Richard III aka Richard Plantagenet

Monarch -- via the BBC. This belated obituary is due to the fact that, although he died on August 22, 1485, his bones were only recently discovered, and confirmed to be his yesterday. Painted by popular culture, and the winning faction, as an unrepentant villain, he acheived immortality as the inspiration for one of Shakespeare's best-written and most compelling bad guys. If this helps anyone enjoy the Bard, it's well worth the ruckus.

"Death makes no conquest of this conqueror;
For now he lives in fame, though not in life."