He died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. And we haven’t been able to stop talking about him since. 

Yes, it’s time to consider the story of England’s last Plantagenet king, Richard III — a centuries-old tangle involving alleged murder, Shakespeare, vanquish and one mighty rediscovery. 

In this debut episode of History’s Greatest Fails, Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day argue that the story of Richard’s rise and fall (and rise again) is much more modern that you’d first believe. Not least because of the reality-TV-style discovery of his remains under a Leicester council car park in 2022. 

In many ways, Richard’s alleged ‘failures’ — which include allegedly killing the Princes in the Tower and overseeing the demise of Plantagenet rule — overshadow Richard III as the reformer that also existed. He introduced trial by jury and translated many laws into English. But those facts are not often what’s associated with him. He’s more likely to be seen as the villainous caricature of Shakespeare’s Richard III. 

So in this episode, we’ll discover: 

What Richard's story tells us about failure in the present. 
How Tudor propaganda codified his ‘failure’, and how 
How those failures have been revised over over the centuries 
And the chain of events that propelled the search for his bones 

–

As always, Dan’s royal favourites can chime in anytime on the royal court on Patreon at patreon.com/thisishistory. And don’t forget to listen to this season’s accompanying bonus episodes for this miniseries, where Dan and Producer Al are dissecting the biggest historical failures as submitted by the royal favourites. This episode, they discuss Wat Tyler’s failed Peasants Rebellion, Tulip Mania, and the South Sea Bubble of 1720. 

–


A Sony Music Entertainment production. 

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts 

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com 

Learn more about your ad choices. 
Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

––

Presented by Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day 

Producer - Alan Weedon 
Senior Producer - Dominic Tyerman
Executive Producer - Simon Poole 
Production Manager - Jen Mistri 
Production coordinator - Eric Ryan 
Head of content - Chris Skinner 
Special thanks to Alex Lawless, Hannah Talbot, and Selina Ream 
 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

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