In 1198, King Henry II of England invaded Ireland and gave the part of it he controlled to his son John as a Lordship when John was just 10 in 1177. When John succeeded to the English throne in 1199, he remained Lord of Ireland thereby bringing the kingdom of England and the lordship of Ireland into personal union. Successive Kings of England also had the title of Lord of Ireland until the title was abolished by Henry VIII, who was made King of Ireland by the Parliament of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England.
The Royal style of King Richard III was "Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae" (King of England and of France and Lord of Ireland). |