ABSTRACT
The formal basis of Richard’s title, as approved in the 1484 Parliament, was Edward V’s illegitimacy, which was based on the following grounds. The various accounts of the propaganda put forward during the usurpation are so well documented that it is likely that both lines of argument were pursued. The only source which supports the hypothesis of an early death is Mancini’s De Occupatione, where the author reports rumours of it before his departure from England in July, although he also admits that he does not know whether such reports were true. Dr Richmond also suggests that John Howard’s creation as Duke of Norfolk on 28 June is more explicable if one assumes that Richard, Duke of York, was also already dead. The entry in the Anlaby cartulary is interesting for showing that rumours about the date of Edward V’s death circulated in Tudor times, but there is little reason to accept it as accurate.
