In the wake of the recent discovery of what appears to be the remains of King Richard III on the site of the former Greyfriars friary in Leicester, I have been sent an e-mail from somebody asking why Shakespeare, as a Catholic, would have written apparent Tudor propaganda in his depiction of Richard III. Here is my brief but hopefully adequate response: 

 
One of Shakespeare’s principal sources for Richard III was St. Thomas More’s History of Richard III. Shakespeare and More both paint Richard III as a Machiavellian tyrant and usurper. He is a “monster”, etymologically connected with monere (to warn). In More’s case his warning proved to be prophetic with regard to Henry VIII; in Shakespeare’s case Richard III, as tyrant and usurper, is an analogue to Elizabeth I.