Richard Plantagenet, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York was one of the most powerful and consequential nobles of fifteenth-century England, a prince of royal blood whose ambition and grievance helped ignite the Wars of the Roses. Intelligent, capable, and conscious of his lineage, he emerged as both reformer and rival in a kingdom weakened by instability under Henry VI.

As protector of the realm and later claimant to the throne, Richard sought authority in an age where power was won as much by arms as by law. His death at Wakefield ended his own bid for kingship, yet his cause survived through his sons, shaping England through the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III.