Perkin Warbeck 1491–99

Question 1

Who was Warbeck?

Answer 1

Pretender claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the two Princes in the Tower who had disappeared in 1483

Question 2

Why was it clever for Warbeck to claim to be one of the princes in the tower?

Answer 2

plausible claim as had the Prince been alive then he would have been about Warbeck’s current age - 17 yrs and Henry was unable to disprove his claims

Question 3

Foreign rulers that supported him

Answer 3

Charles VIII, King of France
The Scottish King, James IV
The Yorkist Margaret of Burgundy, her stepson Philip of Burgundy and his father Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor.

Irish nobels less keen to be involved

Question 4

Warbeck’s movement 1491-99

Answer 4

1491: Cork. Ireland
1492: France
1493-94: Burgundy
1495: Kent
1496: Scotland
1496: North of England
1497: Cornwall

Question 5

Warbeck in Ireland

Answer 5

1491: First landed in Cork

Commoners were enthusiastic but the Earl of Kildare was reluctant to get involved directly

Started to then write to other European leaders

Question 6

Warbeck in France

Answer 6

Charles VIII invited Warbeck to France in 1492 where he was treated as if he were a really a prince

However Henry’s prompt meant that Warbeck was soon no longer welcome there

Question 7

How did Henry deal with the threat of France?

Answer 7

1492: Henry launched an invasion of France and Charles agreed to negotiate Treaty of Etaples 1492

Question 8

Treaty of Etaples

Answer 8

1492

Charles agreed to no longer welcome Henry’s enemies + Henry also got annual pension of 50,000 crowns

meant that Henry had stopped the potential threat of a French-backed Yorkist challenge and enhanced his financial position

Question 9

Warbeck in Burgundy

Answer 9

1493-94:

Rceived acceptance from Margaret of Burgundy and her relatives - M recognised Warbeck as her nephew

Agents from Burgundy were able to infiltrate England and there were cases of men trying to recruit supporters for Warbeck in 1493-94 - these men were generally rounded up and put on trial

Question 10

When was Henry particularly worried?

Answer 10

1494-95 - signs PW was starting to gather support from within England

able to exploit traditional Yorkist loyalties to Edward IV and his family

Question 11

Signs of domestic support - William Stanley

Answer 11

Henry’s step uncle responsible for victory at Bosworth implicated in plot where he agreed that Robert Clifford would go abroad to speak to PW

Clifford informed Henry and Stanley was executed for treason

Learnt from JDLP in LS rising

Question 12

Warbeck in Kent

Answer 12

1495

Attempted a landing at Deal in Kent with a small force of 300 soldiers

When he failed, Warbeck fled leaving the few men who had waited for him to be captured, tried and executed.

Question 13

Warbeck in Scotland

Answer 13

1496

Moved after the failure in Kent, awaited by James IV

Question 14

Attempt of invading the North

Answer 14

1496

PW tried to invade England with a force of 1400 men

Unlike Simnel before him, he was not able to raise much support in the North and he retreated back to Scotland

Question 15

The threat of Warbeck in the North

Answer 15

created problems for Henry - forced to raise taxation to fund an army to fight him

This provoked a rebellion in Cornwall in June 1497

Question 16

Cornish rebellion 1497

Answer 16

15,000 rebels chose to march on London protesting about the level of taxation demanded to pay for a war.

Henry was forced to change his plans rapidly - having to divert troops intended for the defence of the North to meet these rebels in Kent

The distraction of the revolt in Cornwall showed the potential weakness of Henry’s position

Question 17

Warbeck in Cornwall

Answer 17

The army of 1400 men who he had invaded from Scotland to the North had shrunk to 300

Attracted the support between 3,000 to 8,000 from Cornwall

Was not able to attract the gentry and nobility of the South West.

Question 18

What enabled the capture and defeat of PW

Answer 18

Henry’s use of rewards and punishments - loyals had been well supported e.g Edward Courtenay (Earl of Devon) - defended Exeter aganst the Cornish rebellion

Question 19

How was PW captured

Answer 19

Tried to escape from Cornwall to Taunton he was trapped by royal forces led by Daubeney (Henry’s supporters of when we was in exile)

Question 20

How was Henry planning to treat PW once he was captured

Answer 20

Prepared to treat PW well until PW tried to escape and was imprisoned in the tower where he plotted with Warwick - both executed for treason

Question 21

What about Henry’s time on the throne made the rebellion less threatening -

Answer 21

Henry had been on the throne for 6 years and had already survived one major challenge

Question 22

Why had the Yorkist threat faded by now?

Answer 22

Former supporters of Richard and Edward had either died or accepted Henry

Question 23

How did Henry himself make the rebellion less threatening?

Answer 23

Kept track of PW’s movements through a network if spies

He had given birth to a son meaning he had secured the succession - used it to create foreign alliances - Treaty of Medina del Campo - acknowledged Henry as king

Question 24

Warbeck’s inability to gain support

Answer 24

Henry had more resources and power than Warbeck - Warbeck was able to attract a series of foreign rulers but he was unable to sustain this support

When warbeck did try to invade (in 1495, 1496, 1497), he found that he unable to attract significant domestic support

Question 25

How did Henry’s use of financial control benefit him?

Answer 25

Henry placed 36/62 under finacial control

used a complex system of bonds (agreement to ensure good behaviour as person signing it would have to pay fine if they broke the terms of the bond)

sucessful as bonds ensured loyality e,g Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset put down 1497 risings in Cornwall

Question 26

Why was Warbeck less of a threat than Simnel?

Answer 26

Warbeck never forced Henry to fight in a pitch battle like Simnel, at Stoke

Henry had been on the throne longer (more experience of fighting/ruling)

Question 27

What did make the rebellion threatening?

Answer 27

Had support from foreign powers which forced Henry into negotiations in order to get PW to move on

PW only arrived in Cornwall in September but by this time the revolt had been put down, should have arrived in May/June

Question 28

Overall conc of PW and level of threat

Answer 28

Henry’s reaction to Warbeck and his supports suggests he definitely saw the pretender as a threat but Henry;s response meant Warbeck never came close to challenging for the throne