#4 Severity of Yorkist threat

Question 1

Name the 6 Yorkist threats faced by Henry VII

(1 being more a general threat)

Answer 1

1. Lovell (and Stafford)
2. Simnel
3. Yorkshire rebellion
4. Warbeck
5. (Cornish rebellion)
6. De la Pole

Question 2

When was the Lovell and Stafford rebellion?

Answer 2

April 1485

Question 3

What evidence is there that the Lovell and Stafford rebellion was a threat?

Answer 3

1. Had the support of nobles such as Lord Lovell and the Stafford brothers so was powerful and influential
2. It was well coordinated
3. Wide-spread unrest - Midlands, north, and Wales
4. During the first year of Henry’s reign when still gaining exerience

Question 4

What evidence is there that the Lovell and Stafford rebellion was not a threat?

(5)

Answer 4

1. Henry heard about it - demonstrated Henry had inside support demonstrating strength of his position
2. Staffords arrested- Humphrey executed but Thomas pardoned and remained loyal
3. Herberts and Vaughans leading Wales put down by Rhys ap Thomas - supported Henry at Bosworth
4. Offered pardon or death and rebels chose pardon
5. Rebellion did not impeed royal progress north, where Henry won loyalty and obedience

Question 5

Overall how significant a threat was the Lovell and Stafford rebellion?

Answer 5

• Yes: Large number of supporters, some of whom high-born, and early on in reign
• But: Henry defeated it because he had inspired support so heard about it and had gelp putting it down, did not bring him to battle
• So: 4/6 - the fact that it was early in reign counterbalanced by how his support meant he did not have to go into battle himself, however wide-spread and noble support made it quite serious

Question 6

When was the Simnel conspiracy?

Answer 6

1486-87

Question 7

What evidence is there that the Simnel conspiracy was a threat?

(4 supports and 3 others)

Answer 7

1. Support from Oxford
2. Crowned Ed VI in Ireland
3. 8,000 men from Early of Lincoln
4. £££ and 2,000 mercenaries from Margaret of Burgundy
5. Henry only heard about threat around a year after it began
6. Parading real Warwick did not stop support for Simnel
7. Offering pardon did not stop rebellion (prepared to really threaten king)
8. Culminated in Battle of Stoke ^{<span>June 1487</span>}

Question 8

What evidence is there that Simnel’s conspiracy was not a threat?

Answer 8

1. Simnel was not a genuine claimant
2. Lack of widespread English support when landed in Lancashire
3. People tired of Wars of Roses
4. People disliked the Irish
5. Real Warwick was in Tower

Question 9

Overall how significant a threat did Simnel pose?

Answer 9

Most significant of all Yorkist threats

• Parading real Warwick did not prevent rebellion
• Only threat to get Henry on battle field
• Battle of Stoke could have been Simnel’s Battle of Bosworth
  
  • Henry’s fate rested with others’ agendas, lacked stability this early in reign

Question 10

When was the Yorkshire rebellion?

Answer 10

1489

Question 11

What caused the Yorkshire rebellion?

Answer 11

• Tax granted by Parliament of £100,00 to aid Brittany against France
• Bad harvest in 1488
• Other northern counties exempt as expected to defend against Scottish attacks on northern border
• Localist feeling - too far from France to feel threatened
• Certain Yorkist seniment - led by Sir John Egremont Yorkist supporter and illegitimate member of Percy family

Question 12

What evidence is there that the Yorkshire rebellion was a threat?

Answer 12

• Duke of Northumberland killed trying to collect tax
• Threat to turning into a usurption attempt - led by Sir John Egremont Yorkist supporter and illegitimate member of Percy family
• Royal control weak in north and easily challenged - money never collected

Question 13

What evidence is there that the Yorkshire rebellion was not a threat?

Answer 13

• Easily crushed by a royal army
• Murder of a royal official over unpopular policy not unusual - only way to vent feelings

Question 14

How did Henry combat his weakness in the north?

Answer 14

Appointed the Earl of Surrey as his representative in the north

• No vested interest there
• Loyalty secure because the restoration of his own estate depended on his success in the region

Question 15

Overall how significant a threat was the Yorkshire rebellion?

Answer 15

Low significance

• Probably not Yorkist as murder of tax-men common
• Easily crushed without Henry going into battle

Although some significance as made Henry seccure region more - did not get his tax

Question 16

When was the Cornish rebellion?

Answer 16

May - June 1497

Question 17

What caused the Cornish rebellion?

Answer 17

Trigger: tax for war with Scotland

• James IV and Warbeck
• Cornwall localism - too far removed to feel threat

Question 18

Where did the Cornish rebellion begin?

Answer 18

County town of Bodmin in Cornwall

Question 19

What evidence is these that the Cornish rebellion was a threat?

