England's kings' incomes were less than that of French monarchs

had been in exile in France for 14 years during the wars of the Roses

Richard III may have murdered his 2 nephews, the sons of Edward IV

on the death of Edward IV, Richard usurped the throne in 1483

Parliament didn't play a very large role in government and was only used when the king needed money

law and order was maintained by the Justices of the Peace

Warwick was removed by being sent to the tower

Lincoln professed his loyalty and was sent to the King's Council

some Yorkists were sent to prison or given their old positions e.g. Duke of Northumberland was given back control of the north. however there were still many that did not accept Henry as king

people thought he had no knowledge of the country

the country was weary of war and they wanted someone who could offer peace and stability

not only was he replacing a dead king, but also an unpopular one

unlike Edward IV, had not relied on another noble family to make him king, so didn't owe any families anything

WHO:

• Lambert Simnel, a 10 year old boy who had striking resemblance to Edward, Earl of Warwick who was a Yorkist claimant as he was Richard's nephew
• Priest Symonds from Oxford

AIM: to put the Earl of Warwick/ Lambert SImnel on the throne as he had a claim to it

1486:

• a priest from Oxford noticed a boy he was tutoring bore a striking resemblance to the Princes in the Tower - he originally planned to pose him as the younger boy, Richard of York
• decided to pass him off as Warwick as they were of similar age
  Simnel was the son of an organ - maker - he would be a working class boy impersonating a claimant to the throne
  
  
  
  

• Priest Symonds took him to Ireland where there was a larger Yorkist presence
• proclaimed King of Dublin
• he was supported by Edward IV's sister, Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy
• she sent money and a force of 2000 mercenaries to Ireland
  
  

-Henry found out about the plot a year later and exhibited the real Earl in London to expose the pretender

• situation developed when John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, nephew of Richard (another claimant) fled to Flanders to meet Margaret and Lovell

1487:

• Lincoln marched his army into Lancashire
• less support as people were weary of civil war
• Henry met him with an army of 12,000 to his 8000 and were decisively beaten
  
  
  
  

the debacle was evidence of Henry's calculated mercy as he could afford to be merciful to Simnel because Symonds had been imprisoned + ringleaders were dead

WHO:

• Perkin Warbeck, a 17 - year old boy from France who claimed to be Richard, Duke of York (one of the princes in the tower)
• the plan was put in place by Charles VIII of France and Margaret of Burgundy

AIM: to put a Yorkist claimant, Richard of York, on the throne

WHERE: Cork, Ireland (where there was still much Yorkit support)

1

• Warbeck arrived in Cork where he was originally thought to be Warwick - clever as neither of the princes bodies were ever found
• Warbeck welcomed to the French court by Charles VIII: he was joined. by approx. 100 Yorkists
• however, Henry had and allyship with France so Warbeck + his allies fled to Flanders
• Margaret accepted him as her nephew
• she probs didn't actually think this was the real duke, just a way to dislodge Henry
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Henry cut off all trade with Flanders: English cloth trade in jeopardy
  

to add to Henry's worries:

2

• Warbeck managed to be recognised by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian (however this is as for as it got - didn't provide support for an invasion)
  
  
  
  

Henry forced to execute 2 men:

• Sir William Stanley (his step - uncle and trusted advisor)
• Lord Fitzwalter, his steward
  they had been plotting against him
  
  
  
  

*showed Henry would spare no one, no matter how important they are

3

• Warbeck attempted to invade Kent in July 1495
• Henry able to gain enough support against conspirators
• Warbeck abandoned his plan and sailed back to Ireland where he tried to lay siege to Waterford for 11 days
  
  
  

• departed to Scotland where James VI gave refuge + gave him £1200 annual pension + his cousins hand in marriage
• worry for Henry as he had planned to marry his son Arthur to marry Catherine of Aragon
• Spain wouldn't consider this if there was a contested crown
  
  
  
  

-invasion from Scotland = disastrous. no support for Henry + south of border retreated

• Henry offered James a peace treaty + Margarets hand in marriage

4

• PW retreats back to Ireland to find that even the county of Kildare is loyal to him
  
  • sails to south - west: a traditionally rebellious area - driven out by local militia and only a few thousand people joined him
• fled to Hampshire
• was convinced to give himself up and confess
  
  
  
  
  

• however he foolishly escaped court in 1498
• was immediately recaptured
• was publicly humiliated and imprisoned in the tower
• encountered the real Earl of Warwick
• the 2 tried to escape and were captured and executed in 1499

