RICCARDO III, king of ENGLAND. - B. on 2 Oct. 1452 at Fotheringay, d. on 22 Aug. 1485. In 1461 he received the title of duke of Gloucester. He vigorously supported his brother Edoardo IV against Enrico VI, but there is no evidence of his personal responsibility for the latter’s killing. Edoardo IV, trusting in the loyalty he had hitherto shown him, upon dying in 1483 appointed him guardian of his sons Edoardo V and Riccardo of York, still children.
R. had Edoardo V confined in the Tower of London and compelled the queen mother to hand over her other son; he then declared Edoardo IV a usurper and had himself proclaimed king. Immediately afterwards he ordered the killing of his two nephews. Recognized by the Pope and by Spain, he was opposed by France, which had granted asylum to the exiles, among whom was the Welshman Enrico Tudor, count of Richmond, claimant of the Lancasters. Despite his attempts to reform the administration of the State, because of his cruelty R. encountered general hostility, which increased when he proposed to marry Elisabetta of York, sister of the two murdered children. The discontented members of the two rival houses of York and Lancaster made common cause. Enrico Tudor, having landed on the coasts of Wales in Aug. 1485, succeeded with the help of the inhabitants in forming a small army. In the extremely fierce battle of the 22nd, despite his desperate courage, R. was defeated and killed.
The following year Enrico Tudor married Elisabetta; thus, with the reconciliation of the Yorks and the Lancasters, the War of the Two Roses ended and the Tudor dynasty began.