THE TRAGEDY OF
RICHARD THE THIRD

Donald F. Ungurait
College of Communication
Florida State University
2000-2001

The Tragedy of Richard III - Table of Contents

William Shakespeare and His Place in Theatre History 3 - 5
The Life of Shakespeare 6 - 21
A Shakespeare Dateline 22 - 29
Lists of Shakespeare's Plays 30 - 37
Shakespeare's London 38 - 43
Shakespeare's Theatre District (Southwark) 44 - 53

The English Kings 54 - 55
Shakespeare's Kings 56-
Primary Sources of the History Plays 57 - 59

Lecture Notes on the Kings in The Tragedy of Richard III
Historical Notes on the Kings of the War of the Roses 60 - 74
Edward IV 60 - 66
Edward V 67
Richard III 68 - 70
Henry VII 71 - 73
Introduction to The Tragedy of Richard III 74 - 77
Dramatis Personae of The Tragedy of Richard III 78 - 99

Productions of The Tragedy of Richard III 100 - 117

Lawrence Olivier's Richard III (1954) 100 - 103
The BBC Richard III (1982) 104 - 108
Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1995) 109 - 113
Al Pacino's Looking for Richard (1996) 114 - 118

Discussion Assignments for Richard III 119 - 154

Text Assignment for Richard III 119 - 144

Comparison (Awards) Assignment for Richard III 145 - 154

Producing Assignment for Richard III 155 - 161

William Shakespeare and His Place in Theatre History

Let us put to rest a myth.
William Shakespeare wrote the plays of William Shakespeare. That is the beginning and the end of it. But even if it were not so, it is the plays themselves that remain the focus of the audience. And it is audiences for whom William wrote Shakespeare's play.

Now let us move on to an academic heresy.
William Shakespeare never wrote his plays to be read!
He wrote the plays to be heard. It was the music of the language in which the ears of the audience gloried. "Follow him friends. We'll hear a play tomorrow." (Hamlet 2.2 Lines 535-536) "Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue". (Hamlet 3.2 Lines 1-2).
Lines were written to be spoken by the actors so that the audience could hear them. The language of England was in flux in the Elizabethan Age and the audience was to some extent illiterate. The plays came alive in an aural tradition. The Theatre, the Globe, the Rose, the Bear-baiting rings and cockpits, the halls in the house of the nobility and the courtyards of inns were places for audiences to hear the play.
This was a world lit only by fire. Be it the sun, the reflection of the sun's fire in moonlight, the taper or the fireplace. And it was in daylight (dayfire, if you will) that audiences came to stand or sit in the three balconies or upon the stage. Seeing was always something of a problem. So the actors had to be heard, not unlike radio drama or sitting in the third balcony behind a pillar at the musical. Modern audiences still go to the opera to hear the libretto and music.

"Follow him friends. We'll see a play or film tomorrow."
Modern theatre audiences and moviegoers come to see a play and watch a movie. Today theatre, film, television and video audiences live vicariously in a visual, rather than an aural tradition. Movie audiences fidget if they cannot see the screen. Even in the theatre, the eye has replaced the ear to some extent. Theatre and film audiences alike are caught up in what Aristotle called the spectacle of the production. Today's musicals for example are dependent on visual effects. Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera are the blockbuster stage plays of our day and film audiences go to see Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men in Black, Titanic and Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace to see the spectacle of special visual effects.
In the staging of Shakespeare's plays today, even by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Royal National Theatre (RNT), the audience is dazzled visually by sets, lighting, costumes and stage magic.
Today, Shakespeare is alive and well, because the dramas are being reinvented visually. "Follow him good friends. We'll see a Shakespearean film tonight."

So What?
When a beginner comes to Shakespeare for the first time today, they need to see and hear the play. That is why the playwright wrote them. And since most of us do not have live theatre productions to attend, we need to see the plays of William Shakespeare on a screen, be it a big movie screen or a smaller video screen. Seeing and hearing is believing in the beauty of the works of William Shakespeare. Elizabethan theatre gloried in hearing the aural tradition of the spoken word. Today's audiences glory in the visual-aural stimulation package.
Students come to hate studying the wonderful plays Shakespeare because they are force-fed reading them. To an average teen-ager, Elizabethan English is a foreign language.
"Then the schoolboy with his [Shakespeare] and shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school" As You Like It (2.6 lines 144-146).
Shakespeare did not write the lines to be read by the student. William wrote these immortal lines to be "spoken to" an audience by an actor.
Unfortunately, a schoolteacher's readings in the classroom are of little help, despite that English teacher's dedication to the word. Teachers are not usually trained actors. Understand that actors, directors and designers see and hear the play as they read the lines. Most students and regretfully many teachers cannot see or hear the play when they look at the works upon the page.
A terrible thing happened when the plays of William Shakespeare became literature. They were over examined and became the private property of literature teachers.
A wonderful thing happened when talented actors, directors, and designers make movie adaptations of the plays William Shakespeare. The words, fewer in number than on the page, come alive in the mouths of player, who breathe life into characters that come alive upon the silver screen.
Poor school, college or community stage productions are not much better than any play at all. Even when the lines are memorized they fail. The characterizations are still born. The play dies an untimely death in the hands of the untrained.
The texts of the plays of William Shakespeare are a product of the aural tradition of the Middle Ages. It is not until the Restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660 and the reopening of theatres in London that the visual capacity of the proscenium arch theatre was realized. Although "spectacle" was a part of classical theatre and Elizabethan masques, it was not essential to the repertory of the Chamberlain's Men or the Admiral's Men or the King's Men.
Plays were to be heard and seen!
And certainly not read!

Shakespeare on Stage and the Screen
Humanity in all its complexity and emotion and conflict is in Shakespeare's plays and it is the actors' and filmmakers' task to translate the text into a visual and aural experience of human energy. The plays move, involve and excite the audience, even today, even during the first screening.
Few scholars object to translating Shakespeare's plays into foreign languages Well, film is a new language and if Shakespeare were alive today he would be a filmmaker. There should be no objection to adaptation of the text of a Shakespearean play into film language, which by its very nature reduces the number of lines needed. Today we can see what Shakespeare described. Action, which occurred off stage in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods of English history, is on the screen today.

Shakespeare's Contribution
Seldom equaled almost never surpassed production of blank verse
Complex characters open to many interpretations
Emotional exploration of the human spirit
Deep philosophical exploration

THE LIFE OF SHAKESPEARE

I. The two lines ancestors of William Shakespeare

A. The Shakespeares of Warwickshire has been traced back to a William Sakspere of Clopton, who was hanged as a thief, in the 13th century.

1. As was common practice in medieval England, family names were spelled phonetically over time and pronounced in a myriad of creative ways. The spelling depended to a great extent on the clerk (It was pronounced "clark" and is derived from cleric, who were the only readers and writers in the dark ages.)

a. Sakspere
b. Chacsper
c. Shakespert
d. Schakosper
e. Shakstaf
f. Shaxbee
g. Sadsper
h. Shagspere
i. Shaxpere

B. But regardless of these and other variations, over time it was the martial sounding "shaking of the spear" that came to be agreed upon.

1. It is a fact is that one of the many branches of the Warwickshire Shakespeares held land by right of military recognition.
2. Not too much must be made of spelling variations. It must be remembered that Middle English was in transition.
3. It was not "regularized" until Samuel Johnson among others did it in the 18th century and even today the English language has remained alive and in transition.

II. Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield (d. 1561) was a tenant farmer, who raised cattle on and worked land owned by Robert Arden. We know that Richard was tried, convicted and fined for over use of public land by his cattle.

A. Richard had two sons, who grew into adulthood.

1. Henry Shakespeare (c. 1530 - 1596)

a. Wife Margaret
b. Children

i. Daughter, Lettice
ii. Son, James

c. Henry Shakespeare was something of a "n'er do well" and caused financial trouble for his more stable and respected brother.

i. Henry "drew blood" in a fight with Edward Cornwall and when he failed to appear in court he was jailed for trespass.
ii. He failed to pay his debts.
iii. He was fined for wearing a hat in church (in disobedience of the Statute of Caps).
iv. He was excommunicated for failing to pay his church tithes.
v. He fined for failing to work at mending the Queen's roads, a standard community service.
vi. In 1562, John Shakespeare was fined for overgrown hedges; apparently Henry was responsible for maintaining the hedges.

2. John Shakespeare (c. 1530 - 1601) left his father's farm (c.1550) and set up shop in Stratford upon Avon as a 'wittawer' (glove-maker and maker of other soft leather goods).

a. John was a success and soon owned two houses in Stratford upon Avon.
b. One he let out and the other served as his home and workshop.
c. In all likelihood, John first rented and then purchased the property in Henley Street now known as Shakespeare's Birthplace.
d. John and his neighbor and friend, Adrian Quiney, were fined in 1552 for using part of the roadway (Henley Street) for a manure pile.
e. He was on his way to being considered a countrified version of what has come to be known in Elizabethan England as a "new man."
f. However, it is assumed that John Shakespeare was in all likelihood illiterate since he "made his mark" rather signed his name.

III. The Ardens

A. Robert Arden of Wilmcote (d. 1556) was a member of the Ardens, an aristocratic family from whom the Forest of Arden takes its name.

1. Robert was the head of an agricultural branch of that distinguished family.
2. He was a land-owner and yeoman farmer (minor gentry).
3. He owned the land farmed by Richard Shakespeare in Snitterfield, but lived in Wilmcote.
4. His half-timbered farmhouse still stands, and is a substantial structure and had other farm buildings.
5. Robert Arden and Richard Shakespeare lived but a few kilometers apart and were in effect joined in agricultural enterprise for 30 years as country gentleman and tenant farmer.

B. Mary Arden (c. 1540-1608) was the youngest of Robert Arden's eight daughters.

1. In all likelihood she and John Shakespeare grew up knowing each other.
2. Mary Arden married John Shakespeare, who was seeking to better his station in life.

IV. The Shakespeare-Arden family in Stratford

A. John Shakespeare and Mary Arden were joined in matrimony in Aston Cantlow church of Wilmcote parish in 1556.

1. Her dowry includes two parcels of land totaling 150 acres and had inherited a portion of the Snitterfield estate upon the death of her father, who passed on shortly before her marriage.
2. John and Mary moved into the newly acquired house that is known today as the "Birthplace" on Henley Street in Stratford upon Avon, where he set up shop.
3. It remains an imposing structure and is the home of the Shakespeare Trust.

B. John and Mary Shakespeare's first two children died as babies.

1. Joan was baptized on September 15, 1558 and died shortly after that date.
2. Margaret was baptized on December 2, 1562 and died five months later in April 30, 1563, which was a terrible plague year in Stratford.
3. No one can understand the pain of that double-barreled tragedy, unless they are parents.

C. One year later, the third child, the first boy, William Shakespeare, is baptized by the Rev. John Breechgirdle on April 26,1564 as "Giulielmus filius Johannes Shakespere" in Holy Trinity Church.

1. It was the custom to baptize a child as soon as possible after birth, by custom three days. So it assumed that William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.
2. The Bubonic Plague (the Black Death) had raged in Stratford that year and killed over 200 people, roughly 15% of the village's population.
2. The Bubonic Plague was so severe that the City Council meetings to plan relief of victims were held out of doors.
3. It is probable that William's older sister was taken by the outbreak of the epidemic.
4. But the Black Death was quieted by a severe winter to the good fortune of William and his parents.

D. John and Mary were to have five more children for a total of eight.

1 Gilbert Shakespeare was baptized October 13, 1566. He died February 3, 1612 in London where he worked as a haberdasher.
2. A second Joan Shakespeare was baptized April 15, 1569 and died November 4, 1646 at the age of 77. She was the widow of William Hart (d. 1616)

a. Hart died one week before William Shakespeare passed away.
b. Hart was a hatter in Stratford upon Avon.
c. Joan and William Hart had four children.

i. William Hart (1600-1639)
ii. Mary Hart (1603-1607) died age 4
iii. Thomas Hart (1605-1670)
iv. Michael Hart (1608-1618) died age 8

3. Anne Shakespeare was baptized September 28, 1571 and died April 4, 1579 at the age of seven.
4. Richard Shakespeare was baptized March 11, 1574 and died February 4, 1613.
5. Edmund Shakespeare was baptized May 3, 1580 and died December 31, 1607 in London.

a. Edmund had followed his brother to London and actor in Shakespeare's company of players.
b. He died at the age of 28 and is buried in St. Saviours, the parish church of the liberty of Southwark (now Southwark Cathedral), which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester.
c. Edmund never married, but may have fathered a child out of wedlock, who died shortly before Edmund.
d. Church records indicate that he had a morning burial service that was expensive for a "hired player."

i. It is assumed that his brother, William, paid the expenses.
ii. It was held in the morning so that the mourners could play that afternoon.

E. Mary Arden Shakespeare lived to bury four of her eight children as well as her husband, who died in 1601.

a. On the death of John Shakespeare, the inheritance went to son William as was the custom, rather than Mary Arden Shakespeare.
b. The family continued in residence including the Harts, but the shop was rented out. There were no Shakespeares any longer in the Glover's trade or any trade in Stratford.

IV. John Shakespeare's career

A. His trade as a wittawer / glover (worker of fine leather good) was protected by Parliament against foreign competition.
B. But he also traded in wool, timber and barley. Stratford had a substantial malting and brewing industry.
C. In 1556, John became one of the two "ale-tasters" that checked weekly on the products of bakers as well as brewers to determine if the public was receiving "good value for money."
D. In 1558, he became one of the four town constables, who were charged with maintaining public order and served as fire prevention inspectors.
E. In 1560, he was elected one of Stratford's fourteen burgesses.
F. From 1561 to 1563, John Shakespeare was one of the town's two chamberlains, who were the financial and property administrators of Elizabethan towns.
G. He was elected alderman in 1565 and thus wore the black, fur-trimmed gown and thumb ring of that office. He would have now been addressed as Master Shakespeare.
H. In 1568 he was elected bailiff (roughly equivalent to town mayor) of Stratford upon Avon and now wore the scarlet gown of office. As bailiff he would set the week's prices for key agricultural products as well as bread and ale.
I. In 1561, William Shakespeare's grandfather Richard died and the tenant farm was left in the care of the less than competent Henry Shakespeare. Some scholars believe that Henry became a significant financial burden for John and led to his later financial problems.
J. As alderman, John's son, William Shakespeare, was eligible to attend the local grammar school, the King's New School was named for King Edward V, Elizabeth's younger brother.

1. Education of council member's children was free through the age of 16.
2. It is assumed that William attended the school, but did not go on to college because of the family's financial problems.
3. His two teachers of record are

a. Simon Hunt, a Roman Catholic
b. Thomas Jenkins, a Welshman is in all likelihood the model for Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

4. His liberal education would have concentrated on Latin (and perhaps less Greek) classics with study focused around

a. Lily's Latin Grammar that was the textbook in most English grammar schools.
b. The works of Ovid (apparently Shakespeare's favorite), Virgil, Plautus, Terrence, Horace and Juvenal would also have been studied.
c. And of course The Holy Bible, probably the Genevan (or "Breeches") Bible of 1560 or the Bishop's Bible of 1568.
d. The students learned to read, write and do math using the "hornbook" for their ABC's, thus comes the name for the teacher of the youngest students as "abecedarius."
e. It is possible that he also studied a "little Greek", probably the Greek New Testament.

3. It may well be that William Shakespeare was the first of his line that could both read and write.

V. The fortunes of John Shakespeare deteriorated after 1578 and the reason is unclear, but John Shakespeare stopped attending Council meetings and going to church. Conjecture is that

A. The family may have followed the old dogma of the Church of Rome and they were being fined. Historically members of the aristocratic Arden clan remained doctrinaire Roman Catholics and easily paid for the privilege under Queen Elizabeth.
B. John acted as surety on loans for his brother Henry, who defaulted.
C. His business ventures took a turn for the worse and he could not repay loans, taxes and/or church tithes, so he avoided public gatherings to avoid creditors.

1. Interestingly he did not immediately lose his place on the City Council, and the town council excused him from paying selected dues and taxes.
2. But he was finally relieved of council duties.
3. He did borrow money and mortgage land. In any event, in 1578 John and Mary mortgaged her inheritance in the Snitterfield property, which they lost.
4. Various theories again exist as to the changed the financial circumstances and the position of the Shakespeares in the community.

a. Bad investments and his brother's debts brought him low.
b. The Roman Catholic fines ruined him.

i. Interestingly a Roman Catholic tract, which was a profession of faith, was discovered in the Henley Street house in 1757.
ii. It contained the religious beliefs of the head of the family and is to day known as "The Spiritual Last Will and Testament of John Shakespeare."
iii. The treatise was actually "The Last Will of the Soul written by Cardinal Borromeo of Milano.
iv. These and other documents were being smuggled into England by a network of English Jesuits from 1580 on.
v. An English Jesuit scholar using a Spanish version printed in Mexico finally verified the authenticity of the document in 1923. That copy was discovered in the British Museum.

c. Whatever the causes and they may have been an open secret in the community, the good works of the man and the recognition of his contribution to the community held the wolf at the door at bay until his son could carry part of the burden.

VI. John Shakespeare had applied for a coat of arms, which meant he and all his descendants would be gentle. With the onset of financial difficulties that application was dropped.

A. A reapplication for a coat of arms for his father by William Shakespeare was approved in 1596.
B. And all his heirs were "gentled" from that point on.
C. It was an important gift to the father and the rest of the Shakespeare family, and it was certainly a sign that the poet was a "made man" by 1596.

VII. The rise of William Shakespeare

A. In 1580, when William would turned 16, his father was in serious financial straits.

1. Shakespeare apparently had to leave school at 15, because of the family situation and enter the business.
2. It is conjecture that William finished grammar school, but he certainly did not go on to college.

B. William Shakespeare now of age is presumed to have (reluctantly?) entered the family business. He grew into manhood as a handsome, charming, well-made young man.
C. In 1582, the 18-year old William and the 26-year old Anne Hathaway of Shottery, the eldest daughter of Richard Hathaway (d. 1581) became pregnant.

1. Her house, then known as Hewlands Farm, remains standing today roughly a mile from Stratford. Today, it is known as Anne Hathaway's Cottage and is owned by the Shakespeare Trust.
2. John Shakespeare had countersigned a loan for Anne's father and had to pay off the debt to John Page and Joan Biddle for Richard Hathaway.

D. "Willelmum Shaxpere and Annam Whateley de Temple Grafton"
were issued a special marriage license on November 27, 1582, albeit muddled by the clerk.

1. The marriage proposal bonded by two Shottery farmers, Fulk Sandells and John Richardson, on November 28, 1582.
2. This guaranteed the marriage proposal.
3. The marriage banns are normally read thrice, but were read only once in the case of William and Anne, because the pregnancy was already well advanced and the season when marriages were not allowed was fast approaching.

E. So it was that William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years, his senior, in November 1582 in Temple Grafton Church away from prying eyes of Shottery and Stratford.
F. As was the practice of the day, the young couple moved in with the Shakespeare family
G. Henry Heicroft, the local vicar, baptized Susanna Shakespeare on May 26, 1583 (Trinity Sunday), which is just less than six months after the couple married.

1. In 1606, she was cited for failing to take Holy Communion on Easter Sunday (April 20, 1606), which was a criminal act.

a. The Church of England regarded it as a form of protest by "church papists," who came to Sunday service, but refused to take communion as a form of protest.
b. Normally this would have been winked at, but it was the year after the Gunpowder Plot, when a group of Roman Catholics attempted to murder King James I, when they tried to blow up Parliament.
c. The charge was later dropped, perhaps because Susannah publicly repented or began to take communion; she had to be personally summoned to court before she consented to appear. She appears to have always been headstrong.

2. A year later, on June 5, 1607, Susanna (aged 24) married Dr. John Hall (aged 32) and they lived first at Hall's Croft (also now owned by the Shakespeare Trust) just down the street from New Place.

a. Hall, a Puritan, was a respected physician educated at Cambridge. In all likelihood he was the attending physician in Shakespeare's last illness.
b. He practiced medicine in Stratford for 35 years until his death in 1635 at age 60.
c. In 1613, five years after her marriage Susanna Shakespeare Hall won a libel suit brought against John Lane.

i. Lane had claimed publicly that Susanna had committed adultery and had "gonorrhoea."
ii. Lane was a drunkard and had previously been sued for libeling the vicar and an alderman.
iii. Lane failed to appear court and was fined and excommunicated.
iv. This event has been dramatized in the play, The Herbal Bed.

c. Susanna inherited nearly all of Shakespeare's assets including New Place, the House on Henley Street and the poet's Blackfriars Gatehouse in London.
d. The Halls had one daughter Elizabeth who was baptized on February 21, 1608. She was born a month premature.

i. Her grandfather, William Shakespeare, died when she was 8 and left her most of his silver.
ii. Shakespeare's granddaughter was 18 when she married Thomas Nash (1593-1647) on April 22, 1626, who was then 23, which was 10 years almost the day her grandfather died.
iii. Nash died at New Place after 21 years of marriage in 1647 at 53 years of age.
iv. Elizabeth then 40 married a second time on June 5, 1649 to widower John Bernard of Abington Manor, who was 43 and had eight children.
v. On November 26, 1661, Charles II knighted Sir John Bernard for his service in the Civil War in behalf of the Royalist cause.
vi. Susanna Hall died a month later and Elizabeth inherited her mother's estate including New Place and the house on Henley Street.
vii. Lady Elizabeth lived out her years at Abington Manor, where she died childless on in 1670 at age 62.
viii. The death of Elizabeth Hall Nash Bernard brought the direct line of William Shakespeare to an end.
Ix. She left the houses on Henley Street to her cousins, Thomas and George Hart, who were grandsons of Shakespeare's sister Joan.

a. The Hart descendants remained on those properties until 1806.
b. Henry Court purchased the houses on Henley Street.

x. Elizabeth left the remainder of her estate, including New Place to her husband, Sir John.

a. His heirs sold New Place.
b. Eventually the heirs of Sir Hugh Clopton, who had built New Place, purchased the property.

e. Susannah had outlived Dr. Hall by 14 years and she died in 1649.
i. Her gravestone attests that Susanna Shakespeare Hall was "Witty above her sexe."

3. Twins, Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare, were baptized on February 2, 1985 by Richard Barton.

a. The twins were named after family friends Hamnet and Judith Sadler. He was a baker.
b. This means that Shakespeare had not disappeared into the "lost years" until after April 1584.
c. Tragically, Hamnet died in 1596 at eleven years of age with burial dated as August 11, 1596.
d. Obviously this was a devastating loss. It was the end of the Shakespeare name being carried on by a descendant of the playwright.
e. Judith on February 1616 at age 31 married Thomas Quiney (c. 1589 to 1652); who was four years younger than Judith was.

i. The Quineys were family friends, but the poet apparently disproved of the match.
ii. Shakespeare died two months after the marriage and provided Judith with only 100 pounds as a dowry.

a. Another 150 pounds were held in trust.
b. The interest was paid the Quineys, but the principal was reserved for Judith after the death of her husband and, if she died first, the sum reverted to Susanna not the husband.

iii. Thomas Quiney was a tavern keeper, vintner and a notorious ladies man.

a. His father, Richard Quiney, a cloth dealer was a business associate of Shakespeare, and the grandfather, Adrian Quiney, had been a close associate of John Shakespeare.

i. As a result of a beating by ruffians in the employ of Sir Edward Greville, Richard Quiney had died in 1602.
ii. Richard had opposed Greville's use of Stratford common as a sheep pasture, and John Shakespeare had supported Quiney in the dispute.
iii. The widow Quiney was left to raise nine children on her own.

b. After their marriage without church sanction during Lent, Quiney was excommunicated for a period of time.
c. One month after his marriage, one Margaret Wheeler died in childbirth, as did the baby.

i. She was with child by Thomas Quiney.
ii. He escaped doing humiliating public penance by paying a substantial fine of 5 shillings.
iii. It was at this point that Shakespeare changed his will.
iv. Quiney ran a successful tobacco and wine shop, but because of how he conducted his business. It was eventually run by trustees and Quiney was paid an annual allowance.
v. It was one problem after another with Thomas Quiney. He had also been accused of swearing in public, watering his wine and encouraging the misbehavior of patrons.
vi. He apparently died in London while visiting there in 1652.

e. Judith had three children, but all died young.

i. The first son was named Shakespeare Quiney, who died at five months on May 8, 1619
ii. Two other children died in1639.

a. Richard Quiney (baptized on May 8, 1618) died at the age of 21.
b. Robert Quiney (baptized January 23, 1620) died at the age of 19.

f. Judith lived to be 77 (died February 9, 1666) and since she signed with a mark, it appears she was illiterate to the end.

VII. The purchase of a family home by William and Anne (Hathaway) Shakespeare occurred in 1597-1598 when Shakespeare acquired New Place.

A. The town's leading citizen, Sir Hugh Clopton, had built New Place (c. 1490),
B. William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway and their children moved into New Place in 1598, but it was deeded May 4, 1597.

