Introduction

It has been claimed by some that Richard III is one of the most maligned people in history. While I don’t disagree with some of the claims about a bad press let’s face it Richard was not above a bit of badmouthing himself, particularly about this particular family though in fairness it has to be said he wasn’t the first and he certainly wasn’t the worst.

So who were the Woodvilles, what was their part in the scheme of things, were they really as bad as has been claimed over the last five centuries or were they the victims of pernicious and poisonous propaganda from the start? Time to discern the fact from the fiction.