Richard III of England due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that 'a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building.' The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play "Richard III" as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself, in his "History of the
Ricardian (Richard III) facts: that first the young king Edward the V was placed under the protection of his uncle Richard III; that Richard III himself was then crowned as the new king instead of young Edward V; and finally that the crown prince disappeared at some point over the coming year, never to be seen again. However, they dispute the initial common assumption by many, that Richard III was personally responsible for the apparent murder of Edward V. Richard III's reign lasted for only 2 years, and his short reign came to a violent end on 22nd August 1485 at the Battle