Perkin Warbeck – Exequy's Blog Bio , History Perkin Warbeck (circa 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England. By claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the “Princes in the Tower”, Warbeck was a significant threat to the newly established Tudor dynasty, and gained support outside England. Henry VII declared Warbeck an impostor and after his capture that he was a Fleming born in Tournai around 1474. Due to uncertainty as to whether Richard of Shrewsbury had died in the Tower of London or had survived, Warbeck’s claim gathered some followers, whether due to real belief in his identity or because of desire to overthrow Henry and reclaim the throne. Most historical accounts mention that Warbeck cost Henry VII over £13,000, putting a strain on Henry’s weak financial state. Early life Perkin Warbeck’s personal history has been fraught with many unreliable and varying statements.

He himself gave out that he was Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV. After he was captured and interrogated in 1497 under the eye of King Henry VII, another version of his life was published, based on his confession. This confession is considered by many historians to be possibly only partially true as it was procured under duress. According to the confession, Warbeck was born to a man called John Osbeck (also known as Jehan de Werbecque). Osbeck, who was married to Warbeck’s mother Katherine de Faro, was Flemish and held the occupation of comptroller to the city of Tournai. These family ties are backed up by several municipal archives of Tournai which mention most of the people whom Warbeck declared he was related to. He was taken to Antwerp by his mother at around age ten to learn Dutch. From here, he was undertaken by several masters around Antwerp and Middelburg before being employed by a local English merchant named John Strewe for a few months. After his time in the Netherlands, Warbeck yearned to visit other countries and was hired by a Breton merchant.

This merchant eventually brought Warbeck to Cork, Ireland in 1491 when he was about seventeen, and it was here that he learnt to speak English. Warbeck then claims that upon seeing him dressed in silk clothes, some of the citizens of Cork who were Yorkists demanded to “[do] him the honour as a member of the Royal House of York.” He said they did this because they were resolved in gaining revenge on the King of England and decided that he would claim to be the younger son of King Edward IV. However, many historians believe that Warbeck lied about the story of how he came to be a pretender in order to cover his tracks and hopefully allow himself to escape the death penalty. Claim to the English throne Warbeck first claimed the English throne at the court of Burgundy in 1490. In 1491, Warbeck landed in Ireland in the hope of gaining support for his claim as Lambert Simnel had four years previously. However, little support was found and he was forced to return to the European mainland. There his fortunes improved.

He was first received by Charles VIII of France, but in 1492 was expelled under the terms of the Treaty of Etaples, by which Charles had agreed not to shelter rebels against Henry VII. He was publicly recognized as Richard of Shrewsbury by Margaret of York, the widow of Charles the Bold, the sister of Edward IV and thus the aunt of the Princes in the Tower. Whether Margaret truly believed that the pretender was her nephew Richard, or whether she considered him a fraud but supported him anyway, is unknown, but she tutored him in the ways of the Yorkist court. Henry complained to Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy, about the harbouring of the pretender, and, since he was ignored, imposed a trade embargo on Burgundy, cutting off important Burgundian trade-links with England. The pretender was also welcomed by various other monarchs and was known in international diplomacy as the Duke of York. At the invitation of Duke Philip’s father, King Maximilian I, in 1493 he attended the funeral of the Emperor Frederick III and was recognised as King Richard IV of England.

The pretender also promised that if he died before becoming king, his claim would fall to Maximilian. First landing in England and support in Scotland On 3 July 1495, funded by Margaret of Burgundy, Warbeck landed at Deal in Kent, hoping for a show of popular support. Warbeck’s small army was routed and 150 of the pretender’s troops were killed without Warbeck even disembarking. He was forced to retreat almost immediately, this time to Ireland. There he found support from Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond, and laid siege to Waterford, but, meeting resistance, he fled to Scotland. Henry pardoned his Irish supporters, remarking drily “I suppose they will crown an ape next”. Warbeck was well received by James IV of Scotland who realised that his presence gave him international leverage. As Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain were negotiating an alliance with Henry VII, James IV knew that Spain would help him in his struggles with England, in order to prevent the situation escalating into war with France. Spanish ambassadors arrived in Edinburgh, and later Pedro de Ayala was established as a resident ambassador during the crisis.

Warbeck was permitted to marry James’s distant cousin, Lady Catherine Gordon, a daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. The marriage was celebrated in Edinburgh with a tournament. James gave Warbeck clothes for the wedding and armour covered with purple silk. The historian Katie Stevenson suggests the clothing bought for the tournament shows Warbeck fought in a team with the king and four knights. A copy of a love letter in Latin obtained by Pedro de Ayala, is thought to be Warbeck’s proposal to Lady Catherine. In September 1496, James IV prepared to invade England with Warbeck. A red, gold and silver banner was made for Warbeck as the Duke of York; James’s armour was gilded and painted; and the royal artillery was prepared. John Ramsay of Balmain (who called himself Lord Bothwell) described the events for Henry VII. He saw Roderic de Lalanne, a Flemish knight arrive with two little ships and 60 German soldiers and meet James IV and talk to Warbeck.

