Proposal

This project examines the disappearance of Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York, commonly known as the Princes in the Tower, during the political upheaval of 1483. Rather than trying to determine who was responsible for their fate, this project focuses on how both contemporary and later sources shaped the story of the princes, particularly in relation to power, legitimacy, and memory in late medieval England. This project will take the form of a traditional research paper focused on source-based interpretation, combining written and visual evidence to explore how the Princes in the Tower have been represented and remembered.

The Princes in the Tower are a compelling subject because they sit at the intersection of dynastic politics, the vulnerability of children, and historical uncertainty. Their disappearance has produced centuries of debate among historians, as well as emotionally charged responses in later literary and visual representations. This project is interested in how political motives contributed to the way the princes were remembered, rather than treating their fate as a mystery that can be definitively solved.

Methodologically, this project draws on a range of primary written sources, including contemporary chronicles and early sixteenth-century historical accounts, alongside visual and material sources. These sources will be considered alongside modern secondary scholarship in order to trace how interpretations of the princes developed over time. Particular attention will be paid to bias, silence, and moral framing in both textual and visual evidence.

The central questions for this project include what contemporary sources reveal and omit about the princes’ disappearance, how early Tudor writers shaped later understandings of Richard III’s role, and how visual representations reinforced ideas of innocence and victimhood. By combining textual and visual analysis, this project examines how historical memory is shaped over time rather than fixed.