Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Highlands Ranch, Colorado

- World History -
National Monarchies: England
Richard III
Rule of the Tudors

England
In England, Parliament controlled the monarch.

Richard III (1483 - 1485)
He was the youngest son of Richard, duke of York and Cecily Neville. Richard III used bribes and skillful diplomacy to persuade the duke of Brittany to surrender his rival, Henry Tudor, and it almost worked. Richard III's defeat and death at Bosworth on August 22, 1485 began the destruction of his reputation by Tudor propaganda - crowned by Shakespeare's portrait of Evil Incarnate. His character and his physical appearance are so linked in the public imagination to Shakespeare's demonic creation that it is hard to consider his reign objectively.

Left: King Richard III.
Right: An unflattering drawing of Richard III and his wife, Anne Neville.
Richard is wearing a closed crown. He is carrying a sword and an
orb with a cross, and the royal arms are on his chest. The queen wears
a coronet and a gown with both the Neville arms and those of England.

Rumors that Richard III plotted Anne's death were so widespread after the queen died in 1485 that the king had to deny them publicly.

The Tudors
The Tudors established rule in 1485 after the War of Roses, 30 years of fighting. The English royal family had split into two houses, York (white rose) and Lancaster (red rose). In the 30 years of war, four kings were killed. Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian, won and became Henry VII.

England was now a weak nation because they were constantly at war - The Hundred Years War: Welsh, France, Scotland. The War of the Roses, a civil war in England, ended in 1485.

Margaret of Anjou is presented a book of romances at her marriage to Henry VI.
Henry VI was a quiet and religious king, very different from his wife.
The Wars of the Roses were fought during his reign.

King Henry VI

Henry VII took the throne by conquest. He was a great ruler and kept the nation at peace. When Henry VII died, the royal treasury was full because he was very tight with the money.

Bust of Henry VII - Attributed to Pietro Torrigiano, made of painted gesso on wood.

Henry VII got the English involved in America. He was a master diplomat, making many treaties. He arranged marriages to assure some treaties. Henry the VII died in 1509.

Gilt-bronze tomb effigies of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

The heir to the throne was Arthur, an arranged marriage with Spain. He dies. The next son in line marries the same princess. He dies. Next was Henry VIII who would continue to bring England into the modern world.