In Edinburgh Castle Ramsay saw two great French guns called ‘curtalds,’ 10 falconets or little serpentines, and 30 iron breech loading ‘cart guns’ with 16 close-carts or wagons for the munitions. He estimated the invasion force would last only 4 to 5 days in England before it ran out of provisions. He suggested, from the safety of Berwick upon Tweed, that the Scots could be vanquished by a modest English force attacking from north and south in a pincer movement. The Scottish host assembled near Edinburgh and James IV and Warbeck offered prayers at Holyrood Abbey on the 14 September, and on the next day at St Triduana’s Chapel and Our Lady Kirk of Restalrig. On 19 September the Scottish army was at Ellem and on 21 September 1496 they crossed the River Tweed at Coldstream. Miners set to work to demolish the tower of Hetoune (Castle Heaton) on 24 September, but the army quickly retreated when resources were expended, and hoped-for support for Perkin Warbeck in Northumberland failed to materialise.

According to an English record, the Scots penetrated four miles into England with royal banner displayed, and destroyed 3 or 4 little towers (or Bastle houses). They left on 25 September 1496 when an English army commanded by Lord Neville approached from Newcastle. When news of this invasion reached Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, on 21 October 1496, he wrote to his ambassador in Spain, to request the Spanish monarchs make peace between England and Scotland. The peace mission was entrusted to Pedro de Ayala.[ Later, wishing to be rid of Warbeck, James IV provided a ship called the Cuckoo and a hired crew under a Breton captain which returned Perkin to Waterford in shame in July 1497. James IV made peace with England by signing the Treaty of Ayton at St Dionysius’s Church in Ayton in Berwickshire. Once again Perkin attempted to lay siege to Waterford, but this time his effort lasted only eleven days before he was forced to flee Ireland, chased by four English ships. According to some sources, by this time he was left with only 120 men on two ships.

Second landing in Cornwall On 7 September 1497, Warbeck landed at Whitesand Bay, west of Plymouth, in Cornwall hoping to capitalise on the Cornish people’s resentment in the aftermath of their uprising only three months earlier. Warbeck proclaimed that he could put a stop to extortionate taxes levied to help fight a war against Scotland and was warmly welcomed. He was declared “Richard IV” on Bodmin Moor and his Cornish army some 6000 strong entered Exeter before advancing on Taunton. Henry VII sent his chief general, Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney, to attack the Cornish and when Warbeck heard that the King’s scouts were at Glastonbury he panicked and deserted his army. Warbeck was captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire where he surrendered. Henry VII reached Taunton on 4 October 1497, where he received the surrender of the remaining Cornish army. The ringleaders were executed and others fined. Warbeck was imprisoned, first at Taunton, then at the Tower of London, where he was “paraded through the streets on horseback amid much hooting and derision of the citizens”.

Imprisonment and death Warbeck was held in the Tower alongside Edward, Earl of Warwick; the two tried to escape in 1499. Captured once again, on 23 November 1499, Warbeck was drawn on a hurdle from the Tower to Tyburn, London, where he read out a confession and was hanged. Appearance Perkin reportedly resembled Edward IV in appearance, which has led to speculation that he might have been Edward’s illegitimate son, or at least had some genuine connection with the York family. Some authors, for example Horace Walpole, have even gone as far as to claim that Warbeck actually was Richard, Duke of York, although this is not the consensus. Share this: 1000+ images about Plantagenet History on Pinterest | The white, Edward iv and Elizabeth woodville Forward Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the English throne during Henry VII's reign. He claimed he was Richard, Duke of York (Edward IV's younger son who was one of the Princes in the Tower). He was hanged at Tyburn on 23 November 1499.

See More Henry VII | Richard III of England Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Richard III of England Wiki Share Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected. Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor . Henry won the throne when his forces defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field . He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. Henry cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses .

He founded the Tudor dynasty and, after a reign of nearly 24 years, was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII . Although Henry can be credited with the restoration of political stability in England, and a number of commendable administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives, the latter part of his reign was characterised by a financial which stretched the bounds of legality. The capriciousness and lack of due process which indebted many in England were soon ended upon Henry VII's death after a commission revealed widespread abuses. (Thomas Penn. Winter King – Henry VII and The Dawn of Tudor England. p. 371. Simon & Schuster, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4391-9156-9 ) According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil , simple "greed" in large part underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years. Contents Edit Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 28 January 1457 to the 13-year-old Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond . His father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond , died three months before his birth.

