Cornish Rebellion of 1497 The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 ( Cornish : " Rebellyans Kernow " ) was a popular uprising by the people of Cornwall in the far southwest of Britain . Its primary cause was a response of people to the raising of war taxes by King Henry VII on the impoverished Cornish , to raise money for a campaign against Scotland motivated by brief border skirmishes that were inspired by Perkin Warbeck ' s pretence to the English throne . Tin miners were angered as the scale of the taxes overturned previous rights granted by Edward I of England to the Cornish Stannary Parliament which exempted Cornwall from all taxes of 10ths or 15ths of income . The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 is the main inspiration for the name of Cornwall ' s Rugby League team , The Cornish Rebels Background . The primary cause of the rebellion was Henry VII ' s tax levy , but the unrest of the Cornish preceded the event . Strong Arthurian tradition among the Cornish suggests that the people may have viewed the ascendance of the ( Welsh ) House of Tudor following their success in the Wars of the Roses to the throne as a fulfilment of prophecy . The popular theory appeared true at first with Henry appointing loyal Cornish men to high posts in his court , even naming his first son Arthur . However , as a result of a widening language and cultural gap , popular support for the Crown would not persist . Rebellion . In reaction to King Henry ' s tax levy , Michael Joseph ( An Gof ) , a blacksmith from St . Keverne and Thomas Flamank a lawyer of Bodmin , incited many of the people of Cornwall into armed revolt against the King . An army some 15 , 000 strong marched into Devon , attracting support in terms of provisions and recruits as they went . Apart from one isolated incident at Taunton , where a tax commissioner was killed , their march was ' without any slaughter , violence or spoil of the country ' . From Taunton , they moved on to Wells , where they were joined by their most eminent recruit , James Touchet , the seventh Baron Audley , a member of the old nobility and an accomplished soldier . Despite this welcome and prestigious acquisition of support , An Gof , the blacksmith , remained in command of the army . Audley joined Thomas Flamank as joint ' political ' leader of the expedition . From Wells to Winchester and Kent . After issuing a declaration of grievances , the army left Wells and marched to Winchester via Bristol and Salisbury , remarkably unopposed as they progressed across the south of England . At this point , having come so far , there seems to have been some questioning of what exactly should be done . The King had shown no sign of willingness to concede the issue and , far from home , there must have come to the leadership the belated cold realisation that only force of arms would resolve the matter one way or the other . Flamank conceived the idea of trying to broaden the rising ; to force the monarch into concessions by mobilising wider support for the Cornishmen . He proposed that they should head for Kent , ' the classic soil of protests ' , the home of the Peasants ' Revolt of 1381 and Jack Cade ' s rebellion , to rally the volatile men of Kent to their banner . It was a subtle and ambitious strategy — but sadly misinformed . Although the Scottish War was as remote a project to the Kentishmen as to the Cornish , they not only declined to offer their support but went so far as to offer resistance under their Earl . Sadly disillusioned , the Cornish army retreated and some of the men quietly returned to their homes . The remainder , let go the pretence of acting against the King ' s ministers alone - they were prepared to give battle against the King himself . In Surrey . Moving back west , by 13 June 1497 the Cornish army arrived at Guildford . Although shocked by the scale of the revolt and the speed of its approach , Henry VII had not been idle . The army of 8000 men assembled for Scotland under the command of Giles , Lord Daubeny , Henry ' s chief general and Lord Chamberlain , was recalled . Then the Earl of Surrey was sent north to conduct a defensive , holding operation against the Scots until such time as the King had quelled his domestic difficulties . The Royal family ( and the Archbishop of Canterbury ) moved to the Tower of London for safety whilst in the rest of the City there was panic among the common citizens . It is said there was a general cry of ' Every man to harness ! To harness ! ' and a rush of armed citizenry to the walls and gates . Then , the same day that the Cornish arrived at Guildford , Daubeney and his men took up position upon Hounslow Heath and were cheered by the arrival of food and wine dispatched by the Lord Mayor of London . The Crown decided to take the offensive and test the strength and resolve of the Cornish forces . Lord Daubeney sent out a force of 500 mounted spearmen and they clashed with the Cornish at ' Gill Down ' outside Guildford on Wednesday 14 June 1497 . The Cornish army left Guildford and moved via Banstead and Chussex Plain to Blackheath where they pitched their