House of Plantagenet | King Richard III
House of Plantagenet
Father: Richard, Duke of York
Mother: Cecily Neville
Born: October 2, 1452 at  Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire
Ascended to the throne: June 26, 1483 aged 30 years
Crowned: July 6, 1483 at  Westminster Abbey
Married: Anne Neville, widow of Edward, Prince of Wales and daughter of Earl of Warwick
Children: One son, plus several illegitimate children before his marriage
Died: August 22, 1485 at  Battle of Bosworth, Leicestershire, aged 32 years, 10 months,  and 19 days
Buried at: Leicester
King of England from 1483. The son of Richard, Duke of York, he was created Duke of Gloucester by his brother Edward IV, and distinguished himself in the Wars of the Roses. On Edward's death 1483 he became protector to his nephew Edward V, and soon secured the crown for himself on the plea that Edward IV's sons were illegitimate. He proved a capable ruler, but the suspicion that he had murdered Edward V and his brother undermined his popularity. In 1485 Henry, Earl of Richmond (later Henry VII), raised a rebellion, and Richard III was defeated and killed at Bosworth. After Richard's death on the battlefield his rival was crowned King Henry VII and became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty which lasted until 1603.
Richard was the last English king to die in battle. His body was taken to Leicester where it was buried at Greyfriars Church in a Franciscan Friary which was subsequently destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 to 1541. In September 2012 archeologists uncovered remains of the church buried underneath a car park and found a skeleton of a male showing curvature of the spine, a major head wound, and an arrowhead lodged in his spine. On 4 Feb 2013 experts anounced that DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the kings's family. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference: "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard."
His reburial was delayed by claims that as a son of the House of York he should be buried in York cathedral. However his remains were reburied in Leicester Cathedral on Thursday 26 March 2015.
King Richard III's Signature