Richard III (Makers of History series)

MP3 Audio CD. Richard III (Makers of History series)

KING RICHARD III.




CHAPTER I.

RICHARD'S MOTHER.

The great quarrel between the houses of York and Lancaster.--Terrible
results of the quarrel.--Origin of it.--Intricate questions of
genealogy and descent.--Lady Cecily Neville.--She becomes Duchess of
York.--Her mode of life.--Extract from the ancient annals.--Lady
Cecily's family.--Names of the children.--The boys' situation and mode
of life.--Their letters.--Letter written by Edward and Edmund.--The
boys congratulate their father on his victories.--Further particulars
about the boys.--The Castle of Ludlow.--Character of Richard's
mother.--Spirit of aristocracy.--Relative condition of the nobles and
the people.--Character of Richard's mother.--The governess.--Sir
Richard Croft, the boys' governor.


The mother of King Richard the Third was a beautiful, and, in many
respects, a noble-minded woman, though she lived in very rude,
turbulent, and trying times. She was born, so to speak, into one of
the most widely-extended, the most bitter, and the most fatal of the
family quarrels which have darkened the annals of the great in the
whole history of mankind, namely, that long-protracted and bitter
contest which was waged for so many years between the two great
branches of the family of Edward the Third--the houses of York and
Lancaster--for the possession of the kingdom of England. This dreadful
quarrel lasted for more than a hundred years. It led to wars and
commotions, to the sacking and burning of towns, to the ravaging of
fruitful countries, and to atrocious deeds of violence of every sort,
almost without number. The internal peace of hundreds of thousands of
families all over the land was destroyed by it for many generations.
Husbands were