1. Shakespeare had purchased New Place in 1597 from the Underhill estate and it remained in the Shakespeare-Hall-Nash-family until sold in 1647, roughly 50 years.
2. Fluke Underhill had poisoned his father, William Underhill. Fluke was still a minor when executed for the murder,
3. Hercules Underhill the younger son had then inherited the property.
4. The family moved from the house on Henley Street, after repairs on New Place was completed in 1598.

B. New Place was the second largest residence in Stratford and had two barns, two orchards and two gardens on the property.

1. It was 60 feet by 70 feet and had three floors, five gables and ten fireplaces; some rooms did not have fireplaces, which was the basis of taxation.
2. When Shakespeare retired to Stratford upon Avon in 1611, it was the first time he lived in New Place full-time, although it had been home to Anne, Susanna and Judith.

C. The home passed from William Shakespeare (d. 1616)

1. To his daughter Susanna Hall (d.1649)
2. To her daughter Elizabeth Bernard (d. 1690) who lived there until her mother, Susanna Hall, died in1649.
3. Elizabeth then moved to her husband's estate, where she died in 1670.
4. New Place sold by her second husband's (Sir Henry Bernard d. 1694) family in 1697 to Henry Walker, whose daughter married a Clopton. The family of the builder once again owned new Place.
5. The Clopton family added on to the original building thus changing the original floor plan.

D. New Place was purchased by the Reverend Francis Gastrell in 1756 and torn down in 1759 by its' owner.

1. Gastrell was angry at paying the poor tax on the residence in which he lived for only part of the year.
2. He also cut down the Mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare, because it caused dampness.
3. In reality the destruction of the Mulberry tree was the eccentric owner's objections to "tourists" stopping to see the tree.
3. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust now owns the land and New Place is planted as a public garden.

VIII. The Final Days William Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon

A. In 1616 Shakespeare was a retired gentleman living off invested income.
B. The story of Shakespeare's sudden illness goes that Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton had had a "merrie meeting" and after too much ale and pickled herring, Shakespeare took to his bed with a fever. One version is that the poet passed out in a ditch that evening, which contributed to the illness.
C. Romantics among scholars wish to believe that the Quiney-Shakespeare affair was linked to the Poet's death. It must certainly have pained him.
D. Shakespeare made a will in January 1616 and then changed substantially with the final version signed by him on March 25, 1616.

1. This revision of the will was done ten days after the death of Margaret Wheeler and her baby in childbirth,
2. Thomas Quiney, Shakespeare's new son-in-law was responsible for that pregnancy and it was the day before Quiney was to appear in "bawdy court" that the changes were made that secured Judith's inheritance.
3. Quiney was excluded from the inheritance because of the poet's apparent lack of faith in the new bridegroom as evidenced by the most recent of many scandals
4. In the will, the most discussed statement was that "I gyve to my wief my second best bed with furniture."

a. It is argued that the poet undervalued his wife.
b. It is argued that it was a sentimental gesture of love and comfort.
c. By the common law of the time the wife automatically inherited one third of the husband's estate and would live on in the family residence.
d. Therefore the poet knew she was provided for without detailed mention.

5. Shakespeare's sister, Joan Hart received 30 pounds and his clothing and the right to stay on in the house in Henley Street till her demise.
6. The three Hart nephews each received 5 pounds.
7. Judith received

a. A dowry (marriage portion) of 100 pounds
b. 50 pounds for surrendering her rights to the cottage in Chapel Lane left to Susanna.
c. And interest on 150 pounds paid annually.
d. She also received her father's "broad silver gilt bole."

8. His granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall, received all of the other silver plate.
9. Ten pounds went to the poor of Stratford.
10. His sword went to Thomas Combe.
11. William Walker was left 20s.
12. And money was set aside to purchase memorial rings for "his Ffellowes" (John Hemynge, Richard Burbage, and Henry Condell of the King's Men).

a. Hemminge and Condell were the individuals who put together the First Folio of 1623 of the plays of William Shakespeare.
b. The First Folio of 1623 foreword stated that work was prepared "without ambition either of selfe-profit, or fame: only to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend & Fellow alive, as was our Shakespeare."
c. It was the greatest literary gift of all time to future generations of theatregoers.

13. Susanna Hall, the elder daughter, received the bulk of the estate and she and her husband were the residuary legatees of the poet's will.

a. New Place
b. The houses on Henley Street
c. The cottage in Chapel Lane
d. Blackfriars Gatehouse
e. All outbuilding, orchards, gardens and farmland
f. And any other property and rents

14. The will was handled by Francis Collins and approved on June 22, 1616.
15. Dr. Hall and Susanna were executors of the will.

IX. William Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford upon Avon under the floor of the chancel near the north wall and old altar.

A. He was buried there on April 25, 1616.

B. He may have written his own epitaph.

GOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE
TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.
E T
BLEST BE Y MAN Y SPARES THESE STONES
T
AND CURST BE HE Y MOVES MY BONES.

C. Next to the grave stands a monument to Shakespeare

1. A Dutch stonemason set up shop near the future site of the Globe in 1567 after fleeing the Spanish in the Netherlands.
2. His four sons continued in the business and one of the boys, Gerard Johnson (actually Gheerart Janssen) carved the statue. The work that depicts the "Swan of Avon" was done sometime between the death of the poet and the publication of the First Folio.
3. It is not a universally admired Jacobean Renaissance sculpture in white marble with black columns with the Shakespeare coat of arms carved in bas-relief.
4. The monument over time has been lime washed, repainted and chipped out by vandals seeking alleged hidden documents inside the monument.
5. On the base of the monument is the citation

INDICIO PYLIUM, GENIO SOCRATEM, ARTE MARONEM:
TERRA TEGIT, POPULUS MAERET, OLYMPUS HABET

(IN JUDGEMENT NESTOR, IN GENIUS SOCRATES, IN ART VIRGIL:
EARTH COVERS HIM, PEOPLE MOURN HIM, OLYMPUS HAS HIM.)

and

STAY PASSENGER, WHY GOEST THOU BY SO FAST?
READ IF THOU CANST, WHOM ENVIOUS DEATH HAS PAST
WITH IN THIS MONUMBEN TSHAKESPEAR:
WITH WHOME QUICK NATURE DIDE:
WHOSE AME DOTH DECK YS TOMBE.
FAR MORE THAN COST: SIEH ALL, YT HE HATH WRIT,
LEAVES LIVING ART, BUT PAGES TO SERVE HIS WILT.

A Shakespeare Dateline

c. 1200-1300 The Shakespeares of Warwickshire can be traced back to a William Sakspere of Clopton in the 13th century.
He was hanged as a thief.
c. 1530 - 1540 Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield,
Shakespeare's grandfather, was a tenant farmer, who raised cattle on and worked the land owned by Robert Arden, the father of Shakespeare's mother Mary Arden.
She was the youngest of eight daughters.

1533 Elizabeth I is born (Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn).

c. 1550 John Shakespeare (c. 1530 - 1601) left his father's farm and set up shop in Stratford upon Avon as a glove-maker and "wittawer".
c. 1555-1556 Robert Arden William Shakespeare's maternal grandfather dies before his parents are married. Mary his youngest daughter is named as the executor of his estate
c. 1551 Shakespeare's grandfather, Richard Shakespeare, died.
c. 1556 John Shakespeare and Mary Arden were married in Aston Cantlow church of Wilmcote parish. They had 8 children.

1. September 15, 1558 -- Joan was baptized on and died shortly after that date.
2. December 2, 1562 -- Margaret was baptized on and died five months later in April 30, 1563, which was a terrible plague year in Stratford.

1558 Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England.

April 26,1564 3. The third child born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, the Rev. John Breechgirdle baptizes the boy in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford upon Avon as "Giulielmus filius Johannes Shakespere".

April 23, 1564 It was the customary to baptize a child as soon as possible after birth. By Elizabethan custom the baptism of a newborn occurred three days after birth, therefore we presume that William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.

4. October 13, 1566 -- Gilbert, the poet's brother, worked as a haberdasher in London.
5. April 15, 1569 -- A second Joan Shakespeare is baptized.
6. September 28, 1571- Anne is born. She dies April 4, 1579 and has an elaborate funeral in a time of financial trouble that seems to indicate her death was a special loss.
7. March 11, 1574 - Richard Shakespeare lived out his life a bachelor in Stratford upon Avon.
8. May 3, 1580 - Edmund followed his brother to London and became an actor in the Lord Chamberlain's men.

1568 John Shakespeare, the playwright's father was elected bailiff (mayor) of Stratford upon Avon, which made it possible for William to attend the local grammar school, the King's New School, which was named for King Edward V, Queen Elizabeth's younger brother.
1578 The fortunes of John Shakespeare deteriorated and he stopped attending Council meetings and going to church.
December 6, 1574 All acting companies and players were put under severe restrictions by the Common Council. If they were not servants of a lord and wore his livery they were considered vagabonds and could be put under arrest. Performances in the city walls were forbidden, playhouses were dens of immorality and there was fear that the plague could be spread among the crowds at performances.
1576 The Theatre Playhouse is built in Finsbury Fields north of the London Wall by James Burbage.
1579-1580 It is presumed that Shakespeare may have had to leave school at 15. Scholars assume he entered the family business as an apprentice to his father, when the boy turned 16.
1580 Shakespeare's father, John, began the application process for a coat of arms in 1570, but with the advent of financial difficulty the application is put on hold.
1582 Eighteen-year-old William Shakespeare and the 26-year old Anne Hathaway of Shottery, the oldest daughter of Richard Hathaway, became pregnant.
November 27, 1582 Willelmum Shaxpere and Annam Whateley de Temple
Grafton were issued a special marriage license on, muddled by the clerk.
1582 That same month without the normal reading of the banns, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in Temple Grafton Church away from prying eyes of Shottery and Stratford upon Avon.
May 26, 1583 Henry Heicroft, the local vicar, baptized Susanna Shakespeare on Trinity Sunday, which is just less than six months after the couple married.
May 23, 1583 This is the presumed birthday of Susanna.
February 2, 1585 Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare, twins, were baptized by Richard Barton. The presumed birthday for the twins is March 28, 1585.
July 1588 The Spanish Armada was destroyed by the English navy, led by Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher, and a hurricane after the 9-day battle.
1585 - 1592 This seven-year period is referred to as the "lost years" of William Shakespeare, because there is no historical record of his life. Undocumented rumors are that during this time,

1. Shakespeare served as a schoolmaster (abecedarius) or tutor to the children of a wealthy family.
2. He served as a soldier or sailor in the Spanish Netherlands or Low Countries fighting the Spaniards as a soldier in the employ of the Dutch Protestants.
3. He ran off with a company of strolling players and eventually arrived in London first working as a holder of horses outside the playhouse.
4. He was caught poaching deer at Charlecote Park, a private preserve of Sir Thomas Lucy, and was forced to flee Stratford to avoid prosecution.

September 20, 1592 A pamphlet was entered in the Stationer's Register in which Robert Greene identifies Shakespeare as being in London as an actor and playwright. In the pamphlet known as "Greene's Groats-worth of Witte. " Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe were also mentioned in the tract.
1594 The playhouses reopen after a long closure due to the Plague (The Black Death).
1596 William Shakespeare secured a coat of arms for his father, John Shakespeare and all members of the family were "gentled." This was certainly a sign that the poet was a "made man."
August 11, 1596 Tragically, Hamnet Shakespeare died. Hamnet was
11-years-old. Actually, this is the date of the boy's burial.
1597 Shakespeare bought New Place from the Underhill estate and the second largest house in Stratford upon Avon remained in the family until sold in 1647, roughly 50 years.

December 28,1597 Cuthbert and James Burbage employed master carpenter Peter Streete (Street) with the financial backing William Cross, to hire a party of workmen to dismantle The Theatre.
The oak beams were ferried to the south bank of the Thames and used to construct a new playhouse.
1598 Shakespeare resided as a householder in Bishopgate, the northern most gate in London's Roman-Medieval wall. It was the gate closest to The Theatre.
1598 That same year Shakespeare moved to the liberty of the Clink that contained the famous prison of the same name. This area is on the south side of the Thames River and was referred to as Bankside or South Bank. It is in Southwark in Surrey, where the Globe Playhouse was opened in 1598.
1597 Shakespeare was named in lawsuit involving Francis Langley, owner of the Swan Playhouse, which indicates that the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's Company, were probably playing there in1597-1598 while The Theatre was dismantled and The Globe Playhouse was being built.
1599 The Globe opens and Shakespeare owns 10% the playhouse as well as receiving 10% of the players' gate as a "sharer."
1601 John, Shakespeare's father, died. On the death of John Shakespeare, the inheritance went to son William rather than Mary Arden Shakespeare, which was the Elizabethan custom. There is speculation that in the death of the elder, alcoholism was a factor.
1603 Queen Elizabeth I died and James I (the son of Mary Queen of Scots) becomes the first Stuart King.
May 13, 1603 The Chamberlain's Men become The King's Men.
1604 The poet lived with the French Huguenot family of Christopher Mountjoy in Cripplegate just inside the walls of the City located at the corner of Silver Street and Muggle (Monkswell) Street. On May 11, 1608 Shakespeare was called as a witness in a trial that pitted Mountjoy against his former apprentice and now son in law, Stephen Belott. The suit was over the amount to be in Mountjoy's daughter's dowry.
1606 William D'Avenant (Davenant) (1606-1668) the playwright and actor-manager is born in Oxford. Davenant claimed to be the illegitimate son (or godson depending on the source) of William Shakespeare and the wife of an innkeeper in Oxford. The claim has neither been substantiated nor disproved.
June 5, 1607 Susanna Shakespeare (aged 24) married Dr. John Hall (aged 32) and they lived first at Hall's Croft just down the street from New Place. Dr. Hall, a Puritan, was a respected physician educated at Cambridge. In all likelihood he was the attending physician during Shakespeare's last illness.
December 31, 1607 Edmund Shakespeare died at the age of 28 and was buried in St. Saviours, formerly St. Mary Overie (an abbreviation of Over the River) now Southwark Cathedral, near The Globe Theatre.

1. It is believed that William provided an elaborate funeral and memorial for his brother.
2. Four months earlier, "Edward Shakespeare (the illegitimate) son of Edward (Edmund) Shackspeare" is recorded to have died as a baby in a different church register.

February 21, 1608 Susanna and John Hall's daughter Elizabeth Hall
(Shakespeare's granddaughter) was baptized at Holy Trinity.
She was born a month premature. (Birthday presumed to be
February 19, 1608.)
1608 The King's Men begin performing in the private theatre, Blackfriars.
February 3, 1612 Gilbert Shakespeare, the poet's brother died.
March 10, 1613 Shakespeare purchased Blackfriars Gatehouse as a town residence in London from Henry Walker to be near the Blackfriars Playhouse.
1613 Five years after her marriage Susanna Shakespeare Hall won a libel suit brought against John Lane, who had claimed publicly that Susanna had committed adultery and had "gonorrhoea."
June 29, 1613 The Globe Playhouse burned to the ground after a
cannon fired as a sound effect set fire to the thatch roof
during a performance of Henry VIII. No one was injured and the prompt books and costumes and props were rescued.
1614 The new Globe Playhouse is in six months rebuilt with a tile roof and reopens.
1616 William Hart, a hatter and husband of the poet's sister Joan, died. The Hart had four children.

1. William Hart (1600-1639) was an actor in the King's Men in the 1630's and known for his portrayal of his uncles' creation, Falstaff.

a. William's illegitimate son, Charles Hart (d. 1693) played women's roles in the King's Men before the theatres were closed.
b. He then fought for the Royalists in the Civil War against Cromwell
c. He was later a member of the King's Company after the Restoration of the Monarchy.

2. Mary Hart (1603-1607)
3. Thomas Hart (1605-1670)
4. Michael Hart (1608-1618)

January 1616 Shakespeare is known to have made a will.
February 1616 Judith Shakespeare at age 31 married Thomas Quiney
(c. 1589 to 1652), who was four years younger than his new wife.

1. William Shakespeare apparently disproved of the match, because his new son-in-law was a ne'er do well.
2. After their marriage without church sanction during Lent, Quiney was excommunicated for a period of time, because Margaret Wheeler, pregnant by Quiney, died in childbirth, as did the child.

March 25, 1616 Shakespeare revised his will substantially. This version of
the will was made ten days after the death of Margaret Wheeler and her baby.
April 23, 1616 By coincidence, William Shakespeare died on his birthday at the age 52 in Stratford upon Avon.
April 25, 1616 William Shakespeare was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford under the floor of the chancel near the north wall and old altar. He may have written his own epitaph.

GOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE
TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.
BLEST BE Y MAN Y SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURST BE HE Y MOVES MY BONES.

June 22, 1616 The will was "probated" by Francis Collins and approved.

1. Quiney was excluded from the inheritance.
2. The most debated statement in the will has been
"I gyve to my wief my second best bed with furniture." By the common law of the time the wife automatically inherited one third of the husband's estate and would live on in the family residence.
3. Shakespeare's sister, Joan Hart received 30 pounds and his clothing and the right to stay on in the house in Henley Street till her demise.
4. The three Hart nephews each received 5 pounds.
5. Judith received a dowry (marriage portion) of 100 pounds and 50 pounds for surrendering her rights to the cottage in Chapel Lane left to Susanna. And interest on 150 pounds paid annually. She also received her father's "broad silver gilt bole."
6. His granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall, received all of
the other silver-plate.
7. Ten pounds went to the poor of Stratford.
8. His sword went to Thomas Combe.
9. William Walker was left 20s.
10. And money was set aside to purchase memorial rings for "his Ffellowes" (John Hemynge, Richard Burbage, and Henry Condell of the King's Men).
11. Susanna Hall, received the bulk of the estate. She and Dr. Hall, were the residuary legatees (executors) of the poet's will. She received

a. New Place
b. The houses on Henley Street
c. The cottage in Chapel Lane
d. Blackfriars Gatehouse was Shakespeare's London Townhouse.
e. All outbuilding, orchards, gardens and farmland
f. And any other property and rents

May 8, 1619 Shakespeare Quiney, the son of Judith and Thomas Quiney, was born, but died when he was but five months old.
1623 The "First Folio" of Shakespeare's plays assembled by Hemminge and Condell was published.
April 22, 1626 Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth Hall was 18 when she married Thomas Nash (1593-1647), who was then 23.
1639 Judith Shakespeare Quiney's two sons died the same year. Richard Quiney (baptized on May 8, 1618) died at the age of 21 and Robert Quiney (baptized January 23, 1620) died at the age of 19.
November 4, 1646 Joan Shakespeare Hart, the poet's sister, died.
1647 Thomas Nash was 53-years-old when he died at New Place after 21 years of marriage to Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth.
June 5, 1649 Elizabeth, Shakespeare's 40-year-old granddaughter, married a second time to widower John Bernard of Abington Manor, who was 43 and had eight children.
1652 Thomas Quiney, Shakespeare's n'er do well son-in-law died in London.
November 26, 1661 King Charles II knighted Sir John Bernard, Elizabeth's
second husband, for his service in the Civil War in behalf of the Royalist cause.
December 1661 Susanna Shakespeare Hall died and Elizabeth inherited her mother's estate including New Place and Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street.
April 15, 1644 Sir Matthew Brand pulled down the new Globe.
February 9, 1666 Judith Shakespeare Quiney died. Shakespeare's younger daughter had lived to be 77 and since she signed with a mark, it appears she was illiterate to the end.
1670 Lady Elizabeth Hall Nash Bernard, Shakespeare's granddaughter, lived out her years at Abington Manor, where she died childless at age 62. The death of Elizabeth brought the direct line of William Shakespeare to an end.

Lists of William Shakespeare's Plays
First Folio of 1623
The Plays of William Shakespeare
Histories, Comedies and Tragedies
Comedies
The Tempest.
The two Gentlemen of Verona.
The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Measure for Measure.
The Comedy of Errours.
Much adoo about Nothing.
Loves Labour lost.
Midsummer Nights Dreame.
The Merchant of Venice.
As you Like it.
The Taming of the Shrew.
All is well, that Ends well.
Twelfe-Night, or what you will.
The Winters Tale.
Histories
The Life and Death of King John.
The Life & Death of Richard the Second.
The First part of King Henry the Fourt'.
The Second part of K. Henry the Fourth.
The Life of King Henry Fift.
The First part of King Henry the Sixt.
The Second part of King Hen. the Sixt.
The Third part of King Henry the Sixt.
The Life & Death of Richard the Third.
The Life of King Henry the Eight.
Tragedies
The Tragedy of Coriolanus.
Titus Andronicus.
Romeo and Juliet.
Timon of Athens.
The Life & Death of Julius Caesar.
The Tragedy of Macbeth.
The Tragedy of Hamlet.
Othello, the Moore of Venice.
King Lear
Anthony and Cleopater
Cymbeline, King of Britaine
Plays that were not included in the First Folio of 1623
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Troilus and Cressida
Two Noble Kinsmen
Edward III (Recent support for this work by some scholars)

The Plays of William Shakespeare
All Plays
in Alphabetical Order

All Plays
All's Well That Ends Well (Comedy)
Antony and Cleopatra (Tragedy)
As You Like It (Comedy)
The Comedy Of Errors (Comedy)
Coriolanus (Tragedy)
Cymbeline (Comedy / Romance / Tragic-Comedy)
Edward III (A History only recently added to the list by some scholars)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Tragedy)
Henry, IV Part 1 (History)
Henry IV, Part 2 (History)
Henry V (History)
Henry VI, Part 1 (History)
Henry VI, Part 2 (History)
Henry VI, Part 3 (History)
Henry VIII (History)
Julius Caesar (Tragedy)
King John (History)
King Lear (Tragedy)
Love's Labor's Lost (Comedy)
Macbeth (Tragedy)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Comedy)
Measure For Measure (Comedy / Romance / Tragic-Comedy)
The Merchant of Venice (Comedy / Romance / Tragic-Comedy)
The Merry Wives Of Windsor (Comedy)
Much Ado About Nothing (Comedy)
Othello, the Moor of Venice (Tragedy)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Comedy / Romance / Tragic-Comedy)
Richard II (History)
Richard III (History)
Romeo and Juliet (Tragedy)
The Taming Of The Shrew (Comedy)
The Tempest (Comedy / Romance / Tragic-Comedy)
Timon of Athens (Tragedy)
Titus Andronicus (Tragedy)
Troilus and Cressida (Tragedy)
Twelfth Night: or What You Will (Comedy)
The Two Gentlemen Of Verona (Comedy)
The Winter's Tale (Comedy / Romance / Tragic-Comedy)

The Plays of William Shakespeare
All Plays
by (Estimated) Year Written
All Plays
Henry VI, Part 1 (1590-92)
Henry VI, Part 2 (1590-92)
Henry VI, Part 3 (1590-92)
Love's Labor's Lost (1590-92)
The Comedy Of Errors (1592-94)
The Two Gentlemen Of Verona (1592-94)
Richard III (1593-94)
Titus Andronicus (1593-94)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1594-96)
Edward III (1504-1596) (Only recently added by some scholars).
Richard II (1594-96)
The Merchant of Venice (1594-96)
King John (1594-96)
Richard II (1594-96)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-97)
The Taming Of The Shrew (1594-97)
Henry, IV Part 1 (1597-98)
Henry IV, Part 2 (1597-98)
Henry V (1598-99)
The Merry Wives Of Windsor (1597-1600)
Julius Caesar (1598-99)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1600)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night: or What You Will (1599-1601)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1600-01)
All's Well That Ends Well (1600-04)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-03)
Measure For Measure (1603-04)
Othello, the Moor of Venice (1604-05)
King Lear (1605-06)
Macbeth (1605-06)
Antony and Cleopatra (1607-08)
Timon of Athens (1607-08)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607-08)
Coriolanus (1608-10)
Cymbeline (1609-10)
The Winter's Tale (1610-11)
The Tempest (1611-1612)
Henry VIII (1612-13)

The Plays of William Shakespeare
Alphabetically By Type

Comedies
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy Of Errors
Cymbeline
Love's Labor's Lost
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Measure For Measure
The Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives Of Windsor
Much Ado About Nothing
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
The Taming Of The Shrew
The Tempest
Twelfth Night: or What You Will
The Two Gentlemen Of Verona
The Winter's Tale

Histories
Edward III (Only recently added by some scholars.)
Henry, IV Part 1
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1
Henry VI, Part 2
Henry VI, Part 3
King John
Richard II
Richard III
Henry VIII

Tragedies
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello, the Moor of Venice
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida

The Plays of William Shakespeare
By Type and Estimated Year Written

Comedies
Love's Labour's Lost (1590-92)
The Comedy Of Errors (1592-94)
The Two Gentlemen Of Verona (1592-94)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1594-96)
The Merchant of Venice (1594-96)
The Taming Of The Shrew (1594-97)
The Merry Wives Of Windsor (1597-1600
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1600)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night: or What You Will (1599-1601)
All's Well That Ends Well (1600-04)
Measure For Measure (1603-04)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607-08)
Cymbeline (1609-10)
The Winter's Tale (1610-11)
The Tempest (1611-1612)

Histories
Henry VI, Part 1 (1590-92)
Henry VI, Part 2 (1590-92)
Henry VI, Part 3 (1590-92)
Edward III (1594-1596) Only recently added to the list.
Richard III (1594-96)
King John (1594-96)
Richard II (1594-96)
Henry, IV Part 1 (1597-98)
Henry IV, Part 2 (1597-98)
Henry V (1598-99)
Henry VIII (1612-13)

Tragedies
Titus Andronicus (1593-94)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-97)
Julius Caesar (1598-99)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1600-01)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-03)
Othello, the Moor of Venice (1604-05)
King Lear (1605-06)
Macbeth (1605-06)
Antony and Cleopatra (1607-08)
Timon of Athens (1607-08)
Coriolanus (1608-10)

The Plays of William Shakespeare
Comedies, Histories, Tragedies and Romances (By Bevington)
Comedies
Love's Labor's Lost
The Comedy Of Errors
The Two Gentlemen Of Verona
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Merchant of Venice
The Taming Of The Shrew
The Merry Wives Of Windsor
Much Ado About Nothing
As You Like It
Twelfth Night: or What You Will
All's Well That Ends Well
Measure For Measure
Romances (Tragicomedies)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Cymbeline
The Winter's Tale
The Tempest
Histories
King John
Richard II
Henry, IV Part 1
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1
Henry VI, Part 2
Henry VI, Part 3
Henry VIII
Tragedies
Titus Andronicus
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Troilus and Cressida
Othello, the Moor of Venice
King Lear
Macbeth
Antony and Cleopatra
Timon of Athens
Coriolanus

Edward III is not included in this compilation.