WHO: Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk - main Yorkist claimant after the death of Warwick

AIM: overthrow Henry and claim the throne for himself

1499:

• de la Pole was originally loyal to Henry, however tension arose after henry refused to let him inherit his father's dukedom
• fled to Guisnes
• Henry managed to convince him to return home for fear of invasion
• remained on good terms till 1501
  

1501:

• de la Pole fled to the court of Maximilian, Holy Roman Empire
• all remnants of the Yorkist threat then gathered in Flanders
• Henry was ruthless this time: all of de la Pole's remaining relatives in England were imprisoned
• 51 men connected to or by the Earl were attained: the largest number of men condemned in Parliament during Henry's reign
  

• Sir James Tyrell was an example of this: he had been constable of the Tower as well as Governor of Guisnes when de la Pole had fled there in 1499.
• he was executed + confessed to killing the Princes in the Tower when he worked as constable.
• this meant there could be no more pretenders trying to claim the throne for themselves

1506:

• unfortunately de la Pole was protected whilst on the European continent so Henry couldn't come after him
• luckily a storm in 1506 caused Philip of Burgundy to take refuge in Henry's court
• Henry persuaded Philip to give up de la Pole on the condition he spared his life
  
  

• de la Pole remained in the tower till his execution 1513 under Henry VIII
• the Yorkist threat died when Richard de la Pole died in 1525

WHO:

• the people of Cornwall and surrounding areas
• former MP, Thomas Flamank
• Michael Joseph, a blacksmith
• Lord Audley

AIM: to remove Cardinal John Morton and Sir Reginald Bray - the 2 servants responsible for the king's taxation policies

WHERE:

• Cornwall
• Blackheath, the outskirts of London
• Deptford Bridge, just outside London

1
January 1497:

• Parliament voted. for a heavy tax to finance an expected invasion from James IV and Warbeck
• Cornish were a traditionally rebellious people and had no intention of protecting the north
• were recently economically hard hit due to the Cornish tin - mines being suspended (main source of income)
  

2
May 1497:

• former MP Thomas Flamank, blacksmith Michael Joseph and Lord Audley led an army of 15,000 rebels
  
  
  
  

• the rebels marched to the outskirts of London and encamped on Blackheath
  

3
June 1497:

• they were eventually confronted by Henry's army
• this led to the Battle of of Deptford Bridge on 17th June 1497
  
  
  
  

• however, many rebels had deserted them the night before. they simply wanted to protest the tax increases, not commit and act of treason

4

• many Londoners were outraged at the Cornish presence and bolstered the army to 25,000
• battle was easy for Henry to win and all 3 leaders were captured
• Flamank, Joseph and Audley executed and their heads were displayed on London bridge
• most of the rebels were able to return home
• henry advised not to display heads in Cornwall as it would antagonise them further

WHO:

• John a Chambre
• Sir John Egremont

WHERE: North of England, mainly Yorkshire

WHEN: 1489 when Henry was planning to aid Brittany in its war against France

1

• Henry planning to aid Brittany in a war against France
• Parliament have him a £100,000 subsidy for this
• tax raised to pay for it
• tax was resented and only made £27,000

2
particularly badly received in the north:

• were suffering the after
• effects of a bad harvest during the summer
• counties north of Yorkshire were exempt from the tax as they had to defend the country against Scotland
• also felt that Brittany/ France wasn't relevant to them because they were so far from the south coast
  

3

• Earl of Northumberland was sent to voice concern to the king
• returned home to no avail and was murdered by the Yorkshire rebels and their leader, John a Chambre
• Henry sent the Earl of Surrey to the rebels with an army of 8000
• the rebels were defeated outside of York
• most rebels were pardoned (example of calculated mercy)
• John a Chambre executed
  
  
  
  

• remaining rebels appointed a new leader, John Egremont but he was unreliable and fled to Europe + joined Margaret of Burgundy
  

collected financial agreements such as bods and recognisances

they were new men so were chosen by ability, not social class

however was careful not to give one man too much land/ power

defended the northern border and had administrative/ judicial powers

example of Henry showing calculated mercy and exploiting Yorkist power rather than going against them

largely kept under control as Henry had Welsh ties

particular problem as there was only really control around Dublin

Earl of Kildare still had lots of power and influence and NOT the king

law passed in 1494 that said that laws could only be passed through the king

attempts to increase royal authority were costly and time consuming so Henry was forced to rely on families such as the Kildares

used parliament to pass and uphold laws and make Acts of Attainder against nobles, to uphold his claim to the throne and define the role of JP's