Richard III (1452–1485) is perhaps the most famous and most mysterious king of the Middle Ages. For many years he was a loyal vassal of his older brother, Edward IV of York (1461–1483), who trusted Richard so much that before his death he appointed his brother regent of England and guardian of his sons. However, almost immediately after the death of Edward IV, an amazing metamorphosis occurred with Richard - he was removed from power, imprisoned, and perhaps even ordered the murder of the children entrusted to his care. The reign of Richard III was very short-lived, in less than two years he did not have time to prove himself as a statesman, and yet, he should have remained in the memory of the British as not the worst sovereign - he canceled the “voluntary” donations introduced by Edward IV in favor of the crown and adopted a number of progressive laws. The methods by which Richard came to power, by the standards of the 15th century, did not look truly immoral; and a heroic death on the battlefield (Richard III was the last English monarch to die in battle) could make him a hero. However, within a few decades, Richard III began to be considered a villain and a traitor. Shakespeare described him as a bloody tyrant, an oathbreaker and a murderer, “a monster, hunchbacked in both body and soul.” This grotesque image turned out to be so colorful that it literally began to live its own life. Perhaps it was precisely thanks to the negative charm of Shakespeare’s king that already at the beginning of the 17th century. Richard III had his first defenders. Historians are still arguing - some proclaim Richard as a model of virtue, others call him a two-faced upstart and a murderer. What was Richard III really like? Why does he have such a bad reputation? We will try to find the answers in this book.