(Caroline Rogers and Roger Turvey, Henry VII, London: Hodder Murray, 2005) Henry's paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of Henry V of England. He rose to become one of the "Squires to the Body to the King" after military service at the Battle of Agincourt].(Kendall, Paul Murray Richard the Third |page=13) Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois. One of their sons was Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". (Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |page=17) Henry's main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort. Henry's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III of England, and his third wife Katherine Swynford.

Katherine was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years; when they married in 1396, they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset]. Thus Henry's claim was somewhat tenuous: it was from a woman, and by illegitimate descent. In theory, the Portuguese and Spanish royal families had a better claim (as far as "legitimacy" is concerned) as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile, Duchess of Lancaster. Gaunt's nephew Richard II of Englandlegitimised Gaunt's children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. In 1407, Henry IV, who was Gaunt's son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings, but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. (Kendall, Paul Murray |title=Richard the Third page=156). Henry IV's action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament], but it further weakened Henry's claim.

Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining, after the deaths in battle or by murder or execution of Henry VI , his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales , and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret's uncle, the Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry, for example in attracting military support and safeguarding his army's passage through Wales on its way to the Battle of Bosworth.(Chrimes, S.B. |title=Henry VII |page=3}}, Davies, Norman |title=The Isles – A History |pages=337–379). He came from an old-established Anglesey family which claimed descent from Cadwaladr (in legend, the last ancient British king and on occasion, Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. He took it, as well as the standard of St George], on his procession through London after victory at Bosworth.A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard André, also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. In reality, however, his hereditary connections to Welsh aristocracy were not strong.

He was descended by the paternal line, through several generations, from Ednyfed Fychan], the seneschal (steward) of Gwynedd and through this seneschal's wife from Rhys ap Tewdwr, the King of Deheubarth in South Wales. His more immediate ancestor Tudur ap Goronwy had aristocratic land rights, but his sons, who were first cousins to[Owain Glyndŵr, sided with Owain in his revolt. One son was executed and the family land was forfeited. Another son, Henry's great-grandfather, became a butler to the Bishop of Bangor. Owen Tudor, the son of the butler, like the children of other rebels, was provided for by Henry V, a circumstance which precipitated his access to Queen Catherine of Valois. (Chrimes, S.B. |title=Henry VII |pages=4–5 }}) Notwithstanding this lineage, to the bards of Wales, Henry was a candidate for Y Mab Darogan – "The Son of Prophecy" who would free the Welsh from oppression.

In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists . He died in Carmarthen Castle (Wikipedia page [1] ), three months before Henry was born. Henry's uncle Jasper Tudor , the Earl of Pembroke and Edmund's younger brother, undertook to protect the young widow, who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry. When Edward IV became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. Pembroke Castle, and later the Earldom of Pembroke , were granted to the Yorkist William Herbert , who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry. Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470, Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court.

When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany , where he spent most of the next 14 years. Rise to the throne Edit By 1483, his mother, despite being married to a Yorkist ( Lord Stanley ), was actively promoting Henry as an alternative to Richard III . At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Edward IV's eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York , who was also Edward's heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower (King Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York ). (S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1977) p. 65.) Henry then received the homage of his supporters. With money and supplies borrowed from his host Francis II, Duke of Brittany , Henry tried to land in England, but his conspiracy unravelled, resulting in the execution of his primary co-conspirator, the Duke of Buckingham .

(Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |page=25) Now supported by Francis II's prime-minister Pierre Landais , Richard III attempted to extradite Henry from Brittany, but Henry escaped to France. (Kendall, Paul Murray |title=Richard the Third |page=297) He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. Having gained the support of the Woodvilles, in-laws of the late Edward IV, he sailed with a small French and Scottish force. Henry landed in Mill Bay, Pembrokeshire, close to his birthplace. He marched towards England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and the Earl of Oxford . Wales was traditionally a Lancastrian stronghold, and Henry owed the support he gathered to his Welsh birth and ancestry, being directly descended, through his father, from Rhys ap Gruffydd. Henry's return to Wales was regarded by some as the fulfilment of a Messianic prophecy.

