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Explain Why Richard Duke of Gloucester Made Himself King

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Explain why Richard Duke of Gloucester made himself King of England in 1483. (12)
England in 1483 can only be described as unstable – Edward IV’s premature and sudden death caused turmoil specifically between Richard and the Woodville family. There was fierce competition between the two over who would be the protector of Edward V and rule as Regent until the King was old enough. Within months of his brother’s death he had usurped the throne and imprisoned the King. There are multiple reported reasons for this – Richard being power hungry, the issue of factional rivalry, Edward V and his vast support networks.
To begin, Richard had been heavily rewarded by Edward during his reign and had acquired lots of support in the North. Therefore he had a hunger for more power; of which becoming King would suffice. Richard had much experience of war from an early age and let his first military command at the age of 19. He was brought up in the same household as the Earl of Warwick, ‘the Kingmaker’ and therefore had always been surrounded by rough politics and violence. Due to his background it is understandable why Richard would want to make himself King so that he can continue his growth of power and recognition. I believe this is arguably the most important issue.
His hunger for power can be further noticed in his resentment for the Woodvilles. This factor of factional rivalry was problematic between Richard and the Woodvilles on many grounds. Richard worried that if he wasn’t King he would be completely excluded from power as Edward IV was being looked after by Anthony Woodville in Ludlow Castle so had no link to Edward. Furthermore, Richard felt he had to make sure he became King as he wanted to prevent Elizabeth Woodville becoming Queen as he felt she was both common and simply a social climber. This remains binding to my next point.
It must be noted that Richard believed he was the ‘rightful King’. Due to the death of his brother, he believed it was his right to follow him and usurp the throne and ultimately prevent the Woodvilles getting there as I previously mentioned. Richard realised action needed to be taken promptly and used this to his advantage by reacting quickly to the death of his premature brother and usurping the throne. In addition, he wanted to prevent his nephew - Edward V from becoming King as he felt him and his brother were illegitimate and ultimately Edward was too young to rule properly anyway which he also used to his advantage. Therefore, Richard used these more short-term reasons as a basis for him making himself King.
A smaller point that is also important to note is the strong support base he initially had who gave him the confidence to fulfil his hunger and make himself King. William Hastings and John Morton for example supported him greatly in his views and behaviours towards the Woodvilles. This gave him the confidence to usurp the throne. However it may be interesting to note that this strong support base dwindled with Morton becoming suspicious when Richard had meetings without him.

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