Originally published on 16th of March 2025
Death is a very disturbing topic, but death involving children from the past is either tragic or fascinating. In the case of Richard of Shrewsbury - or more known as Richard, Duke of York, it's like a mystery in the Sherlock Holmes series. Only, it's a case Holmes could not solve himself.
I wasn't planning to do this post as I originally intended to upload one for little Richard's birthday. However, during my research, I discovered a ‘confirmed’ date of death on the Google search bar.
The date was written as the 26th of June 1483 while he was in the Tower of London and on the same day that Richard III was proclaimed king!
Now, AI is not the most reliable resource. I don't rely it. I was puzzled by this. However, I didn't want to let it ago. So, I thought about exploring this further. When I did, I found no true resource to prove this 'confirmed' date online. I asked myself a question: Why? Why did Google allow this date to be online?
But after thinking about it, I realised that this could have been the work of Al Overview. Al's known to show inaccurate information on Google. My next step was to go offline to do some research and write a what-if post based on the writings of historians.
Here's what I found.
Case 1: Revisiting Events Between April & July 1483
Let's begin with the revisitation of Richard's events between the spring and summer of 1483.
On the 9th of April 1483, Richard's father, Edward IV passed away unexpectedly. Following his father's death, Richard became the heir presumptive following the succession of his elder brother as King Edward V. However, the Duke of Gloucester, Richard's uncle would fetch his older brother to accompany him to London. In between, a series of arrests occurred which involved his step-brother Sir Richard Grey, his maternal uncle Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Sir Thomas Vaughan.
On the 1st of May, Richard, his sisters and his mother Queen Dowager Elizabeth Woodville
fled to Westminster Abbey for sanctuary. They lodged at Cheneygates Mansion along with his other stepbrother, the Marquess of Dorset and his other maternal uncle the Bishop of Salisbury.
There's not much information about Richard's time in sanctuary but according to Thomas Moore, he wrote in his book of Richard III saying that the Duke of York was sick whilst he was in sanctuary.
In June, Richard became the subject of the Duke of Gloucester. Gloucester applied pressure to the Queen Dowager to hand Richard over into his care. She relented and gave Richard up to Gloucester. In return, she was promised to have Richard to his mother and sisters after Edward V's coronation.
On the 16th of June, Richard left the sanctuary and was collected by the Archbishop of Canterbury. After leaving the mansion, Richard met his parental uncle, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Buckingham. In the presence of priest Canon Simon Stallworth and the Lord Chancellor John Russell, Richard had met Gloucester who was waiting at the Star Chamber door of the Abbey with him [according to Stallworth]:
'My lord protecter recieving him at the Star Chamber Door with many loving words and so departed with my lord Cardinal to the tower, where he is, blessed be Jesus, merry'.
Later on, Richard was escorted by John Howard, the 1st Duke of Norfolk to the Tower of London to join Edward V before his coronation [schuleded for the 22nd]. He and Edward were housed in the Royal Apartments at the King's Lodging inside the Tower. Although the brothers had not seen each other before their father's death, it was reported that they had been seen shooting and playing together on the grounds, indicating they had formed a small bond. Reports suggest that the boys were seen playing together in the gardens.
On June 25th, Edward V and Richard, the Duke of York, were declared illegitimate after claims arose questioning the legitimacy of the marriage between their parents due to an earlier union between Edward IV and a woman named Eleanor Butler. Following this, Edward was deposed before the citizens of London, and the nobles and commoners presented a petition asking Gloucester to take the throne. Gloucester accepted the role, becoming King Richard III.
By mid-July, Edward V and Richard, the Duke of York, had disappeared and were never seen again. Signs of their disappearance began between July 1st and 6th, when auxiliary police arrived in London, enforcing new rules, including a three-night evening curfew and a ban on citizens carrying arms.
During this period, the boys were reportedly moved from the King's Lodgings to the Lanthorn Tower under appointed guard. However, another source claims that the boys were moved to the Garden Tower (which is now famously called The Bloody Tower).
Before the move, it is possible that they met Richard III at the Tower before his coronation on July 6th. While it is not clear, if this meeting took place, he might have encountered them elsewhere in the Tower or witnessed their transfer to either the Lanthorn Tower or the Garden Tower.
After the supposed visit by Richard III, the boys vanished.
Case 2: Was Richard of Shrewsbury Ill?
That's the question I held out in the back of my mind, especially when I found out Thomas Moore's suggestion that Richard was ill whilst in sanctuary. While I couldn't find the account in Moore's book itself, some historians agree that Richard feeling ill and reluctant to leave his family is propaganda. Moore is known for writing material to villainize Richard III. However, Alison Weir notes in her biography of Richard's older sister Elizabeth of York that Richard's youngest sister Bridget of York wasn't well. Although Weir hasn't confirmed the illness, she mentions a quote where Bridget 'had been sick in the said Wardrobe'.
Author Susan Higginbotham goes into further detail when she says that Bridget received 'two long pillows of fustian stuffed with down and two pillow beres of Holland cloth'. Higginbotham doesn't mention Bridget's illness either but from what I understand, it's possible that she had to be carried into Westminster Abbey with her bed linen. If it's the case, then Bridget's illness would have spread to Richard.
If it's so, how did his health deteriorate in the Tower of London?
There are no records of Richard's health when he moved into the King's Lodgings to join Edward V. However when the boys moved to the Lanthorn Tower, it is a different story.
