Yorkist Pretenders To The Tudor Throne: Who Were Lambert Simnel And Perkin Warbeck?

For more than a decade after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Henry VII's fledgling dynasty was threatened by two Yorkist claimants. Lambert Simnel's rebellion, though short-lived, ended at the Battle of Stoke in 1487, a far bloodier affair than Bosworth two years earlier. The second rebellion, centred on Perkin Warbeck, ended in ignominious surrender but was the fulcrum of a power struggle involving the major European powers for most of the 1490s. Who were these two men? Were they the imposters claimed by the King and generally accepted as such by most historians, or were they the nobles they claimed to be - Edward, Earl of Warwick and Richard, second son of Edward IV? What became of the other Prince in the Tower , Edward V? Were Edward IV's two sons really murdered by their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, or were both alive and involved in the two rebellions? Was there any link between the rebellions, or were they the last desperate and uncoordinated rolls of the dice by remnants of the House of York unwilling to accept the new Tudor regime? Do we really know what became of Simnel and Warbeck after their rebellions failed other than what Henry VII told us? Part I of this book examines the evidence for the identity of Lambert Simnel while Part II recreates a courtroom trial for Perkin Warbeck allowing you, the reader, to act as jury. AUTHOR: Kieran Molloy was born in Smethwick in the Black Country. After a BSc and PhD in chemistry from the University of Nottingham, he embarked on an academic career spanning forty years before retiring as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Bath. He has a lifelong interest in medieval history, is a member of the Richard III Society and has had articles published in the Ricardian Bulletin, the society's quarterly journal. 20 b/w illustrations