Richard III: Introduction

Richard III, 1483-1485

There was no parliament in the reign of Edward IV's son, Edward V. The parliament summoned to meet on 25 June 1483 was deemed to have been cancelled when the young king's coronation, planned for 22 June, was postponed. Richard III, who seized the throne on 26 June, planned to hold his first parliament on 6 November 1483 but it was cancelled in the face of gathering opposition and the only parliament of the reign met on 23 January 1484. The printed edition of this roll in the RP only lists, and does not transcribe, the bills that became statutes. The present edition is thus the first complete edition of the roll. No engrossed bills survive from 1483 onwards in the National Archives and so none of the petitions in this parliament can be compared with their originals.