There is an important source to suggest that either one of the boys was ill inside the Lanthorn Tower.
This that supports this argument is John A.H. Wylie's essay, which addressed the possibility of natural causes behind the Princes' demise. Wylie elucidates how the boys may have succumbed to the sweating sickness, presenting a compelling alternative explanation for their deaths:
Edward V and his younger brother Richard may have died in the Tower of London, in the first half of August. 1483, " the month of peak incidence of the English Sweating Sickness. Some of their attendants may have come from the North, any of whom, including Richard III himself, could have been a carrier. The Princes, moreover, were not held captive in a squalid environment.- They were well fed and housed, relatively luxuriously, in the royal apartments of the Tower of London. Their age, ‘sex and social circumstances were those which characterized many of the victims of the fatal illness. Indeed, if Edward V died in 1483 at the age of thirteen years, he would probably have been well into puberty, given that his dietary and cognate circumstances were‘privileged well above average: The Duke of York, although on the young side to succumb would, in the circumstances of the propinquity of his brother, have been vulnerable to a massive exposure to the virus.
This aligns with an account provided by the Dutch priest Desiderius Erasmus, who noted an outbreak of sweating sickness occurring in the same year as the disappearance of Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury. This event was also documented in the York Civic Records, which reported the resurgence of sweating sickness among Henry Tudor's forces before the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. If substantiated, this information could offer significant insight into debunking the myths related to these events.
Furthermore, there are two accounts concerning Edward V that lend additional support to this matter. Following the dismissal of the Princes’ attendants, Edward's physician, Dr. John Argentine, was the only individual allowed to visit him, albeit without permission to remain in the Lanthorn Tower. In the referenced documentary, Borman cites an account by Mancini, who describes the interaction between Argentine and Edward V. Mancini characterizes the young king as "like a victim prepared for sacrifice," indicating that he sought absolution for his sins through daily confession and penance.
This account supports Ashdown-Hill's theory concerning the mental health of King Edward, suggesting that he may have suffered from depression. I believe that had he received a medical diagnosis, he would likely have been classified with Psychotic Depression; however, this assertion cannot be made with certainty, as I do not possess the qualifications of a medical expert.
Conclusion: Could It Be True?
After looking into the source material I could find, I have concluded that is it possible that Richard of Shrewsbury died in the Lanthorn Tower by a type of virus. What the virus is, I do not know the full answer. However, I accept Erasmus's account which he mentions that Richard had been vulnerable to the virus - the sweating sickness. Although modern historians agree that the earliest records of the sweating sickness date back to 1485, the virus could be a possibility.
Another type of fever is possible too as Erasmus was ill from 1484, which took him over a year to recover. What's questionable is that at the time, Erasmus was living in Europe and didn't visit England until 1499.
But, this doesn't mean we can rule it out entirely. Considering Erasmus was ill himself around this time, there had been an epidemic in Europe and Britain around the same time. And if he knew about it, Erasmus may have heard it from a source from someone who was with the boys like Dr John Argentine.
If Richard and Edward were ill, their illnesses would have been worse from the conditions inside the Lanthorn Tower. And if Edward V did survive, then he would have been able to fight off the virus more than Richard.
While we still need to re-examine the skeletons in the urn at Westminster Abbey, I believe Richard of Shrewsbury died from the sweating sickness inside the Tower of London could be true. The sources are there and I feel they are enough to convince me to agree to this subject.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Author's Note: All resources I have used are based on the sources from these websites and books. This information could change at any time if new evidence comes to light. Find below all the resources I've used including texts from authors who published works from Desiderius Erasmus onwards:
References and Sources:
National Library of Medicine 'Were the English Sweating Sickness and the Picardy Sweat Caused by Hantaviruses?'
Paul Heyman 1,2,*, Leopold Simons 1,2, Christel Cochez 1,2
30.Browne J. A Practical Treatise of the Plague. Nabu Press; London, UK: 1720.
34.Mead R. A Short Discourse Concerning Pestilential Contagion. 3rd ed. Sam Buckley; London, UK: 1720.
73.Maclean C. Results of an Investigation Respecting Epidemic and Pestilential Diseases Including Researches in the Levant. Volume 1 Thomas & George Underwood; London, UK: 1817.
Jones, Dan, 'The Hallow Crown: The Wars of The Roses and the Rise and Fall of the Tudors' [Faber & Faber], 2014, 'The Only Imp Now Left' [p286, 292 - 298]
Kendall, Paul Murray, 'Richard the Third' (New York: W. W. Norton, 1956)
Langley, Phillipa 'The Princes In The Tower' [The History Press], 2023, 'The Missing Princes' [P34 - P36], '1483 Two Weeks, One Summer' [P39, P55, P61 - P62], The Disappearance: A Timeline [P65]
Mancini, Dominic, 'The Usurpation of Richard the Third' (Translated by C.A.J. Armstrong) [Sutton Publishing LTD], Originally published in 1483 under 'De Occupatione Regni Anglie per Riccardum Tercium'[Modern Edition published on 31st of May 1984]
Weir, Alison, 'Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen' [Vintage Books], 2013, ' 'This Act of Usurpation' ' [P82 - 83]
Wilkinson, Josephine, 'The Princes In The Tower [Amberley], 2013, 'Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York' [P32]
Wylie, John A.H., 'The Princes in the Tower, 1483 — 'Death from natural causes?' (Richard III Society) (PI79 - 180)
Website References:
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