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Perkin Warbeck ( – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would have been the rightful claimant to the throne, assuming that his elder brother Edward V was dead and that he was legitimate—a point that had been previously contested by his uncle, King Richard III.
Due to the uncertainty as to whether Richard had died (either of some natural cause or having been murdered in the Tower of London) or whether he had somehow survived, Warbeck's claim gained some support. Followers may have truly believed Warbeck was Richard or may have supported him simply because of their desire to overthrow the reigning king, Henry VII, and reclaim the throne. Given the lack of knowledge regarding Richard's fate, and having received support outside England, Warbeck emerged as a significant threat to the newly established Tudor dynasty; Henry declared Warbeck an impostor.
Warbeck made several landings in England backed by small armies but met strong resistance from the King's men and surrendered in Hampshire in 1497. After his capture, he retracted his claim, writing a confession in which he said he was actually Flemish people and born in Tournai around 1474. He was executed on 23 November 1499. Dealing with Warbeck cost Henry VII over £13,000 (), putting a strain on Henry's weak state finances.
According to the confession, Warbeck was born to a woman called Katherine de Faro, wife of John Osbeck (also known as Jehan de Werbecque).Gairdner, James, p. 266 Osbeck was Flemish and held the occupation of comptroller to the city of Tournai, in present-day Belgium.Ure, Peter, ed., p. lxxxviii 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.Gairdner, James, p. 267 Around the age of ten, he was taken to Antwerp by his mother to learn Dutch language. From there, 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 where he traded cloth.Tillbrook, Michael. The Tudors: England 1485–1603. Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 6
After his time in the Netherlands, Warbeck yearned to visit other countries and was hired by a Bretons merchant. This merchant eventually brought Warbeck to Cork, Ireland, in 1491 when he was about 17, and there he learned 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 on gaining revenge on the King of England; they decided that he would claim to be the younger son of the late King Edward IV.
In 1491, Warbeck landed in Ireland in the hope of gaining support for his claim as Lambert Simnel had four years previously. His cause was promoted by John Atwater, a former Mayor of Cork and ardent Yorkist, who may have been instrumental in helping him assume the identity of Richard. However, little support materialized for an active rebellion, and Warbeck was forced to return to mainland Europe. There his fortunes improved. He was first received by Charles VIII of France, but in 1492 he was expelled under the terms of the Treaty of Etaples, by which Charles had agreed not to shelter rebels against Henry VII. After an English expedition laid siege to Boulogne, Charles VIII agreed to withdraw all backing from Warbeck. In the Duchy of Burgundy, however, Warbeck was publicly recognised as Richard of Shrewsbury by Margaret of York, widow of Charles the Bold, sister of Edward IV, and thus the aunt of the Princes in the Tower. Whether Margaret—who left England to marry before either of her nephews were born—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 Austria, Duke of Burgundy, about the harbouring of the pretender. When Henry was ignored, he imposed a trade embargo on Burgundy, cutting off important Burgundian trade connections 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, Emperor Maximilian I, in 1493, Perkin attended the funeral of Maximilian's father Frederick III and was recognised as King Richard IV of England.Wroe, Ann, pp. 148–151.
King Henry ordered the group of supporters to be rounded up and put on trial. All were duly arrested, together with William D'Aubeney, Thomas Cressener, Thomas Astwode, Robert Ratcliff and others. Lord Fitzwater was sent as a prisoner to Calais and later beheaded for trying to bribe his gaolers.
In show trials in January 1495, all the conspirators were initially condemned to death, although six, including Thwaites, were then pardoned and their sentences commuted to imprisonment and fines. Within days Sir Simon Montfort, Robert Ratcliff and William D'Aubeney were beheaded at Tower Hill and Cressener and Astwode pardoned at the block. Later the same month Sir William Stanley was also beheaded. Other members of the group were imprisoned and fined. Sir Robert Clifford was pardoned and rewarded for revealing the names of the conspirators.
