Editing Richard III of England (section)

==Lord Protector==
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, [[Edward V]], succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London.{{sfnp|Baldwin|2013|p=95}} On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, [[Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham]], met [[Elizabeth Woodville|Queen Elizabeth]]'s brother, with [[Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers]], at [[Northampton]]. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2,000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|pp=207–210}} Edward V had been sent further south to [[Stony Stratford]]. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew [[Richard Grey]] and his associate, [[Thomas Vaughan (died 1483)|Thomas Vaughan]], arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by [[Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland]]. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|pp=252–254}}

After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with.{{sfnp|Baldwin|2013|p=96|ps=citing Mancini.}} He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2,000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the [[Tower of London]], where kings customarily awaited their coronation.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|pp=162–163}} Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of [[Crosby Hall, London]], then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. [[Robert Fabyan]], in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Robert Fabyan: 'The Concordaunce of Hystoryes' {{!}} Richard III Society – American Branch|url=http://www.r3.org/on-line-library-text-essays/robert-fabyan-the-concordaunce-of-hystoryes/|language=en-US|access-date=13 May 2020|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428214916/http://www.r3.org/on-line-library-text-essays/robert-fabyan-the-concordaunce-of-hystoryes/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In ''[[Holinshed's Chronicles]]'' of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."<ref>{{Cite web|title=The history of Crosby Place {{!}} British History Online|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/bk9/pp15-32|website=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref>

On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, [[Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset]]; her five daughters; and her youngest son, [[Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York]].{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|pp=212–213}} On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity" whom he suspected of plotting his murder.{{sfnp|Baldwin|2013|p=99}} At a council meeting on 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing [[Jane Shore]], lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and [[John Morton (cardinal)|John Morton, Bishop of Ely]], were arrested.{{sfnp|Horrox|2004}} Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, [[Katherine Neville, Baroness Hastings|Katherine]], under his protection.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|pp=209–210}} Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham.{{sfnp|Chrimes|1999|p=20}} On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.{{sfnp|Baldwin|2013|p=101}}