Richard iii was an english king who ruled england from 1483 until his death in battle in 1485. he is one of the most famous people in english history – so how is it possible that, after being king for only two years, he is still so widely remembered? in the years after his death, much was written about the character of richard iii. some of this shows a positive side of the man and his period as king, but most was rather negative. why? firstly, the man who defeated richard in battle became king next, and his family ruled england for much of the next 120 years. also, many people hated richard while he was alive. since historians of the time often wrote histories based on opinions rather than facts, they made sure his name was remembered for negative reasons. they wrote about richard’s desire for power, claiming it was something he would kill for, and perhaps this was true. it didn’t help that richard iii had a physical condition that gave him a strangely twisted back and one shoulder much higher than the other. that is the description of richard iii which is shown in william shakespeare’s 1592 play, richard iii. the brilliant play is a large part of the reason why we remember richard iii today. shakespeare created his character as an incredibly evil but intelligent and funny king who, in the end, died for wrongly claiming power. richard iii came to power after his brother, edward iv, suddenly died. edward iv’s young son, edward v, was supposed to become king, but a group of powerful people decided the young boy did not have the right to rule, and so richard iii became king. edward v and his younger brother were never seen again, leading people to believe – rightly or wrongly – that richard iii had the two boys killed. today we are more aware of the positive things that richard iii did in his short time as king. for example, he created a court where poor people could have legal cases heard for a low cost. he also had english laws, which were written in traditional french, translated into english. another reason we know of richard iii today was the recent discovery of his bones beneath a car park in leicester, in central england. after his defeat and death on the battlefield, he was buried nearby, with no official ceremony, in an old church which was later destroyed. five hundred years later, after years of searching through historical records, a team of archaeologists began digging where they believed he was buried. on the very first day, they found the bones of a man with a twisted back and battle wounds. further research and tests proved that the bones were those of richard iii. a7 after richard iii died, people only said bad things about him. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a8 richard’s right shoulder was higher than his left shoulder. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a9 in shakespeare’s play, we find out why richard iii was evil. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a10 richard iii did not want his brother’s son to become king. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a11 it’s possible richard iii was responsible for the deaths of his nephews. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a12 before richard, english laws were usually written in french. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a13 richard was buried a long way from where he died. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated a14 it took archaeologists years of digging to find the bones of richard iii. 1) true 2) false 3) not stated

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