Wars of the Roses
Richard III takes the throne

Despite his assurances to the contrary, Richard had Earl Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan beheaded in June 1483. Acting as Lord Protector, Richard repeatedly stalled the coronation of Edward V, despite the urging of the king's councillors, who wished to avoid another protectorate. That same month, Richard accused the Lord Chamberlain, the Baron Hastings, of treason, and had him executed without trial on 13 June. Hastings had been popular, and his death created considerable controversy, not least because his loyalty to Edward and his continued presence would have presented a major obstacle to Richard's path to securing the throne. A clergyman, likely Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union to Eleanor Butler, thereby making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate heirs to the throne.

On 22 June, the selected date for Edward's coronation, a sermon was preached outside St. Paul's Cathedral declaring Richard the rightful king, a post which the citizenry petitioned Richard to accept. Richard accepted four days later, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July 1483.
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