Various classification systems of the Comedies

I. The early comedies written prior to 1598

A. The Comedy of Errors
B. The Taming of a Shrew
C. Two Gentlemen of Verona
D. Love's Labour's Lost
E. A Midsummer Night's Dream
F. The Merchant of Venice, which certainly creates an anti-Semitic character and is a problem for audiences today, as is the character of Barabas in Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, which is a tragedy.
G. The Merry Wives of Windsor, which is more like the 'city plays of Ben Jonson and Thomas Dekker' than the Shakespearean comedies that precede it.

II. The last four of the first seven early comedies are also called Transitional Comedies

A. Love's Labour's Lost
B. A Midsummer Night's Dream
C. The Merchant of Venice
D. The Merry Wives of Windsor

III. Some critics link them with the next three plays as the Middle Comedies

A. Love's Labour's Lost
B. A Midsummer Night's Dream
C. The Merchant of Venice
D. The Merry Wives of Windsor
E. Much Ado About Nothing
F. As You Like It
G. Twelfth Night or What You Will

IV. Then again some critics separate out the last three middle comedies as Romantic or Mature Comedies or Shakespeare's Greatest Comedies (and they are truly wonderful works).

A. Much Ado About Nothing
B. As You Like It
C. Twelfth Night or What You Will

V. Then there are the so-called Problem Plays. Some theatre critics prefer to use the term Tragicomedies for those last late plays that are serious dramas that have 'happy' endings. They were written during the same period as his greatest tragedies.

A. Troilus and Cressida
B. Measure for Measure
C. All's Well That Ends Well
D. Pericles Prince of Tyre
E. Cymbeline the King of Britaine
F. The Winter's Tale
G. The Tempest

VI. Then there is a special classification for the final group of four single-authored comedies, which are also called romances by literary critics, usually Professors of English.

A. Pericles Prince of Tyre
B. Cymbeline the King of Britaine
C. The Winter's Tale
D. The Tempest

VII. Finally, there is also Two Noble Kinsmen (co-authored with John Fletcher)

Shakespeare's London

A. There are two routes from Stratford upon Avon to London.

1. One through Oxford
2. The other Banbury and Buckingham
3. This may have been significant because William D'Avenant (Davenant) (1606-1668) the playwright and actor manager, who claimed to be the son (or godson depending on the source) of William Shakespeare and the wife of an innkeeper in Oxford. The claim has neither been substantiated nor disproved.

B. London' s population in the 1580's was about 120,000 and by 1600 that figure had risen to 200,000.

1. London, he only large city in England, doubled in size during Shakespeare's lifetime.

a. There was an influx of dispossessed country families seeking to better their lives.
b. And roughly one-third of the population of the city in the 1580's was made up of foreigners driven out of their homelands by religious wars, especially the Spanish Netherlands and France.
c. There was also a migrant group of males from the smaller villages seeking apprenticeships in the trades.
d. When the monasteries were dissolved, these monastics came to the capital, married, settled down and started families.
e. The birthrate was increasing and infant mortality was decreasing.
f. In addition, English mercenaries and the wounded were flooding home from the wars on the continent.

2. Most of the people were crowded within the two-mile curve of the wall laid out laid out by the Romans that was refurbished by citizens in the Middle Ages.
3. The South boundary of the City of London was the Thames River.
4. The Corporation of London, itself, had an unusual relationship with the monarchy and to some extent had an independent political life.

a. A Lord Mayor and council of city fathers elected annually by the twelve great Liveries (guilds or trades) governed.
b. That independence was jealously guarded and they broached no interference Royalty or Privy Council.
c. Areas beyond London's walls where people congregated and conducted business were considered "liberties" outside the jurisdiction of the City and normally within the authority ecclesiastics and the Crown.
d. Along the Thames from Whitehall to the Fleet River, were the elaborate city palaces of the wealthiest nobles, which was London's best river frontage.
e. Within the city walls were the two liberties that had formerly been monastic enclaves, Whitefriars and Blackfriars.
f. Whitehall Palace located between the Thames and what is now St. James Park was the primary royal residence and it was situated on both sides of the road from Westminster to London.

i. Two famous bridges connected the two halves of Whitehall.
ii. Whitehall had originally been built by
iii. King Henry VIII rebuilt the palace.
iv. Most of Whitehall was destroyed by fire in 1698 and never rebuilt.

a. The most remaining section is the Banqueting Hall designed in the Palladin style by architect Inigo Jones in 1622.
b. Ruebens painted the ceiling in 1630, which was commissioned by Charles I to honor his father, James I. The painting was hated by the Roundheads because of its' symbolism of the monarchy triumphant.
c. It was outside the Banqueting Hall on a temporary scaffold that King Charles I was beheaded in 1649.
d. It was also the site 20 years later that Charles' son James II celebrated the Restoration of the Monarchy.

5. Within the City walls, there were over 100 parish churches and of course old St. Paul's Cathedral.

a. Most were initially built as Roman Catholic places of worship.
b. When Shakespeare arrived in London, all were Anglican churches under Queen Elizabeth.
c. Most, including old St. Paul's were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Only four churches in the city survived The Great Fire of 1666.

6. Neither the City nor the Privy Council wanted the city to expand or additional suburbs to sprout up and thus gobble up all the open spaces.

a. The suburbs would be outside the City's jurisdiction
b. But would also increase the possibility of disease, especially the Black Death, spreading
c. It would also increase the probability of crime, rebellion and famine.
d. This led to a proclamation in 1580, before Shakespeare's arrival in London that prevented any additional construction within three miles of any of the cities seven gates.

i. Aldgate (to the East)
ii. Bishopgate (to the East)
iii. Moorgate
iv. Cripplegate
v. Aldergate
vi. Newgate (to the West)
vii. Ludgate (to the West)

e. This attempt to establish what is called today a "green belt" failed to be enforceable because of ever increasing population pressure and entrepreneurship.

C. One of the critical problems faced by Europe's third largest city, (after Paris and Naples), which was home to one in ten Englishmen, was an adequate water supply, which was alleviated in part by a canal being dug by Edmund Colthurst and completed by Hugh Myddleton.

1. This 38-mile "New River" brought water from the springs in Herefortshire and Middlesex to a reservoir in Clerkenwell north of the City.
2. It was ready for use in April 1613 after considerable opposition and delay.
3. The availability of an additional four million gallons led to the urban sprawl of the suburbs to the north, which opposed by both the Crown and the City.

D. On the north side of the Thames down river from London Bridge, within the ancient defensive wall of the Romans, was the Tower or the Tower of London, the city's most impressive landmark.

1. It began as the White Tower or stronghold begun by William the Conqueror (but not finished until 1097) to cower the Anglo Saxon residents and defend the city from attack. Inside the White Tower is the lovely Romanesque Chapel of St. John.
2. It had at times been the Royal residence and buildings were added, as were two sets of defensive walls and a moat.

a. On the river Henry II built a medieval palace to which Edward I added a river entry that has come to be called Traitor's Gate, because prisoners were brought by barge to the prison.
b. Prisoners of quality were normally put in the turret named Beauchamp Tower, and they were allowed to bring servants in most instances.
c. The Tower was the last resting-place of

i. George, the Duke of Clarence, who was the treacherous brother of Edward IV and that king's two sons, "the Princes of the Tower (King Edward V and his little brother, the Duke of York)," who were murdered on order of their uncle Richard III in 1483.
ii. Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII's former chancellor (1534-1535)
iii. Two of Henry VIII's wives were executed on Tower Green and open area.

a. Anne Boleyn (Bullen), Mother of Queen Elizabeth (1536)
b. Katherine Howard (1542)

iv. Lady Jane Grey executed in privacy on Tower Green within the walls (1563-1554).

a. But her husband and father in law, the Dudleys were beheaded on Tower Hill which is just North of the Tower.
b. They had attempted to install the Protestant descendant of Henry VII, Jane Grey, instead of allowing the Roman Catholic Mary, sister of the Protestant boy King Edward VI, to ascend the throne.

i. Queen Mary I came to be known as "Bloody Mary" in her attempt to remake England into a country in the camp of the Church of Rome.
ii. Queen Mary burned over 300 Protestant martyrs at the stake.

v. Sir Walter Raleigh, the brilliant, arrogant and charming explorer, sea captain and Renaissance man was imprisoned here from1603-1612 by King James I.

a. His enemies led by Lord Robert Cecil accused Raleigh of atheism and he was imprisoned until he was released to search for El Dorado.
b. While imprisoned he wrote his History of the World, perhaps the best incomplete prose work of the day.
c. Upon his return to England, he was arrested for attacking the Spanish in South America. He was tried for treason and executed in 1618.
d. He was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the country's ranking poets.
e. Sir Walter organized what came to be known as the Friday Street Club, which met in the Mermaid Tavern and included Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, John Donne and perhaps William Shakespeare.

3. Over the centuries the Tower was expanded and strengthened to become the home of the Royal Mint and treasury, a prison for the wellborn, a place of assembly and a storehouse for arms (armoury) and records of the Crown.

a. It served as the royal zoo.
b. Citizens could apply to be married in the tower.
c. It took on a sinister power from the beginning of the War of the Roses, because of the deaths that occurred under the Houses of Lancaster, York and Tudor.
d. The Governor of the Tower resided in the Queen's House.

E. The trades in London tended to be clustered together in the City.

1. The booksellers and stationers were located in St. Paul's Yard and the area surrounding it selling the latest sermons, pamphlets and play texts.
2. Cheapside was the largest Elizabethan Market and Leadenhall Market was known to have freshest poultry, eggs and milk. Inside the building itself leather goods, cloth and metal worked objects were on sale.
3. Billingsgate was the fish market and the language was as salty as the cod.

Shakespeare's Theatre District
Southwark -- London South of the Thames and the City

I. Names associated with areas south the Thames include

A. Southwark
B. Bankside
C. South Bank
D. Bermondsey
E. Borough
F. The liberty of the Clink

Or

A. The area called Bankside on the south bank of the Thames
B. In the district of Southwark
C. Which was part of the liberty of the Clink
D. In the County of Surrey
E. Under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester
F. It was here that the brothels, taverns, bull and bear rings and theatres were situated.

II. The coming of the Romans

A. Julius Caesar led the first Roman expeditions into Britain in 55 and again in 54 BC, but he withdrew without conquering the island.
B. The conquest of Britain was accomplished by troops, initially under the leadership of the Emperor Claudius in 43 AD.
C. One of the first actions of the Roman soldier-engineers was to build roads wherever they attempted to pacify a newly conquered territory.
D. Londinium, the walled capital of the province of Britannia, was a port city on the Thames River.
E. The Romans immediately built a bridge to the southern side of the river about 200 yards east of the present site of London Bridge, which was the best place to ford the river connecting the city to two gravel roads that lead south.

1. Stane Street to Chichester
2. Watling Street to Dover
3. These two roads can still be followed in places
4. The distance between where the two roads joined up at the current site of St. George the Martyr Church to the bridge, itself, approximates what is now the Borough High Street

F. The southern side of the river consisted of marshland and two islands in the meandering Thames tributaries that were flood prone.

1. The Roman engineers also built wooden bulwarks to channel the various streams and reduce the threat of flood.
2. They also bridged the Thames channels around the islands.
3. As the marshes were draining and island flooding was controlled the south side of the river was quite heavily populated by 75 AD.
4. In the second century population ebbed but was once again booming by the third century.
5. When the Roman legions withdrew from Britain in 410 AD, the areas both north and south of the bridge fell into disrepair and the bridge eventually collapsed.
6. The Roman bridge fell into disrepair and disappeared sometime in the early dark ages.

II. Throughout the Middle Ages the south bank (thus Southbank) of the Thames was connected to the city by only one bridge. In fact London Bridge was the only bridge across the Thames, until 1750 when Westminster Bridge was constructed.

A. Wooden bridge was reconstructed several times by the Saxons after being destroyed by flood or fire or just wear and tear.
B. In 900 AD the wooden bridge was rebuilt when the south side of the river was built-up as a burgh, a fortified village, to protect the bridge ends by the Saxons.
C. The wooden bridge is the London Bridge of the nursery rhyme sanitized as "London Bridge is falling down..." and comes from an event in 1014

1. The King of Norway, Olave or Olaf, as an ally of the Saxon King Ethelred, sailed up the Thames to attack London, which was occupied by the Danes.
2. The river was fortified on both sides and connected by the wooden fortified bridge, which allowed the two camps to reinforce each other.
3. The Norwegians built covers for their "Viking ships" to protect the rowers, maneuvered beneath London Bridge and attached ropes and then rowed away demolishing the bridge.
4. This lead to the defeat of the Danes and the canonization of St. Olave and the original celebratory Norse verse by Ottar Svarte
London Bridge is broken down
Gold is won and bright renown
Shields resounding
War horns sounding
Hildur shouting in the din
Arrows singing
Mail coats ringing
Odin helps our Olave win

5. Until 1928 there was a church to the east of the site of London Bridge dedicated to St. Olave and in typical English fashion today's Tooley Street is bastardization of St. Olave Street.
6. South of Bermondsey is Elephant and Castle, which is a corruption of Infanta de Castile, who was Princess Katherine, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of united Spain and the first wife Prince of Wales Arthur Tudor and also the virgin bride of King Henry VIII.

D. A monk, Peter of Colechurch, designed the first stone bridge over the Thames, London Bridge was not completed until four years after his death.

1. Peter designed the structure and began construction in 1176 and it completed in 1220.
2. Through out the Medieval Period, the bridge was constantly being repaired and rebuilt but was not dismantled until in 1831. It had been in use over six centuries.
3. The first dated mention of London Bridge being crowded with houses, shops, stalls of pin makers and a chapel was 1201
4. It was inefficient toll bridge and charged a penny for a person cross on foot. The boatmen charged a halfpenny or penny to row that same person across from steps on either side of the river.
5. This famous London Bridge (not the one in an Arizona desert) was a narrow span with 19 arches.

a. Because of the closeness of the arches

i. The water raced under the arches as if in sluices of a dam.

a. About 50 watermen (ferrymen) and passengers were drowned each year when caught in the vortex of the racing water or when they tried to shoot the rapids created by the sluices deliberately or by accident.
b. Since the Thames is a tidal river the water raced under the bridge in both directions based on the moon's effect on high and low tides.
c. The proverb was that a wise man crossed over went under London Bridge.

ii. In fact the water current impeded enough and the winters were cold enough for the river to freeze on occasion upstream of the bridge and annual Frost Fairs were held on the iced over Thames.
ii. Ocean going vessels were too large to pass through and docks were built east of London Bridge in areas such as Deptford.

b. The arches were protected by sturdy, oblong shaped, wooden piers to protect the bridge from racing debris caught up in the torrent.
c. In one of the courses was a waterwheel that provided water to houses in Eastcheap.

6. The watermen advertised their availability by calling out "Westward Ho!" or "Eastward Ho!" to indicate the direction they were rowing.
7. It is on pikes at the entrance to London Bridge that the heads of traitors (called Starlings) were displayed as a warning to others.
8. At the south end of London Bridge was a defensive wooden drawbridge used traffic control measure after sunset.
9. An interesting story is still told that in order to avoid a short lived clock tax (nine months in 1797).

a. City establishments would have a clerk run across London to a clock in one of the inns in Southwark.
b. Then race back with the time announced as 10 of the clock -- thus o'clock came into the English language.

10. Later bridges over the Thames

a. The second bridge was Westminster Bridge and not built until 1750.
b. The third bridge, Blackfriars Bridge built up river in Southwark in 1769.
c. Southwark Bridge was first constructed in 1819.
d. And the world famous Victorian landmark, Tower Bridge, was not built until 1894.

III. Southwark -- In 900 AD the wooden bridge was rebuilt when the south side of the river was built-up as a burgh, a fortified village, to protect the bridge ends by the Saxons.

A. The fortified Saxon burgh on the south side of the river was known as Suthringa Gewoerche (Surrey Work)
B. Eventually it came to be called Sudwerca (the works south of the Thames).

1. Eventually, Southwark, pronounced -- SUTHERK.
2. The Domesday Book commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086 mentions a population of 40,000 and a Minster.
3. In 1295 there were two members of Parliament representing Southwark.
4. The historian, John Stow, described it as the Borough of Southwark in 1596.
5. The area included numerous palaces of wealthy prelates and nobles.

C. The road south of London Bridge was the most important in England.

1. From the Middle Ages on the road on Southwark end of the bridge was lined with inns for travelers going to and from London.
2. In Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer mentions the Tabard Inn as the departure point for pilgrims heading off to Canterbury to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket.
3. The inns are important because of the use of 3-sided inn courtyards as performance spaces by travelling players before theatres were built in Southwark.
4. The only remaining "coaching inn" left is The George, built on the site of an earlier inn in 1696. Charles Dickens mentions the George in The Pickwick Papers.
5. Shakespeare mentions the White Hart in Henry VI.
6. Ten years after the Great Fire of London in 1666, a fire in Southwark destroying nearly all the Elizabethan structures. Street names still carry the names of the inns that were located on the site.
7. The inn in Henry IV, where Falstaff held court was on the north side of the bridge.
8. Alphabetical list of coaching inns

a. Blue-eyed Maid is on Borough High Street
b. Boar's Head
c. Bull's Head
d. George (to Dover, Hastings and Brighton)
e. Goat Inn
f. King's Head (coaches to Dover)
g. Queen's Head
h. Nag's Head
i. Red Lion
j. Tabard (to Canterbury, Chichester, Lewes and Cranbrook) (later named the Talbot Yard)
k. White Hart was the largest inn (coaches to Plymouth and Rye)
l. White Lion

IV. Bermondsey (Beornmund's Eye or Isle of Beornmund) was a low island east of Southwark that rose above surrounding marshland. (Beornmund's Eye or Isle of Beornmund) was a low island east of Southwark that rose above surrounding marshland.

A. Bermondsey had been a royal manor built by King William I.
B. In 1082 King William II (William Rufus) granted the manor to a small abbey had been there since
D. Henry I provided additional land in Rothehithe Dulwich.
E. A Saxon cross was found in the river in 1117 and St. Saviour's road became a pilgrimage, because the monks said it had been dropped from heaven.

1. To serve the pilgrims the monks Bermondsey Abbey built an inn at what is now 24 Rotherhithe Street to sell the ale they brewed.

a. It came to be called the Salutation.
b. The named changed to The Angel after the Reformation and from the site hangings of pirates on Execution Dock.
c. The Angel Inn is on that site today.

2. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538, the new owner demolished the abbey and used the stone to build Bermondsey House.
3. The inner courtyard is now Bermondsey square and the site of a weekly Bermondsey Antique Market.
4. St. George the Martyr parish church on Borough High Street at Long Lane was built in 1736

a. But stands on a site that dates back to 1122
b. Bermondsey Abbey appointed the church rector until the Dissolution
c. Ruins of older churches are visible in the crypt.
d. For Dickens' fans, it is here in the vestry that Little Dorrit slept when she was locked out of Marshalsea Prison for Debtors and she is memorialized kneeling in a window featuring St. George.

F. As one crosses London Bridge from the City to Southwark today the church on your right is Southwark Cathedral.

1. There has been a church, known as St. Mary Overie (a corruption of St. Mary on or over the river) on this site for over eleven centuries

a. It dates back to a church built on orders of the Bishop Swithon of Winchester (now St. Swithun) between 852 and 862.
b. It was an Augustinian priory until the dissolution of the masteries in 1538 by Henry VIII during the English Reformation.

2. The Domesday Book records it there in 1086, but was most of it lost in a fire in the next century.

a. It was rebuilt, but only two Norman arches survived the fire of 1213
b. The choir and retro-choir date from 13th and 14th centuries.
c. The stone choir screen survived dismantling in the Reformation and dates the early 1500's.
b. The current tower dates from 1520.

3. The name Shakespeare would have used to designate the parish church was St. Saviour.
4. The cloisters were granted to Lord Montague and to this date are known as Montague close.
5. When the nave collapsed and the adjoining chapel was torn down to make way for the new London Bridge in the 1830's, the wags renamed it St. Savior's Folly.
6. After the nave was rebuilt in 1897, the church was named Southwark Cathedral for the diocese of Southwark in 1905, which extends along the south bank of the Thames from Richmond to Woolwich and as far south as Reigate.
7. The cathedral was the burial site

a. The poet John Gower the brightly painted memorial features Chaucer's friends head resting upon three books (One in Latin, one French and one English) written by the author.
b. The Elizabethan playwrights

i. John Fletcher
ii. Phillip Massinger

c. Shakespeare's brother and fellow actor, Edmund
d. The Globe's co-owner, Laurence Fletcher

8. There is also

a. One of the oldest wooden statues in England

i. It depicts a knight dressed in chain mail in repose
ii. The feet are crossed, which indicate he was a crusader.

b. There are two modern memorials to Shakespeare

i. A statute of the poet in recline presumably writing
(c. 1916)
i. A post World War Two window that replaced one lost in the Blitz crusader

G. From 1420 to 1626, the Bishops of Winchester, like all the politically powerful prelates, lived in a palace along the Thames in Southwark.

1. It was a large 'rural' estate with steps to the river that made travel to Westminster easily available.
2. The estate was large enough to accommodate a church court and prison, the Clink, to adjudicate and punish members of the clergy convicted of crimes; the area came to be called the liberty of the clink.
3. When the palace was demolished to make way for industry, the Rose window was walled up in a mustard factory and rediscovered in 1816 after a fire.
4. The entire Southwark area was outside City jurisdiction and under the control of the Bishop of Winchester.
5. This fact lead to the development of Southwark as the "Las Vegas" of Medieval London.
6. The Bishop of Winchester served as the "shop steward" of the prostitutes working in the brothels (the stews) of Southwark.
7. The palace served as a Commonwealth prison for Royalists during the civil war.

H. Down river of London within the ancient defensive wall was the Tower or the Tower of London, the city's most impressive landmark.

1. It began as the White Tower or stronghold begun by William the Conqueror (but not finished until 1097) to cower the Anglo Saxon residents and defend the city from attack. Inside the White Tower is the lovely Romanesque Chapel of St. John.
2. It had at times been the Royal residence and buildings were added, as were two sets of defensive walls and a moat.

a. On the river Henry II built a medieval palace to which Edward I added a river entry that has come to be called Traitor's Gate, because prisoners were brought by barge to the prison.
b. Prisoners of quality were normally put in the turret named Beauchamp Tower, and they were allowed to bring servants in most instances.
c. The Tower was the last resting-place of

i. George, the Duke of Clarence, who was the treacherous brother of Edward IV and that king's two sons, "the Princes of the Tower (King Edward V and his little brother, the Duke of York)," who were murdered on order of their uncle Richard III in 1483.
ii. Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII's former chancellor (1534-1535)
iii. Two of Henry VIII's wives were executed on Tower Green and open area.

a. Anne Boleyn (Bullen), Mother of Queen Elizabeth (1536)
b. Katherine Howard (1542)

iv. Lady Jane Grey executed in privacy on Tower Green within the walls (1563-1554).

a. But her husband and father in law, the Dudleys were beheaded on Tower Hill which is just North of the Tower.
b. They had attempted to install the Protestant descendant of Henry VII, Jane Grey, instead of allowing the Roman Catholic Mary, sister of the Protestant boy King Edward VI, to ascend the throne.

i. Queen Mary I came to be known as "Bloody Mary" in her attempt to remake England into a country in the camp of the Church of Rome.
ii. Queen Mary burned over 300 Protestant martyrs at the stake.

v. Sir Walter Raleigh, the brilliant, arrogant and charming explorer, sea captain and Renaissance man was imprisoned here from1603-1612 by King James I.

a. His enemies led by Lord Robert Cecil accused Raleigh of atheism and he was imprisoned until he was released to search for El Dorado.
b. While imprisoned he wrote his History of the World, perhaps the best incomplete prose work of the day.
c. Upon his return to England, he was arrested for attacking the Spanish in South America. He was tried for treason and executed in 1618.
d. He was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the country's ranking poets.
e. Sir Walter organized what came to be known as the Friday Street Club, which met in the Mermaid Tavern and included Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, John Donne and perhaps William Shakespeare.