Spanish ambassadors arrived in Edinburgh, and later Pedro de Ayala was established as a resident ambassador during the crisis. Warbeck married Lady Catherine Gordon, a daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. The marriage was celebrated in Edinburgh with a tournament, possibly on 13 January, Saint Mungo.Katie Stevenson, Chivalry and Knighthood in Scotland, 1424–1513 (Boydell, 2006), p. 84: Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. cxxx. James gave Warbeck clothes for the wedding and armour covered with purple silk. Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 257, 262–264.
Historian Katie Stevenson suggests the clothing bought for the tournament shows Warbeck fought in a team with the king and four knights.Stevenson, Katie, p. 84 A copy of a love letter in Latin obtained by Pedro de Ayala is thought to be Warbeck's proposal to Lady Catherine. However, James's biographer Norman Macdougall comments that it is clear that nobody, with the possible exception of Margaret of Burgundy, took seriously his claim to be the prince; his marriage to a junior Scots noblewoman was scarcely what might be expected for a potential king of England.
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. Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 292–296. John Ramsay of Balmain (who called himself Lord Bothwell) described the events for Henry VII. He saw Roderic de Lalaing, a Flemish knight, arrive with two little ships and 60 German soldiers and meet James IV and talk to Warbeck.Henry Ellis, Original Letters, Series 1 vol. 1 (London, 1824) p. 30. Guns provided for the raid from Edinburgh Castle included two great French "curtalds", 10 falconets or little serpentines, and 30 iron breech-loading "cart guns" with 16 close-carts or wagons for the munitions.Henry Ellis, Original Letters, Series 1 vol. 1 (London, 1824) p. 31. Bothwell estimated the invasion force would last only four to five 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.Pinkerton, John, pp. 438–441
The Scottish host assembled near Edinburgh; James IV and Warbeck offered prayers at Holyrood Abbey on 14 September and on the next day at St Triduana's Chapel and Our Lady Kirk of Restalrig. Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 296, 299–300. On 19 September 1496 the Scottish army was at Ellem and on 21 September they crossed the River Tweed at Coldstream. Miners set to work to demolish Heaton Castle on 24 September, but the army quickly retreated when resources were expended Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 299–300. 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 a royal banner displayed and destroyed three or four little towers (or ). They left on 25 September 1496 when an English army commanded by Lord Neville approached from Newcastle.Bain, Joseph, ed., Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, 1357–1509, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 418–419 no. 35 (there dated as if '1497'): David Dunlop (1991), 108–109 & fn., quotes another version, and cites four more, noting a mistaken date in Bain (1888). 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 the Spanish ambassador in Scotland, Pedro de Ayala, who had been Perkin's companion in Northumberland.''Calendar State Papers Milan" (London, 1912), no. 514.
Later, wishing to be rid of Warbeck, James IV provided a ship called the Cuckoo and a hired crew under a Breton captain, Guy Foulcart.Robert Kerr Hannay, Letters of James IV (SHS: Edinburgh, 1953), p. 9. Horses were hired for 30 of Warbeck's companions to ride to the ship at Ayr on 5 July 1497. Pedro de Ayala accompanied Perkin to Ayr. Perkin pawned a horse for cash in Ayr and sailed to Waterford in shame.Thomas Dickson, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 342–345. 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. Bacon's History of the Reign of King Henry VII said he had "in his company four small barks, with some sixscore or sevenscore fighting men".
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".
After eight months at court, Warbeck tried to escape. He was quickly recaptured. He was then held in the Tower, initially in solitary confinement, and later alongside the 17th Earl of Warwick; the two tried to escape in 1499. Captured once again, Warbeck was led from the Tower to Tyburn, London on 23 November 1499, where he read out a confession and was Hanging. Warbeck's Irish ally John Atwater was also executed at Tyburn on the same day. The Earl of Warwick was beheaded on Tower Hill on 28 November 1499.
Warbeck was buried in Austin Friars, London. Great Chronicle of London, Guildhall Library. The presumed site of his unmarked grave is at the Dutch Church, Austin Friars.
His story was featured in Francis Bacon's 1622 work History of the Reign of King Henry VII.
