Earl of Salisbury later by Richard Neville "the Kingmaker", upon whose death the title went into abeyance because multiple individuals were entitled to inherit it. Then, in 1472, it was granted to George, Duke of Clarence, who was married to Warwick's eldest daughter. When the Duke of Clarence was executed in 1478 for treason (supposedly by being drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine), the title was forfeit. It was then granted to Edward of Middleham (who was his nephew via the Duke's brother Richard), who died in 1484 at the age of 11. It was restored to two of George of Clarence's
Richard III of England conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as, a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews." Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama "Richardus Tertius" (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written