3. Over the centuries the Tower was expanded and strengthened to become the home of the Royal Mint and treasury, a prison for the wellborn, a place of assembly and a storehouse for arms (armoury) and records of the Crown.

a. It served as the royal zoo.
b. Citizens could apply to be married in the tower.
c. It took on a sinister power from the beginning of the War of the Roses, because of the deaths that occurred under the Houses of Lancaster, York and Tudor.
d. The Governor of the Tower resided in the Queen's House.

I. The trades in London tended to be clustered together in the City.

1. The booksellers and stationers were located in St. Paul's Yard and the area surrounding it selling the latest sermons, pamphlets and play texts.
2. Cheapside was the largest Elizabethan Market and Leadenhall Market was known to have freshest poultry, eggs and milk. Inside the building itself leather goods, cloth and metal worked objects were on sale.
3. Billingsgate was the fish market and the language was as salty as the cod.

An Outline of English Kings

THE DANES AND ANGLO SAXONS (Until 1066)
1. Edward I (The Confessor) (1042-1066)
2. Harold I (Godwinson), King of the English (1066)
THE NORMANS (1066-1154)
1. William I Duke of Normandy -- the Conqueror (1066-1087)
2. William II (William Rufus) (1087-1100)
3. Henry I (1100-1135)
4. Stephen I (1135-1154)
THE HOUSE OF PLANTAGENANT (1154-1215)
1. Henry II (1154-1189)
2. Richard I (the Lionhearted) (1189-1199)
3. John I ("Lackland") (1199-1216)
4. Henry III (1216-1272)
5. Edward I ("Longshanks") (1272-1307)
6. Edward II (1307-1327)
7. Edward III (1327-1377)
8. Richard II (1377-1399)
THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
1. Henry IV (1399-1413)
2. Henry V (1413-1422)
The War of the Roses Monarchs
3. Henry VI (1422 -1461 and 1470 - 1471)
THE HOUSE OF YORK
1. Edward IV (1461 - 1470 and 1471 - 1483)
2. Edward V (1483)
3. Richard III (1483 - 1485)
THE HOUSE OF TUDOR
1. Henry VII (1485 - 1509)
The War of the Roses (End List)
2. Henry VIII (1509 - 1547)
3. Edward VI (1546 - 1553)
4. Mary I (1553 - 1558)
5. Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603)
Shakespeare is born in 1564
Shakespeare is writing in c. 1590 in London
THE HOUSE OF STUART
1. James I (VI of Scotland) (1603 - 1625)
Shakespeare retires on c. 1610
Shakespeare dies in 1616
2. Charles I (1625 - 1649)

THE COMMONWEALTH
1. Oliver Cromwell, The Lord Protector (December 1653 - 1658)
(The King England never had. In March 1657 offered the crown by the Speaker of the House of Commons. One week later he declined the title).
2. Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector (1658 - 1659)
THE RESTORATION OF THE HOUSE OF STUART
3. Charles II (1660 -1685)
4. James II (1685 - 1688) He died in 1701 an exile in France. His memoirs were destroyed during the French Revolution and his grave desecrated; the whereabouts of his remains is unknown.)
5. William III (of Orange) (1689 - 1702) and Mary (Stuart) II (1689 - 1694)
6. Anne (Stuart) I (1702 - 1714) (m. Prince George of Denmark D. 1708)
THE HOUSE OF HANOVER
1. George I (1714 - 1727)
2. George II (1727 - 1760) (Queen Caroline)
3. George III (1760 - 1820) (Queen Charlotte)
4. George IV (1820 - 1830)
5. William IV (1830 - 1837)
THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR
1. Victoria I (1837 - 1901) Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg (1819 - 1861)
2. Edward VII (1901 - 1910)
3. George V (name changed from Albert) (1910 - 1936) Queen Mary
4. Edward VIII (1936 - abdicated)
5. George VI (name changed from Albert) VI (1936 - 1952)
6. Elizabeth II (1952 -)

AMAZING WOMEN IN ENGLISH CROWN HISTORY
Boadicea (Boadicca)
Matilda (Daughter of Henry I, Wife of German Emperor and Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, and Mother of Henry II)
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Wife of Henry II and Louis of France)
Queen Isabella (Daughter of the King of France, wife of Edward II, lover of Mortimer and mother of Edward III)
Princess Katherine of France, wife of Henry V, Mother of Henry VI and wife of Owen Tudor, Grandmother of Henry VIII (Richmond) and Great, Great Grandmother of Elizabeth I
Queen Margaret (Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI) "A woman's heart wrapped in a tiger's heart'
Lady Jane Grey ("Queen of a Day") She was temporarily anointed Queen of England by her father in law to prevent the accession of Mary I, a Roman Catholic. She, her husband and her father in law were beheaded.
Queen Mary I (Daughter of Henry VIII and Wife of Phillip of Spain)
Mary Queen of Scots (Wife of Mother of James I (James VI of Scotland)
Queen Elizabeth I

Shakespeare's Kings

THE KINGS OF THE SECOND TETRALOGY

THE HOUSE OF PLANTAGENANT
1. Richard II (1377-1399)
THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
2. Henry IV (1399-1413) (Parts 1 and 2)
3. Henry V (1413-1422)

THE KINGS OF THE FIRST TETRALOGY
THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
1. Henry VI (1422 -1461 and 1470 - 1471)
THE HOUSE OF YORK
2. Edward IV (1461 - 1470 and 1471 - 1483)
3. Edward V (1483)
4. Richard III (1483 - 1485) (Gloucester)
THE HOUSE OF TUDOR
5. Henry VII (1485 - 1509) (Richmond)

THE HISTORY PLAYS

THE PLAYS OF THE FIRST TETRALOGY
1. The First Part of King Henry VI
2. The Second Part of King Henry VI
3. The Third Part of King Henry VI
4. The Tragedy of King Richard III

THE SECOND TETRALOGY
1. The Tragedy of King Richard II
2. The First Part of King Henry IV
3. The Second Part of King Henry IV
4. The Life of King Henry V

The Remaining Two History Plays
1. King John
2. Henry VIII

Another possible History Play by William Shakespeare
Edward III (An extant play some scholars are attributing to William Shakespeare and one or more other unknown writers.)

Primary Sources of the History Plays

Polydore Vergil (1470-1555)
The work of this Italian born writer of English history was a major influence on the work of later historians. Vergil was born in Urbino in 1470 and migrated to England in 1501 as the Pope's representative. His Historia Anglica, written in Latin, was a commission in 1505 of the first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII, Henry, Earl of Richmond in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Richard the Third.
The central focus of Vergil's chronicle was the War of the Roses from the viewpoint of the Tudor regime. This work is the source of the religious premise that civil war was God's punishment for Henry Bolingbroke's usurpation of the English throne and the murder rightful monarch, King Richard II. It also posited that King Henry VII was sent by God to ascend the throne and set England back on a godly course.
As a reward for writing historical propaganda Polydore Vergil was made an English citizen and did not return to Italy until 1551. Vergil died in Urbino in 1555. He was a close friend of Thomas More and his work was influential in More's history of King Richard III.

Sir (Saint) Thomas More (1478 - 1535)
Thomas More was a gifted politician, propagandist and humanist in the Tudor court. He was the son of a Tudor judge and studied law before he began his political career in the service of Cardinal John Morton, who had known Richard, Duke of Gloucester and appears as the Bishop of Ely in William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Richard the Third.
In 1513, More wrote an inaccurate and propagandistic account of the last of the kings of the House of York, The History of King Richard the Thirde. More's primary source was the work of a close friend, Polydore Vergil, who's Historia Anglia (c. 1505-1535), was published in 1534 and then embellished by More. More's jingoistic account of Richard III was published in part in 1543 in a chronicle of Richard Grafton. Then in 1557, it was published in its entirety.
It is believed that Shakespeare used More's work via Edward Hall's and Raphael Holinshed's variations of it in the creation of The Tragedy of Richard the Third. Hall and Holinshed had both used Sir Thomas More's cynical fiction of King Richard III as fact. Thus More's fabrication contributed to Shakespeare's creation of the greatest villain in dramatic literature. More's Utopia (1516) describes More's ideal of what a country and its government should be. It is the source of use of the words utopia and utopian ideals.
Thomas More's meteoric rise in the court of King Henry VIII led to his appointment as Lord Chancellor after the fall of Cardinal Wolsey in 1529, a post More held until 1532 when he resigned. In retirement he devoted himself to his literary pursuits, but More failed to support either King Henry's appeal for a divorce from Queen Katherine (of Aragon) or the king's self-appointment as the head of the Church of England after the split with Rome. More was convicted of treason and beheaded. Belatedly in 1935, More was canonized by the Church of Rome and became Saint Thomas More.
Thomas More is best remembered by the general public by his depiction in the drama A Man for All Seasons (1966) by Robert Bolt and filmed in 1966 by Fred Zinnemann starring Paul Scofield as Thomas More and as Robert Shaw as King Henry VIII. There was also a 1988 Turner Television movie version directed by and starring Charlton Heston.

Edward Hall ( c. 1498 to April 1547, London)
Edward Halle (Hall) was an ardent supporter of King Henry VIII and a historian whose work served as a major source for the history plays of William Shakespeare. Hall was educated at Eton and Cambridge. Hall had been elected to Parliament for Wenlock in 1529 and was appointed common sergeant of London in 1533 and then Undersheriff in 1535. Later he represented Bridgnorth, Shropshire in Parliament in1542.
Shakespeare used Hall's The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrate Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke (1548); in great measure in the creation of the history plays covering the War of the Roses. Although it contains historical inaccuracies Hall's chronicle was a significant literary achievement and the best chronicle of the times available to Shakespeare. Hall was dependent on the Polydore Vergil, whose Historia Anglia (or Anglicae Historiae Libri XXVI) traces the reigns prior to Henry VIII. Hall is didactic and his work serves as a warning to princes to do God's work as His appointed ruler on earth, but Hall is considered an astute chronicler of the reign of King Henry VIII. Hall implied that God had punished England with the War of the Roses because of Henry IV's murder of King Richard II. Eventually God sent Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, to defeat the evil Richard III and join the Houses of York and Lancaster in holy matrimony with Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville.
Many scholars regard Edward Hall as the primary source of Shakespeare's plays rather than Raphael Holinshed.

Raphael Holinshed (Died c. 1580),
Raphael Holinshed was the most popular English historian during the Elizabethan Age and his chronicles were used as a primary source by numerous Elizabethan playwrights including William Shakespeare. The Bard used material from Holinshed for Macbeth, King Lear, Cymbeline, and portions of his chronicle plays.
It is believed that Holinshed came to London from Cheshire in the 1560's to serve as a translator in the history of the world being compiled by Reginald Wolfe. That overly ambitious work was planned to cover mankind's history from the flood of Noah to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
When Wolfe died in 1573, the project was abridged as the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande (1577). Although we refer to the work as Holinshed's Chronicles, it was the work of multiple authors. Scholars feel that Raphael Holinshed served the function of Editor in Chief on the project after the death of Wolfe. It is thought that Holinshed worked on the history of England; that the history of Scotland was a translation of Hector Boece's Latin work by William Harrison; and Edward Campion apparently wrote the history of Ireland. The original work was developed using a wide variety of sources and compounded the inaccuracies of the earlier works, but it was the most authoritative history of the time.
On the order of the Privy Council the text of both the first and second (1587) editions were cut. The second edition would have been the one used by the Elizabethan playwrights as source material. The portions removed from the second edition were published separately in 1723. In 1807 the complete, unexpurgated text Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, was finally published.
Holinshed wrote nothing else that has survived and lived out the remainder of his life as a steward on a country estate.

Historical Notes on the Kings of the War of the Roses
The House of York

Edward IV
b. 1442 - d. 1483
(Two Reigns 1461 - 1470 and 1471 - 1483)

Edward IV was the surviving eldest son of Richard (Plantagenet), Duke of York (1411 - 1460) and Cecily Neville.

A. Richard, duke of York had four sons

1. Edward, earl of March (1442 - 1483)
2. Edmund, earl of Rutland (1443 - 1460)
3. George, duke of Clarence (1449 - 1478)
4. Richard, duke of Gloucester (1452 - 1485)

B. Henry VI had recognized Richard, Duke of York, as the Heir Apparent, after the Lancastrian forces were defeated at the Battle of St. Alban's, which disinherited his (and Queen Margaret of Anjou 1430 - 1482) son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

1. York and Henry VI were cousins, but Richard's Father (Richard earl of Cambridge) had been executed for treason by Henry V prior to his invasion of France, which is depicted in Shakespeare's The Life of Henry V.
2. Cambridge's son, Richard, had been restored and was eventually titled Duke if York, and he married Cecily Neville, sister of Richard Neville the Duke of Warwick (1428 - 1471).
3. York had served as Regent during Henry VI's bouts with mental illness and was opposed by the Queen's party led by Margaret and the Duke of Somerset.

C. Richard Duke of York was murdered in December 1460, after the Battle of Wakefield by Queen Margaret and the Duke of Clifford.

1. Rutland (Edmund York earl of Rutland) was murdered at the same time fleeing from the field. He was 16 at the time.
3. The death of his Father made Edward earl of March, the head of the York faction.

D. Edward assumed leadership of the Yorkist forces and defeated the House of Lancaster's army two month's later at Mortimer's Cross in February 1461 and, in effect, "seized the crown" in March 1461 supported by "Warwick the king maker".
C. The "first reign" of King Edward IV was turbulent.

1. The rightful king, Henry VI, was "intermittently mad.
2. The house of Lancaster was still led by the "strong willed Queen Margaret and her son, Edward (1453 - 1471) is killed later at the Battle of Tewkesbury.
3. In 1465, Henry VI was captured and for reasons still unclear Queen Margaret failed or was unable to retaliate.

D. Edward IV was an interesting man able, charming, intelligent, accessible, self confident and wildly promiscuous.

1. He secretly married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464, and her family was rewarded with sinecures and promotions.
2. Differences in "French Policy" strained the relationship with the Earl of Warwick who had arranged a marriage for Edward IV with a French princess.
3. George, Duke of Clarence, Edward's brother deserted to Warwick, when that duke rebelled against Edward IV.
4. There are two Earls of Warwick that are historically important and Shakespeare has them confused.

a. Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, (1382 - 1439) was a stalwart supporter of Henry IV, Henry V and the guardian of Henry VI.

i. As a young man, Beauchamp fought bravely in the Welsh campaigns of Henry IV in the Glendower rebellion and at again at Shrewsbury.
ii. He campaigned with Henry V in France and governed both Calais and Rouen for the King.
iii. The infant Henry VI was placed in his care in 1422, and it was Richard Beauchamp that raised, trained and knighted the boy King.
d. But Shakespeare's interest for drama's sake is focused on Richard Duke of York
e. It is this Warwick that was a if not the leading noble of his age.
f. He died as Henry VI was reaching his majority.

b. Richard Neville (1428 - 1471) Duke of Warwick was the primary backer in the York faction in their attempt to unseat Henry VI. This is the Earl of Warwick known as "the Kingmaker", which indeed he was.

a. When Henry VI's, Queen Margaret murders Edward IV's father (Richard, Duke of York) Richard Neville becomes Edward IV's closest and most powerful advisor.
b. It was Warwick that saved the day at the Battle of Towton.
c. After Edward IV's coronation Warwick went to France to arrange the marriage of his King to the daughter of the King of France to secure support for the York claim on the throne of England.
d. But Edward IV secretly married a widow, who was a commoner. She had refused his advances to become his mistress.
e. Elizabeth Woodville held out for marriage until Edward IV out of lust and perhaps love agreed to marry her.

3. Elizabeth Woodville was the first commoner to become Queen of England.

a. Elizabeth becomes Lady Grey and her brother Anthony Woodville becomes Earl Rivers.
b. All promotions of the Woodvilles are done despite the objections of Richard, Clarence and Warwick.
c. Later Elizabeth was to lead a failed coup to prevent Richard from becoming Lord Protector.
d. Interestingly, Richard III treated her well after securing the crown and she had a high place at court.
e. The story that Richard III wanted to marry Elizabeth's daughter belied the fact that he had claimed all of Edward's children were illegitimate and the marriage would have done his case great harm.
f. However, Elizabeth secretly allied herself with Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond on the condition that he marry her surviving daughter, Princess Elizabeth, which Richmond agreed to do.
g. That alliance secured the continued survival of the commoner become Queen.
h. Elizabeth died at the Tudor court in 1492 at the ripe old age of 55.

4. The marriage of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV did not rupture the relationship between the King and Warwick the Kingmaker, but it was one of a number of issues that destroyed the relationship that Warwick had with his protégé, King Edward IV.

a. They quarreled over foreign policy.
b. Edward IV drew close to the Woodvilles and ignored the good counsel of Warwick.
c. Edward rejected in anger the idea of the marriage of Warwick's daughter with the King's brother, George, Duke of Clarence, but the marriage took place despite the king's refusal to give his consent.
d. Warwick and Clarence in alliance planned to depose Edward and they staged a coup in 1469 and Warwick ruled for nine months in Edward's name. But Edward and loyal forces including Richard drove them out of England.
e. Confronted by Royalist supporters of Edward IV, Warwick chose to join forces with Queen Margaret at the suggestion of King Louis XI of France.
f. In concert the Lancastrian forces defeated the forces of Edward IV, who escaped to the Low Countries with Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
g. Henry VI is restored, but it is Warwick and Queen Margaret jointly rule England.
h. Warwick was rewarded with the betrothal his daughter Anne Neville to the restored Edward Prince of Wales, but they never actually married.

i. She later married Richard, Duke of Gloucester in 1474 after pursuing the match vigorously.
ii. Anne died of natural causes in 1485 after 13 years of marriage and having been crowned as a York Queen of England.
iii. The marriage to Richard III was apparently a happy and loving one.
iv. They had one son, who died shortly before his mother.

i. Richard Neville died fighting against Edward IV's forces at the Battle of Barnet, where Queen Margaret was clearly in charge.
j. However, she was a foreigner and a woman and without Warwick could not have held the nobility in support of an incompetent King.

D. The final blow to the reign of Henry VI is the battle of Tewkesbury where his son, Edward Prince of Wales was killed.

1. Queen Margaret did not actually see her son killed, nor was she captured at Tewkesbury.
2. Shakespeare fabricated her affair with the Duke of Suffolk.
3. She did instigate the replacement of Richard, Duke of York with Somerset as Protector during Henry's mental breakdown, which led to the start of the War of the Roses at the Battle of St. Alban's.
4. Queen Margaret was captured a week after the Battle of Tewkesbury and imprisoned for several years until ransomed by King Louis XI.
5. She spent the last six years of her life in the French court in 1482.

E. George, Duke of Clarence betrayed his brother Edward IV's trust more than once.

1. It was Edward IV, who ordered the execution of George, over Richard's objections both to the imprisonment and the execution.
2. Clarence had married the other Neville daughter against the direct orders of the king to the contrary.
3. George, Duke of Clarence was tried for treason at which Edward served as the prosecutor.
4. The execution was private rather than public.

F. By 1469, because of miscalculations, the House of York had desperately needed Warwick's support, but Edward IV refused to submit to the Earl's demands to be the "power behind the throne".

1. Warwick took refuge in France and joined forces with Queen Margaret.
2. The wife of the King Henry VI and Edward IV's former ally joined forces and invaded England to restore Henry VI to the kingship of England.

H. In 1470 Edward IV, in turn, fled to the Low Countries and pursued newfound interests.

a. Printing, to be used later in propaganda campaigns
b. Literature
c. Art
d. And, of course, women

I. In 1471, Edward IV made a daring return to England.

1. He rallied his forces, took London and captured Henry VI, whose "redeption" had had only limited support of the people.
2. Edward IV then turned on Warwick who was killed in battle at Barnet in April 1471.
3. Then at Tewkesbury in May of the same year, the forces of the House of York were decisively defeated troops. Henry VI's son Edward Prince of Wales was killed in battle (or executed after the battle).
4. The King of France ransomed Queen Margaret, and she lived in France in bitterness the rest of her life.
5. Edward IV then had Henry VI murdered while imprisoned in the Tower.
6. Edward was an able and ruthless warrior, who had the capacity to react swiftly to changing conditions on the battlefield and in politics as well.

J. Edward IV's "second reign" showed that he had come to distrust traditional support of the York Party, and he came to rely on "personalities" or individuals rather than policy and factions. He demanded and got personal control of the government.

1. It is true that Edward indulged the Woodvilles and alienated traditional supporters of the monarchy, who saw the Queen's family rise above them.
2. Clarence was reunited with his brother, the King, but remained inconsistently loyal, until Edward IV executed him in 1478 using dubious legal grounds. Clarence was never trustworthy.
3. Edward IV attempted to curb other noble's lawlessness, which remained at variance with his own lawless behavior, exploitation and debauchery.
4. The king supported efforts to increase trade via commercial treaties, but circumvented the law to increase revenue for himself and certain loyal friends.
5. Edward IV's invasion of France was both profitable and vainglorious.
6. King Edward's search for personal security led him to depend on his younger, warrior bother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who was named Lord Protector, should his sons gain the Crown before they reached majority.
7. There is no historical record that Richard was physically deformed in anyway and that description may well have been created by Tudor propaganda.
8. By 1483, Richard was Edward's power in the North, or so the King thought.
9. The young Prince of Wales lived with and was ruled by his Mother's family in the West.
10. Lord Hastings controlled the Midlands in the King's name.
11. Edward IV's lifestyle finally caught up with the tall dominating King and he died in 1483.

a. Edward, The Prince of Wales was 12.
b. Richard was Lord Protector
c. The art and culture, supported by the Crown, was blatantly being used for propaganda purposes to establish the legitimacy of the House of York.
d. And it would become the most important tool in the Tudor arsenal, when the Yorkist reign was brought low.

Edward V (C. 1483) [b. 1470 - c. 1483]

Edward V (1483) was presumed murdered when his was 12 years old while kept in the Tower, which he entered in June 1483.

A. Although it remains a mystery, he was murdered presumably under orders of his uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester, who was the Lord Protector after the Edward was declared a bastard by order of Parliament.
B. Edward's younger brother, Richard Duke of York (1473 - c. 1483), who was next in line to the Crown of England, was murdered with the boy King in Tower.
C. Richard Duke of York had taken refuge (sanctuary) in Westminster, but was given into the keeping of the Lord Protector by his Mother Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) and imprisoned with his brother the King.
D. Legend has it and Shakespeare reports it that Sir James Tyrell (Tirrel) (C. 1450 - 1502) killed the Princes of the Tower.
C. Two boys' skeletons were found in the remodeling of the Tower in 1674. It is presumed that they are the remains of "the Princes of the Tower," murdered on direct order of Richard III

Richard III
[b. 1452 - d. 1485]
(Reign 1483 - 1485)

Richard III as we presented in Shakespeare's play is a propaganda myth created by the Tudor dynasty. He was not evil incarnate and was not a cripple, which was considered a sign of his evil. The Tragedy of Richard II, is certainly not an accurate history of the life and times of the last Yorkist King.

A. Richard, Duke of Gloucester was no better or worse than many of his contemporaries.
B. He was a warrior conspirator of the late Middle Ages, who saw power shifting to the Woodvilles and he acted on the urges of his times.
B. Gloucester had remained loyal to Edward IV in the worst of times, unlike Clarence the betrayer.
C. He had fought "gloriously" in both the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.
D. And there is no historical evidence that he personally slew:

a. Henry VI, although he was present at the Tower when the regicide occurred.
b. Or Edward, Prince of Wales during or after the battle at Tewkesbury, although Richard was a valiant and vigorous fighter in that campaign
c. Nor was Richard responsible for the downfall of his brother George, Duke of Clarence, who was perfectly capable of doing that for himself.
d. And he apparently regretted the execution of Clarence ordered by his bother the King.

