Thomas More's History of King Richard III

E48884

Tudor historiography biographical work historical narrative unfinished work

Thomas More's History of King Richard III is a seminal early-16th-century biographical and historical narrative that portrays Richard III as a ruthless usurper and heavily shaped the king’s enduringly negative reputation.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
History of King Richard III	1
Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III	1
Sir Thomas More’s history of King Richard III	1
The History of King Richard III by Thomas More	1
Thomas More's History of King Richard III canonical	1
Thomas More’s "History of King Richard III"	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T383381 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Thomas More's History of King Richard III
Context triple: [Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third, criticizesSource, Thomas More's History of King Richard III]

A. Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third
"Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third" is an 18th-century historical study by Horace Walpole that challenges the traditional, villainous portrayal of King Richard III.
B. The Eton Chronicle
The Eton Chronicle is a long-running school magazine produced by students of Eton College, featuring news, commentary, and creative writing from the school community.
C. Trial of the Sixteen
The Trial of the Sixteen was a 1936 Soviet show trial in Moscow in which prominent Old Bolsheviks were accused of treason and summarily condemned, marking a key early stage of Stalin’s Great Purge.
D. Richard III (1955 film)
Richard III (1955 film) is a British historical drama directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, adapting Shakespeare’s play about the scheming English king.
E. Trial of the Pyx
The Trial of the Pyx is a centuries-old ceremonial and legal procedure in the United Kingdom in which newly minted coins are rigorously tested for quality and accuracy to ensure they meet required standards.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Thomas More's History of King Richard III
Target entity description: Thomas More's History of King Richard III is a seminal early-16th-century biographical and historical narrative that portrays Richard III as a ruthless usurper and heavily shaped the king’s enduringly negative reputation.

A. Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third
"Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third" is an 18th-century historical study by Horace Walpole that challenges the traditional, villainous portrayal of King Richard III.
B. The Eton Chronicle
The Eton Chronicle is a long-running school magazine produced by students of Eton College, featuring news, commentary, and creative writing from the school community.
C. Trial of the Sixteen
The Trial of the Sixteen was a 1936 Soviet show trial in Moscow in which prominent Old Bolsheviks were accused of treason and summarily condemned, marking a key early stage of Stalin’s Great Purge.
D. Richard III (1955 film)
Richard III (1955 film) is a British historical drama directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, adapting Shakespeare’s play about the scheming English king.
E. Trial of the Pyx
The Trial of the Pyx is a centuries-old ceremonial and legal procedure in the United Kingdom in which newly minted coins are rigorously tested for quality and accuracy to ensure they meet required standards.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Tudor historiography ⓘ biographical work ⓘ historical narrative ⓘ unfinished work ⓘ
aimsTo	present Richard III as a warning example of tyranny ⓘ
associatedWith	Henry VIII’s court ⓘ linked to: Tudor court
author	Thomas More ⓘ
circulation	manuscript circulation before print ⓘ
claimsResponsibilityFor	Richard III ordering the murder of the Princes in the Tower ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	England ⓘ
coversEvent	Wars of the Roses ⓘ accession of Richard III ⓘ reign of Richard III ⓘ rise of Henry VII ⓘ
dateWritten	c. 1513 ⓘ early 16th century ⓘ
depictsEvent	disappearance of the Princes in the Tower ⓘ
evaluatedAs	key source for Richard III’s historiography ⓘ seminal work of English prose ⓘ
genre	biography ⓘ political history ⓘ
impactOn	English historical drama ⓘ perceptions of the Wars of the Roses ⓘ
influenced	William Shakespeare's Richard III ⓘ later Tudor chroniclers ⓘ popular image of Richard III ⓘ
language	English ⓘ Latin ⓘ
literaryStyle	humanist historiography ⓘ rhetorical and moralising narrative ⓘ
mainSubject	Richard III of England ⓘ
narrativePerspective	pro-Tudor ⓘ
notableFor	shaping Richard III’s negative reputation ⓘ use of dramatic narrative techniques ⓘ vivid characterisation of Richard III ⓘ
politicalContext	Tudor dynasty legitimation ⓘ
portraysAs	deformed ruler ⓘ ruthless usurper ⓘ tyrant ⓘ
questionedBy	modern historians ⓘ
relatedWork	Polydore Vergil's Anglica Historia ⓘ linked to: Polydore Vergil’s "Anglica Historia" The Chronicles of Hall ⓘ
settingPeriod	late 15th century England ⓘ
status	unfinished ⓘ
survivesAs	English version ⓘ Latin version ⓘ
timeOfCompositionContext	early reign of Henry VIII ⓘ

How these facts were elicited