The Sunne in Splendour is a historical novel written by Sharon Kay Penman. Penman became interested in the subject of Richard III while a student and wrote a manuscript that was stolen from her car. She rewrote the manuscript, which was published in 1982.
As a student, Penman researched and wrote The Sunne in Splendour, which chronicled the life of Richard III. When the 400-page manuscript was stolen from her car, Penman found herself unable to write for the next five years. [1] She eventually rewrote the book and by the time the 936-page book was published in 1982 she had spent 12 years writing it, while practicing law at the same time. [2]
The Sunne in Splendour is about England's Wars of the Roses. In the book, Penman characterizes King Richard III as a good, but misunderstood, ruler. [3] She chose to write Richard's character this way after becoming fascinated with his story and researching his life, both in the US and in the UK, which led her to believe that "his was a classic case of history being rewritten by the victor". [4] Penman rejects the common belief that Richard killed the "Princes in the Tower," the sons of his brother King Edward IV, and attributes their deaths to the overly ambitious Duke of Buckingham.
The story begins in 1459 with Richard as a young boy, and ends in 1485 with his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
The earliest chapters portray Richard as a sensitive child who idolizes his hedonistic oldest brother Edward and is mentored by his second oldest, the wise-beyond-his-years Edmund. As Edward and Edmund support their father in his rebellion against the Lancastrians, Richard witnesses the horrors of war firsthand when his family home is sacked, and his mother sends him and his near-in-age brother George to Burgundy for safekeeping.
When his father and Edmund are killed, Edward leads the House of York to victory and becomes king as Edward IV. Richard and George are fostered with the Earl of Warwick, and they become close to his daughters Anne and Isabel. Warwick has a falling out with Edward over his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville which eventually leads Warwick to switch sides to the Lancastrian cause. Richard stays loyal to Edward, even as his betrothal to Anne is broken and Edward is briefly deposed. George, however, sides with Warwick and marries Isabel believing Warwick will put him on the throne. However, when it is clear that Warwick can't make George king, Warwick marries Anne to the Lancastrian heir and pledges support to Henry VI.
Richard develops into a brave and able commander, and he helps Edward take back his throne. When it is clear they will win, George rejoins their side. By this time Warwick is dead and Anne is now a widow, and Edward shows mercy on her due to her age and the fact that Richard still cares for her. He places her in George and Isabel's care, but George wishes to keep Anne's fortune for himself and plans to make Anne disappear. With the help of a loyal servant, Anne escapes and hides as a kitchen maid. Richard rescues her, and once they are married, they return to her childhood home.
Richard contently rules his northern holdings with Anne by his side, with their peace interrupted by Isabel's death and George's descent into madness and paranoia. Richard expects his brother to lock George away in the tower, but he is shocked when Edward has George executed despite their mother's pleas and George no longer being a threat. Richard doesn't realize that George knew of Edward's secret first marriage that would make his union with Elizabeth invalid.
Edward's debauchery catches up with him and he dies prematurely at age 40, and Richard becomes the Protector of the Realm for Edward's sons, Edward and Richard. However, as the political situation becomes more fraught and dangerous, Richard learns of Edward's previous secret marriage and Edward's children are therefore illegitimate. Richard realizes he is the rightful heir to the throne and admits to Anne that he wants the crown. Elizabeth's brother, Anthony, Lord Rivers, plots to crown young Edward without Richard's knowledge. Richard has no choice but to end his protectorship and ruthlessly assumes the throne, but he does not have his nephews killed.
Soon after Richard is crowned, both his son, Edward, and Anne, die. After two years as king, he faces his greatest challenge from an army of French mercenaries led by Henry Tudor, the future King Henry VII. At Bosworth, Richard is betrayed by two of his nobles, and left in a perilous situation. Richard himself is killed a few feet from Henry.
Richard III was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England.
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England fought between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions between 1455 and 1487.
