Richard III King of England (1452–1485) • FamilySearch

Richard III King of England

Brief Life History of Richard III

When Richard III King of England was born on 2 October 1452, in Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, England, his father, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, was 41 and his mother, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, was 37. He married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472, in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He registered for military service in 1485. He died on 22 August 1485, in Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom, at the age of 32, and was buried in Greyfriars Church, Reading, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom.

Photos and Memories (29)

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Family Time Line

Richard III King of England
1452–1485
Katherine Plantagenet
1468–1487
John Plantagenet
1478–1491

Sources (23)

  • King Richard, "Find A Grave Index"
  • Richard III, "United States, Wikipedia, Prominent Persons Index, 1500-2022"
  • King Richard, "Find A Grave Index"

World Events (1)

1455 · Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses was a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England between the royal families House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name of the war was derived as the red rose was the symbol of the Lancastrians and the white rose was the symbol of the Yorks.

Name Meaning

One of the most enduringly successful of the Old French personal names introduced into Britain by the Normans. It is of Germanic (Frankish) origin, derived from rīc ‘power’ + hard ‘strong, hardy’. It has enjoyed continuous popularity in England from the Conquest to the present day, influenced by the fact that it was borne by three kings of England, in particular Richard I ( 1157–99 ). He was king for only ten years ( 1189–99 ), most of which he spent in warfare abroad, taking part in the Third Crusade and costing the people of England considerable sums in taxes. Nevertheless, he achieved the status of a folk hero, and was never in England long enough to disappoint popular faith in his goodness and justice. He was also Duke of Aquitaine and Normandy and Count of Anjou, fiefs which he held at a time of maximum English expansion in France. His exploits as a leader of the Third Crusade earned him the nickname ‘Coeur de Lion’ or ‘Lionheart’ and a permanent place in popular imagination, in which he was even more firmly enshrined by Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe ( 1820 ).

Dictionary of First Names © Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges 1990, 2003, 2006.

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