Perkin

The story of Perkin Warbeck is one of the most compelling mysteries of English history.

A young man suddenly emerged claiming to be Richard of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower.

As such, he tormented Henry vii for eight years. He tried three times to invade England and behaved like a prince.

Officially, however, he was proclaimed to be Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Flemish boatman.

A diplomatic pawn, he was used by the greatest European rulers of the age for their own purposes.

All who dealt with him gave him the identity they wished him to have: either the Duke of York or a jumped up lad from Flanders.

It is possible that he was neither. It is also possible that, by the end, even he did not really know who he was.