Elizabeth Woodville, later known as Dame Elizabeth Grey, was Queen of England from her marriage to King Edward IV on 1 May 1464 until Edward was deposed on 3 October 1470, and again from Edward's resumption of the throne on 11 April 1471 until his death on 9 April 1483. She was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic civil war between the Lancastrian and the Yorkist factions between 1455 and 1487.
George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, was the sixth son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets now known as the Wars of the Roses.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, and military commander. The eldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, he became Earl of Warwick through marriage, and was the wealthiest and most powerful English peer of his age, with political connections that went beyond the country's borders. One of the leaders in the Wars of the Roses, originally on the Yorkist side but later switching to the Lancastrian side, he was instrumental in the deposition of two kings, which led to his epithet of "Kingmaker".
Anne Neville was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. Before her marriage to Richard, she had been Princess of Wales as the wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, the only son and heir apparent of King Henry VI.
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales against Richard III of England in October 1483. He was executed without trial for his role in the uprisings. Stafford is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of Richard's nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III. In time, it also represented Edward III's senior line, when an heir of York married the heiress-descendant of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward III's second surviving son. It is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with its rival, the House of Lancaster, it had a superior claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture, but an inferior claim according to agnatic primogeniture. The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. It became extinct in the male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, in 1499.
Sharon Kay Penman was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. She was best known for the Welsh Princes trilogy and the Plantagenet series. In addition, she wrote four medieval mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man, was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award.
Cecily Neville was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two kings of England—Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", because she was born at Raby Castle in Durham, and "Proud Cis", because of her pride and a temper that went with it, although she was also known for her piety. She herself signed her name "Cecylle".
Lady Isabel Neville was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne de Beauchamp, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick. She was the wife of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence. She was also the elder sister of Anne Neville, wife and consort of Clarence's brother, Richard III.
Edmund, Earl of Rutland was the fourth child and second surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. He was a younger brother of Edward, Earl of March, the future King Edward IV who came to the throne in 1461, the year after Edmund's death. He was born in Rouen, then the capital of English-occupied France and his father held the office of Lieutenant of France. He was killed at the age of 17 either during or shortly after the Battle of Wakefield, during the Wars of the Roses.
John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln was a leading figure in the Yorkist aristocracy during the Wars of the Roses.
Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick was an important late medieval English noblewoman. She was the daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, and his second wife, Isabel le Despenser.
John Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford, 9th Lord of Skipton was a Lancastrian military leader during the Wars of the Roses in England. The Clifford family was one of the most prominent families among the northern English nobility of the fifteenth century, and by the marriages of his sisters, John Clifford had links to some very important families of the time, including the earls of Devon. He was orphaned at twenty years of age when his father was slain by partisans of the House of York at the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of St Albans in 1455. It was probably as a result of his father's death there that Clifford became one of the strongest supporters of Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI, who ended up as effective leader of the Lancastrian faction.
The Reluctant Queen is a novel by historical novelist Jean Plaidy which tells the tale of Anne Neville, the wife of King Richard III of England. It weaves the tale of Anne's life told in first person. The book was published in the US as The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Anne of York
Edward IV of England has been depicted in popular culture a number of times.
The White Queen is a 2009 historical novel by Philippa Gregory, the first of her series The Cousins' War. It tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of King Edward IV of England. The 2013 BBC One television series The White Queen is a 10-part adaptation of Gregory's novels The White Queen, The Red Queen (2010) and The Kingmaker's Daughter (2012), and features Rebecca Ferguson as Elizabeth Woodville.
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid- to late fifteenth century. These wars were fought between supporters of two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: Lancaster and York. The wars extinguished the last male line of the house of Lancaster in 1471, leading to the Tudor family inheriting the Lancastrian claim to the throne. Following the war and the extinction of the last male line of the house of York in 1483, a politically arranged marriage united the Houses of Tudor and York, creating a new royal dynasty which inherited the Yorkist claim as well, thereby resolving the conflict.
Dickon is a 1929 novel by Marjorie Bowen about King Richard III of England. It was one of many historical fiction works she wrote in her life.