(Rees, David |title=The Son of Prophecy: Henry Tudor's Road to Bosworth |publisher=Black Raven Press |location=London |year=1985 |isbn=0-85159-005-5}}</ref> He amassed an army of around 5,000 soldiers. (Kendall, Paul Murray |title=Richard the Third |page=361) Estimates of the size of Henry's army at Bosworth vary. Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |page=31}}, gives a figure of 'perhaps' 6,000. Henry was aware that his best chance to seize the throne was to engage Richard quickly and defeat him immediately, as Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester . Richard only needed to avoid being killed to keep his throne. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Several of Richard's key allies, such as the Earl of Northumberland and William and Thomas Stanley, crucially switched sides or left the battlefield.

Richard III's death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses, although it was not the last battle Henry had to fight. Reign Edit The first concern Henry had was to secure his hold on the throne. He honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York. (S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 53.) They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. (Morgan, Kenneth O. The Oxford History of Britain |page=709) The marriage took place on 18 January 1486 at Westminster . The marriage unified the warring houses and gave his children a strong claim to the throne. The unification of the houses of York and Lancaster by this marriage is symbolised by the heraldic emblem of the Tudor rose , a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

It also ended future discussion as to whether the descendants of the fourth son of Edward III, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, through marriage to Philippa, heiress of the second son, Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, had a superior or inferior claim to those of the third son John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, who had held the throne for three generations. In addition, Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius , the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. Amateur historians Bertram Fields and Sir Clements Markham have claimed that he may have been involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower, as the repeal of Titulus Regius gave the Princes a stronger claim to the throne than his own. Alison Weir , however, points out that the Rennes ceremony, two years earlier, was possible only if Henry and his supporters were certain that the Princes were already dead. Henry's second action was to declare himself king retroactively from 21 August 1485, the day before Bosworth Field.

This meant that anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason. Thus, Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III while restoring his own. However, he spared Richard's nephew and designated heir, the Earl of Lincoln . He also created Margaret Plantagenet , a Yorkist heiress, Countess of Salisbury sui juris. He took great care not to address the baronage, or summon Parliament, until after his coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485. Almost immediately afterwards, he issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would, notwithstanding any previous attainder, be secure in his property and person. Henry secured his crown principally by dividing and undermining the power of the nobility, especially through the aggressive use of bonds and recognisances to secure loyalty. He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance, the great lords' practice of having large numbers of "retainers" who wore their lord's badge or uniform and formed a potential private army. While he was still in Leicester after the battle of Bosworth Field Henry was already taking precautions to avoid any rebellions against his reign.

Before leaving Leicester to go to London, Henry dispatched Robert Willoughby to Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, to have the ten year old Edward, Earl of Warwick , arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Edward was the son of George, duke of Clarence, and as such he presented a threat as a potential rival to the new King Henry VII for the throne of England. However, Henry was threatened by several active rebellions over the next few years. The first was the Rebellion of the Stafford brothers and Viscount Lovell of 1486, which collapsed without fighting. (S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 69.) In 1487, Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of Lambert Simnel , a boy who was claimed to be the Earl of Warwick , (S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 72.) son of Edward IV's brother Clarence (who had last been seen as a prisoner in the Tower ). The rebellion began in Ireland , where the traditionally Yorkist nobility, headed by the powerful Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare , proclaimed Simnel King and provided troops for his invasion of England.

The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke . Henry showed remarkable clemency to the surviving rebels: he pardoned Kildare and the other Irish nobles, and he made the boy, Simnel, a servant in the royal kitchen. (Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |page=62}). In 1490, a young Fleming, Perkin Warbeck , appeared and claimed to be Richard , the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret of Burgundy . He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495, and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with a few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed.(S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII, pp. 69–70.) In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed. However, he spared Warwick's elder sister Margaret . She survived until 1541, when she was executed by Henry VIII.

Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes. In this, he was largely successful. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Richmond,(S. B. Chrimes, p. 72.) is an example) with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne. (Penn 2011, pp. 22–23.) Economics Edit Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. (S. B. Chimes, Henry VII (Yale University Press, 1977) p. 119.) Yet during his reign Henry VII became a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer. Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. For instance, excepting only the first few months of the reign, Lord Dynham and Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey were the only two office holders in the position of Lord High Treasurer of England throughout the reign of Henry VII. (S. B.

Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 121) Henry VII improved tax collection within the realm even by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. In this he was supported by his chancellor, Archbishop John Morton , whose "Morton's Fork" was a Catch-22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes. Morton's Fork may actually have been invented by another of Henry's supporters— Richard Foxe . (B. Chrimes, p. 203">S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 203.) However, whether it's called "Fox's Fork" or "Morton's Fork" the result was the same. Those nobles who spent little must have saved much and, thus, they could afford the increased taxes. On the other hand, those nobles who spent much, obviously had the means to pay the increased taxes. ("B. Chrimes, p. 203") Royal government was also reformed with the introduction of the King's Council that kept the nobility in check. Foreign policy Edit Henry VII's policy was both to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. Up to a point, he succeeded.

