The Pretender - Perkin Warbeck

In 1491, England was in for a shock. Edward IV’s youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, was alive. That was a problem for three reasons. One, if Richard was alive then he was the rightful heir to the English throne. Two, he was already dead. And three, the man protested that he was Richard in the first place. In order to understand why, we need to know the role of pretenders in the Middle Ages.