"Which famous King said these words"My kingdom for a horse"?"

Asked by turcotra 29 months ago

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"A fictional version of a famous king, Richard III"
 by PamPerdue on Aug 29 2007 (29 months ago)
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It's from Shakespeare's heavily fictionalized version of Richard III.  Richard himself has been killing people let and right, but the battle is going badly against Richard's army, and his horse has been killed.  He wants to get back into the thick of it so that he can kill his enemy, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. 

So twice he declares (act 5 scene 4):
A horse!  A horse!  My kingdom for a horse!
The real Richard III probably never said it, or did a lot of the other things Shakespeare accused him of.
Sources: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/richardiii/full.html
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"Think Shakespeare"
 by LonePalm on Aug 29 2007 (29 months ago)
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The line is from the opening of Act V, Scene IV of William Shakespeare's Richard III.
It is not known if Richard ever actually uttered the line.
A good description of the play is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(play)

The speaker is Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field

The battle ends with Richard's death, effectively ends the Wars of the Roses, and begins the Tudor Dynasty with the ascension of Henry Tudor to be Henry VII. The last Tudor was Elizabeth I.

This is why the Tudor Rose 

is composed of the red rose of Lancaster

and the white rose of York.


And you thought history was dull.
Sources: Talent on loan from God

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A rose by any other word would smell as sweet. (This is the correct quote.)
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"It was King Richard III"
 by DragonDude on Aug 29 2007 (29 months ago)
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A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
[info][add][mail]
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "King Richard III", Act 5 scene 4
Sources: thaks to quotables
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"Supposedly, Richard III..."
 by Cantus on Aug 29 2007 (29 months ago)
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at the Battle of Redmore Plain, or the Battle of Bosworth as it came to be called.  This is according to Shakespeare, but I believe his sources to have been spurious at best.  Yes, I am a Ricardian, and that just opens up another large tin of worms..Just remember that history is written by the victors.
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"King Richard III"
 by Mr_M_told_U_so on Aug 29 2007 (29 months ago)
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by William Shakespeare

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Well written thoughtful answer. Richard was vilified with no excuse other than to make the Tudor coupe of the crown more acceptable and better received. It is well known that Richard did not like Edward's in laws,and thought they were too common to have many of the posts they were appointed to, but he was loyal to Edward and worshiped him. I have always had trouble with him being a murderer of the only living remains of his older brother, no matter the purpose behind it. Henry Tudor, however gained greatly by having them removed, he inflamed Elizabeth Woodville who then contracted her daughter Elizabeth to him in marriage giving him a more legitimate claim through Edward to the throne. Also, no male heirs of Edwards equaled no challenge to an empty throne.
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