TheTudor myth is the tradition inEnglish history,historiography andliterature that presents the 15th century, including theWars of the Roses, inEngland as a dark age of anarchy and bloodshed. The narrative that the Tudor myth perpetrated was curated with the political purpose of promoting theTudor period of the 16th century as a golden age of peace, law, order, and prosperity.[1]The hope was to elevateKing Henry VII's rulership compared to his predecessors.[2]
The Tudor myth may have also been advanced by the Tudors and their confederates due to the poor financial conditions of the populace in the 16th century as opposed to the 15th century. In Thomas Lambert'sRichard III, the Tudor Myth, and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism, he argues that the 16th century had "...poorer economic performance and higher taxation during the Tudor reign compared to the previous century..."[3]
The Tudor myth was made to elevate King Henry VII (a Lancastrian by relation), by ruiningKing Richard II andKing Richard III.[4] Throughout the 16th century, Richard II would be vilified and portrayed as a terrible leader and traitor to the English monarchy. Richard III (and by extension, Yorkist loyalties) is portrayed as an irredeemable tyrant to legitimize Tudor rule.[5] The most popular rendition gained notoriety due to Shakespeare's play,Richard III, in which King Richard III's moral character is berated.[6]
Shakespeare's plays were both a product of and a contributor to the Tudor myth and King Richard III's portrayal. His play was written in hindsight, since he was aware of the events that followed King Richard III's reign.[7] With this information in mind, Shakespeare set out to disparage King Richard III's character, as exemplified in his portrayal of RichardRichard III of England (1452–1485; reigned, 1483–1485) as a deformedhunchback and murderer. HistorianThomas More, was one of the first to spread this characterisation of King Richard III.William Shakespeare picked up on the rumour and continued this tradition through his history plays that covered the 15th century includingRichard II,Henry IV, Part 1,Henry IV, Part 2,Henry V,Henry VI, Part 1,Henry VI, Part 2,Henry VI, Part 3, andRichard III. Though scholars and historians, such asHorace Walpole and SirGeorge Buck denounced this portrayal of the king during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Shakespeare's description of King Richard III remained the most well-known depiction of him in British/Commonwealth-American historical writing up until the twentieth century.[8]
This view of King Richard III was perpetuated by therevisionist historianPaul Murray Kendall, author ofRichard III (1956), in which Shakespeare's portrayal is brought to life.[9] Kendall's film also garnered more attention to King Richard III's reputation in general, and many historians would begin to explore the validity of Shakespeare's and the Tudor's portrayal of the king.[10]
Though this portrayal of King Richard III is widely accepted, many, such asMerry England chose to provide a different perspective on his kingship. More specifically,Ricardian historians, theRichard III Society andThe Society of Friends of King Richard III have striven to provide historical perspectives more favourable to Richard III and his achievements during his brief reign.[11]
The following passage from Act 4, Scene 1 in Shakespeare's play,Richard II, is often pointed to as an expression of the Tudor myth. It is a speech by the character the Bishop of Carlisle, spoken just as Bolingbroke suggests that he will ascend the throne of England. Carlisle raises his voice to object, and ends with a vision of the future that seems to prophesy the civil wars that are the basis of Shakespeare's English history plays:[12][13]
My Lord of Hereford here, whom you call king,
Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king;
And if you crown him, let me prophesy,
The blood of English shall manure the ground
And future ages groan for this foul act;
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,
And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound;
Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny,
Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd
The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls.
O! if you raise this house against this house,
It will the woefullest division prove
That ever fell upon this cursed earth.
Prevent it, resist it, let it not be so,
Lest child, child's children, cry against you woe![14]
In this scene, Shakespeare is expressing the conventional Tudor-era view that the chaos of the 15th century was a divine punishment for the deposition of Richard II.[12]
Tudor propaganda also sought to rehabilitateJohn I of England as a dissenter from the church.[17]
