The story of Richard III was of great interest during the entire Tudor period (1485-1603), because it was a Tudor, Henry of Richmond (Henry VII) who defeated and reputedly killed Richard at the battle of Bosworth Field, August 22, 1485.  Thus historians following this battle were at some pains to justify Henry's action, and it was not good enough to say, for instance, "On balance, Henry had sufficient reason for deposing Richard."  No.  Historians wanted overwhelming, incontrovertible, and compelling reasons for Henry to have killed his monarch and claimed the kingdom for himself. Thus, Sir Thomas More's Life of Richard the Third, Edward Halle's Chronicle, and Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland all tell stories of political intrigue, treachery, and indeed evil behavior of the younger brother of Edward IV, Richard Gloucester, who muscled his way to power for a brief two year reign. But it remained to Shakespeare with his vivid dramatic power to give us the most repugnant view of the last Yorkest monarch.  Shakespeare looked mainly to Holinshed for his story and his character of Richard: "He was close and secret, a deep dissembler, lowly of countenance, arrogant of heart, outwardly companionable where he inwardly hated, not letting [hesitating] to kiss whom he thought to kill."  Shakespeare takes such descriptions and runs with them making Richard one of the most villainous characters he creates in his entire works rivaling Iago, the arch villain in Othello, for the title of "most detestable." Modern historical scholarship has pointedly questioned some elements of Shakespeare's plot such as Richard's involvement in Clarence's and Lady Anne's murders.