He was not a military man and had no interest in trying to regain French territories lost during the reigns of his predecessors; he was therefore ready to conclude a treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England, and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne, such as Perkin Warbeck. However, this treaty came at a slight price, as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492. Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent seven thousand troops to France. The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of £24,000. However, as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars, the French were happy to agree to the Treaty of Etaples . Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life, prior to his ascending the throne of England.

To strengthen his position, however, he subsidised shipbuilding, so strengthening the Royal Navy]] (he commissioned Europe's first ever – and the world's oldest surviving – dry dock at|Portsmouth in 1495) and improving trading opportunities. By the time of his death, he had amassed a personal fortune of £1.25 million (equivalent to (equivalent to £978 million in 2014). Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom and concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo , by which his son, Arthur Tudor , was married to Catherine of Aragon. He also concluded the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Scotland (the first treaty between England and Scotland for almost two centuries), which betrothed his daughter Margaret to King James IV of Scotland. By means of this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. Though this was not achieved during his reign, the marriage eventually led to the union of the English and Scottish crowns under Margaret's great-grandson, |James VI and ] following the death of Henry's granddaughter Elizabeth I.

He also formed an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519) and persuaded Pope Innocent VIII to issue a Papal bull of excommunication against all pretenders to Henry's throne. Trade agreements Edit Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with the Netherlands as retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support of Perkin Warbeck. The Merchant Adventurers , the company which enjoyed the monopoly of the Flemish wool trade, relocated from Antwerp to Calais . At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. The stand-off eventually paid off for Henry. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. Its restoration by the Magnus Intercursus was very much to England's benefit in removing taxation for English merchants and significantly increasing England's wealth. In turn, Antwerp became an extremely important trade entrepot, through which, for example, goods from the Baltic, spices from the east and Italian silks were exchanged for English cloth.

(Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |pages=167–168}}) In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome of Burgundy . Philip had been shipwrecked on the English coast, and while Henry's guest, was bullied into an agreement so favourable to England at the expense of the Netherlands that it was dubbed the Malus Intercursus ("evil agreement"). France, Burgundy , the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. Philip died shortly after the negotiations. (Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |pages=198–201 ) Henry VII was also enriched by trading alum which was used in the wool and cloth trades for dyeing fabric. (Penn 2011, p. 201) Since Europe had only one area where it was mined (Tolfa, Italy), it was a scarce commodity and therefore valuable. Starting in 1486, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade.

With the assistance of the Italian merchant-banker, Lodovico della Fava and the Italian banker, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Henry VII became deeply involved in the alum trade by licensing ships, obtaining alum from the Ottoman Empire, and selling it to the Low Countries and England. (Penn 2011, p. 203-204.) This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper which raised opposition with Pope Julius II (Wikipedia page [2] ) since the Tolfa, Italy alum mine was a part of papal territory thereby giving the Pope monopoly control over alum. Law enforcement and Justices of Peace Edit Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. There were too many powerful noblemen and, as a consequence of the system of so-called bastard feudalism , each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers (mercenaries masquerading as servants). He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law.

In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. He passed laws against "livery" (the upper classes' flaunting of their adherents by giving them badges and emblems) and "maintenance" (the keeping of too many male "servants"). These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. However, his principal weapon was the Court of Star Chamber . This revived an earlier practice of using a small (and trusted) group of the Privy Council as a personal or Prerogative Court, able to cut through the cumbersome legal system and act swiftly. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. (Williams, Neville |title=The Life and Times of Henry VII |page=178) Henry VII used Justices of the Peace on a large, nationwide scale. They were appointed for every shire and served for a year at a time. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign.

(MacCulloch | first = Diarmaid | year = 1996 | contribution = The Consolidation of England 1485–1603 | title = The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor and Stuart Britain | pages=39–42 ) Despite this, Henry was keen to constrain their power and influence, applying the same principles to the Justices of the Peace as he did to the nobility: a similar system of bonds and recognisances to that which applied to both the gentry and the nobles who tried to exert their elevated influence over these local officials. All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the Justices of the Peace. For example, Justices of the Peace could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. By 1509, Justices of the Peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a lesser tax bill to pay for a police force.

Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. Overall, this was a successful area of policy for Henry, both in terms of efficiency and as a method of reducing the corruption endemic within the nobility of the Middle Ages . Later years and death Edit In 1502, Henry VII's first son and heir-apparent, Arthur Tudor , died suddenly at Ludlow Castle , very likely from a viral respiratory illness known, at the time, as the "English sweating sickness". (Penn 2011, p. 70.) This made Henry, Duke of York Henry VIII ) heir-apparent to the throne. The King, normally a reserved man, surprised his courtiers by his intense grief at his son's death, while his concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one. (Chrimes Henry VII pp.302–4) Henry VII wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. He therefore arranged a papal dispensation (Wikipedia page [3] ) from Pope Julius II for Prince Henry to marry his brother's widow Catherine, a relationship that would have otherwise precluded marriage in the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1503, Queen Elizabeth died in childbirth, so King Henry had the dispensation also permit him to marry Catherine himself. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. Catherine's mother Isabella I of Castile had died and Catherine's sister Joanna (Wikipedia page [4] ) had succeeded her; Catherine was therefore daughter of only one reigning monarch and so less desirable as a spouse for Henry VII's heir-apparent. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. Otherwise, at the time of his father's arranging of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the future Henry VIII was too young to contract the marriage according to Canon Law, and would be ineligible until age fourteen. Henry made half-hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs, but these never came to anything. In 1505 he was sufficiently interested in a potential marriage to Joan , the recently widowed Queen of Naples, that he sent ambassadors to Naples to report on the 27-year-old's physical suitability. (chwarz, Arthur L., VIVAT REX!

An Exhibition Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Accession of Henry VIII (The Grolier Club, 2009), p. 58 "Henry's Father Searches for a New Wife".) The wedding never took place, and curiously the physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors describing what he desired in a new wife matched the description of Elizabeth . After 1503, records show the Tower of London was never again used as a royal residence by Henry Tudor, and all royal births under Henry VIII took place in palaces. Henry VII was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death broke his heart. Immediately after Elizabeth's death, Henry became very sick and nearly died himself, and only allowed Margaret Beaufort , his mother, near him: "privily departed to a solitary place, and would that no man should resort unto him." Henry VII died at Richmond Palace (Wikipedia page [5] ) on 21 April 1509 of tuberculosis and was buried at Westminster Abbey , next to his wife, Elizabeth, in the chapel he commissioned. He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reign 1509–47).

His mother survived him, dying two months later on 29 June 1509. Appearance and Character Edit At twenty seven, Henry was tall, slender, with small blue eyes and noticeably bad teeth in a long, sallow face beneath very fair hair. Amiable and high-spirited, Henry Tudor was friendly if dignified in manner, while it was clear to everyone that he was extremely intelligent. His biographer, Professor Chrimes, credits him - even before he had become King - with possessing "a high degree of personal magnetism, ability to inspire confidence, and a growing reputation for shrewd decisiveness". On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. Legacy and memory Edit Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon. By 1600 historians emphasised Henry's wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs. By 1900 the "New Monarchy" interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power. This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states.

In the late 20th century a model of European state formation was prominent in which Henry less resembles Louis and Ferdinand. Henry's titles Up to 1485 The Earl of Richmond (disputed) 22 August 1485 – 21 April 1509: His Grace The King of England and France, Lord of Ireland Henry's full style as king was: Henry, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Lord of Ireland Arms Upon his succession as king, Henry became entitled to bear the arms of his kingdom. After his marriage, he used the red-and-white rose as his emblem – this continued to be his dynasty's emblem, known as the Tudor rose . Issue Edit Henry and Elizabeth's children are listed below. Arthur, Prince of Wales/ Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales 19 September 1486-2 April 1502 married Catherine of Aragon. Margaret Tudor 8 November 1489-18 October 1541. Married (1) James IV, King of Scotland (1473–1513) in 1503.

Married (2) Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (1489–1557) in 1514. Grandmother of both Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the parents of James I of England and VI of Scotland. Henry VIII 28 June 1491-28 January 1547 |Married (1) Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536) in 1509; had issue. Married (2) Anne Boleyn (1501–1536) in 1533; had issue. Married (3) Jane Seymour (1503–1537) in 1536; had issue. Married (4) Anne of Cleves]] (1515–1557in 1540. Married (5) Catherine Howard (1520–1542) in 1540. Married (6) Catherine Parr (1512–1548) in 1543.

Elizabeth Tudor 2 July 1492-14 September 1495. [[[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary Tudor]] 18 March 1496-25 June 1533 Married (1) Louis XII, King of France (1462–1515) in 1514. Married (2) Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1484–1545) in 1515. Mary was the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey. Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset 21 February 1499-19 June 1500. Katherine Tudor (1503) . Mother, Elizabeth of York, died as a result of Katherine's birth. An illegitimate son has also been attributed to Henry by "a Breton Lady": Sir Roland de Velville or Veleville 1474-25 June 1535. He was knighted in 1497 and was Constable of Beaumaris Castle .

