Who was Richard III?
Q: Who was Richard III?
A: Richard III was the King of England from 1483 until 1485. He was the last king from the House of Plantagenet and part of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses.
Q: What happened when Edward IV died?
A: When Edward IV died, his 12-year-old son became King Edward V and Richard was given the role of "Protector", meaning he would run the country until Edward V became an adult. But Richard III took the throne for himself.
Q: What happened to Edward V and his brother?
A: Soon after, Edward V and his younger brother disappeared while living in the Tower of London. Many people started saying that Richard had ordered them to be killed, but historians are not sure about this.
Q: How did people react to Richard's actions?
A: Many of the House of York's supporters believed he had done it, and turned against him. He managed to put down a rebellion by his old friend Duke Buckingham, but faced another rebellion by Henry Tudor which led to Battle Bosworth Field where he was killed and his army lost.
Q: Where is Richard III buried?
A: His body was buried quickly in a church in Leicester but then rediscovered beneath a car park in 2012 before being reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.
Q: How has Richard been portrayed over time?
A: For many years, Richard III has been seen as a villain due to encouragement from Tudor kings and queens as well as Shakespeare's famous play 'Richard III'. Almost all writers at that time saw him either as a hero or villain with some arguing that despite being ruthless he made many good laws whilst others argued that such behaviour was common for powerful people at that time.
