Threats and Rebellions

When Richard became King in 1483 it seemed he owed his throne to a kingmaker- Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. As a noble with the power to challenge the Crown, Buckingham had been the main supporter of Richard's usurpation .

In return he expected to be rewarded. Richard III rewarded Buckingham well giving him control of South Wales. However, Buckingham felt this was not generous enough.

In autumn 1483, as the regime was finding its feet, Buckingham put himself at the lead of a series of uprising across the south of England. This was a pivotal event in Richard's short reign.

Richard had spent his formative years in the North of England where he held power and kept control for his brother Edward IV. However, when Richard became King he left something of a power vacuum there.

As a Northern Noble Richard sought to impose himself on Southern England by bringing in trusted supporters from the North including Ratlciffe and Catesby.

This bred opposition form Southern nobles and encouraged the rebellion of 1483.

A further cause of the rebellion was Richard's weak claim to the throne based on the fictitious idea that Edward V and Richard, Duke of York were illegitimate and of course a significant contributing factor was the widespread rumour that Richard ordered the deaths of the Princes in the Tower. Even in the fifteenth century the murder of young nephews and regicide were seen as appalling and unnatural crimes against God and man.

To make matters worse for Richard, the uprisings were planned to coincide with an attempted invasion of England by Henry Tudor. Richard's regime thus faced a serious crisis and support for Richard was not widespread.

The rebellion ultimately failed to destabilised  Richard III. Francis, Lord Lovell proved his loyalty to the King by helping in the suppression Buckingham's rebellion. As a result Buckingham was quickly dealt -he was executed in Salisbury in 1483. This mean internally there was no one powerful or daring enough to oppose Richard's rule. As for Henry Tudor, a storm forced him to return to Brittany and abandoned his attempted invasion of England.