RICHARD II
a son of the Black Prince, reigned from 1377-1400. He was not a strong prince. His reign was marked by quarrels with his relatives and with circles of the nobility. The insurrection of Wat Tyler occurred during his reign. He was a patron of the poet Chaucer and protected Wyclif in his preaching and writing. He is the leading character in Shakespeare's drama of Richard II.
RICHARD III (1452-1485), as Duke of Gloucester, aided his brother, Edward IV, in the Lancastrian wars, and succeeded him as king in 1483. He is represented in history as a soldier of skill and energy and an unrelenting enemy. He is held responsible for the death of Clarence, his brother, and for that of his young nephews. He was undone finally by the Duke of Buckingham, and perished on the field of Bosworth. He is the central character in Shakespeare's tragedy of Richard III. There is no historical foundation for the Shakespearean representation of Richard as a hunchback,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them.
A view of Richard as a fighter is given by Stevenson in Black Arrow.