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Perkin Warbeck

, Fraud
Perkin Warbeck
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  • Born: c. 1474
  • Birthplace: Tournai, Belgium
  • Died: 23 November 1499
  • Best Known As: Royal pretender during the reign of England's Henry VII

Perkin Warbeck was hanged in 1499 for plotting to overthrow King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty in England. Beginning in Ireland in 1491, Warbeck pretended to be Richard, Duke of York, the youngest son of King Edward IV. His story was somewhat plausible, as there was still some uncertainty as to the fate of Richard and his brother, the boy king Edward V. Imprisoned in the Tower of London after their father's death, the boys were generally believed to have been murdered in 1483 by order of King Richard III. In the absence of proof, however, some believed that young Richard had somehow escaped. Warbeck managed to gather support in Europe for his claim to the throne, notably from Charles VIII of France, Margaret of Burgundy and James IV of Scotland, all of whom had their own reasons for hoping to humiliate Henry VII. Warbeck attempted to invade England in 1495, but failed miserably. In 1497 he had a bit more success but was captured by Henry in Beaulieu. After six years of pretending to be the Duke of York, Warbeck confessed that he was actually the son of Katherine de Faro and John Warbeck, a minor official in Tournai. Warbeck was confined at court, but when he tried to escape he was imprisoned in the Tower (1498). Indefatigable to the last, he conspired with the Earl of Warwick, a fellow prisoner with a legitimate claim to the throne, to overthrow Henry. The king's council discovered the plot in November 1499 and both men were convicted of treason and condemned to death.

Frankenstein author Mary Shelley wrote a fictional account of Warbeck's adventures, The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, A Romance (1830).

 
 

(born 1474?, Tournai, Flanders — died Nov. 23, 1499, London, Eng.) Flemish impostor, pretender to the throne of Henry VII. The son of a local official in Flanders, while working as a servant in Ireland in 1491, he was misidentified as royalty while dressed in his master's rich silks and was soon persuaded to impersonate Richard, duke of York, who was presumed to have been murdered with his brother in the Tower of London in 1483. Encouraged by several monarchs and other Yorkist enemies in both England and Europe, he gathered forces and supporters on the continent for an invasion. After abortive attempts in 1495 and 1496, he landed in Cornwall in 1497 but was captured and hanged when he tried to escape.

For more information on Perkin Warbeck, visit Britannica.com.

 
British History: Perkin Warbeck

Warbeck, Perkin (1474-99). Warbeck was a troublesome pretender to Henry VII's crown. He claimed to be Richard, duke of York, the younger of the two princes, sons of Edward IV. He was in fact born in Tournai. When he appeared in Cork in 1491 he was taken up by a number of people who wished to embarrass Henry. James IV of Scotland welcomed him and gave him his cousin in marriage. In 1497 he landed in Cornwall, but failed to take Exeter or Taunton. He surrendered at Beaulieu and was spared his life on confession. In 1499, having attempted to escape from the Tower, he was hanged at Tyburn.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Warbeck, Perkin,
1474?–1499, pretender to the English throne, b. Tournai. He lived in Flanders and later in Portugal and arrived in Ireland in the employ of a silk merchant in 1491. There adherents of the Yorkist party persuaded him to impersonate Richard, duke of York, the younger brother of Edward V of England. As children, the royal brothers had been imprisoned in the Tower of London and subsequently disappeared, presumably murdered. Warbeck's claim was supported by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, by James IV of Scotland, and by Margaret of Burgundy, sister of Edward IV (and thus Richard's aunt) and the chief supporter of the Yorkist exiles. Warbeck's attempt to invade England in 1495 failed, and he went to Scotland where he married Catherine Gordon, a cousin of James IV. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall, proclaimed himself Richard IV, and raised a rebel army. His forces were met by those of Henry VII at Exeter, and the pretender fled. He was captured, admitted the whole story of his adventure, and was imprisoned. In 1499 he was hanged for plotting against the king.

Bibliography

See biographies by J. Gairdner (in his History of the Life and Reign of Richard the Third, 1898, repr. 1969) and A. Wroe (2003).

 
Dictionary: War·beck  (wôr'bĕk') pronunciation, Perkin 1474?–1499.

Flemish pretender to the English throne. Posing as Richard, Duke of York, the murdered son of Edward IV, he landed in Cornwall (1497), proclaimed himself king, and proceeded to London, where he was captured and hanged by supporters of Henry VII.


 
Wikipedia: Perkin Warbeck
A contemporary drawing of Warbeck
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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

  1. ^ 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


 
 

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Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Perkin Warbeck biography from Who2.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Perkin Warbeck" Read more

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