Richard III the Soldier: Edinburgh, Hastings and the Last Bosworth Charge

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Before the crown, Richard III was the loyal lieutenant of his brother Edward IV. Slight where Edward stood around six foot four, he trained hard, dreamed of crusade, and served as Edward's enforcer in the north, leading a campaign in the 1480s that captured Edinburgh and retook Berwick-upon-Tweed for good. When Edward died suddenly and left a 12 year old heir, the Woodville relatives of the queen tried to dominate the council, and courtiers such as Lord Hastings urged Richard to act as Lord Protector. Richard instead seized the young king's escort, executed the queen's relatives without trial, and had Hastings dragged from a council meeting and beheaded.

Parliament then declared Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville invalid, and the two princes in the Tower were never seen again. Buckingham's rebellion failed only because storms flooded the River Severn, and rumors spread that Richard had poisoned his wife after his son died. In August 1485 he held Ambion Hill with the larger army against Henry Tudor, but Northumberland's men never moved and the Stanleys waited to see who would win. Richard led a charge at Henry, killing his standard bearer, before the Stanleys attacked and he died on foot in a marsh.

• Historians suggest Richard might have won a more lasting settlement had he negotiated harder while holding Edinburgh.
• Thomas Stanley was Henry Tudor's stepfather through his marriage to Margaret Beaufort, even as Richard held a Stanley son hostage.
• Richard was negotiating Portuguese marriages for himself and his niece Elizabeth of York while rumors claimed he planned to marry her.
• Survey work at Bosworth found early artillery shot and a small silver boar badge, Richard's emblem, near where he likely fell.
• His skeleton, found under a Leicester car park in 2012, showed scoliosis and head wounds, including a polearm blow to the base of the skull.