He is sometimes presented as the clear "illegitimate issue" of Henry VII of England by "a Breton people|Breton lady whose name is not known". There is also, however, the possibility that he was simply a favored member of the court of Henry VII and later recipient of beneficences, brought home to England with 28 year old Henry after his exile in Brittany. (Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, p. 152) For more details of Henry VII's descendants see the Wikipedia page. History Times History: Mystery People of History – Perkin Warbeck, Prince or Pretender? Monday, 12 December 2011 Mystery People of History – Perkin Warbeck, Prince or Pretender? Few mysteries of history have fascinated us as much and prompted so much speculation as the mystery of the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. Were the two young princes really murdered in their beds, and if so who by and why? Or were they somehow spirited away from the Tower of London in secret and taken to a safe place to live out their lives in obscurity?

Against the chaos and political instability of that period of English history known as the War of the Roses, it is perhaps not surprising then that several figures came forward during the reign of King Henry VII claiming to be one of the lost princes and becoming a focus for rebellion, and one of the most famous of these royal pretenders was a young man know as Perkin Warbeck. After Henry VII defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and claimed the English throne by right of conquest, his main tasks were to secure his kingdom and win the loyalty of his nobles and people. He married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter King Edward IV, in an attempt to further legitimise his claim to the English crown and unite the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions, even though to do this he had to overturn the ruling that had declared that she and all her siblings were illegitimate due to their father’s alleged pre-contract of marriage with Lady Eleanor Talbot. But if Elizabeth of York and her sisters were once again recognised as being the legitimate children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, then so too were her two brothers, King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York.

Many historians consider that to have overturned this ruling, Henry VII must have believed that the two young princes were indeed already dead, as if either of the two boys were still alive, they had a much greater claim to the throne than Henry himself, and he knew that there were still powerful forces both in England and across Europe who would back a Yorkist claimant to the throne. Perkin Warbeck One of these powerful forces was Margaret of Burgundy, the sister of the two dead kings Edward IV and Richard III and the aunt of the Princes in the Tower, and it was at her Court that Perkin Warbeck first came to public attention and claimed the throne of England. It is not known whether Margaret of Burgundy genuinely believed that Perkin Warbeck was her nephew or whether she was fully aware that he was a fraud and groomed him in the ways of the Yorkist Royal Family in order to create a focus of rebellion against Henry VII. The other major European player to get involved was King Charles VIII of France, and both he and Margaret officially recognised Perkin Warbeck as King Richard IV of England.

For a while Perkin Warbeck was feted across Europe, attending the funeral in Vienna of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III, and gaining the recognition of his successor Maximilian I, spending time at the French Court in 1492 and then residing at the Court of Burgundy. However, in 1492 Charles VIII signed the Treaty of Etaples with England to prevent a threatened invasion of France and part of the treaty was an agreement to expel Perkin Warbeck from French territory. Warbeck’s presence in Burgundy rattled Henry VII so much that he imposed a trade embargo on Flanders in 1493, even though this would lose England a great deal of revenue. Perkin Warbeck’s first foray into rebellion against the English crown had been in 1491 when he arrived in the Irish city of Cork, which had long been a Yorkist stronghold. The good people of Cork thought that Warbeck was actually the Earl of Warwick, the son of the hapless George, Duke of Clarence, who had been attainted for treason and executed in the Tower of London after trying the patience of his brother Edward IV one time too many, who was currently being held captive by Henry VII.

Warbeck’s English was apparently not very good, but he managed to deny his being the Earl of Warwick and declare himself as Richard, Duke of York. However, little became of this rebellion and he was forced to return to Europe. With the support of Margaret of Burgundy, he tried his hand again in 1495 and landed with a small force in Deal on the Kent coast. His small force was effectively routed and Warbeck was forced to sail on to Ireland without even disembarking onto English soil. Once in Ireland, he gained the support of the Earl of Desmond and laid siege to the town of Waterford, but was once again unsuccessful. He fled to the Court of King James IV of Scotland, where he was graciously received, given a pension of £1200 a year and the hand of the Scottish King’s cousin, Lady Catherine Gordon, in marriage. At that time James IV was happy to use any means at his disposal to rile Henry VII, so he encouraged Perkin Warbeck to use his pension for funding for attempting to mount an attack across the English border. However, Warbeck received no support whatsoever from the English and was forced to retreat back into Scotland.

