King Richard III.
From a picture in the National Portrait Gallery
RICHARD III: HIS LIFE & CHARACTER
REVIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT RESEARCH
BY SIR CLEMENTS E. MARKHAM, K.C.B.
AUTHOR OF 'THE LIFE OF THE
GREAT LORD FAIRFAX' AND
'THE FIGHTING VERES'
WITH A PORTRAIT
LONDON: SMITH, ELDER, AND CO.
15 WATERLOO PLACE. 1906
(All rights reserved)
PREFACE
There are periods of history when the greatest caution is called for inaccepting statements put forward by a dominant faction. Very early inmy life I came to the conclusion that the period which witnessed thechange of dynasties from Plantagenet to Tudor was one of these. Thecaricature of the last Plantagenet King was too grotesque, and toogrossly opposed to his character derived from official records. Thestories were an outrage on common-sense. I studied the subject atintervals for many years, and in the course of my researches I foundthat I more or less shared my doubts with every author of repute whohad studied the subject for the last three centuries, except Hume andLingard. My own conclusions are that Richard III. must be acquitted onall the counts of the indictment. The present work is divided into twoparts, the first narrating the events of his life and times, and thesecond examining the various accusations against him. I did notcontemplate publication because I thought that in these days prejudiceswere too strong to make it possible that a fair and candid hearingshould be given to the arguments. But I determined to consult{vi}some historical friends, and I was pleased to find that to a greatextent I was mistaken.
In the first place, I wrote a full abstract of my arguments, forpublication in the 'Historical Review,' acting under the advice of myold schoolfellow, Professor Freeman, to whom I sent it in the firstinstance. It so happened that Mr. Freeman had given attention to partof the subject. He upset some odious fabrications of the chroniclersaffecting the character of Margaret of Anjou, by proving that she wasin Scotland at the time when the battle of Wakefield was fought.Freeman seldom wrote on so late a period of our history, and we owethis modern excursion to a visit to Mr. Milnes Gaskell at Thornes.
After reading what I sent him, Professor Freeman wrote on August 13,1890: 'Your abstract has set me a-thinking. It is only a Robert ofBellême who does that kind of thing. On your main point I will talk toGardiner and Stubbs. Meanwhile, I have shown your manuscript to SidneyOwen, who read it and held it to be what lawyers would callconsiderable. Owen had been at those times, and holds Henry VII. tobe at least capable of it.
'It would be a self-denying ordinance in Gairdner if he accepted yourview, for he has gone more straight at that time than anybody else.Gardiner has written to him, and he is a little fierce, as was to beexpected, but if you are like me, no man's fierceness will hinder youfrom d