Wars of the Roses - Richard III

In terms of content, source A believes that Richard III was so ‘overcome by grief’ for the death of his brother, king Edward IV, in ‘1478’, which can definitely be argued as being highly inaccurate and incorrect. Although Richard III was definitely saddened by the news of the death of his brother Edward, whom he was extremely loyal to in his reign by being the main regional noble in the north during Edward’s second reign, Edward died in April 1483, not in 1478, as Mancini claims, and this therefore weakens the source’s convincingness for a historian studying the usurpation of Richard III. Moreover, the source states that ‘Richard and the young King entered London with 500 men’, which can also be seen as being inaccurate, as although Richard attempted to limit the number of attendants to Edward V’s coronation ceremony, they were in reality recorded by contemporaries as being around 2000, and not just 500 as the source claims, and this therefore further undermines its usefulness for a historian studying the usurpation of Richard III. On the other hand, the source does argue that; The king and his brother were withdrawn into the inner… ceased to appear altogether. ’, which can definitely be viewed as being highly accurate and correct. Through Richard spreading the story of illegitimacy between the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, and as a result declaring Edward V as being a bastard rather than king, this was one of the main situations that gave Richard the opportunity to seize and usurp the crown for himself in July, after the princes disappeared in the Tower of London and the legend of the ‘princes in the tower’ became more apparent and infamous amongst the commoners as well as nobles in England. This therefore strengthens the argument of source A and therefore makes it more useful in relation to the question being presented.