Answer 19

• Gained support from across Cornwall and Somerset to 15,000 supporters
• Low-class gentry support
• Support of impoverished Lord Audley
• No second chances - leaders tortured and executed, others heavily fined
• Were they REALLY only after the ‘evil councillors’??? (probably)
• Got close to London

Question 20

Other problems the Cornish rebellion highlighted with Henry’s reign?

Answer 20

• This and Yorkshire - country not prepared to fund campaigns to defend the Tudor monarchy (Henry’s main aim!)
• In 12 years Henry’s loyalty was still limited

Question 21

What evidence is there that the Cornish rebellion was not a threat?

Answer 21

• Only reached London because he was more concerned with the threat from Warbeck
• Attracted little support in Devon (antagonisms between the two counties)
• Only attracted one noble, who was impoverished
• Numbers dropped as approached London - fear outweighing anger
• Against ‘evil councillors’ such as Morton and Bray, not Henry
• Easily crushed by royal force of 25,000 men at Blackheath

Question 22

Overall how significant a threat was the Cornish rebellion?

Answer 22

More significant than Yorkshire as

• More wide-spread support
• More high-ranking support
• Proximity to London

But ultimately not very significant as

• Easily put down
• Not after Hennry anyway

Question 23

When was Warbeck a threat for Henry?

Answer 23

1491-99

Question 24

What evidence is there that Warbeck was a threat?

Answer 24

• International support
  
  • France and Scotland: use Warbeck to pressure England not to be too anti-French over annexing Brittany
  • Support from Margaret of Burgundy
  • Support from Ireland
  • Holy Roman Emperor recognisde him as Rich IV
  • Married to James IV’s cousin Lady Gordon, 1,500 troops for invasion in 1496
• Strong Yorkist element
  
  • Appeared in Ireland (Yorkist stronghold)
  • Claimed to be Richard, Duke of York
• Could not parade Rich Duke of York
• Welcomed at French court with 100 Yorkist supporters
• Burgundy trade embargo 1493-97 - lucrative - considered it a threat
• Sir William Stanley a conspirator
  
  • Supported Henry at Bosworth, Lord Chamberlain, leading courtier
  • Went to heart of Henry’s court

Question 25

What evidence is there that Warbeck was not a threat?

Answer 25

• Warbeck was unable to win large-scale support in Ireland
  
  • Even less when returned in 1497
• Treaty of Etaples in 1492 forced Warback out of France to Flanders with Margaret
• Henry could act without fear of European intervention
  
  • Maximilian lacked the financial resources to support Warbeck’s plans
  • France preoccupied with Italy
• Invasion at Deal 1495 - local militia easily defeated Warbeck without royal army
  
  • Fled to Ireland and failed to capture Waterford
• Lacked support so lost Scottish invasion
  
  • English would not team-up with Scots
  • James IV married Henry’s daughter Margaret
• Driven away from Exeter and Taunton when tried to capitalise of Cornish rebellion
• Captured Nov 1497, Tower 1498, executed 1499

Question 26

Overall how significant a threat was Warbeck?

Answer 26

Yes: Demonstrated instability of Henry - long and lots of foreign support

But: not taken into battle, lacked English support, foreign powers either sorted by Henry or preoccupied

So: quite significant as long and foreign support, but not as dangerous as Simnel because no battle or English support

Question 27

What evidence is there that Edmund de la Pole (himself) was a threat?

Answer 27

Edmund de la Pole:

• Closest Yorkist claimant
• Angry because Henry refused to make him Duke of Suffolk (father’s titles)
• Fled to France in 1499
• Fled to Maximilian in 1501 and joined by other Yorkists

Question 28

How did Henry deal with the de la Pole threats to his reign in 1504?

Why?

What does this suggest about Henry’s secutiry?

Answer 28

1. Imprisoned Suffolk family
2. Passed 51 Acts of Attainder against those with Suffolk connections _{^{(his largest no. EVER)}}

Because down to only 10-year-old Henry as heir

Suggests had become less secure by 1504

Question 29

What evidence is there about the situation by 1504 that suggests the threat of Edmund de la Pole?

Answer 29

• Edmund Tudor died 1500
• Arthur died 1502
• Elizabeth died 1503
• 51 Acts of Attainder passed agaisnt those with Suffolk connections
• Conversation in Calais reported treasonous speech describing Buckingham and Suffolk as good possible rulers, but nothing similar about Prince Henry

Question 30

Evidence Suffolk wasn’t a threat/ the threat was countered?

(6)

Answer 30

1. Persuaded to return from France
2. 1506 handed over by Philip after shipwrecked at England
3. Foreign rulers more preoccupied with own difficulities e.g. Castilian succession crisis
4. No uprisings/ invasions/ battles
5. Few Yorkist claimants left after his capture
6. Henry’s methods of government ensured other Yorkist claimants remained loyal

Question 31

Overall was Edmund de la Pole a significant threat to Henry?

Answer 31

No - low significance

Despite being aided by foreign rulers, they were more preoccupied in their own wars etc (e.g. Spain vs Burgundy for Castille) and no invasions/ uprisisings took place