The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck

Perkin Warbeck was born in the later half of the 15th century. Around 1490, the teenage Warbeck announced that he was actually Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York and son of King Edward IV of England. The real Richard is famous as one of the two young “princes in the tower” whose fate is lost in history. Because of the mysterious situation of the tower, it was unclear whether Richard had died or not. As a result, along with a movement to overthrow King Henry VII, Warbeck gained several prominent followers. He became a legitimate threat to King Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty. Mary Shelley’s 1830 novel titled “The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck” is a fictionalized account of Warbeck’s life and times. Shelley proclaims that he was in fact Richard of York and follows the young man as he ventures through England and Europe. The character of Warbeck is similar to Mary’s husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley.