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book. Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval

from History Hit. I'm Matt Lewis. This episode is going to be something a little bit different.

There's no guest joining us. It's just you and me to talk about one of the medieval periods

most controversial figures. Anyone who knows me at all will be aware that Richard III is a real

focus for my research and my writing. I'm a Ricardian which means that I think history has

done a disservice to Richard III and I'm also currently the chair of the Richard III Society

as well as the author of a biography of Richard. The traditional view of Richard III

is that he was a greedy, scheming, macchiavellian character who killed his nephews and usurped

the throne to rule as a tyrant. This allows for the foundation mythology of the Tudor dynasty

in which Henry VII did the kingdom a huge favour by saving it from a monster,

ending the debilitating wars of the roses and pressing a reset button on English politics.

The revisionist view is at odds with almost every element of that version of history

and encourages us to look beyond Shakespeare's dramatic monster to the real man behind the myths

and to recognise that the truth is very different from the story that has been widely accepted

for five centuries. So I thought I would offer you my story of Richard III's life. Like everything

to do with Richard III it's subjective but I'm going to try and stick to facts wherever possible

and let you know where I'm making judgments. I'll try to pick my way through the myriad of people

...