ABSTRACT
Edward IV's son lost the throne within three months of his death, his male heirs were probably both dead before the end of the year, and within two and a half years a new dynasty, the Tudors, secured the Crown. Although the dynasty survived for over a century, and in consequence acquired ultimately a certain air of inevitability. It is hard too, viewing events through the perspective of the Tudors' achievements, to remember how unlikely a candidate Henry, earl of Richmond, was for the English throne. Many of the participants in the rebellion were men who had been old supporters of Edward IV, and with rumours, probably well founded, that the late King's two sons were dead; there was some spontaneous popular discontent which could be exploited against Richard. The Tudor succession never looked particularly secure, and it must be remembered that there were never more than a few lives between the dynasty and extinction.