D. The rift within the York family seems to have involved the wives. Both Clarence and Richard married daughters of Warwick, the Kingmaker and when Clarence defected to Warwick (1469 - 1471) the women as well as the men became involved.
E. Richard married Anne Neville, who had been betrothed to the former Lancastrian Prince of Wales.
F. Unfortunately, it was rumored widely that Richard murdered Anne, so much so that he had to publicly deny the heinous crime in 1485.
E. Queen Elizabeth Woodville's family rose at the expense of northern nobles who supported Richard in his defense of the Scottish border and that must have rankled both Gloucester and his supporters.
F. When Edward IV died, Richard the Lord Protector was threatened by the Woodville faction. The Northern nobles, who were committed to guarding the Northern frontier, wanted a strong king, supported the Duke of Gloucester in the power struggle with the Woodville faction.
G. The Woodville family had both Edward IV's sons (the 12-year-old Edward V (then the Prince of Wales) and the 10-year-old Richard, Duke of York, under their care despite the fact that Richard was Lord Protector.
H. Gloucester, his position threatened, determined to seize the Crown.
I. He immediately executed Edward IV's Lord Chamberlain, Lord Hastings and Earl Rivers, the Queen's brother.
I. Edward's Queen, Elizabeth took sanctuary in Westminster Abbey with her son Richard, her daughter Elizabeth. She later released Richard who went to the Tower and, presumably on the direct order of the Lord Protector, the boys disappeared.
J. Edward IV's sons were named bastards and even Edward IV was declared illegitimate by the Parliament.
K. Marred by these misjudgments King Richard III was still crowned on
June 26, 1483. His accession was tragically flawed by the murders of his enemies and all four of Elizabeth Woodville's sons.
L. Richard's plan unraveled because of his over dependence on the northern nobility to the dismay of the southern faction, who considered the northerners something just short of barbarians.
M. Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, Richard's closest advisor proved unreliable, perhaps being a Kingmaker he became enchanted with being king, himself.

1. He revolted in October 1483, and was executed.
2. Buckingham was the descendant of Edward III's fifth son, Thomas.

N. Thereafter, Richard III tried bribery and diplomacy to stabilize the crown upon his head.

1. He managed to promise enough to the King of Brittany that Henry Richmond, his archival, was to be delivered into Richard's hands, but that attempt to kidnap him failed.
2. Despite the reluctance of some nobles to support King Richard III completely, the Battle at Bosworth (or Bosworth Field) was touch and go most of the day until Gloucester was reportedly unhorsed
3. Richard fought bravely on foot until eventually overwhelmed by common soldiers "most honorably defending himself to the last breath."
4. Richard III was a ferocious and cunning warrior for so slight a man, and, if as in the play crippled, it would have been truly amazing if not impossible.
5. After the battle, like all the dead, Richard was striped naked, trussed up like a sheep and slung upon the saddle of a horse.
6. The body of the deposed King was then taken for ignominious burial at Grey Friars Church at Leicester.
7. Henry VII donated limited funds for a plain tomb, which was vandalized, and the remaining parts of the King Richard III's body were thrown away and never recovered.
8. Bloody Richard was a talented, experienced, ambitious and totally ruthless monarch, like many revered English Kings.
9. Richard III reputation and legacy was totally destroyed by the machinery of the Tudor propaganda effort.
10. In fact a number of the bloody deeds attributed to Richard were actually committed by the Tudors.

a. Clarence's son, Edward of Warwick, was imprisoned and murdered by Henry VII after a pretender to the throne claimed to be that person.
b. Clarence's daughter, Margaret, was married off to a man of low stature, whose offspring could not claim the crown. And it was Henry VIII who did had Margaret not Richard III who had her killed when she was very old.
. c. Henry Tudor was ruthless in his pursuit of "fearful adversaries" as any King of the late Middle Ages including Richard III.

O. Shakespeare's Richard III, actually, The Tragedy of Richard III, is a great play but ultimately a work of fiction with a truly Machiavellian villain that is evil incarnate.

1. The playwright's sources were flawed.
2. These sources had been written as propaganda generated during the reigns of Tudor Monarchs.

King Henry VII
(b. 1457 - d. 1509)
(Reign 1485 - 1509)
King Henry VII (Henry Tudor earl of Richmond) was the first king of the Tudor dynasty that culminated the reign of Queen Elizabeth I during whose reign William Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Richard III.

A. Henry (Tudor) Duke of Richmond was the only son born to Margaret Beaufort (Great - granddaughter of Edward III) and Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond.
B. Henry was a descendant of Edward III's eldest son, John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster.

1. However, Henry Tudor's maternal great grandfather, John Beaufort, was a bastard from the union of John of Gaunt and his mistress, Katherine Swynford.
2. John Beaufort and the other children of that union were legitimized by Parliament in 1397, when John of Gaunt (grown senile) married his mistress, Katherine Swynford.
3. King Henry IV was a legitimate son of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster making Bolingbroke (Henry IV) John Beaufort's half-brother.
4. King Henry IV added the caveat that Beaufort descendants could never inherit the throne.
5. John Beaufort married Margaret of Holland
6. And their son, John Duke of Somerset married Margaret Beauchamp and that union produced Henry Tudor's mother, Margaret Beaufort.

C. That child Margaret Beaufort was thrice married in order to

1. John de la Pole the Marquess of Suffolk, but that union was annulled, when he was murdered in 1450, when Marharet was only 7-years-old.

a. In 1453 when Margaret was ten, the marriage was annulled on the request of King Henry VI, because it had not been consummated and the King may have planned to match her with one of his half-brothers.
b. Edmund and Jasper Tudor were given joint custody of Margaret.

2. She married her guardian, Edmund Tudor earl of Richmond, the half-brother of King Henry VI in 1455.

a. Edmund, like Henry VI, was the son of Katherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V, who was married off to a welsh nobleman to be rid of her.
b. Edmund died in 1456 and Katherine gave birth to a boy born in January 28, 1457 which was after the death of his Father.
c. At this time Margaret was under the protection of his uncle, Jasper Tudor the earl of Pembroke.
d. That son, Henry Tudor, (the grandson of Katherine of Valois) is Richmond in The Tragedy of Richard III), and became King Henry VII.
e. Jasper was one of the barons who tried to make piece between Queen Margaret's faction and Richard Duke of York's faction.
f. In the end however he supported the Queen's faction.

3. And Margaret's third husband was Sir Thomas Stanley later named earl of Derby, who is the Stanley in The Tragedy of Richard III. And that makes the young George Stanley held prisoner by Gloucester in the play Henry VII's half brother.

D. In effect, Henry Tudor's claim on the throne was suspect.

1. Although he was the great -great-great grandson of King Edward III, his claim came through the illegitimate Beaufort line of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, which Henry IV had barred from succession.
2. The fact that he was the grandson of Katherine of Valois, the widow of King Henry V, who had married Owen Tudor, was not a factor in his claim on the Throne of England.
3. And, it was by the thinnest of margins that the plot to kill or capture Henry Duke of Richmond, while he was exiled in France, failed in 1484.
4. In 1485, Henry Tudor, like Bolingbroke (Henry IV) and Edward IV before him, urged on by Tudors, Lancastrians and disenfranchised Yorkists returned to England rallied his supporters and the enemies of Richard III.

E. During his youth (1461-1470) he was in the custody of the House of York.

1. There is an unfounded myth that Henry VI had prophesied that he would eventually become king, but that falsehood was most likely an invention of Tudor propaganda.
2. After the Battle of Tewkesbury, he managed to escape to France with his uncle, Jasper Tudor.
3. They lived off the , Duke of Brittany's charity from 1471 to 1484.

F. It was not until Richard III usurped the throne in 1483 that the prospect of his becoming King of England arose.
E. Henry happened to be the best alternative for the Lancastrians and disaffect Yorkists had available to them.

1. There is no doubt of Henry's courage, his imaginative leadership or his ability to persevere in the face of daunting odds.

a. He exuded good cheer and friendship.
b. Once he took up the quest, there was no putting it aside in compromise.

2. The greatest coup of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond was his engagement in 1483 to Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth, which he used as a political sign of the uniting of the Houses of York and Lancaster under the Tudor standard.
3. With substantial French assistance, he invaded England.
4. At Bosworth he did not hang back, Henry was in the thick of the struggle throughout the day, August 22, 1485.
4. Although he did not personally kill King Richard, but proved a brave and able warrior-commander.
5. Henry VII was crowned King of England two moths later, October 30, 1485 in Westminster Abbey.
5. Henry's position was solidified in 1486, when he married Elizabeth of York, who lived until 1503, and she bore him two sons Arthur Prince of Wales and Henry VIII.
6. Now with Yorkist, Lancastrian, Tudor and French support he went about subduing rebels and securing the Kingdom's borders.
6. Henry put down the rebellions of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Edward V, one of the two Princes killed in Tower whose bodies were not found until 1674.
7. He also had to deal with Lambert Simnel who was supported by the Irish and Scots as well as English rebels when he assumed the identity of Richard IV.

a. Both rebel leaders were forgiven.
b. Lambert Simnel, a commoner, became a servant in the King's household.
c. Perkin Warbeck rebelled a second time. When recaptured, he was executed.

Introduction to
The Tragedy of Richard III
by William Shakespeare

King Richard III dazzles! He is not just the bad guy, he is evil incarnate. He is one of the greatest characters ever created in the history of dramatic literature. He is vicious, but he has wit. He is wicked and savors his wickedness. Like Judas Iscariot, Richard Duke of Gloucester is a cocky 'arch-traitor.' In Shakespeare's plays he responsible for the deaths of King Henry VI, Henry's son Edward, the 'Princes of the Tower,' Rivers, Grey, Dorset, Vaughn, Clarence, Hastings, Buckingham, and his wife Anne. What a guy!
The were two previous Kings of England named Richard;

Richard I the Lion Hearted, son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who died without an heir and was succeeded by his brother King John .
Richard II, grandson of Edward III and son of the Black Prince, who was 'murdered' by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV), who became Henry IV.
There have been no further Richards, since Richard (York) III, who as the Duke of Gloucester is best known through the play by Shakespeare.

The Tragedy of Richard the Third is the fourth play in the first (earlier) tetralogy. Richard III was preceded by the three parts of Henry VI. Gloucester first appeared in both Henry VI, Part 2 and then again in Henry VI, Part 3, as the son of Richard, Duke of York and brother the first king of the York dynasty, Edward IV. Even in the earlier plays of the first tetralogy, the depth of his evil sparkled.
In dealing with any of the history plays of William Shakespeare, we must remember, it is the victors who write history books. And history written immediately after "the Wars of the Roses' was written to help shore up the reign of Henry Tudor duke of Richmond (King Henry VII), who had defeated King Richard III (Richard duke of Gloucester) of the House of York at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. The histories of this period available to a playwright of the Elizabethan Age were extremely pro-House of Tudor documents.

The sources William Shakespeare used are

1. Edward Hall's The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York (1548) is considered by most scholars to be the primary source.
2. The Hall work is based on Thomas More's History of King Richard the thirde (1543).
3. And More used the earlier work of Polydore Vergil Historia Anglia, written was a work in Latin sponsored by Henry VII.
4. In addition, Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1587) was used that is based on the three earlier works.

The work of Polydore Vergil, Edward Hall, Sir Thomas More (Saint Thomas More to Roman Catholics) and Raphael Holinshed are flawed at best and to some extent these historians blatantly misrepresented the facts regarding occurrences in the 15th century in the opinion of some scholars. The works of Hall and More are among the earliest uses of the printing press in England for propaganda purposes. And it is the works of Hall and More that are the major sources in the work of Holinshed.
In addition, Shakespeare made some mistakes and his Queen was the granddaughter of Henry VII, who had deposed Richard. The Elizabethans knew Richard and the Richard they remembered was a wicked man.
Shakespeare is also beholden to rhetorical style of Thomas Kyd (The Spanish Tragedy) and Christopher Marlowe (Edward II) for the creation of the demonic Richard. Although there was an earlier The True Tragedie of Richard the Third (Anonymous), Shakespeare owes little, if anything, to this source. Scholars also cite Ovid's Metamorphoses, the work of the Roman playwright Seneca, Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queen (1590) and a popular series of English verse anthologies of biographies called A Mirror for Magistrates (1559-1619).
And the playwright took dramatic license with some historical events. The Bard was writing great drama based on biased history, What Shakespeare neglects to tell us is just how ruthless Henry Tudor was. Henry VII, King of England, was a great administrator perhaps England's greatest. He left the Treasury with an enormous surplus. He pacified the country. But Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Richard III attributes many of the wrongs of Henry to Richard. However, Henry VII offered reconciliation to nearly all of the adherents to the House of York. And those that refused to reconcile on this King's terms were killed. It was Henry Tudor that helped blackened King Richard's reputation, but it is Shakespeare, who popularized the depiction of 'Richard the hunchback.'
The history plays of the world's greatest playwright must be read, heard and seen as drama not accurate history. King Richard III, as depicted, is not historically accurate. However, Shakespeare was certainly "politically correct" for an Elizabethan England ruled by a Tudor Queen. But The Tragedy of Richard III remains a great dramatic achievement. The play is chock full of omens, predictions, ghosts and bloodlettings. That was stuff Elizabethan audiences loved and actions that audiences remain fascinated by today. The play is a great, patriotic, histrionic work that has been reinvented for each succeeding generation of theatergoers.
Richard may well be the greatest monster in stage history. Gloucester is one those parts actors love to play. Richard has over 30% of the lines in the play. In Shakespeare's plays only the character of Hamlet has more lines to speak than this demonic aberration. Shakespeare collapses events for The Tragedy of King Richard the Third, which occurred years apart. In the play's "brief timespan" actions happen immediately one after the other. This enables Richard III "to fly through time." Shakespeare's audience knew the history or what passed for history in the play. And Shakespeare uses what the audience already knows to foreshadow events to come, when Richard III is speaking in the present tense, they audience saw the double meaning in the lines, because they knew what was to come.
For many, The Tragedy of King Richard the Third, is Shakespeare's best, early play. Richard III is classified as a history play, but the playwright titled it a tragedy. Regardless, it is a roaring good 'horror show' of a morality play. Richard is the fallen angel. He is the devil incarnate and Richmond is God's instrument. Today, audiences see him as possessed by the "dark side of the force." Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is 100% pure, unadulterated evil. For 500 years this great, evil character has mesmerized audiences.
The play was extremely popular and appeared in eight Quartos over 40 years, as well as the Folios. The first Quarto (Q1) that basis of the seven later Quartos differs markedly from the text in the First Folio of 1623. Scholars consider the Folio's text superior to that of the Quartos, however, Q1 contains better stage directions and is therefore thought to have been the collected memory of a number of actors that played roles in the play.
The part of Richard was written to be played by Richard Burbage and remained a favorite part of the repertoire of the King's Men until the closing of the theatres in 1641. It was revived immediately after the Restoration of the Monarchy. In 1700, Colley Cibber radically altered the play rewriting roughly half the lines and it is this version that remained popular through the tenure of David Garrick as the leading proponent of Shakespeare. It was this version of Richard III that was the first professionally staged play of William Shakespeare to be performed in the American colonies in the 1750's. It was not until the 1870's that the original text stated to gain popularity, but even then the play was marked abbreviated. The play has 'too many characters' for modern audiences, who are unfamiliar with the details of English history, so characters tend to be combined or eliminated all together. Queen Margaret's (the wife of Henry VI) mad scenes are usually cut.
The brilliance of the play is that Richard makes the audience his co-conspirators. Remember, evil is not ugly. Evil is attractive. We would sin, if it were not so pleasurable. 'The devil is a woman with a red dress on.' The more appealing and attractive an actor can make this character, the greater the audience's fascination becomes. Richard constantly confides in the audience. He "breaks the wall" in the very first speech of the play, when he tells in the audience his plans. Richard is clever. He is witty and charming. Richard is "street smart.' He has the patience to wait for the kill. But when, the time comes the last King of the House of York is remorseless.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a hypnotic character in performance. The bodies fall like leaves, but Richard never even says 'oops.' He is so terrible and commits such heinous crimes that we (the audience) feel we are angels by comparison. This character has the capacity for criminal atrocities that equal Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great (Timur the lame) on the Elizabethan stage. In recent film Amon Goeth in Schindler's List. Richard's capacity for doing evil knows no bounds.
As the antagonist (Richard) this character is morally corrupt. And Richmond, the protagonist (Richmond) is the archangel, who saves England from sin and corruption. God had intervened; God had created the House of Tudor; and God had blessed the English people. That Tudor blessing is seen as being in full bloom in the reign of the Virgin Queen.
In this play Richard is like a black hole created by a dead star. The other characters in the play are satellites in his solar system. His evil is the gravity that holds the audience (and other characters) in thrall. However, the more stature, audience recognition, and skill the other players have is what balances the piece. The other leads and supporting players in both Laurence Olivier's and Richard Loncraine's (starring Ian McKellen) Richard III are among the best available actors of their day. The play works best, when the "persona" of the other actors in total can match the power of this great evil of Gloucester.
It was written for as a 'star vehicle' for Richard Burbage of Shakespeare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. And remains a 'star vehicle' to this day.

The Dramatis Personae of
The Tragedy of Richard the Third
The House of Lancaster (The Red Rose in The War of the Roses)

Henry VI
1421 - 1471
Reign1421 -1461 and 1470 - 1471

King Henry VI was the son of Henry V and Katherine of Valois and a truly tragic figure in English history. His father died when he was but nine months old and his childhood was one of being put on public exhibition by his uncles.
After his mother, Katherine of Valois developed a liaison with Owen Tudor; or was married of to this minor Welsh noble. For all practical purposes Katherine lost contact with her son. She was busy rearing a second family. She is the nemesis in The Tragedy of Richard III.
Henry VI came under the tutelage of Richard Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick. Bad enough to be fatherless, but Henry faced two disastrous problems:

1. There was a constant power struggle between the various magnates to control the King, and
2. The war in France was going from bad to worse.

Things went very badly for the English in 1429, because of the resurgence of French fortunes under the banner of Joan La Pucelle (Joan d'Arc or Joan the maid, or Joan of Arc), who had crowned the Dauphin as King Charles VII. John (Plantagenet), Duke of Bedford, another of the king's uncles and Regent of France, brought the 9-year-old Henry VI to the Continent for a state visit and then had him crowned, Henri II, King of France in Paris at St. Denis. When Bedford died in 1435, English fortunes started to unravel.

1, The Duke of Burgundy made a separate peace with Charles VII, which meant the probability of success shifted permanently to the French.
2. In England, Henry VI's other uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Protector, was at odds with the Council that had been set up to keep the Duke in check.
3. Henry VI attempted to mediate a quarrel between Bedford and Gloucester in 1434, but the child bungled the job when he declared both uncles innocent, when Gloucester was clearly in the wrong.

Two years later Henry VI reached his majority and the next 13 years of rule were tragic. He would have been a wonderful "chaste, pious and generous" priest, but Henry did not have it in him to be a warrior king, as his father had been. Henry VI was a desperate failure as a monarch.
King Henry VI was without talent as an administrator and diplomat. He was a prude and a pedant and a fuddy-duddy.

1. He failed completely to inspire his people, to initiate change in a corrupt government apparatus and to unite the squabbling nobles.
2. One task the King assumed with relish was patronage.
3. However, the King gave rewards too freely to the wrong people.
4. He sought advice from a limited circle of three less than competent friends;

a. His steward, William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk,
b. His confessor, William Ayscrough, Bishop of Salisbury, and
c. His great uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester.

Suffolk arranged a marriage between Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, Charles VII's niece, who at 15 had been briefed to persuade her husband to be to return Maine to France. When news leaked that secretly Henry VI had agreed to the proposal to secure peace, the public became indignant and rioted.
Gloucester was arrested for fomenting rebellion and died in custody, and Suffolk was rumored to have ordered the murder of Henry's uncle. To restore his credibility Suffolk launched an attack against Brittany, which resulted not only in the complete loss of Normandy but also the duchy of Aquitaine, which had been in English hands, ever since Henry II had married Eleanor of Aquitaine.
The King tried to save Suffolk after he was impeached by Parliament for embezzlement. Henry VI banished his friend and advisor, but the ship carrying the Duke was boarded and he was executed on the ship's deck.
To replace Suffolk, the King chose Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was the individual most directly responsible for the military losses in France. No choice could have been more disastrous for the House of Lancaster. In addition, both Suffolk and Somerset were death enemies of the competent and honest Richard (Plantagenet), Duke of York. York was sent to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1449, which was a deliberate, move to eliminate his influence at court. In 1450, York returned without the King's permission to attack his foes, especially somerset and the Beaufort clan and so began the War of the Roses, which was a Civil War between cousins
Since Henry VI was childless at the time, the struggle between Yorks and Beauforts/Lancasters was over the right of succession.

1. Somerset was descended from John a Gaunt, but the Beauforts had been barred from inheriting the crown by Parliament at the insistence of Henry IV.
2. York was descended from both Lionel, the elder brother of John a Gaunt, on his mother's side and Edmund, the younger brother of John a Gaunt on his father's side. Yes, cousins married cousins.

For three years, the Yorks and the Beauforts stalemated each other, but at Dartford, York dismissed his troops, on the promise that Somerset would be arraigned and tried for his criminal loss of France. However, when York entered the King's tent, it was he that was arrested and imprisoned.
A public outcry saved York from a worse fate. In order to secure his freedom, York was forced to swear a public oath never again to take up arms against any of the King's subjects, meaning Somerset.
In 1453, the annihilation of Lord Talbot's army at Castillon in France, brought the Hundred Years War to a close.
Henry VI then lapsed into his first incapacitating bout with mental illness. And after eight years of marriage, the Queen announced she was pregnant and later gave birth to a son. When Prince Edward was presented to his father on January 1, 1454, the King was without the capacity to speak or move. The child was taken away without the blessing of his father. Upon recovery, in his bewilderment, Henry VI remarked that his wife must have had a visitation from the Holy Spirit. This led to rumors that Somerset was the Prince's father.
Queen Margaret was a force to be reckoned with in English politics. It was she who controlled the King and made policy in his name. Now that the Queen had a cub to protect, the tigress Margaret was a ferocious enemy of York, who she saw as an enemy of her son. It was her open hostility that turned York into the implacable foe she imagined him to be.
Three months after the Prince's birth, York was appointed Lord Protector and Somerset was arrested and taken from the Queen's apartments to the Tower of London. Less than a year later, the King was recovered sufficiently, that York could be dismissed. Somerset was immediately released from the Tower and restored to his position at court.
After, being denied access to the king, York confronted the force of the Queen and Somerset forces at St. Alban's in early May 1455. When the King refused to hand over Somerset, negotiations broke down and the battle was joined. Within an hour Somerset was dead and a wounded King had accepted York's renewed oath of allegiance. It was at St. Alban's that the open conflict of the War of the Roses began.
Because of Queen Margaret's intransigence, reconciliation was impossible, despite the King's desire to end what was to become a family blood feud. Despite ceremonies of rapprochement, 'Captain Margaret' had an army mobilized and in the field by the summer of 1459. She attacked the Yorkist force at Ludlow in Wales and routed them. Richard, Duke of York fled for his life to Ireland, and his major Lieutenants, Warwick and Warwick's father, Salisbury, and York's son, Edward, took ship for Calais.
Those members in York's party that had fled to Calais invaded England the next year and defeated the Queen's forces at Northampton. York determined no solution was possible as long as Henry VI was under the control of Margaret. So York petitioned Parliament to ascend the throne. The Nevilles brokered a settlement approved by Parliament that made Henry VI, king for life, but named York his successor, thus disenfranchising Queen Margaret's son, the Prince of Wales. Henry VI accepted the settlement, but Margaret took ship for Scotland, and assembled a Lancastrian force that York and Salisbury rushed north to confront at Wakefield on December 30th.
York's small force attacked before his reinforcements could come up and the Yorkist force was crushed. Richard, Duke of York was killed in the ensuing battle at Wakefield and his severed head wearing a paper crown was impaled on a pike above the gate of the City of York. Edmund, Earl of Rutland, York's second son was also killed in this confrontation.
A formidable Yorkist army now assembled and met the Queen once again at St. Alban's for a second battle. This time Warwick was defeated and the King and Queen were reunited. However, London closed it gates to the Lancastrian force. This gave the armies of Warwick and Edward, Duke of March time to merge into a single fighting force.
Margaret and Henry VI retreated to the City of York, while the Yorkists were welcomed into London. Edward IV was invested as King of England at Westminster on March 4, 1461. After the coronation, Edward IV's army moved north and fought the Queen's army in blizzard conditions at Towton. The Yorkists massacred the Lancastrian army and Henry VI and Queen Margaret fled to Scotland.
After three years of guerrilla raids, mounted under French leadership, Margaret took her son to France, leaving her befuddled husband, Henry VI, in Scotland. After wandering about the border marches for nearly a year, Henry was finally apprehended in July 1465 and brought to London, where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry VI patiently endured the abusive treatment, as would any Christian martyr.
After five years of imprisonment, Henry VI was removed from the Tower, made presentable and taken to Westminster, where Warwick, who had changed sides, suddenly begged forgiveness, which was readily given by Henry VI. The reinstated King Henry VI was then reunited yet again with the Queen, and once more Henry became the tool of the Queen and her new partner, "Warwick the King-maker." Henry's sole independent action as King of England was to send food and clothing to Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth, who was with child and had taken sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.
The redeption of Henry VI was short lived, however. Edward IV and Richard, Duke of Gloucester came ashore in Yorkshire on April 11, 1471 and slipped past Warwick and entered London making Henry their prisoner once again. King Henry VI was forced to accompany King Edward IV's army to Barnet where, Warwick's forces were scattered and Warwick was killed on Easter Sunday.
King Edward then marched to Tewkesbury and defeated the Queen's army and in the battle Edward, Prince of Wales, who had rejoined his Mother, was killed. Margaret was captured and confined for three years until ransomed by the King of France. She lived her last six years in court of Louis IX.
Henry VI was returned to the Tower, where his travail ended the very night Edward IV arrived in London from Tewkesbury. Henry VI was murdered, because he could be used by the ambitious. His body was shown in St. Paul's and he was interred at Chertsey Abbey. Henry VI was the third and the last Lancastrian King of England.
Henry VI, King of England was also Henri II, King of France. In fact, he was the only English king, who was 'legally' crowned in Paris as King of the French. Henry VI had been for all practical purposes mentally ill for significant portions of the last 20 years of his life. Because of this England was ruled in his name by powerful magnates; Richard, Duke of York, or Henry and Edmund Beaufort, Dukes of Somerset and Richard Neville, Duke of Warwick in consort with Queen Margaret of Anjou.
Henry VI casts a long shadow over The Tragedy of Richard the Third, despite the fact that he 'appears' only as the body in the casket escorted by Lady Anne Neville on its way to re-internment (in Westminster?).

