26. The Rich Aristocrat Who Overthrew a Dynasty With a Betrayal
Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (1435 – 1504) was a rich English magnate with extensive landholdings in northwest England, which he dominated almost as an independent ruler. As such, his support was sought after by both the Lancastrian and Yorkist branches of the Plantagenet dynasty during the Wars of Roses (1455 – 1487). At the tail end of the conflict, when King Richard III of York was the reigning monarch, Stanley brought the protracted strife to a decisive end with a timely betrayal.
Richard had been crowned in 1483, after the death of his brother Edward IV. Edward had named Richard guardian and regent for Edward’s son and successor, the twelve-year-old Edward V. Richard however declared Edward’s sons illegitimate, and imprisoned his nephews in the Tower of London. There, they disappeared and were likely murdered. Richard then crowned himself king. He was challenged for the throne by Henry Tudor, the last viable male descendant of the rival Lancastrian line, who landed in England in 1485, after years of exile.
