A contemporary drawing of Warbeck
Perkin Warbeck (1474 Picardy - 23 November 1499 Tyburn, London) was a
pretender to the English throne during the reign of King
Henry VII of England. He was an impostor,
pretending to be Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, the
younger son of King Edward IV of England, but was in fact a Fleming born in Tournai around 1474. He
was the son of a French official, John de Werbecque and Katherine de Faro. The real Richard of Shrewsbury was almost certainly
dead by this time, most likely murdered in the Tower of London.
Claim to the throne
Warbeck was first noted as claiming the English throne at the court of Burgundy in
1490. In 1491, he landed in Ireland
in the hope of gaining support for his claim as Lambert Simnel had four years previously.
However, little 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 and was officially recognised as Richard of
Shrewsbury by Margaret of Burgundy, who was Edward IV's sister and the widow of Charles I, Duke of
Burgundy. It is not known whether or not she knew he was a fraud. Warbeck was also welcomed by various other monarchs; in
1493, he attended the funeral of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor in
Vienna,where he was recognised as King Richard IV of England, at the invitation of his son
Maximilian I.[1]
First landing in England
On 3 July 1495, funded by Margaret of Burgundy, Perkin attempted
a landing in England. His forces, however, were small and once again he was forced to retreat
almost immediately, this time to Ireland. There he found support from the Earl of
Desmond and laid siege to Waterford, but, meeting resistance, he fled to
Scotland. There he was well received by James IV of
Scotland, who would always spring at a chance to annoy England and permitted him to marry his cousin, Lady Catherine
Gordon.
In September 1496, Scotland launched an attack on England, but quickly retreated when support
from Northumberland failed to materialise. Now wishing to be rid of
Perkin, James IV expelled him and Perkin returned to Waterford in shame. Once again he attempted to lay siege to the city, 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 one hundred and twenty men on two ships.
Second landing in England
In 1497, he landed in Cornwall, hoping to capitalise on the
Cornish people's resentment in the aftermath of their uprising only three
months earlier. As the rebellion was swiftly put down, however, and many of the peasants were unwilling to commit to an extended
engagement against the King, Warbeck found little support for a renewed rising against King Henry. Leaving Cornwall for
London, he mounted a feeble military challenge to Henry but fled Henry's army a few
days before battle would have been joined. He was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of
London.
Imprisonment and death
Warbeck was held in the Tower alongside a genuine claimant Edward,
Earl of Warwick, with whom he tried to escape in 1499. Captured once again, he was
hanged as a traitor at Tyburn.
Appearance
Perkin reportedly resembled Edward IV in appearance, which has led to speculation that he might have been Edward's
illegitimate son. Some historians such as Ann Wroe have even gone as far as to claim that Warbeck was actually Richard, Duke of
York, although this is not the general consensus.
Warbeck in popular culture
Warbeck's story subsequently attracted writers—most notably, John Ford, who
dramatized the story in his Perkin Warbeck.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, best known as the author of Frankenstein, wrote a "romance" on the subject of Warbeck, titled
The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck. It was published in London in
1830.
Channel 4 and RDF Media produced a drama about Perkin Warbeck for British television in 2005, "Princes in the Tower". It was
directed by Justin Hardy and starred Mark Umbers as Warbeck.
See also
Notes
- ^ Wroe, pp. 148-151.
References
- Wroe, Ann. Perkin: A Story of Deception. Vintage: 2004 (ISBN 0-09-944996-X).
- Guy, John. "Tudor England" p52 et seq.
- Ashley, Mike (2002). British Kings & Queens. Carroll & Graf. ISBN
0-7867-1104-3.
pgs 231 & 232
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
