alternate Character Interpretation|revisionist view]] of Richard. It involves her long-time detective hero Alan Grant [[Something Completely Different|bored in the hospital]] and piecing through the evidence in search of the "historical" Richard.
* Richard of Gloucester is an ambivalent figure in [[
* [[
* ''Tower of London'', a 1939 Universal horror film starring Basil Rathbone as Richard, and its 1962 remake, directed by [[Roger Corman]] and starring [[Vincent Price]].
** Notable in that Price played Clarence in the Rathbone version.
* The ''[[
** ...which may be a bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Richard throughout his reign was associated with [[Oop North|Northern England]], which was, indeed, more detrimental to his popularity in South England than his (alleged) crimes.
* Sharon Kay Penman's ''[[The Sunne in Splendour]]'' is a [[Doorstopper]] epic detailing the [[Wars of the Roses]], which focuses on a very sympathetic Richard.
** Ripped off in Anne Easter Smith's ''A Rose For The Crown'', which is by no means bad but is definitely inferior to the above in every way that counts.
* Rosemary Hawley Jarman's ''We Speak No Treason'' is a long romance novel about Richard of Gloucester and [[Mary Sue|the woman who loves him for all time]].
* The noted American playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote a little-known play called ''Richard and Anne.'' In it, the ghost of [[
* [[John M. Ford|John M. Ford's]] ''The Dragon Waiting'' has a pretty sympathetic Richard III...in an [[Alternate History]] setting with [[Werewolves]] and [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]].
* A short story by [[
* [http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=50 "Party Time with Richard III"], an early ''[[
* In the first ''[[
* ''[[Horrible Histories (TV series)|Horrible Histories]]'' gives Richard a song about how he's a nice guy who was unfairly vilified by Thomas More and William Shakespeare.
* "The Ballad of Richard III" by Gwydion Penderwenn which takes a pro-Richard stance.
* In [[Andre Norton]]'s ''Quest Crosstime'', the [[Alternate Universe]] in which most of the action happens is one that diverged from ours when Richard '''won''' at Bosworth -- "with his own hand ... put an end to the Red Rose for all time" -- ruled England wisely for decades thereafter, and encouraged the beginning of British settlement of the New World in 1505.
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