The War of the Roses did not end with the death of Henry VI and the exile of Queen Margaret. Although Edward IV eventually gained the throne, the York family's struggles were not over. On Edward's death, Richard III usurped the throne from Edward's sons. The book covers the reign of Edward IV, the usurpation of Richard III, and the eventual triumph of Henry Tudor, which brought the War of the Roses to a close. Show All     Download:     PDF       EPUB

THE ROYAL CHAMPION.

Preface

King Richard the Third, known commonly in history as Richard the Usurper, was perhaps as bad a man as the principle of hereditary sovereignty ever raised to the throne, or perhaps it should rather be said, as the principle of hereditary sovereignty ever made. There is no evidence that his natural disposition was marked with any peculiar depravity. He was made reckless, unscrupulous, and cruel by the influences which surrounded him, and the circumstances in which he lived, and by being habituated to believe, from his earliest childhood, that the family to which he belonged were born to live in luxury and splendor, and to reign, while the millions that formed the great mass of the community were created only to toil and to obey. The manner in which the principles of pride, ambition, and desperate love of power, which were instilled into his mind in his earliest years, brought forth in the end their legitimate fruits, is clearly seen by the following narrative.