Born in 1452, Richard Plantagenet did not grow up expecting to be King. He was the 12th of 13 children of the Duke of York, a powerful cousin of King Henry VI.
But with the War of the Roses under way between the houses of Lancaster and York, life could be precarious. As a teenager, he developed scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, but become an accomplished warrior.
After Richards older brother toppled Henry VI to become King Edward IV in 1461, the new monarch left him to run much of the North of England and keep the Scots at bay. When Edward IV died in 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of his son and heir, the 12-year-old Edward V. But the young King was promptly declared illegitimate, and he and his brother then conveniently disappeared, allegedly murdered in the Tower of London. Richard was made King.
Though his reign saw important legal innovations, not least the bail system, it was marked by tragedy: his only son died in 1484.
In 1485, Henry Tudor, of the House of Lancaster, raised an army against Richard and the two forces met at Bosworth, Leicestershire, on August 22. While Henry stayed well back from the fray, Richard was in the thick of it. But when some of his nobles switched sides, the King was defeated and killed.
His reputation would later be buried by Shakespeare, who cemented the enduring image of Richard III as a pantomime villain.