Queen Margaret
1430 - 1482

Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI was the leader of the Queen's party at court. She was called "Captain Margaret" in times when she accompanied troops into battle during King Henry VI's bouts with madness (not unlike those of his maternal grandfather, King Charles VI, King of France). The Queen of England was also called Margaret (or Margery Jourdaine or Jordane or Jordan) in the Henry VI plays.
The Queen was captured a week after the Battle of Tewkesbury and imprisoned for several years until ransomed by King Louis XI of France. Margaret spent the last six years of her life in the French court and died at the age of 52.
Shakespeare's best description of this larger than life character is that she has 'a tiger's heart wrapped in a woman/s hide."
Queen Margaret serves as a nemesis to the title character in The Tragedy of Richard the Third.

Edward (Lancaster), Prince of Wales
1453 - 1471

Edward, Prince of Wales, the son of King Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou was 18 was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury. This Prince of Wales betrothed was Lady Anne Neville, who marries Richard, Duke of Gloucester in The Tragedy of Richard III. Richard is identified as the murderer of both Edward and his Father, King Henry VI, which is historically unsubstantiated. Edward only appearance in the play is as one of the ghosts that trouble Richard's sleep the night before the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The House of York (The White Rose in The War of the Roses)
Duchess of York
1415 - 1495

Cicely Neville, Duchess of York, was the widow of Richard, Duke of York and the Mother of Edward IV, Richard III, George, Duke of Clarence and another son, Edmund, Duke of Rutland, who died with his Father at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. In Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 3 Rutland is a captive of the Lancastrian army led by Queen Margaret and Young Clifford. In that play Clifford kills both York a child Rutland.
The Duchess of York was the daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland. Cicely Neville serves as moral counter balance to the evil of her son Richard. She laments his actions, as would a chorus in a classical tragedy.

Edward IV
1442 - 1483
Reign 1461 - 1470 and 1471 - 1483

Edward IV, King of England (Edward, Earl of March and then on his father's death, Edward, Duke of York) was the first king from the House of York. Edward is crowned King of England, when he is 19 and then with the help of Warwick the King-Maker defeats the Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Tewkesbury.
Against all advice and counsel, Edward married Lady Elizabeth Grey
(Elizabeth Woodville), the widow of Sir John Grey. The King then proceeded to promote his wife's family (the Woodvilles) and friends into positions of power so often that his supporters among the magnates felt their perquisites were being given away to 'commoners.'
Edward IV was a good king as well as a very sensual man. His enlightened policies helped England disengage from the Hundred Years War in France, which proved unpopular with members of the nobility who had lands on the Continent. Differences in 'French Policy' strained the relationship the King enjoyed with Richard Neville, Duke of Warwick and his brother George, Duke of Clarence. Warwick and Clarence in alliance with Queen Margaret, wife of Henry VI, deposed Edward IV and ruled in his name. Warwick had joined forces with Queen Margaret at the suggestion of King Louis XI of France.
When this alliance overthrew Edward, the King escaped to the Low Countries with his loyal brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. When Edward IV and Richard returned to England, Warwick was killed at the Battle of Barnet and the Lancastrian forces were defeated finally at the Battle of Shrewsbury, where Henry VI's son, Prince Edward, was killed.
Edward IV's treatment of the Lancastrian faction was judicious for its time. Clarence, who had sided with Warwick, was forgiven, but remained a continual problem for his family. King Edward IV was a competent, handsome and likable ruler during the 22 years of his rule. He died at the age of 42 of natural causes.

Queen Elizabeth
1437 - 1492

Queen Elizabeth, (Elizabeth Woodville, Lady Grey.) is the wife of King
Edward IV. Lady Elizabeth Grey was the widow of Sir Richard Grey. Elizabeth had repulsed the Kings' amorous advances, until she had secured the promise of marriage.
The Queen is an exemplary figure in the play. She is a comfort to her husband and her children. Historically, her marriage to Edward and the greediness of her relations is the major cause for the revolt of Warwick and Clarence.
Elizabeth Woodville was the first commoner to be crowned Queen of England. Her family and friends exploited that elevated position by marrying off the males in the Woodville family to the most eligible noble ladies in the kingdom. How could one reject a relative of the new Queen of England?
Upon the death of Edward IV, her supporters attempted a palace coup to unseat young King Edward V's uncle, the Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The coup failed and Richard's revenge was all encompassing. Richard is responsible for the death of all four of Elizabeth's sons; Sir Richard Grey, Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, as well as her brother Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers.
Unlike the treatment meted out to Queen Elizabeth in the play, she was given a respected position at court and was well treated after her sons and brother were murdered.
Since Richard had Edward's children declared illegitimate, it is dramatic nonsense, that the King would have courted her daughter, Elizabeth, upon the death of his wife Anne and their son.
It was the deposed Queen Elizabeth, who sought the alliance with Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. Upon his ascendance of King Henry VII, Elizabeth became the respected dowager Queen at court until her death at age 55.

The Princes of the Tower were the sons of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth
Edward V
1470 - 1483

Edward (York), Prince of Wales, is the older son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. This older prince of the Tower is counted as King Edward V in the history of the Kings of England, even though his coronation was never held. He was 12 years of age when he was imprisoned in the Tower in June, 1483 and then murdered on the order of his uncle and Lord Protector, Richard III.
The boy King, his brother, Richard, Duke of York, and his sister, Princess Elizabeth had all been declared illegitimate. The dramatic conventions of the play turn his uncle into the worst Judas in dramatic literature.

The Young Prince
1473 - 1483

Richard, Duke of York, is the younger son of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. Historically, it is unclear why his Mother allows him to leave sanctuary at Westminster Abbey to join his brother, King Edward V, in the Tower of London. Presumably assurances had been given to guarantee his safety.
Both boys disappear during their incarceration, undoubtedly, upon the order of their uncle, King Richard III. The murder of the boys was a politically motivated and heinous crime. The murders were committed to secure the throne for Richard and his son, another Prince Edward.
T he skeletons of two boys were found when the Tower of London was being remodeled in 1674. It is presumed that they are the remains of 'the Princes of the Tower,'

Princess Elizabeth

Princess Elizabeth is mentioned in the play in Richard's evil proposal to marry his niece, and Queen Elizabeth's negotiation to marry her to Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond. There are no specific stage directions for her to appear in the play.
She and Henry VII did marry and lived happily. Their son Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn were the parents, 'Glorianna' Queen Elizabeth I, who is named after the Princess Elizabeth in The Tragedy of Richard III.

Richard III
1452 - 1485
Reign 1483 - 1485

Richard (York/Plantagenet), Duke of Gloucester had himself crowned King Richard III, after the death of his brother, Edward IV. Soon after the coronation, he engineered the disappearance of the "Princes of the Tower", who, in all likelihood, were murdered on King Richard's direct orders.
Richard III was the fourth and youngest son of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville. Gloucester was but nine-years-old when his brother, Edward was crowned King of England, but he proved to be Edward IV's most trustworthy and reliable supporter from 1469 until the King died in 1483. It was Richard, who went into exile with Edward, when Henry VI was restored to the throne. Gloucester was named Constable of England and directed the suppression of the Welsh rebellion.
And he later held the North counties for the King against James III of Scotland, who was allied to the French. Richard captured Edinburgh and was made hereditary Warden of the West Marches by a grateful brother and Parliament.
The historical record seems clear that he was a loyal servant of the king, a conscientious administrator and a courageous and intelligent commander. His marriage to Anne Neville proved him to be a trusting husband and loving father to his son Edward, who died in 1484. After the fall of Warwick, Richard protected his wife's family, the Nevilles, from retribution.
At the end of his brother's reign, Richard was threatened by the Woodville faction, who on Edward IV's death, wanted Edward IV's sons under their care despite the fact that Richard had been named Lord Protector in King Edward IV' will. The Woodvilles had Richard's Protectorship rescinded, while Richard was still in the North. The Woodvilles, who were brining the boy King from Ludlow to London, were intercepted by Gloucester, who had been forewarned by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, Richard arrested the Queen's brother, Earl Rivers. Without Edward IV's protection the Woodvilles were out-maneuvered by the older aristocracy, who had sided with Gloucester. Richard knew that the 12-year-old Edward V would invariably side with his mother and her family. When the young King Edward V reached majority, Richard knew he would be vulnerable, and that there was a clear threat to his survival. He believed attacks instigated by the Woodville faction were bound to come Gloucester had not planned the usurpation, but he apparently acted impulsively and swiftly after what amounted to a several attempted palace coups against his Protectorship. The Richardians argue that Gloucester killed the relatives and supporters of Queen Elizabeth, in part, as an act of self-preservation.
Richard ordered his supporters in the North to descend on London. William Lord Hastings, unlike the headstrong Duke of Buckingham, refused to support the deposition of Edward V, so Hastings was summarily arrested and beheaded.
The Lord Protector then lured Prince Richard, Edward IV's younger son, from sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, where the boy had been with his mother and sister. The young Prince was taken to the Tower to join his brother, Edward V. The Princes in the Tower were declared bastard by an Act of Parliament and Richard was petitioned by Parliament to ascend the throne. The coup d'etat was complete. Richard III was crowned on July 14, 1483. Now, King Richard ordered the deaths of his brother Edward IV's two children.
The Duke of Buckingham, who had designs of his own to usurp the throne, rebelled in November 1483, but the revolt was a fiasco and he was taken without giving battle at Salisbury. Buckingham was immediately beheaded.
Queen Elizabeth from sanctuary in Westminster Abbey managed to arrange a marriage agreement between her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and Henry Tudor, who was in exile on the Continent.
In 1484, as Richard guarded against invasion, tragedy struck. Richard and Anne's only child, Prince Edward, died. And from all accounts both parents dissolved in grief. Then Queen Anne died in the spring of 1485 from natural cause and her grief over the loss of her only child. Richard III was now without an heir or prospect of producing an heir in the near future.
Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond, who was the remaining Lancastrian with a reasonable claim on the throne, with powerful support of the French invaded England via Wales. King Richard forces met the usurper at Market Bosworth. During the battle the Stanleys deserted their King and joined Henry whose mother, Margaret Beaufort was now married to Thomas Lord Stanley.
The rearguard refused to as Richard and his vanguard were slaughtered after they attacked Tudor's forces. Richard fought mightily, even after his mount, White Surrey, is killed beneath him. Fighting on foot the King is slaughtered by Richmond's foot soldiers. Richard's naked body was unceremoniously slung across a packhorse and buried at Grey Friar's chapel without fanfare.
The English magnates had preferred an unknown Welshman to the friendless and childless Richard, who was a child murderer, a truly heinous crime even in the Late Middle Ages. Shakespeare fabricates the proposal of marriage between Richard and his brother's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who marries Henry Tudor.
Richard III is Shakespeare's most dazzling villain, perhaps the most reprehensible villain in all of drama. The character in the play is the character created by Tudor propagandists. The play's Richard is written as a disingenuous, charming hunchback. This character is the most fully developed of any character in Shakespeare's early works. He is the personification of evil. Only Hamlet has more lines than this glittering prince of darkness does.
The Tragedy of Richard III is classified as a history play. It is titled as a tragedy. But the play is in reality a strongly plotted, sophisticated morality play. Gloucester is vice rampant. The Tragedy of Richard III is bad history and great drama. It was also very good Tudor propaganda. The Richardians make the case that Richard was no better or worse than many of his contemporaries. He was a warrior prince of the Late Middle Ages, who saw power shifting to the family of the Queen, and he acted conclusively to stop his own ruin. During his short reign, he proved to be an able administrator. Had the Tudor faction not overthrown him so quickly, King Richard III might well be remembered very differently. He was killed in battle at Market Bosworth (Bosworth Field) after only 26 months on the throne. Richard III was the last King of the House of York (1454 - 1485) king. And Richard III was the last English king to die on a battlefield.

Lady Anne Neville
1456 - 1485

Lady Anne had been betrothed to Edward (Lancaster), Prince of Wales, the son of King Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. Anne later married Richard, Duke of Gloucester, in 1474. She was the younger daughter of Richard Neville, Duke of Warwick, who was known as 'Warwick the kingmaker,' because he had helped Edward IV ascend the throne in 1461 and then, with Clarence had helped put Henry VI, back on the throne in 1471. Therefore, Lady Anne was both engaged to become Princess of Wales under the House of Lancaster and Queen of England under the House of York.
Queen Anne was not murdered by Richard III, but died of natural causes after 13-years of married life. She died shortly after they lost their only child, Prince Edward. Unlike the character in Shakespeare's play, she and Richard III seemed to have a happy marriage and both parents loved and "grieved mightily" at the loss of their son.

George (York), Duke of Clarence
1449 -1478

The George, Duke of Clarence, we meet in The Tragedy of Richard III is largely Shakespeare's creation and has little to do with the brother we find in historical fact. Clarence is used in the play to further intensify the audience's abhorrence of his brother, Gloucester.
Clarence is given a great death scene by the playwright. To many critics, George's murder is the emotional high point of the play. Once again a great character is based on very bad history. Clarence was indeed the 'bad boy' of the House of York. Clarence repeatedly and openly defied Edward IV. In the end Clarence betrayed him in his alliance with the Lancastrian Queen, the French and Warwick, whose elder daughter he married against the King's direct orders. After repeated betrayals by Clarence, Edward personally prosecuted his wayward brother in George's trial for his treasonous activity. The King allowed his brother a private beheading, rather than a public death by being "hanged, drawn and quartered."
Richard could not save his brother from himself. But the private nature of the execution and an announcement, days later, allowed for negative speculation and inaccurate historical propaganda of Edward Hall, that Shakespeare used as the basis for The Tragedy of Richard III.

The Boy
1475 - 1499

The Boy is Edward (Plantagenet), Duke of Warwick the historical son of Clarence. The implication is that the boy is retarded but still poses a threat.
In fact, it was King Henry VII, who imprisoned Edward, after King Richard III was killed at Bosworth Field. Richard had named Edward next in line after his own son's death in 1484.
After a number of impersonations of the imprisoned nephew of Richard, Henry VII executed the 24-year-old Duke of Warwick in 1499.

The Girl
1473 - 1541

The Girl is Lady Margaret (Plantagenet), Countess of Salisbury and she is the daughter of Clarence. In The Tragedy of Richard III, she is married off far below her station in life, so as not to pose a threat to his rule.
Again history rears its ugly head; Margaret was married below her station, not by Richard III, but by King Henry VII. It was King Henry VIII, who ordered Margaret's senseless execution when she was 68-years-old for fear she might rally support against him.

Mistress Jane Shore

Jane Shore was the former mistress of Edward IV, who became the liaison of William Lord Hastings.

Supporters of Queen Elizabeth
The Woodvilles
Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers
c. 1442 - 1483

Earl Rivers (Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers), is the brother of Queen Elizabeth and son of Richard Woodville, a commoner.
In the play his execution is the result of his concern for his sister and the attempt to protect his nephew, Edward V. In fact, Rivers had been King Edward IV's representative in Wales and had been effective in keeping the peace in that rebellious area of the kingdom. Rivers was imprisoned after he led (participated in) the first coup against the Lord Protector. After the second coup attempt, he was executed, although he had not participated in this later attempt to unseat the Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Sir Richard Grey
d. 1483

Sir Richard Grey was the son of Queen Elizabeth by a previous marriage, but in the play the implication is that both Earl Rivers and Sir Richard are the Queen's brothers.
Both men were executed for their involvement in the coup to oust Richard as Lord Protector.

Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset
1451 - 1501

Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, is the older son of Queen Elizabeth by her previous.
The Queen sends her son abroad to join Richmond and the play presumes that he was present at the Battle of Bosworth Field among the forces of Richmond.
In fact, he had been left behind in France, as a hostage to insure the support of Queen Elizabeth's family and followers.

Sir Thomas Vaughn
d. 1483

Sir Thomas Vaughn, is a member of the Queen's party and he is executed along with Sir Richard Grey
In fact, he was a member of the Edward, Prince of Wales household and was a conspirator in the plot to unseat Richard as Lord Protector.

Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)

Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
1455 - 1483

Buckingham is Richard's strongest supporter and later, because of Richard III's ingratitude becomes the usurper's enemy in the play. In the play Buckingham is a devious, conspiratorial character, who obviously supports Richard, because he expects to benefit from that support. When he hesitates at Richard's suggestion concerning the assassination of the Princes in the Tower, the major part of Buckingham's reward is withheld by the King. Because of Buckingham failed attempt to join forces with Richmond, he is summarily executed on the orders of Richard. Regardless, Buckingham is a wonderfully perverse character that actors love to play.
Historically, Buckingham defected after he was rewarded with an earldom. Some historians argue that Buckingham had all along sought the crown for himself, since he was descended from Thomas, Duke of Gloucester. Others suggest that he defected because he knew that Richmond was going to win and he planned to be on the winning side.

William, Lord Hastings
1430 - 1483

William, Lord Hastings, was a longtime supporter of the Yorkist claim to the throne of England. He is a minor figure in the entourage of Edward IV but has risen rapidly for his support of Richard against the Woodvilles. When the Lord Protector proposes the murder of the Princes in the Tower, Hastings equivocates. Richard then immediately accuses Hastings of treason and sends him off to be executed, which cows the other supporters into doing his bidding.
Historically Hastings was a minor noble and participated in one of the attempts to unseat Richard and was executed without trial for his treasonous behavior.

Sir Thomas Lord Stanley
1435 - 1504

Stanley is a judicious, more or less honorable noble, whose young son is taken hostage so that his Father will not go over to Richmond in the ensuing battle of Bosworth Field. In the end he withholds his support of Richard, the order to kill his son is not executed and he crowns Richmond after Richard is killed. Stanley is an interesting character in the play, an honorable traitor to a demonic king.
Historically, Stanley had sided with both the Houses of Lancaster and York during the War of the Roses depending on which side seemed to be winning at the time. And Stanley held high appointments under both Edward IV and Richard III. Lord Stanley held the North for the King as Richard had held the border for his brother, Edward IV, but Stanley was always the opportunist impossible to completely trust. Stanley played both sides against the middle and was successful at it, as he tried to give the winning edge to the side most likely to come out on top.
Stanley's wife was Margaret Beaufort, Richmond's mother, who participated in the revolt of Buckingham. Stanley survived by betraying his wife to Richard, thus retaining her holdings or 'custody of her estates.'
He was aware of Richmond's invasion plans, but did not divulge them to Richard. Stanley's grown son Richard was held hostage, but he was not a child as the play suggests. In George's attempt to escape he was recaptured and saved his own life by implicating his uncle, William Stanley, in the botched escape. None of the Stanleys were killed and after the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Stanleys were richly rewarded for their duplicity by King Henry VII.
In some editions of the play Stanley is called Derby (the Earl of Derby), but that title was not bestowed on him until Henry Tudor was King of England.
William Stanley (436 - 1495), the younger brother of Thomas, who had tried to engineer the escape of his nephew, held back his troops until he saw the battle would go Richmond's way. He then brought his force of 3, 000 fighting men in against his King and that was the final blow that crushed Richard. Interestingly, a decade later, William Stanley was executed for his involvement in a coup attempt against King Henry VII. (William Stanley 1436 - 1495)

Sir James Tyrrel
1450 - 1502

Tyrrel (Tirell), is the darkest of the henchman of Richard. He is individual who agrees to do in Clarence and the Princes in the Tower. He secures the murderers and reports that the deeds are done.
The historical Sir James Tyrell had been knighted for services to King Edward IV after the Battle of Tewkesbury. He was a valiant soldier and he had been a longtime supporter of Yorkist ambitions. He held the position of Master of the Horse under King Richard III.
After the Battle of Bosworth, Tyrell continued in military service of King Henry VII, until he was executed in 1502 on unrelated charges. He is reported by Sir Thomas More to have planning the killings the Princes, but most scholars question the veracity of that source and the circumstances surrounding the alleged confession.
He served King Henry VIII for 17 years and More's allegations did not occur until the reign of Henry VIII.

Sir Richard Ratcliffe
d. 1485

Ratcliffe is another of the henchman of Richard III and carries out executions of Hastings, Rivers, Grey and Vaughn on his master's orders
. Historically, he was a loyal follower of the York cause and became an important confidant of Richard.
Ratcliffe had fought valiantly at the Battle of Tewkesbury and died fighting for his King at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Sir Francis Lovell, Lord Lovell
1454 - 1487

Lovell is another of the henchmen willing to do the dirty work Richard in the play. Lovell brings Hastings' head to Richard after the execution.
Lovell was, indeed, King Richard III's Lord Chamberlain. He escaped the slaughter at Bosworth Field, but was killed two years later in one of the frequent uprisings against Henry Tudor.

Sir William Catesby
d. 1485

Sir William Catesby serves as Richard's messenger boy in the play and, as written, allows for a wide range of interpretations on stage.
Historically, Catesby was a lawyer, who managed the estates of William, Lord Hastings. He was captured at Bosworth Field and executed on the orders of Henry Tudor.

Sir Robert Brakenbury
d. 1485

Brakenbury is the warden or chief gaoler or commander of the Tower of London. In some versions and/or productions of the play Sir Robert and the keeper's parts are combined.
The real Brackenbury was Constable of the Tower, but not at the time of Clarence's murder. He may have been in charge, when the Princes of the Tower disappeared. Brackenbury was killed at the battle of Bosworth Field.

The Lord Mayor of London

London is a weak political pawn of Richard in the play. He serves as a legal cover for Gloucester 's illegal actions and executions. It is this character that proclaims Richard as king, when Gloucester seizes the throne.

The First Murderer

The First Murderer is the assassin who kills Richard's brother, Clarence. It is this man who stabs Clarence and then drowns him in the wine barrel.
Historically, John Dighton, was the actual assassin hired by James Tyrell to kill the Princes in the Tower.

The Second Murderer

The Second Murderer is the conscience stricken assassin who fails to kill Richard's brother, Clarence.
Historically, Miles Forrest was an actual assassin hired by James Tyrell to kill the Princes in the Tower.

Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk
d. 1485

Norfolk, was one of Richard III's senior generals and died fighting for his King at Bosworth Field. Howard had been raised to Duke of Norfolk in 1483 for his support of Richard gaining the Protectorship and then the throne.
In the play it is Norfolk who brings in the note warning King Richard of treachery within the ranks of his troops at Bosworth Field.

Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey
1443 - 1524

Surrey was one of Richard III's generals and second in command of the forces led by the father, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Surrey is nervous before the battle, but reassures King Richard, he will not fail him in the battle in the morning.
Surrey was forgiven by King Henry VII and eventually restored all of the lands and titles held by his father to the younger Thomas Howard. This occurred after the Battle of Flodden Fields, when he was in his seventies. This character is called the Duke of Norfolk in Henry VIII by Shakespeare

The Prelates of the Church of Rome in England

Cardinal, Lord Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
1404 - 1486

The Cardinal is responsible for moving Prince Richard from the safety of sanctuary in Westminster Abbey to imprisonment in the Tower, because of Buckingham's 'persuasion.'
As reigning prelate of the Church of Rome in England, this Cardinal actually conducted the coronations for Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VIII. A change in the play gives the lines of the Archbishop of York to Canterbury thus cutting back the cast and the cost of production.

Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York
1423 - 1500

The Archbishop is a confidante of Queen Elizabeth in the play, who urgently implores her to take sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, when her family and supporters are taken prisoner. Rotherham also presses the Great Seal upon her, which she takes into sanctuary with her and her son Prince Richard.
As the real Chancellor of England, the Archbishop was the Keeper of the Great Seal. Because of his opposition to Richard III's accession, he was imprisoned and when released, withdrew from the political arena. Rotherham, however, remained a powerful figure in the Church.
This part is often folded back into the Canterbury role.

