3rd July 1495

Perkin Warbeck landed at Deal in Kent

.

Almost from the moment, the 'Princes in the Tower' disappeared, there had been rumours that King Edward, the older of the two brothers, was dead.

Some said he was murdered, while others said he died naturally while residing in the Tower.

Rumours were rife, that the younger brother Richard, was still alive.

According to Warbeck's version of his own past, both he and his brother were to have been murdered.

Two men were appointed to carry out the act, but the one responsible for Richard's death could not bring himself to go through with the crime.

Instead, he arranged for Richard to escape to the Continent on the condition that the Duke stay in hiding for several years.

Warbeck adopted the identity of Richard of York, the younger of the two 'Princes in the Tower' in 1491, and he began a long journey around the courts of Europe in search of support.

He was received as Richard of York by Charles VIII of France, and by Margaret of Burgundy, who acknowledged him as her nephew.

He also attended the funeral of Emperor Frederick III in 1493, at the invitation of Maximilian I.

With the help of his 'Aunt', Margaret of Burgundy, Warbeck made his first attempt to invade England, and reclaim the English Throne.

On the 3rd July 1495, Perkin Warbeck landed at Deal in Kent with men and ships.

In the ensuing battle, the 'Battle of Deal', with Kentish men who supported King Henry VII, around 150 of Warbeck’s men were killed and over 160 captured.

Warbeck managed to escape, fleeing to Ireland.

His presence in Ireland wasn't well received, so Warbeck then made his way to Scotland.

In Scotland Warbeck charmed them all.

He married the king's cousin, Lady Catherine Gordon, and was granted a monthly pension of £112, a clear indication that James IV accepted Warbeck's claim to the English throne.

The subsequent Scottish invasion of England, in his support in September 1496, didn't go well, the Scots withdrew without even meeting the English forces.

Now an embarrassment to the Scottish king, Warbeck returned once more to Ireland.

An uprising in Cornwall against the tax increases in June 1497 encouraged Warbeck to get support there.

On September 12th he arrived near Land's End with just 120 men in two ships.

This final invasion was by far the most successful, his force was several thousand strong by the time it reached Exeter.

When the King's army reached the rebels, Warbeck realised there was no hope, and fled for the coast.

He took refuge in Beaulieu Abbey, and then surrendered.

In his confession to Henry VII on October 5th, 1497, Warbeck admitted that he was the son of a boat man from Tournai.

This statement has often been viewed with suspicion, because it was made while Warbeck was under duress, and at the King's mercy.

Warbeck was taken into custody, until he tried to escape in June 1498.

He was then sent to the Tower.

Warbeck and the Earl of Warwick were confined in neighbouring cells.

Early in 1499, a plot to burn down the Tower, escape to Flanders, and place Warwick on the throne, was uncovered, and Warbeck and Warwick, suspected as the ringleaders.

Whether this was a real plot, or fabricated by Henry VII, to remove Warbeck and Warwick from being close to the throne, we will never know.

Perkin Warbeck was hanged on November 23rd and the Earl of Warwick was bEheaded on Tower Hill on the 29th November 1499.

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkin_Warbeck...

.

https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

.

16th-century copy by Jacques Le Boucq of the only known contemporary portrait of Perkin Warbeck.

Library of Arras