Some authors, for example Horace Walpole, have even gone as far as to claim that Warbeck actually was Richard, Duke of York.
Within the Recueil d'Arras, the "Perkin Warbeck" drawing is placed among portraits of the Scottish and English royal family (James IV, Margaret Tudor, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York).Lorne Campbell, 'The Authorship of the Recueil d'Arras', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 40 (1977), 302.
This group of drawings in the Recueil d'Arras may be based on the work of Meynnart Wewyck, an artist at the Tudor court who travelled to Scotland in the years after Perkin Warbeck had left.Charlotte Bolland & Andrew Chen, 'Meynnart Wewyck and the portrait of Lady Margaret Beaufort', Burlington Magazine, 161 (April 2019), 316–318: James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, 1500–1504, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 405. There he was known as "Mynours the English painter".Susan Hannabus & Michael Apted, Painters in Scotland (Edinburgh: Scottish Record Society, 1978), 68–69.
Importantly, Wewyck is said to have delivered 4 portraits of English royals to Scotland in 1502 but in Receuil only 3 are labelled as them. (Henry VII, Elizabeth of York and Margaret Tudor). The remaining painting depicted a young prince, the future Henry VIII. He might be the male mistakenly labelled as Warbeck.
Another painter, Piers, from Antwerp, was his successor at the Scottish court,David Ditchburn, Scotland and Europe, the medieval kingdom and its contacts with Christendom, c. 1214–1545, vol. 1 (Tuckwell, 2001), 119. and he has also been suggested as the source of the Scottish portraits in the Recueil.Andrea Thomas, Princelie Majestie: The Court of James V (Edinburgh: John Donald), 80: Jill Harrison, 'Fresh Perspectives on Hugo van Goes' Portrait of Margaret of Denmark and the Trinity Altarpiece', Court Historian, 24:2 (2019), 128–129.
Landing in Cornwall
On 7 September 1497, Warbeck landed at Whitesand Bay, two miles north of Land's End, 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 6,000 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.
Imprisonment and death
Warbeck was initially treated well by Henry. As soon as he confessed to being an impostor, he was released from the Tower of London and was given accommodation at Henry's court. He was even allowed to be present at royal banquets. He was, however, kept under guard and was not allowed to sleep with his wife, who was living under the protection of the queen.
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. Francis Bacon believed he was one of Edward's many illegitimate children. It has also been suggested that he was a son of one of Edward's siblings, either Richard III or Margaret of York, Warbeck's first major sponsor.
(1768). 9780415134361, Routledge. ISBN 9780415134361
Portrait
It is often claimed that Perkin's only surviving likeness is a drawing in the Recueil d'Arras by Jacques le Boucq dating from c. 1570.
The text labelling the drawing as Perkin Warbeck is in a different hand to inscriptions on other drawings in the collection. It might have been added later. It is then questionable if it indeed depicts Warbeck.
Since le Boucq didn't know who the man was, by his time the identity of the man was likely forgotten.
However, Le Boucq's original handwriting describes the materials of the man's outfit as "drap dor"(drap d'or=cloth of gold) and "drap darger"(probably drap d'argent=cloth of silver). An outfit fit for royalty, but not pointing to Warbeck specifically.
Warbeck in popular culture
Warbeck's story subsequently attracted writers, most notably the dramatist John Ford, who dramatized the story in his play Perkin Warbeck, first performed in the 1630s.
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Categories: 1470s Births, 1499 Deaths, 1490s In England, 1490s In Scotland, 15th-century Executions By England, Executed Belgian People, Court Of James Iv Of Scotland, Perkin, Impostor Pretenders, Military History Of Cornwall, People Executed At Tyburn, People Executed By The Kingdom Of England By Hanging, People Executed Under Henry Vii Of England, People From Tournai, People Of The Tudor Period, Pretenders To The English Throne, Prisoners In The Tower Of London, 15th-century People From The Holy Roman Empire, Burials At Austin Friars, London, Belgian Expatriates In England, Richard Of Shrewsbury, Duke Of York
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