John Morton, Bishop of Ely
c. 1420 - 1500

The Bishop is present in the council, when Richard attacks Hastings for treason. Gloucester requests that Ely send for strawberries from his garden. Even though the John Morton fails to save Hastings, he joins the forces of Richmond late in the play.
In real life Morton was an ecclesiastical lawyer, who served both the Houses of York and Lancaster and was the executor of the will of King Edward IV. As a supporter of Edward V, he was imprisoned by Richard III and then recruited by Buckingham for his abortive rebellion. Ely fled abroad and joined Henry Tudor in Brittany.
For service Henry Morton became a prominent figure in King Henry VII's government and took as his protégé, Sir Thomas More. Shakespeare used More's history as a source for the play, which includes the strawberries incident.

The Tudor Forces
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (King Henry VII)
1457 - 1509

Richmond defeated the forces of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth
Field. It was the supreme test of kingship in the medieval period. It was trial by combat, and Henry Tudor bested Richard to become King of England on August 22, 1485. All future English monarchs came from the bloodline started by Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York, the daughter of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth (Woodville). This union of the Beaufort line and the York line produced three sons and four daughters. The second son became the most famous King in English History, King Henry VIII. And their granddaughter was Glorianna, the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I. Admittedly, King Arthur may have existed, and if he did, he was more than likely a Romanized Briton. But that great, legendary king was largely a creation of the Middle Ages.
Henry Tudor's grandfather, Owen Tudor, a minor Welsh noble, had quietly married the French widow of Henry V, Queen Katherine of Valois. She bore her new husband two sons, Edmund and Jasper, who found favor at the court of their half-brother King Henry VI, when he came of age.
Edmund married Katherine Beaufort, the great granddaughter of John a Gaunt and Gaunt's longtime mistress, Catherine Swynford. Before Gaunt's death, all of the children of that liaison, the Beaufort clan, were legitimized. They took the name Beaufort from the castle in France, where they were raised. Upon his ascension, King Henry IV had a law passed by Parliament that barred the Beaufort descendants from coming to the throne. Still the Beauforts prospered.
One son Henry rose in the Church to become Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and adviser to King Henry VI. During mental lapses of King Henry VI, the Cardinal ran the government. Later the Cardinal's brother, the Duke of Somerset, became the joint head with Queen Margaret of the Queen's party. That Duke's son, John Beaufort died when his daughter Margaret Beaufort was but three years old. Ten years later at thirteen, she gave birth to Henry Tudor, who became the leading Lancastrian claimant upon the deaths of King Henry VI and the Prince of Wales in 1471.
Henry Tudor was the only son of Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. His father had died a prisoner of the Yorkist faction in the War of the Roses, while his mother was pregnant. The 13- year-old Margaret came under the protection of her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor, at Pembroke Castle, when she gave birth to the future king on January 28, 1457.
When Henry was but 4 years old, Pembroke fell to the Yorkist King Edward IV. Both he and his mother were placed in the 'protective custody' of Walter Herbert, who had been granted Japer Tudor's earldom, when Henry's uncle was forced once again to flee abroad. Margaret Beaufort (Tudor) was married off to Henry Stafford, but the future king was kept at Pembroke as the intended of Herbert's daughter.
In 1470, Warwick the kingmaker executed William Herbert under charges of treason, upon the return of Henry VI to the throne. Jasper Tudor came back from exile and took his 13-year old nephew to court.
Then in the next year Henry VI was murdered; the Prince of Wales was killed in battle; and 'Captain Margaret' was taken prisoner. At this juncture, Henry Tudor became the House of Lancaster claimant to the Throne of England.
After the Battle of Barnet, won by Edward IV on Easter Sunday in 1471, Jasper and Henry Tudor (now 14) left for the relative safety of the duchy of Brittany, where they were in exile for 14 years. King Edward IV's agents were unsuccessful in their attempts at assassination or capture of Henry. Upon the death of Edward IV in 1483 and the usurpation of the throne by King Richard III, there appeared to be an opportunity for the House of Lancaster to regain the throne with Henry Tudor, half brother to Henry VI, as the claimant.
The Duke of Buckingham's abortive revolt coupled with a flood of exiles from England to Henry's rump court indicated that Richard III sat uneasily on the throne. In 1473, on Christmas Day, in an excellent political move, Henry Tudor swore an oath that should he ascend the throne of England, he would marry Elizabeth of York and thus joins the Houses of Lancaster and York.
His Welsh origin served him well, when he came ashore at Pembrokeshire in August 1485. His army swelled as he marched towards Market Bosworth to face the forces of King Richard III. With desertion in the York ranks, King Richard and his horse guards were quickly surrounded and slaughtered. The King was knocked from his horse and fought afoot until killed by Stanley's men. Henry Tudor had won the crown from the reigning king on the field of battle, as was the medieval custom. Custom has it that the dead King Richard III's crown was found in the shrubbery and Lord Stanley placed it upon the head of Henry Tudor after the battle.
On October 31, 1485, King Henry VII was crowned in Westminster Abbey and a week later Parliament legitimized the takeover. King Henry, true to his oath, married Elizabeth of York, in 1486, thus uniting the houses of Beaufort / Tudor / Lancaster and York. Elizabeth was a beautiful, stately, young woman, eight years younger than the new king was. The Pope in Rome Innocent VIII threatened all challengers with excommunication, if they made war on King Henry. Elizabeth Woodville was encouraged to enter Bermondsey Abbey and all her lands and titles were settled on her daughter and the king. When she passed away in 1492, she was interred next to her husband, King Edward IV, in Westminster Abbey.
King Henry VII is said to have changed upon assuming the mantle of government. He gave up his 'French ways' and settled down. Henry VII remained faithful to Elizabeth and she brought out the best in him. Although it was a political marriage, they became a loving royal couple. Arthur, their oldest son, had been born in 1486 in the ancient seat of Britain's kings, Winchester, and he was named after the great mythical Briton king rather than his father. Henry was saved for the second son, who came along in 1491.But no one expected Henry, Duke of York, to become king. Arthur, Prince of Wales, was groomed to be the next King of England.
When Prince Arthur was three, it was determined that he would be betrothed to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, which united three Catholic kingdoms; England, Aragon and Castille.
All was arranged and Catherine arrived in Plymouth in October 1501. Both the King and the Prince were delighted with the Princess. After a marriage in old St. Paul's and a month of court celebrations, the blessed couple set off for Ludlow, where Arthur, Prince of Wales, died of consumption in March 1502, but just 16 years old. The widow was less than a year older.
To maintain the Spanish alliance, Prince Henry a boy of 12 never destined to be a king, was betrothed to his older brother's widow.
Later when, in 1502, Henry VII and Elizabeth York lost their oldest child and they shared that inconsolable grief. The next year Queen Elizabeth of York died in childbirth, her eighth pregnancy, and the King closeted himself.
The Queen had made it possible for him to weather the outbreaks of internal dissention and fend off foreign plots. King Henry VII died six years later in 1509, at the age of 52, having reigned 24 turbulent years.
On his deathbed, Henry VII advised (begged, pleaded) his 17-year old second son to marry Arthur's widow, Princess Katherine of Aragon.

John de Vere, Earl of Oxford
1443 - 1513

Oxford, was a supporter of the House of Lancaster, Richmond in Richard III and Queen Margaret in Henry VI, Part 3.
Historically, John de Vere had led an abortive invasion against Edward IV and spent a decade in prison before he escaped to join Richmond in Brittany. He was a major lieutenant in Richmond's invasion force despite his two lines in the play.

Sir James Blount
d. 1493

Blount (or Blunt) was the Captain of Hammes Castle. At the Battle of Bosworth he is in the army of the Earl of Richmond and serves as a messenger before the battle. Interestingly, part of the Blount family were prominent landowners in and around Stratford upon Avon and were related to close friend of Shakespeare, the wealthy and charity-minded John Combe, who was a moneylender and land owner in the playwright's hometown. He is buried near Shakespeare in Holy Trinity Church.

Sir Walter Herbert
c. 1462 - c. 1485

Herbert's father, Sir Walter of Pembroke, had been given the estates of Jasper Tudor and cared for Henry Tudor in the hope that he would marry his daughter. When the Duke of Warwick changed sides and Henry VI regained the throne, Sir Walter was beheaded for treason Jasper Tudor regained his estates only to lose them once again when Edward IV regained the throne.
The Walter Herbert The Tragedy of Richard III is the son of the Walter Herbert described above. He is an officer in the army of the Earl of Richmond.

Sir William Brandon
d. 1485

Brandon is a minor character and serves as Henry Tudor's standard-bearer at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He is reported killed in combat.
Brandon is a historical figure, who supported Richmond and his son is featured in Shakespeare's history play, Henry VIII, as the Duke of Suffolk.

Christopher Urswick

Christopher Urswick is a very minor character, a priest. The part is often cut or not identified by name in many productions.

Minor Characters
Page to Richard III
Halberdier
First Citizen
Second Citizen
First Messenger
Second Messenger

The Ghosts of Richard III's Nightmare before
the Battle of Bosworth Field
Ghost of Henry VI
Ghost of Edward, Prince of Wales
Ghost of George, Duke of Clarence
Ghost of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers
Ghost of Sir Richard Grey
Ghost of Thomas Lord Grey, Marquess of Dorset
Ghost of Sir Thomas Vaughn
Ghosts of the Princes of the Tower, King Edward V
and Prince Richard, Duke of York (the Princes of the Tower)
Ghost of William Lord Hastings
Ghost of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
Ghost of Lady Anne

Richard III (1954)
London Films / Loppert
US Release Date: March 11, 1956
First film to be telecast (NBC) the same day it was shown in theaters.
It had been released in the UK on April 16, 1954.
UK, DRAMA/Shakespeare History, 155 Minutes, Color, Aspect Ratio 1.96:1

Credits:
Director Laurence Olivier and Anthony Bushell
Screenwriter Alan Dent, Laurence Olivier, Colley Cibber & David Garrick
based on the play by William Shakespeare
Producer Laurence Olivier
Cinematographer Otto Heller
Editor Helga Cranston
Composer William Walton
Music director Muir Mathieson
Production designer Roger K. Furse
Art director Carmen Dillon
Costumes H. Nathan & L. Nathan
Makeup Tony Sforzini
Special Effects Wally Veevers

Cast Credit Roll:
Laurence Olivier King Richard III
Ralph Richardson Buckingham
Claire Bloom Lady Anne
John Gielgud Clarence
Cedric Hardwicke King Edward IV
Mary Kerridge Queen Elizabeth
Pamela Brown Jane Shore
Alec Clunes Hastings
Stanley Baker Henry Tudor
Michael Gough Dighton
Laurence Naismith Stanley
Norman Wooland Catesby
Helen Haye Duchess of York
John Laurie Lovel
Esmond Knight Ratcliffe
Andrew Cruickshank Brakenbury
Clive Morton Rivers
Nicholas Hannen Archbishop of Canterbury
Russell Thorndike Priest
Paul Huson Prince of Wales
Douglas Wilmer Dorset
Dan Cunningham Grey
Michael Ripper 2nd Murderer
Stewart Allen Page
Wally Bascoe, Norman Fisher Monks
Terence Greenridge Scrivener
Andy Shine Young Duke of York
Roy Russell Abbot
George Woodbridge Lord Mayor of London
Willoughby Gray Priest
Peter Williams Messenger to Hastings
Timothy Bateson Ostler
Olivier Richard III Cast (Continued):
Ann Wilton Scrub woman
Bill Shine Beadle
Derek Prentice, Deering Wells Clergymen
Richard Rodney Bennett George Stanley
Patrick Troughton Tyrell
John Phillips Norfolk
Bernard Hepton & John Greenwood Knights
Brian Nissen, Alexander Davion,
Lane Meddick & Robert Bishop Messengers

Colley Cibber rewrote over half of The Tragedy of Richard III. That version was significantly more popular than the original for more than a century on the English srage. Cibber was the leading actor (comedian), playwright and theatrical manager of his time. He was named poet laureate of England. (1671 - 1757)
David Garrick dominated theatre more than any actor-manager in history did. His productions were the definitive works of their day. And he was a revolutionary at heart. Garrick totally revamped stage performance, rejecting stage oratory for "naturalistic speech. He threw the audience off the stage, rewrote the text introduced naturalistic scenery to English audiences lit by lights that could not be seen. Garrick popularized Shakespeare and more than anyone kept the plays alive for future generations. He regularly performed plays from the canon and is said to have personally produced 24 of them. More importantly he restored the text to its' "original" form, excising the rewritten lines and sections that had been added. Then he took liberties with plays. He cut them for "his audience." He rewrote sections, but always based on the original work. His most egregious act was his reworking of Hamlet, where he cut Act 5. Garrick, the most famous actor of his day, organized the famous "jubilee" in Stratford Upon Avon and that was the impetus for the Shakespeare industry in that city today. Without Garrick, we might not have the Shakespeare we have today. (1717 - 1779)

Olivier Richard III Awards and Recognition:
Olivier Richard III Academy Awards Nominations:
1956 Nominated for Best Actor Lord Laurence Olivier
Olivier Richard III British Academy Awards:
1956 Best Film from any Source
1956 Best British Film
1956 Best British Actor Laurence Olivier
Olivier Richard III Golden Globe Awards:
1957 Best English-Language Foreign Film
Olivier Richard III Berlin International Film Festival Awards:
1956 International Prize Laurence Olivier

1954 Laurence Olivier The Tragedy of Richard III
Cast:
THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER
King Henry VI (Last King of the House of Lancaster)
Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI
Ghost of the Prince of Wales
THE HOUSE OF YORK
Helen Haye Duchess of York (Mother of Edward IV, Richard III, and George Duke of Clarence)
Cedric Hardwicke King Edward IV (The First King of the House of York)
Mary Kerridge Queen Elizabeth, Wife of Edward IV (Elizabeth Woodville)
Paul Huson Edward, Prince of Wales (Son of King Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Andy Shine Young Prince (Richard, Duke of York, Son of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Princess Elizabeth, Daughter of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth, who become the wife of Henry VII
Laurence Olivier Richard III (Duke of Gloucester and Last King of the House of York)
Claire Bloom Lady Anne Neville (Wife (betrothed to the deceased Prince of Wales and wife of Richard III)
John Gielgud Clarence (George, Duke of Clarence)
Stephen Rooney Edward Plantagenet, son of George, Duke of Clarence
Patsy Kensit Lady Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence
Pamela Brown Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV and Hastings
Supporters of Queen Elizabeth (The Woodvilles)
Clive Morton Rivers (Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers), brother of Queen Elizabeth)
Dan Cunningham Sir Richard Grey, son of Queen Elizabeth, when Lady Elizabeth Grey
Douglas Wilmer Dorset, Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, son of Queen Elizabeth (Lady Elizabeth Grey)
Sir Thomas Vaughn, a member of the Queen's Party
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Ralph Richardson Buckingham, (Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham)
Alec Clunes Hastings (William, Lord Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain)
Laurence Naismith Stanley, (Sir Thomas Stanley Earl of Derby)
Richard Rodney Bennett George Stanley, son of Sir Thomas Stanley
Esmond Knight Ratcliffe (Sir Richard Ratcliffe)
Norman Wooland Catesby (Sir William Catesby)
Patrick Troughton Tyrrel (Sir James Tyrrel)
John Laurie Lovell (Sir Francis Lord Lovell)
Andrew Cruickshank Brakenbury (Sir Robert Brakenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower)
Michael Gough First Murderer (John Dighton), the actual assassin hired to kill Richard's brother, Clarence. It is this man who stabs Clarence and then drowns him in the wine barrel.
Michael Ripper Second Murderer (Miles Forrest), assassin hired to kill Richard's brother, Clarence, but this man, who becomes conscious stricken refuses to strike Clarence down. Historically, Miles Forrest, was an actual assassin hired by James Tyrell to kill the Princes in the Tower.

1954 Laurence Olivier The Tragedy of Richard III Cast (Continued):
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
George Woodbridge Lord Mayor of London
John Phillips Norfolk (John Howard Duke of Norfolk) one of Richard's generals, who remains faithful and is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Surrey (Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey) is second in command to his Father, John Howard. After a period disfavor following the defeat at Bosworth, he is restored to his father's title of Duke of Norfolk by King Henry VII.
PRELATES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN ENGLAND
Nicholas Hannen Archbishop of Canterbury (Cardinal Bourchier)
Archbishop of York (Thomas Rotherham)
Bishop of Ely (John Morton)
The House of Tudor
Stanley Baker Richmond (Henry, Duke of Richmond, Henry VII, the First
Tudor King)
SUPPORTING PLAYERS
Stewart Allen Page to Richard III
Halberdier, Attendant to Lady Anne
Tressel, Attendant to Lady Anne
Berkeley, Attendant to Lady Anne
Gentleman, Attendant to Lady Anne
First Citizen
Second Citizen
Third Citizen
Peter Williams Messenger to Hastings (First Messenger)
Second Messenger
Pursuivant, an attendant upon a herald or a supernumerary
Russell Thorndike Priest
Willoughby Gray Priest
Wally Bascoe, Norman Fisher Monks
Terence Greenridge Scrivener, Clerk or recording secretary
Roy Russell Abbot
Timothy Bateson Ostler, (Hostler) a wrangler of horses
Ann Wilton Scrub woman
Bill Shine Beadle, an officer, who precedes public processions or an official, who keeps order in parish meetings.
Derek Prentice & Deering Wells Clergymen
Bernard Hepton & John Greenwood Knights
Brian Nissen, Alexander Davion,
Lane Meddick & Robert Bishop 4 Messengers
Sheriff of Wiltshire
GHOSTS OF RICHARD III'S NIGHTMARE BEFORTHE BATTLE
Ghost of Henry VI
Ghost of Edward, Prince of Wales
Ghost of George, Duke of Clarence
Ghost of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers
Ghost of Sir Richard Grey
Ghost of Thomas Lord Grey, Marquess of Dorset
Ghost of Sir Thomas Vaughn
Ghosts of the Princes of the Tower, King Edward V & Richard, Duke of York
Ghost of William Lord Hastings
Ghost of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
Ghost of Lady Anne

The Tragedy of Richard III (1982)
A BBC Production in association with Time-Life Television

Credits:
Director Jane Howell
Producer Shawn Sutton
Lighting Sam Barclay
Incidental Music Composed & Conducted by Dudley Simpson
Designer Oliver Bayldon
Costume Designer John Peacock
Title Music Stephen Oliver
Drummers Brian Little and Stephen Paine
Trumpeters Nigel Gomm and Frank Walsh
Fight Arranger Malcolm Ransom
Movement Coordinator Geraldine Stephenson
Assistant Floor Managers Jane Hawley and Martin Hutchings
Production Assistant Joyce Stansfield
Production Manager Corin Campbell-Hill
Production Associate Fraser Lowden
Technical Managers Jeff Jeffrey and Malcolm Martin
Vision Mixer Graham Giles
Senior Cameraman Jim Atkinson
Video Tape Editor Ron Bowman
Visual Effects Peter Pegrum
Properties Buyer John Watts
Make Up Artist Cecile Hay-Arthur
Sound Alan Edmunds
Literary Consultant Dr. John Wilder
Script Editor David Snodin

Cast in Order of Appearance:
Peter Benson King Henry IV
Anthony Brown Sir Richard Ratcliffe
David Burke Sir William Catesby
Michael Byrne Duke of Buckingham
Anne Carroll Jane Shore
Paul Chapman Earl Rivers
Ron Cook Richard III
Rowena Cooper Queen Elizabeth
Arthur Cox Lord Grey
Arthur Cox Lord Mayor London
Annette Crosbie Duchess of York
David Daker Lord Hastings
Brian Deacon Second Citizen
Brian Deacon First Messenger
Brian Deacon Earl of Richmond
Jeremy Dimmick Young Duke of York
Tenniel Evans Stanley, Earl of Derby
Tenniel Evans Archbishop of York
Derek Farr Sir Robert Brakenbury
Derek Farr Earl of Surrey
Dorian Ford Edward, Prince of Wales
Julia Foster Queen Margaret, Wife of King Henry VI
Derek Fuke Second Messenger
Derek Fuke Sir Thomas Vaughn
BBC Richard III Cast in Alphabetical Order (Continued):
Alex Guard Marquess of Dorset
Bernard Hill First Murderer
Paul Jesson George, Duke of Clarence
Patsy Kensit Lady Margaret Plantagenet
Rusty Livingstone Page to Richard III
Oengus MacNamara Halberdier
Oengus MacNamara Lord Lovell
Brian Protheroe King Edward IV
Nick Reding Ghost of the Prince of Wales
Stephen Rooney Edward Plantagenet
Zoe Wanamaker Lady Anne
Mark Wing-Davey First Citizen
Mark Wing-Davey Sir James Tyrrel
Peter Wyatt Duke of Norfolk
And Peter Aldwyn, Brian Binns, Gerald Blackmore, Stephen Brigden,
Michael Cogan, Stuart Cox, Jonathan Evans, Mark Fletcher,
Michael Gardiner, David Goodwin, Barry Grantham, Nicholas Hall,
Angus Kennedy, Hamish Kerr, Hus Levent, David Ludwig, Peter Macklen, John Rankin, Martin Rutledge and Peter Searles.

1982 BBC The Tragedy of Richard III
Cast:
The House of Lancaster
Peter Benson King Henry VI (Last King of the House of Lancaster)
Julia Foster Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI
Nick Reding Ghost of the Prince of Wales
THE HOUSE OF YORK
Annette Crosbie Duchess of York (Mother of Edward IV, Richard III, and George Duke of Clarence)
Brian Protheroe King Edward IV (The First King of the House of York)
Rowena Cooper Queen Elizabeth, Wife of Edward IV (Elizabeth Woodville)
Dorian Ford Edward, Prince of Wales (Son of King Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Jeremy Dimmick Young Prince (Richard, Duke of York, Son of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Princess Elizabeth, Daughter of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth, who become the wife of Henry VII
Ron Cook Richard III (Duke of Gloucester and Last King of the House of York)
Zoe Wanamaker Lady Anne Neville (Wife (betrothed to the deceased Prince of Wales and wife of Richard III)
Paul Jesson Clarence (George, Duke of Clarence)
Stephen Rooney Edward Plantagenet, son of George, Duke of Clarence
Patsy Kensit Lady Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence
Anne Carroll Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV and Hastings
Supporters of Queen Elizabeth (The Woodvilles)
Paul Chapman Rivers (Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers), brother of Queen Elizabeth)
Arthur Cox Sir Richard Grey, son of Queen Elizabeth, when Lady Elizabeth Grey
Alex Guard Dorset, Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, son of Queen Elizabeth (Lady Elizabeth Grey)
Derek Fuke Sir Thomas Vaughn, a member of the Queen's Party
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Michael Byrne Buckingham, (Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham)
David Daker Hastings (William, Lord Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain)
Tenniel Evans Stanley, (Sir Thomas Stanley Earl of Derby)
George Stanley, son of Sir Thomas Stanley
Anthony Brown Ratcliffe (Sir Richard Ratcliffe)
David Burke Catesby (Sir William Catesby)
Mark Wing-Davey Tyrrel (Sir James Tyrrel)
Oengus MacNamara Lovell (Sir Francis Lord Lovell)
Derek Farr Brakenbury (Sir Robert Brakenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower)
Bernard Hill First Murderer (John Dighton), the actual assassin hired to kill
kill Richard's brother, Clarence. It is this man who stabs Clarence and then drowns him in the wine barrel.
Second Murderer (Miles Forrest), assassin hired to kill Richard's brother, Clarence, but this man, who becomes conscious stricken refuses to strike Clarence down. Historically, Miles Forrest, was an actual assassin hired by James Tyrell to kill the Princes in the Tower.

