Richard was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire.
His father was Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and his mother Cecily Neville.
Richard´s father and older brother died at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460.
In 1461, Richard's brother, Edward, became Edward IV and created him Duke of Gloucester.
In 1470, Edward and Richard were exiled when Henry VI was briefly restored to the throne. The following year, they returned to England and Richard contributed to the Yorkist victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury which restored Edward to the throne.
He was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485, then Henry Tudor took the throne as Henry VII.
Richard was the last Yorkist king of England, whose death at the Battle of Bosworth effectively ended the Wars of the Roses.
He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty.
There were two major rebellions against Richard. The first, in October 1483, was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and also by Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, his first cousin once removed.
In August 1485, another rebellion against Richard was led by Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor.
Because of the circumstances of his accession and in consequence of Henry VII's victory, Richard III's remains received burial without pomp and were lost for more than five centuries.
In 2012, an archaeological excavation was conducted on a city council car park on the site once occupied by Greyfriars, Leicester.
The University of Leicester confirmed on 4 February 2013 that a skeleton found in the excavation was of Richard III.