final camp , looking down from the hill onto the Thames and City of London . Despite unrest among the Cornish forces , An Gof held his army together , but faced with overwhelming odds , some Cornish deserted and by morning there remained only some 9 - 10 , 000 Cornish stalwarts left in arms . Battle of Deptford Bridge . The Battle of Deptford Bridge ( also known as Battle of Blackheath ) took place on 17 June 1497 on a site in present - day Deptford south - east London , adjacent to the River Ravensbourne and was the culminating event of the Cornish Rebellion . Henry VII had mustered an army of some 25 , 000 men and the Cornish lacked the supporting cavalry and artillery arms essential to the professional forces of the time . After carefully spreading rumours that he would attack on the following Monday , Henry moved against the Cornish at dawn on his ' lucky day ' - Saturday ( 17 June 1497 ) . The Royal forces were divided into three ' battles ' , two under Lords Oxford , Essex and Suffolk , to wheel round the right flank and rear of enemy whilst the third waited in reserve . When the Cornish were duly surrounded , Lord Daubeney and the third ' battle ' were ordered into frontal attack . Cornish force at the bridge . At the bridge at Deptford Strand , the Cornish had placed a body of archers ( utilising arrows a full yard long , ' so strong and mighty a bow the Cornishmen were said to draw ' ) to block the passage of the river . Here Daubeney had a tense time , before his spearmen eventually captured the crossing with some losses ( a mere 8 men or as many as 300 depending on one ' s source ) . The ' Great Chronicle of London ' says that these were the only casualties suffered by the Royal forces that day but , in view of the severity of the later fighting , this seems most improbable . Through ill - advice or inexperience , the Cornish had neglected to provide support for the men at Deptford Strand bridge and the main array stood well back into the heath , near to the top of the hill . This was a mistake since a reserve force charging down from the high ground might have held the bridge bottleneck and made the day a far more equal contest . As it was , Lord Daubeney and his troops poured across in strength and engaged the enemy with great vigour . Daubeney himself was so carried away that he became isolated from his men and was captured . Astoundingly enough , the Cornish simply released him and he soon returned to the fray . It would appear at this late stage , the rebels ' hearts were no longer in the battle and they were already contemplating its aftermath and the King ' s revenge . Continuation of the battle . The two other Royal divisions attacked the Cornish precisely as planned and , as Bacon succinctly put it : being ill - armed and ill - led , and without horse or artillery , they were with no great difficulty cut in pieces and put to flight . Estimates of the Cornish dead range from 200 to 2000 and a general slaughter of the broken army was well under way when An Gof gave the order for surrender . He fled but only got as far as Greenwich before being captured . The less enterprising Baron Audley and Thomas Flamank were taken on the field of battle . Aftermath . By 2pm , Henry VII had returned to the City in triumph , knighting deserving parties on the way , to accept the acclamation of the Mayor and attend a service of thanksgiving at St Paul ' s . In due course , severe monetary penalties , extracted by Crown agents , pauperised sections of Cornwall for years to come . Prisoners were sold into slavery and estates were seized and handed to more loyal subjects . The remaining rebels that escaped went home ending the rebellion . An Gof and Flamank were both sentenced to the traitor ' s death of being hanged , drawn and quartered . However they " enjoyed " the king ' s mercy and were allowed to hang until dead before being decapitated . They were executed at Tyburn on 27 June 1497 . An Gof is recorded to have said before his execution that he should have " " a name perpetual and a fame permanent and immortal " " . Thomas Flamank was quoted as saying " " Speak the truth and only then can you be free of your chains " " . Audley , as a peer of the realm , was beheaded on the 28th June at Tower Hill . Their heads were then displayed on pike - staffs ( " gibbet ed " ) on London Bridge . Quincentennial . Keskerdh Kernow " ( Cornish : Cornwall marches on ! ) " was a commemorative march which retraced the original route of the Cornish from St . Keverne to Blackheath , London , to celebrate the Quincentennial — 500th anniversary — of the Cornish Rebellion . A statue depicting the Cornish leaders , " Michael An Gof " and Thomas Flamank was unveiled at An Gof ' s village of St . Keverne and a commemorative plaque was also unveiled on Blackheath common . Cultural references . The rebellion is referred to several times in " Wolf Hall " , the 2009 Man Booker Prize winner written by Hilary Mantel . The protagonist of the book , Thomas Cromwell , is a young boy in London during the panic caused by the approach of the rebels ; he also remembers the events later in the book .