1982 BBC The Tragedy of Richard III Cast (Continued):
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Arthur Cox Lord Mayor of London
Peter Wyatt Norfolk (John Howard Duke of Norfolk) one of Richard's generals, who remains faithful and is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Derek Farr Surrey (Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey) is second in command to his Father, John Howard. After a period out of favor following the defeat at Bosworth, he is restored to his father's title of Duke of Norfolk by King Henry VII.
PRELATES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN ENGLAND
Archbishop of Canterbury (Cardinal Bourchier)
Tenniel Evans Archbishop of York (Thomas Rotherham)
Bishop of Ely (John Morton)
The House of Tudor
Brian Deacon Richmond (Henry, Duke of Richmond, Henry VII, First
Tudor King)
SUPPORTING PLAYERS
Rusty Livingstone Page to Richard III
Oengus MacNamara Halberdier, Attendant to Lady Anne
Tressel, Attendant to Lady Anne
Berkeley, Attendant to Lady Anne
Gentleman, Attendant to Lady Anne
Mark Wing-Davey First Citizen
Brian Deacon Second Citizen
Third Citizen
Brian Deacon Messenger to Hastings (First Messenger)
Derek Fuke Second Messenger
Pursuivant, an attendant upon a herald or a supernumerary
Priest
Priest
Monks
Scrivener, Clerk or recording secretary
Abbot
Ostler, (Hostler) a wrangler of horses
Scrub Woman
Beadle, an officer, who precedes public processions or an official, who keeps order in parish meetings
Clergymen
Knights
4 Messengers
Sheriff of Wiltshire
THE GHOSTS OF RICHARD III'S NIGHTMARE BEFORE THE BATTLE
Ghost of Henry VI
Ghost of Edward, Prince of Wales
Ghost of George, Duke of Clarence
Ghost of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers
Ghost of Sir Richard Grey
Ghost of Sir Thomas Vaughn
Ghosts of the Princes of the Tower, King Edward V & Richard, Duke of York
Ghost of William Lord Hastings
Ghost of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
Ghost of Lady Anne

1982 BBC The Tragedy of Richard III Cast (Continued):
Supernumeraries
Peter Aldwyn, Brian Binns, Gerald Blackmore, Stephen Brigden, Michael Cogan, Stuart Cox, Jonathan Evans, Mark Fletcher, Michael Gardiner, David Goodwin, Barry Grantham. Nicholas Hall, Angus Kennedy, Hamish Kerr, Hus Levent, David Ludwig, Peter Macklen, John Rankin, Martin Rutledge and Peter Searles

RICHARD III (1995)
(British Screen / Bayly/Pare / First Look / United Artists
UNITED ARTISTS PICTURES presents
With the participation of BRITISH SCREEN
A BAYLY/PARÊ Production
Developed in association with FIRST LOOK PICTURES
UK-USA, DRAMA/Shakespeare Tragedy, 104 Minutes, Rated R, Color, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Credits:
Director Richard Loncraine
Screenplay Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine
Based on stage production by Richard Eyre From the play by William Shakespeare
Executive Producers Ellen Dinerman Little and Ian McKellen
Producers Joe Simon, Lisa Kalselas Pare, Maria Apodiacos and Stephen Bayly
Line Producer David Lacelles
Associate Producers Mary Richards and Michele Tandy
Director of Photography Peter Bizou, BSC
Editor Paul Green
Music Trevor Jones
Line Producer David Lascelles
Associate Producers Mary Richards, Michele Tandy
Casting Director Irene Lamb
Production Designer Tony Burrough
Costume Designer Shauna Harwood
Make-up Daniel Parker and Pat Hay
Sound David Stephenson, Aad Wirtz, Lee Taylor,
Phillip Bothamley and William Parnell
Visual Effects John Evans
Digital Effects Jon Bunker

Cast in Order of Appearance:
Christopher Bowen Prince Edward, Son of Henry VI, Prince of Wales
Edward Jewsbury King Henry VI (Last House of Lancaster King)
Ian McKellen Richard III (Duke of Gloucester and Last House of York King)
Annette Bening Queen Elizabeth, Wife of Edward IV Elizabeth Woodville
Mathew Groom Young Prince (Richard, Duke of York)
John Wood King Edward IV (The First House of York King)
Nigel Hawthorne Clarence (George, Duke of Clarence)
Bill Patterson Ratcliff (Sir Richard Ratcliffe)
Maggie Smith Duchess of York (Mother of Edward IV, Richard III, and Clarence)
Kate Stevenson Payne Princess Elisabeth (Daughter of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth)
Robert Downey, Jr Rivers (Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, brother of Queen Elizabeth)
Tres Hanley Air Hostess
Tim McInnerny Catesby (Sir William Catesby)
Stacey Kent Ballroom Singer
Jim Carter Hastings (Lord Hastings)
Roger Hammond Archbishop (of Canterbury -- Cardinal Bourchier)
Dennis Lill Lord Mayor (of The City of London)
Jim Broadbent Buckingham (Duke of Buckingham)
Edward Hardwicke Stanley (Lord Stanley, The Earl of Derby)
Bryan Gillmore George Stanley
Dominic West Richmond (Henry, Duke of Richmond, Henry VII, First Tudor King)
Donald Sampler Brakenbury (Sir Robert, Lieutenant of the Tower)
Kristen Scott Thomas Lady Anne (Wife of the deceased Prince of Wales & Richard III)
Adrian Dunbar Tyrell (Sir James Tyrrell)
Richard III Cast in Order of Appearance:
Andy Bashleigh Jailer
Marce Williamson Prince of Wales (Son of King Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Bruce Purchase City Gentleman
James Dreyfuss First Sabalitaro
David Antrobus Second Sabalitaro

Cast of Characters:
The House of Lancaster
Edward Jewsbury King Henry VI (Last King of the House of Lancaster)
Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI
Christopher Bowen Edward Prince of Wales
THE HOUSE OF YORK
Maggie Smith Duchess of York (Mother of Edward IV, Richard III, and George Duke of Clarence)
John Wood King Edward IV (The First King of the House of York)
Annette Bening Queen Elizabeth, Wife of Edward IV (Elizabeth Woodville)
Marce Williamson Edward, Prince of Wales (Son of King Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Mathew Groom Young Prince (Richard, Duke of York, Son of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Kate Stevenson Payne Princess Elizabeth, Daughter of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth, who become the wife of Henry VII - Namesake of Queen Elizabeth I)
Ian McKellen Richard III (Duke of Gloucester and Last King of the House of York)
Kristen Scott Thomas Lady Anne Neville (Wife (betrothed to the deceased Prince of Wales and wife of Richard III)
Nigel Hawthorne Clarence (George, Duke of Clarence)
Edward Plantagenet, son of George, Duke of Clarence
Lady Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence
Anne Carroll Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV and Hastings
Supporters of Queen Elizabeth (The Woodvilles)
Robert Downey, Jr. Rivers (Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers), brother of Queen Elizabeth)
Sir Richard Grey, son of Queen Elizabeth, when Lady Elizabeth Grey
Dorset, Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, son of Queen Elizabeth (Lady Elizabeth Grey)
Sir Thomas Vaughn, a member of the Queen's Party
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Jim Broadbent Buckingham, (Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham)
Jim Carter Hastings (William, Lord Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain)
Edward Hardwicke Stanley, (Sir Thomas Stanley Earl of Derby)
Bryan Gillmore George Stanley, son of Sir Thomas Stanley
Bill Patterson Ratcliffe (Sir Richard Ratcliffe)
Tim McInnerny Catesby (Sir William Catesby)
Adrian Dunbar Tyrrel (Sir James Tyrrel)
Lovell (Sir Francis Lord Lovell)
Donald Sampler Brakenbury (Sir Robert Brakenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower)
First Murderer (John Dighton), the actual assassin hired to kill Richard's brother, Clarence. It is this man who stabs Clarence and then drowns him in the wine barrel.
Second Murderer (Miles Forrest), assassin hired to kill Richard's brother, Clarence, but this man, who becomes conscious stricken refuses to strike Clarence down. Historically, Miles Forrest, was an actual assassin hired by James Tyrell to kill the Princes in the Tower.

1982 BBC The Tragedy of Richard III Cast (Continued):
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Dennis Lill Lord Mayor of London
Norfolk (John Howard Duke of Norfolk) one of Richard's generals, who remains faithful and is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Surrey (Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey) is second in command to his Father, John Howard. After a period out of favor following the defeat at Bosworth, he is restored to his father's title of Duke of Norfolk by King Henry VII.
PRELATES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN ENGLAND
Roger Hammond Archbishop of Canterbury (Cardinal Bourchier)
Archbishop of York (Thomas Rotherham)
Bishop of Ely (John Morton)
The House of Tudor
Dominic West Richmond (Henry, Duke of Richmond, Henry VII, First
Tudor King)
Supporting Players
Stacey Kent Ballroom Singer
Tres Hanley Air Hostess
Andy Bashleigh Jailer
James Dreyfuss First Sabalitaro
Page to Richard III
Halberdier, Attendant to Lady Anne
Tressel, Attendant to Lady Anne
Berkeley, Attendant to Lady Anne
Bruce Purchase Gentleman, Attendant to Lady Anne
First Citizen
Second Citizen
Third Citizen
Messenger to Hastings (First Messenger)
Second Messenger
Pursuivant, an attendant upon a herald or a supernumerary
Priest
Priest
Monks
Scrivener, Clerk or recording secretary
Abbot
Ostler, (Hostler) a wrangler of horses
Scrub Woman
Beadle, an officer, who precedes public processions or an official, who keeps order in parish meetings
Clergymen
Knights
4 Messengers
Sheriff of Wiltshire

THE GHOSTS OF RICHARD III'S NIGHTMARE BEFORE
THE BATTLE OF BOSWORTH FIELD
Ghost of Henry VI
Ghost of Edward, Prince of Wales
Ghost of George, Duke of Clarence
Ghost of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers
Ghost of Sir Richard Grey
Ghost of Thomas Lord Grey, Marquess of Dorset
Ghost of Sir Thomas Vaughn
Ghosts of the Princes of the Tower, King Edward V & Richard, Duke of York
Ghost of William Lord Hastings
Ghost of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
Ghost of Lady Anne

Looking for Richard (1996)
20th Century Fox / CHAL Productions
Release Date Premiere Toronto Film Festival September 8, 1996
Limited Release: October 11, 1996
USA: 118 Minutes, PG 13: Documentary: Color
"What's this thing that gets between us and Shakespeare?"

Credits:
Director Al Pacino
Screenwriter Al Pacino and Frederic Kimball
Based on the play by William Shakespeare
Producer Michael Hadge and Al Pacino
Executive Producer William Teitler
Line Producer James Bulleit
Cinematographer Stephen C. Confer, Jon Kranhouse & Robert Leacock
Editor Bill Anderson, Ned Bastille, Andre Betz & Pasquale Buba
Composer Howard Shore
Art Director Kevin Ritter
Costume Designer Yvonne Blake, Aude Bronson-Howard & Deborah Lynn Scott
Casting Alison E. McBryde

Cast:
Penelope Allen Queen Elizabeth, Wife of King Edward IV
Gordon MacDonald Dorset (Marquess of Dorset)
Madison Arnold Rivers (Earl Rivers)
Vincent Angell Grey (Lord Grey)
Harris Yulin King Edward IV, House of York
Alec Baldwin Clarence (George, Duke of Clarence)
Al Pacino Richard, Duke of Gloucester - King Richard III & Narration
Timmy Prairie Prince of Wales - King Edward V
Kevin Conway Lord Hastings
Larry Bryggman Lord Stanley (Earl of Derby)
Kevin Spacey Duke of Buckingham
Estelle Parsons Queen Margaret, Wife of King Henry VI House of Lancaster
Winona Ryder Lady Anne, "Widow" of Lancastrian Prince of Wales
And future wife of Richard III
Phil Parolisi Halberd/Messenger
Bruce MacVittie Murderer #1
Paul Guilfoyle Murderer #2
Richard Cox Catesby (Sir William Catesby)
Julie Moret Mistress Shore
Frederic Kimball Bishop of Ely AND Narration
Daniel von Bargen Ratcliffe (Sir Richard Ratcliffe)
James Colby Lord Lovell
Ira Lewis Sir James Tyrell
Aidan Quinn Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond (Later King Henry VIII)
Phil Paralyze Halberd/Messenger
Neal Jones Messenger
Luke Toma Messenger
Andre Sogliuzzo Messenger
Marlon Pollick Soldier
F. Murray Abraham Participant at Readthrough
Hayley Barr
Gil Bellows
Don Berry
Looking for Richard Cast (Continued):
Nicholas Berry
Robin Berry
Kate Burton
Dominic Chianese
Johann Carlo
Joyce Ebert
Paul Gleason
Esther Gregory
Clare Holman
Son Berry
Linda Iannella Scott
Elaine Kory
Damien Leake
Viveca Lindfors
Judith Malina
Michael Maloney
Jaime Sánchez
David Saltzman
Linda Selman
Ed Setrakian
Kyle Smyth
Heathcote Williams

Interviews with:
Kenneth Branagh
Kevin Kline
James Earl Jones
Rosemary Harris
David Satzman
Emrys Jones
Peter Brook
Barbara Everett
Derek Jacobi
John Gielgud
Vanessa Redgrave

Looking for Richard Awards and Recognition:
Looking for Richard American Cinema Editors Awards:
1997 Best Editing of a Documentary Film Bill Anderson, Ned Bastille, Andre Betz & Pasquale Buba
Looking for Richard Directors Guild of America Awards:
1997 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Al Pacino

Looking for Richard
Cast:
The House of Lancaster
King Henry VI (Last King of the House of Lancaster)
Estelle Parsons Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI
Edward Prince of Wales
THE HOUSE OF YORK
Duchess of York (Mother of Edward IV, Richard III, and George Duke of Clarence)
Harris Yulin King Edward IV (The First King of the House of York)
Penelope Allen Queen Elizabeth, Wife of Edward IV (Elizabeth Woodville)
Timmy Prairie Edward, Prince of Wales (Son of King Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Young Prince (Richard, Duke of York, Son of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth)
Princess Elizabeth, Daughter of Edward IV & Queen Elizabeth, who become the wife of Henry VII
Al Pacino Richard III (Duke of Gloucester and Last King of the House of York)
Winona Ryder Lady Anne Neville (Wife (betrothed to the deceased Prince of Wales and wife of Richard III)
Alec Baldwin Clarence (George, Duke of Clarence)
Edward Plantagenet, son of George, Duke of Clarence
Lady Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence
Julie Moret Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV and Hastings
Supporters of Queen Elizabeth (The Woodvilles)
Madison Arnold Rivers (Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers), brother of Queen Elizabeth)
Vincent Angell Sir Richard Grey, son of Queen Elizabeth, when Lady Elizabeth Grey
Gordon MacDonald Dorset, Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, son of Queen Elizabeth (Lady Elizabeth Grey)
Sir Thomas Vaughn, a member of the Queen's Party
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Kevin Spacey Buckingham, (Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham)
Kevin Conway Hastings (William, Lord Hastings, the Lord Chamberlain)
Larry Bryggman Stanley, (Sir Thomas Stanley Earl of Derby)
George Stanley, son of Sir Thomas Stanley
Ratcliffe (Sir Richard Ratcliffe)
Richard Cox Catesby (Sir William Catesby)
Ira Lewis Tyrrel (Sir James Tyrrel)
James Colby Lovell (Sir Francis Lord Lovell)
Brakenbury (Sir Robert Brakenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower)
Bruce MacVittie First Murderer (John Dighton), the actual assassin hired to
kill Richard's brother, Clarence. It is this man who stabs Clarence and then drowns him in the wine barrel.
Paul Guilfoyle Second Murderer (Miles Forrest), assassin hired to kill Richard's brother, Clarence, but this man, who becomes conscious stricken refuses to strike Clarence down. Historically, Miles Forrest, was an actual assassin hired by James Tyrell to kill the Princes in the Tower.

Looking for Richard Cast (Continued):
Supporters of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (King Richard III)
Arthur Cox Lord Mayor of London
Peter Wyatt Norfolk (John Howard Duke of Norfolk) one of Richard's generals, who remains faithful and is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Derek Farr Surrey (Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey) is second in command to his Father, John Howard. After a period out of favor following the defeat at Bosworth, he is restored to his father's title of Duke of Norfolk by King Henry VII.
PRELATES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN ENGLAND
Archbishop of Canterbury (Cardinal Bourchier)
Archbishop of York (Thomas Rotherham)
Frederic Kimball Bishop of Ely (John Morton)
The House of Tudor
Aidan Quinn Richmond (Henry, Duke of Richmond, Henry VII, First
Tudor King)
SUPPORTING PLAYERS
Page to Richard III
Halberdier, Attendant to Lady Anne
Tressel, Attendant to Lady Anne
Berkeley, Attendant to Lady Anne
Gentleman, Attendant to Lady Anne
First Citizen
Second Citizen
Third Citizen
Messenger to Hastings (First Messenger)
Second Messenger
Pursuivant, an attendant upon a herald or a supernumerary
Priest
Priest
Monks
Scrivener, Clerk or recording secretary
Abbot
Ostler, (Hostler) a wrangler of horses
Scrub Woman
Beadle, an officer, who precedes public processions or an official, who keeps order in parish meetings
Clergymen
Marlon Pollick Knights (Soldier)
Neal Jones, Luke Toma & Andre Sogliuzzo 4 Messengers
Sheriff of Wiltshire

THE GHOSTS OF RICHARD III'S NIGHTMARE BEFORE
THE BATTLE OF BOSWORTH FIELD
Ghost of Henry VI
Ghost of Edward, Prince of Wales
Ghost of George, Duke of Clarence
Ghost of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers
Ghost of Sir Richard Grey
Ghost of Thomas Lord Grey, Marquess of Dorset
Ghost of Sir Thomas Vaughn
Ghosts of the Princes of the Tower, King Edward V & Richard, Duke of York
Ghost of William Lord Hastings
Ghost of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
Ghost of Lady Anne

NAME ___________________________________ SOCIAL SECURITY # __________________
The Tragedy of King Richard the Third
Text Discussion Assignment: In the analysis of the text of a play, the director, the designers and the cast need to know Who is doing What to Whom. And When and Where and Why they are doing it.
1. The scene or place of action is the When and Where! (Mise en scene)
2. The characters are the Who!
3. The action is the What! And the motivation isthe Why!
This assignment asks you to analyze the text as the director, designers and actors do. First, set the scene. Second, identify the characters in the scene. Third, explain what happens in the scene.
ACT I
Act I Scene 1 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act I Scene 2 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act I Scene 3 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act I Scene 4 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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ACT II
Act II Scene 1 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act II Scene 2 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act II Scene 3 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Ghost of Thomas Lord Grey, Marquess of Dorset

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act II Scene 4 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

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What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

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What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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ACT III
Act III Scene 1 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act III Scene 2 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act III Scene 3 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act III Scene 4 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act III Scene 5 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act III Scene 6 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act III Scene 7 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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ACT IV
Act IV Scene 1 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act IV Scene 2 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act IV Scene 3 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act IV Scene 4 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act IV Scene 5 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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ACT V
Act V Scene 1 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

___________________________________________________________

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___________________________________________________________

Act V Scene 2 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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___________________________________________________________

Act V Scene 3 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act V Scene 4 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Act V Scene 5 (Richard III)
Where does the action in the scene occur?

___________________________________________________________
What characters appear in the scene (in the order of their appearance)?

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
What is the action in the scene? What happens in the scene?

___________________________________________________________

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Key Lines or Exchange of Dialogue (Please number lines as in play text.)

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Additional Notes

Name _____________________________________ Social Security # ___________________
The Tragedy of King Richard the Third
Comparison (Awards) Assignment
We have now seen three film versions of William Shakespeare's, The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. And now we need to contrast and compare the three movie versions of the play: 1996 Al Pacino's Looking for Richard, 1956 Laurence Olivier's Richard III and 1995 Richard Loncraine's Richard III.

1. Overall, which of the three films is the best adaptation and why is that adaptation better than the other two films?

The best film is _________________________________________________________________

Who did the adaptation? _________________________________________________________
REASON # 1

_____________________________________________________________________________

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REASON # 2

_____________________________________________________________________________

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RICHARD III COMPARISON AWARDS
2. Overall, which of the films has the best mise en scene (look) --
Best Set Design and Best costumes -- and why were they better?

Best Sets are in ______________________. Production Designer _______________
REASON # 1 (Best Sets)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Best costumes are in _______________________. Costume Designer ___________________
REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________

3. Overall, which of the films has the best cinematography and why was the lighting and camera work better?

Best camerawork is in _____________________________ DP __________________________
REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Comparison Awards
4. Overall, which of the films has the best editing and why?

Best editing is in _____________________________ Editor ___________________________
REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________

5. Which of the films makes the best use of sound effects and score? Why?

Best sound effects are in _______________________________________________________.
REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Best score is in ____________________________. Composer _________________________
REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Richard III Comparison Awards
6. And now for the best performance awards?

Nominees for the Best Gloucester are Al Pacino, Laurence Olivier and Ian McKellen?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Nominees for the Best King Edward IV are Harris Yulin, Cedric Hardwicke and John Wood?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Nominees for the Best Clarence are Alec Baldwin, John Gielgud and Nigel Hawthorne?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Nominees for the Best Buckingham are Kevin Spacey, Ralph Richardson and Jim Broadbent?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Richard III Comparison Awards
Nominees for the Best Hastings are Kevin Conway, Alec Clunes and Jim Carter?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Nominees for Best Stanley are Larry Bryggman, Laurence Naismith & Edward Hardwicke?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

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The nominees for the Best Richmond are Aidan Quinn, Stanley Baker and Dominic West?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Nominees for Best Queen Elizabeth are Penelope Allen, Mary Kerridge and Annette Bening?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Richard III Comparison Awards
Nominees for Best Lady Anne are Winona Ryder, Clair Bloom and Kristin Scott Thomas?

And the winner is _____________________________________________________. REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Identify one outstanding male actor and one female actor in smaller roles in each of the films not already evaluated. Try to explain what impact the actor/character has on the film.
The nominees for the Best Male Supporting Player are

Actor _____________________________________ Character ___________________________
in Al Pacino's Looking for Richard;

Actor _____________________________________ Character ___________________________
in Laurence Olivier's Richard III;

Actor _____________________________________ Character ___________________________
in Richard Loncraine's Richard III
Reasons for the selection in Al Pacino's Looking for Richard

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Reasons for the selection in Al Pacino's Laurence Olivier's Richard III

_____________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________

Reasons for the selection in Al Pacino's Richard Loncraine's Richard III

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Comparison Awards
The nominees for the Female Male Supporting Player are

Actor _____________________________________ Character ___________________________
in Al Pacino's Looking for Richard;

Actor _____________________________________ Character ___________________________
in Laurence Olivier's Richard III;

Actor _____________________________________ Character ___________________________
in Richard Loncraine's Richard III
Reasons for the selection in Al Pacino's Looking for Richard

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Reasons for the selection in Al Pacino's Laurence Olivier's Richard III

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Reasons for the selection in Al Pacino's Richard Loncraine's Richard III

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

The nominees for the Best Ensemble are Al Pacino's Looking for Richard; Laurence Olivier's Richard III; and Richard Loncraine's Richard III?

And the winner is ______________________________________________________REASONS

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Performance Awards
7. What important contributions to our understanding of William Shakespeare's play are made by Al Pacino's Looking for Richard?

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

8. What important contributions to our understanding of William Shakespeare's play are made by Laurence Olivier's Richard III?

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

9. What important contributions to our understanding of William Shakespeare's play are made by Richard Loncraine's Richard III?

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Performance Awards
10. If a student can only see one film version of William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Richard the Third? Which should they see and why?

_____________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________

Additional Notes

Name ____________________________________ Social Security # ____________________
The Tragedy of King Richard the Third
Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
Now that you have read The Tragedy of King Richard the Third and seen two films based on the play, you are going to attempt to produce a film based on the play. You must
1. Describe the milieu or setting in terms of time and place and justify why you think this will work with present day audiences.
2. Provide character descriptions for all the major roles in the play.
3. Cast the major roles in the film with actors whom you think can play each part.
1. Describe the mise en scene of the production you plan to mount? What will be the look of the film? What is the time period? Describe the costumes and scenery? What are the sets for each of the scenes?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Richard III Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
2. Describe how see or how you would play the characters visually, physically, and emotionally? What is the character like?
Richard, Duke of Gloucester / King Richard III (House of York)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
King Edward IV (House of York)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
George, Duke of Clarence (House of York)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Queen Elizabeth Woodville (Wife of King Edward IV)
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Duchess of York (Mother of Richard, Edward and Clarence)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Richard III Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
Lady Anne Neville (Widow of Edward, Prince of Wales-Lancaster and wife of Richard III-York)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Henry, Duke of Buckingham

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
William, Lord Hastings (Lord Chamberlain of Edward King IV)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Sir Thomas Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Sir Francis Lord Lovell (Lord Chamberlain of King Richard III)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers (Brother of Queen Elizabeth)
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Marquess of Dorset (Son of Queen Elizabeth in an earlier marriage)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Lord Grey (Son of Queen Elizabeth in an earlier marriage)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Sir Thomas Vaughn (Friend of Rivers and Dorset)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Sir William Catesby (Supporter of King Richard)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
Sir Richard Ratcliffe (Supporter of King Richard)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
First Murderer (of Clarence)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Second Murderer (of Clarence)
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
John Morton, Bishop of Ely

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (Later King Henry VII)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
Queen Margaret (Wife of King Henry VI House of Lancaster)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Richard III Mise en scene, Character and Casting Assignment
3. How you cast the roles in the new movie you are producing based on Romeo and Juliet? You may use any actor who has not previously appeared in the role.
Character Actor

Richard III __________________________________________________________

Edward IV __________________________________________________________

Clarence __________________________________________________________

Queen Elizabeth __________________________________________________________

Duchess of York __________________________________________________________

Lady Anne __________________________________________________________

Buckingham __________________________________________________________

Hastings __________________________________________________________

Stanley __________________________________________________________

Lovell __________________________________________________________

Earl Rivers __________________________________________________________

Dorset __________________________________________________________

Grey __________________________________________________________

Thomas Vaughn __________________________________________________________

Catesby __________________________________________________________

Ratcliffe __________________________________________________________

James Tyrell __________________________________________________________

First Murderer __________________________________________________________

Second Murderer __________________________________________________________

Cardinal Bourchier __________________________________________________________

Archbishop Rotherham _________________________________________________________

Bishop Morton __________________________________________________________

Richmond __________________________________________________________

Queen Margaret __________________________________________________________