Perkin Warbeck or Richard IV of England?
Maria Leotta
- Region:
- Yorkshire & Humber
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Professional
- Fee:
- Paid: £70 plus expenses
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 25th August 2026
- Tagged:
Henry VII sits on his rocking throne. He has a dangerously tenuous right to the crown of England, and he lives in absolute terror that his fragile new dynasty could be overthrown at any moment. His ultimate nightmare materialises when an elegant, handsome young man arrives on English shores, claiming the throne as Richard IV of England, the youngest son of Edward IV and one of the 'Princes in the Tower'.For centuries, history has remembered this man as an impostor named Perkin Warbeck. But recent archival evidence and breakthrough research are flipping the script, suggesting that Perkin may have been exactly who he claimed to be. Was he a talented actor or a rightful king erased by Tudor propaganda? Let's look at the evidence.
Views: 8 | Enquiries: 0About Maria Leotta
Maria Leotta is an Italian amateur researcher based in York, England. She is a host at York Trust Museum and York Minster, a volunteer for York Archeology Trust and a translator/interpreter working for several translation agencies.
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She graduated in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature with 1st Class Hons and she also has a Diploma in Religious Science. She got an MA in Translation Studies at the University of Sheffield .
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In 2018 she joined the team of The Missing Princes Project led by Philippa Langley MBE, who successfully led the discovery of King Richard III in a Leicester car park in 2012.
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After five years in the team, Maria Leotta published her first book, released on 12th December 2022. It is the first ever Italian biography of King Richard III. Her second book of short stories based on historical facts, "The Untold Stories", was published on 22nd August 2025,
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She is the Email Manager for both the Scottish Branch and the Yorkshire Branch of the Richard III Society.
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She regularly contributes to blogs and magazines with articles about the Middle Ages. She had two short stories published in two anthologies and two poems accepted for the White Rose Bards.
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She is fond of medieval music, reenactments, travelling, reading and writing.
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She is currently writing two more books including one of poetry and a non-fiction book about Ricardians writers and novelists.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by Maria Leotta
- Richard III: monster or martyr?
- "Richard of Eastwell" a secret son of Richard III
- A Mayor of York: William Snawsell and his friendship with Richard III
- Medieval food and banquets
- English Travellers to Sicily: the Private Diary of Richard Grenville first Duke of Buckingham and C
- Myths and Legends about Mount Etna and its link to English Monarchs
- The Princes in the Tower: the most gripping mystery of British History probably solved
- Robert Stillington, the bishop who changed the course of English history.
- Tempest Anderson: a Victorian surgeon, scientist and photographer.
- Cartimandua, the first Yorkshire queen.
- The Crypt of York Minster and St William's tomb
- The Ghosts of York. A virtual tour in the capital of the North's most haunted places.
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