WI Richard III Survives

Did that still matter? Once he had been anointed and crowned, that had made him king, regardless of who ought to have been.

It would have been a simple matter to amend Titulus Regius to legitimise EoY and her sisters, while inserting a rider that "nothing contained herein shall impugn or affect the right and title of his Grace King Rycharde ye Third, now most mercifully reigning, and the heirs of his body - - -" . He could have his cake and eat it if he so decided.

But if he legitimizes EoY and her sisters, isn't he legitimizing the Princes in the Tower and at the very least asking for problems with Pretenders (of EV and Richard Duke of York)? Even if EoY is married off to a foreign power, what if Henry Tudor manages to marry the next York sister (Cecily of York), if Tudor still wins he could unite the two sides in another way.

Honestly, I think people will realize that Richard didn't believe his own reasoning for bastardizing EV's children And this will further undermine Richard's right to rule.

Iirc, in the legal opinion of the day, a foreigner could not inherit the throne. However, if the Lancastrians ran out of credible English pretenders, they might overlook this point.

Your absolutely right.
 
He was in serious negotiations to have him married to the future King of Portugal, so at the very least he was seriously considerin ammending Titus Regulus, unless you seriously believe the Portuguese will take a bastard as their queen.
Hadn't they already taken a bastard as king, earlier on?

And this would have been a bastard of England... :p


But if he legitimizes EoY and her sisters, isn't he legitimizing the Princes in the Tower and at the very least asking for problems with Pretenders (of EV and Richard Duke of York)? Even if EoY is married off to a foreign power, what if Henry Tudor manages to marry the next York sister (Cecily of York), if Tudor still wins he could unite the two sides in another way.
Quite right. He couldn't have had Elizabeth declared legitimate without having the whole brood declared legitimate... and therefore ahead of him, or at least (if we take the fact that he had actually been crowned as making him personally unchallengeable as king) ahead of any heirs of his own body whom he might yet produce, in right to the crown.

Honestly, I think people will realize that Richard didn't believe his own reasoning for bastardizing EV's children And this will further undermine Richard's right to rule.
And that's another point: He could only have made such a cynical decision about Elizabeth if he was (a) as corrupt and (b) even less adept politically than Tudor propaganda claims. In fact from what little we actually know about Richard on the basis of historical facts rather than Tudor propaganda he seems to have been genuinely more devout than some of his contemporaries, and if Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid then there was indeed a good theological argument for declaring the children of that match ineligible to succeed to the throne: It's possible -- I'm not claiming "absolutely definite", but "definitely possible" doesn't seem too far to go -- that he honestly did believe in the 'precontract' story and that Edward IV's children were therefore illegitimate.
 
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He was in serious negotiations to have him married to the future King of Portugal, so at the very least he was seriously considerin ammending Titus Regulus, unless you seriously believe the Portuguese will take a bastard as their queen. It isn't a suggestion, it is a logical conclusion given Richard's stated intentions at the time of his death. Short of the marriage actually taking place, this is the greatest possible way that Richard could have stated "I am willing to alter the line of succession to suit my ends". Besides, it's easy enough for him to make special provisions, not unlike those originally made for the Beauforts, to keep his chosen heirs in power.

In 1485 Manuel was still far from being considered the future king of Portugal. He was only Duke of Beja, and marrying a royal bastard wasn't taboo for Portuguese high nobility. John II still had his son Afonso and his sister Joana alive, and they were above Manuel in the line of succession. Also, even after both his son and sister were dead - in 1491 and 1490, respectively - the succession of Manuel to the throne wasn't granted. John II tried hard to legitimise his bastard son George, Duke of Coimbra, but the nobility opposed it fiercely, and so in the end he accepted the throne would go to Manuel, but he only named him as his heir in 1493.
 
But if he legitimizes EoY and her sisters, isn't he legitimizing the Princes in the Tower and at the very least asking for problems with Pretenders (of EV and Richard Duke of York)?

Of course, if the PitT are alive, they will become Pretenders anyway at some point. The technical "illegitimacy" won't prevent that any more than Henry Tudor's unimpressive pedigree prevented him.




Honestly, I think people will realize that Richard didn't believe his own reasoning for bastardizing EV's children And this will further undermine Richard's right to rule.


Probably why in the end he didn't do it. Marrying his niece could have lost him as many supporters as it gained.
 
In 1485 Manuel was still far from being considered the future king of Portugal. He was only Duke of Beja, and marrying a royal bastard wasn't taboo for Portuguese high nobility. John II still had his son Afonso and his sister Joana alive, and they were above Manuel in the line of succession. Also, even after both his son and sister were dead - in 1491 and 1490, respectively - the succession of Manuel to the throne wasn't granted. John II tried hard to legitimise his bastard son George, Duke of Coimbra, but the nobility opposed it fiercely, and so in the end he accepted the throne would go to Manuel, but he only named him as his heir in 1493.
Alright, I suppose I stand corrected.
 
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