How effective was Richard III as a king from 1483 †1485? Essay

At first, to associate Richard II with dominance send offms an odd thing to do. He is a king with one of the shortest reins in incline history. He came to a violent comp permition and his death was non solely the displace of the Yorkist dynasty, yet in both case an end to the ph each(prenominal)ic line of the Plantagenet dynasty that had been on the throne since enthalpy VI in 1154. Richard terce has ceaselessly been one of the better-kn consume losers of history, with an app exclusivelying study for excessive ambition and unkindness. He was withal in the however king to die out in battle with the exception of Harold II (God net incomesson) in 1066.On the some other hand, at that place is near evidence of his being an legal monarch. He was an titleive and hardworking king who wanted to se his ideas firmly raw(a)ised across England. He was besides a pious man with a well-used concord of hours. He had efficacy as a soldier and administrator. He in addition motor inned frequentity by many means. He was dedicated to the packaging of justice, especially for the poor. This was shown in a annunciation issued in Kent pastime the 1483 dis company, the kings highness is fully determined to see receivable nerve of justice passim his realmand to reform, punish and subdue all extortions and oppressions the same. In addition to the proclamation, Richard also showed his confide to enforce law and order with equating by supplications.This meant access to law was assailable up to people who could previously non afford it. Richards first act as king was to deliver a strict lecture to his judges in Westminster Hall on the impartial administration of justice for all his subjects. A nonher panache of improving his popularity was to abolish benevolences, which had been greatly resented during Edward IVs reign. This began to happen when, after his coronation, he went on progress round and do a point of declining benevolences offered to hi m, stating that he would non practice the extortions of his brothers reign. The functionary abolition occurred in 1484. He also established the College of Arms in 1484 and transferred henry VIs remains to Windsor, a political gesture, show that he was honorific towards the dead.Although Richard III had a fairly delimitate power stall, he did use shop impellingly, especially towards the nobility. This suffer be shown by his generosity to the duke of Norfolk. His rewards included his duchy, his share of the Mowbray heritage and the estates of the earl of Oxford. A nonher alarmingman who benefited from Richards condescendingness was the duke of Buckingham, who was amply rewarded for his involvement in Richards usurpation, receiving the constableship of England among other things.Richard III showed his courage and his world power to use his powers as king in the speed of his suppression of the 1483 rebellion. The uprising occurred in October in the counties siemens of the Thames, light-emitting diode by former servants of Edward IV. The duke of Buckingham fall in it at a later stage. Large parts of the south were rebelling for e very(prenominal)place a month, however although the rebellion was serious and terrorening, it failed. This was mostly due to Richards vigilance and trenchant use of spies. He used the duke of Norfolk to crush the rebels in the southward East, and concentrated his own efforts effectively against Buckingham. due(p) to a combination of Buckinghams bankruptcy to raise wear from his tenantry, an exceptional violent storm that kept him trapped in Wales and his high treason in Shropshire, Buckingham was brought to Salisbury to a lower place Richards power and executed in declination 1483. In two months the rebellion had been effectively quashed.An important measure of good kingship is the internal government. Richard go along and developed the Yorkist system of government, including the bed bedchamber system begun by his brother, Edward IV. He continued the policy of recovering lapsed feudalistic dues and improved the Crowns solid ground through forfeiture. He was particularly watchful in the promotion of law and order as explained previously, establishing the master of requests, John Harrington. He also established the Council of the North to select the power vacuum he had left wing under his nephew, the earl of capital of Nebraska. This meant that no one noble was presumption extreme power, thus moderate opposition to the crown.However, there is an equal amount of money of evidence suggesting that Richard III was an otiose king. Although some faces of his domestic government were strong, as explained in the previous paragraph, his foreign policy was badly unsuccessful. This is shown by the fact that henry Tudor gained foreign backing to enable him to encounter England in 1485. Part of Richards mischance was due to grown luck. He had familial a conflict with Scotland and strained acquireings with the French, as a result of the pact of Arras in 1482. The situation was turn after the death of Louis XI because a situation similar to that before Richards usurpation had a standn. The French Government did not want noblemen attempting usurpations after being in contact with Richard III, so shut raze relations further. By making a truce with Brittany, Richard III suggested the accomplishable surrogate of the Triple Alliance and a possible side of meat invasion to the French Government, which change magnitude their hostility.Although Richard III continued and developed the chamber system that had proved so effective during Edward IVs reign, and, his expenditure was great than his income and he had growing financial problems by 1485. He was frequently accused of withering the surplus gained in his predecessors reign, although Edwards military expenses, his funeral and Richards own coronation, had considerably reduced it. By 1485 it was requirement for him to request loans from his greater subjects, which were largely not granted and deeply resented. in that location is also another side to the argument concerning the 1483 rebellion. Richards speedy reaction to the rebellion meant that a lot of the danger was reduced however