Henry VII may still at this point in his reign have felt insecure on his throne, but he had set up an effective network of spies and had rooted out and dealt with any English supporters of Perkin Warbeck. In 1495, Sir William Stanley was tried and executed for treason due to his support of Warbeck and the Yorkist cause, which is ironic in the light of the fact that he was the very same William Stanley who switched sides at the Battle of Bosworth ensuring the defeat of the Yorkist King Richard III. Henry VII’s steward Lord Fitzwalter was also attainted and executed and it seems that they were being informed on by one of their co-conspirators Sir Robert Clifford, who was secretly working for Henry. Clifford’s reward for his participation in the conspiracy against the crown was not the more usual short trip to the scaffold but a full pardon and a hefty reward. After Warbeck’s failed attempt to enter England, James IV of Scotland gave up on the idea of being a thorn in the side of the English King, and signed the Treaty of Ayton that brought him peace with England and Henry’s daughter Margaret Tudor as a bride.

Warbeck was once more expelled and returned again to Ireland to make another attempt at laying siege to the town of Waterford. This attempt was swiftly defeated and he was chased from Ireland by four English ships. Left with only a handful of supporters, Perkin Warbeck sailed to Cornwall, where he hoped to capitalise on the discontent still fomenting there after the uprising that had taken place only a few months earlier. The Cornish people welcomed him and declared him King Richard IV on Bodmin Moor. The support of the Cornish swelled his army by 6000 and he marched on Exeter and then on to Taunton. Henry sent an army to counter Warbeck’s rebellion, and when Warbeck heard that this force had sighted he fled to Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire, where he was captured. Henry VII was initially merciful to Perkin Warbeck, allowing him to stay at Court under supervision. However, he attempted to run away, so was removed to the more secure environment of the Tower of London. In 1499 he allegedly tried to escape again, this time supposedly in the company of the real Earl of Warwick, and was hanged at Tyburn.

So was Perkin Warbeck really Richard, Duke of York? It is popularly believed that he was actually a Fleming born in Tournai in around 1474, the son of a French official called John de Werbecque and his wife, Katherine de Faro, and that he had spent his boyhood years working as a servant in several different households. He then became an apprentice for a fleece merchant called Pregent Meno, and it was while he was working for Meno that he first arrived in Ireland and declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York. Perkin Warbeck also supposedly bore a strong resemblance to the dead Yorkist monarch, Edward IV, and it has been speculated that Warbeck could actually have been Edward’s illegitimate son. But what of Margaret of Burgundy’s support of Perkin Warbeck. Would she really have supported an imposter as her nephew? Would she really have wanted a non-royal foreigner on the throne of England, however much she despised Henry VII’s regime? She declared that she recognised Warbeck as Richard of York because of certain birthmarks on his body and his supposedly detailed knowledge of what life had been like living in the English Royal Household.

In return for Margaret’s support, Warbeck had to promise to return all her lands in England to her that had been confiscated after the Battle of Bosworth when he gained the English crown. But was this enough to make her support an imposter? Moreover, if Perkin Warbeck really spoke such poor English and was uneducated, would sophisticated monarchs like Maximilian I and Charles VII even have deigned to let him into their presence, let alone backed him as a pretender to the throne of England? In the 15th century class was all important, and people rarely moved out of the milieu into which they had been born. There was also a mystique and a reverence surrounding royal blood, and preserving royal bloodlines and family ties was regarded as all important, so encouraging someone who had worked as a servant to make a bid for a crown would have been almost unthinkable. After all, the real Richard, Duke of York had been excluded from the possibility of ever sitting on the throne of England purely because his father might have made a pre-contract of marriage with another woman before he married Richard’s mother Elizabeth Woodville. Like all great historical mysteries, we shall never probably really know the truth about Perkin Warbeck.

Perkin Warbeck made a confession before his execution that gave his parentage and early history, some of which has been backed up by documentary evidence. But was he forced into this confession by Henry VII, who would have been very eager to ensure that there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that that Perkin Warbeck was an imposter and not a Yorkist prince? Most likely he was just an apprentice from Flanders, who by chance bore an uncanny resemblance to a dead king and was in the right place at the right time, but there is always the chance, however slight, that he really was Richard of York and that he had been spirited away from his imprisonment in England and brought to Europe for safety. 1000+ images about Richard 111 on Pinterest | Richard III, King richard and Edward iv Forward Perkin Warbeck (c.1474-1499) Pretender to the Throne of England, threat to the new Tudor Monarch, Henry VII. Warbeck was held in the Tower alongside Edward, Earl of Warwick. Allegedly, the two tried to escape in 1499.

Captured once again, on 23 November 1499, Warbeck was drawn on a hurdle from the Tower to Tyburn, London, where he read out a confession and was hanged. Read more... See More

Question: Which pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the "little princes in the Tower" who, legend has it, was executed by Richard III?
Answer: Perkin Warbeck