Richard III of England

About Richard III of England

Richard III, who reigned as King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, represents a significant, albeit controversial, figure in the late English medieval period. His brief reign was marked by the tumultuous end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the beginning of the Tudor era, following his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field. As a pivotal politician and monarch who seized the throne amidst the Wars of the Roses, his actions directly led to profound shifts in the English political landscape, securing his high ranking of #194 in historical importance by MIT’s Pantheon project.

Despite his historical significance, Richard III garners an estimated 1.4 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, resulting in an attention gap factor of +3x, indicating significant overattention relative to his objective historical rank. This suggests that modern internet attention disproportionately favors this late-medieval king compared to many other foundational figures. For contrast, William the Conqueror, who fundamentally reshaped England following the Battle of Hastings Facts for Kids">Battle of Hastings in 1066 and ranks #934 in importance, receives double the attention with 3.0M views, yet Richard's influence is still ranked far higher.

In terms of recent interest trends, Richard III's online engagement shows a decline in momentum, with Q1 to Q3 performance dropping by 18%, even as his year-over-year views increased by a modest +4.4%.