it did continue to have a unwholesome effect on his authority and power- sales booth throughout his reign. Many of the rebel leaders had flee and crossed the channel to join hydrogen Tudor in Brittany forming a court in exile. This turned Henry Tudor into a more serious threat and lost Richard a great deal of support. The rebellion also signified the tribulation to project himself as Edwards natural successor due to the high heel of his brothers servants who rebelled. Therefore he attempted to impose his rule upon the Confederate subjects by putting members of his northern entourage in positions of power in the South. This barely served to increase resentment as the gray nobility felt these positions were rightly theirs. unaccompanied one member of the southern gentry fought with Richard III at the battle of Bosworth.Richard failed to wave the opinions of the super-magnates in his favour. These were a few very(prenominal) powerful men scattered around the country whose support really mattered. This can be shown with the earl of Northumberland. Although he was instrumental in Richards rise to power he wasnt given power over the North as he had expected, and was under the control of the Council of the North chaired by the earl of Lincoln who was an outsider to northern affairs. Thomas passe-partout Stanley was also important by his ability to change sides at the most timely moment. Due to Richard IIIs calamity to firmly secure Lord Stanley on his side, Stanley intervened at the battle of Bosworth at a crucial time against Richard and aided in his loss of the battle.Propaganda was another weak airfield of Richards kingship, which is demonstrated by the ineffectualness of hi s 1484 act. This was meant to confirm the validity of Richard IIIs claim to the throne and act as proclamation against Henry Tudor. This stated the married couple of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV was invalid therefore any children were illegitimate that the children of Clarence were debarred from the succession by his attainder condemned the government of Edward IV due to the Woodville influence, exposit as disadvantageous to English security, mean and corrupt. Very few of Richards subjects believed the message of the proclamation and it did no good to Richard IIIs popularity.Although some of the problems during Richards reign were doubtless caused by his personal mistakes closely all of them were reinforced by bad luck. For example, the breakdown of relations with France was already begun in Edwards reign due to the rancor caused by the terms of the Treaty of Arras. There is another argument that Richard III could neer be a truly effective king due to the spirit of his rise to power.This idea means that he was not ineffective because of his own personal abilities but his actions in 1483 meant he faced recurrent opposition from the day he seized power. condescension how historians have attempted to justify Richards usurpation, it was unique in the slaughter of his nephews, showing an extreme level of naked aggression, which blow out of the water even the most hardened of hearts. Although all usurpations have a certain aspect of aggression and ambition, Richard alone isolated so many key groups and is essential the only failed, not establishing his dynasty successfully, usurpation in English history.The case against Richard III concerning the princes in the rear is extremely strong. The rumours concerning their death were politically harmful to Richard III and could easily be scotched by producing the Princes. However, Richard failed to ever offer any preference evidence to their disappearance. His only counter-argument was under the guise o f protecting them, which did not satisfy his subjects. This overlook of faith in Richard III led to the emergence of a Tudor-Woodville alliance as an alternative leadership. Many important members of the English gentry joined the Tudor-Woodville alliance, notably Buckingham when he joined the 1483 rebellion. More members of the gentry joined Henry Tudor in Brittany following the rebellion, as Richard did not pull ahead in executing the leading rebels. This led to the reality of an alternative court in Brittany allowing Henry Tudor to build up his support base and strengthen his position.Many alter factors led to Richard IIs adversity to widen his power-base. Although he had a very large retinue, who he relied on implicitly, it was in addition narrow a political base to be secure. This was partly due to Richards own personality he was a suspicious man in general, freehearted to those who earned his trust, but unwilling to let many close to him. However it was also due to the h ostility of a large portion of the population towards him. Richard was never popular in the south and many others could not overcome their personal worries about his self-serving ambition. This meant he was entrapped within the narrow base of his northern support.Although I have explained previously in this essay many ways in which Richard III attempted to win popularity, none seemed to work. The methods employed by Richard, when other kings in history had used them did succeed in gaining support, so it was not due to Richards own effectiveness or ineffectiveness. Again the opposition towards him appears to have been found on the events of 1483 where his actions were interpreted as desperate, ruthless and hypocritical. It was not only his supposed murder of his nephews that caused resentment, people in the City of capital of the United Kingdom were also against his murder of Lord battle of Hastings during his time as protector, and uproar was only prevented through the use of Rich ards retinue. overall I believe that Richard III was ineffective as a monarch surrounded by 1483 and 1485. However, this is not wholly because of his individual character, but mainly the events and singularly ambitious nature of his usurpation that he could not defeat by any means. As A.R. Myers verbalize in England and the Late Middle Ages Had he come to the throne in the public way, his abilitymight have given him a long and successful reign. As it washis qualities were not enough to overcome the redoubted hostility to him.