Warbeck, Perkin

(1475–1499)

   By impersonating a son of EDWARD IV, Perkin Warbeck became the center of a Yorkist conspiracy to overthrow HENRY VII and the house of TUDOR.

   Born in the Netherlands, Warbeck took service with a Breton cloth merchant, who used the handsome youth to model his finery. In 1491, the young man accompanied his master to IRELAND, where Warbeck’s aristocratic manner attracted the attention of Yorkist sympathizers who encouraged the belief that Warbeck was of royal blood. In November, Warbeck paraded through Dublin claiming to be Edward IV’s younger son, Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York, who had disappeared in the TOWER OF LONDON in 1483. Warbeck also began calling himself “Richard IV,” the rightful king of England. By December, Henry VII feared that Warbeck would win control of Ireland, just as LAMBERT SIMNEL, an earlier Yorkist pretender, had done in 1487. The king dispatched an army to Ireland that dispersed Warbeck’s supporters and forced the pretender to accept an invitation from CHARLES VIII to come to FRANCE.

   Anxious to make trouble for Henry, who was opposing French attempts to absorb BRITTANY, Charles treated Warbeck as an honored guest until November 1492, when the conclusion of the Treaty of Etaples with England forced Charles to expel Warbeck. The pretender then withdrew to the Netherlands, where he was welcomed by MARGARET OF YORK, the dowager duchess of BURGUNDY; the sister of Edward IV and RICHARD III and a longtime foe of Henry VII, Margaret formally recognized Warbeck as her nephew. Backed by the duchess and by Duke Philip of Burgundy, Warbeck invaded England with fourteen ships in June 1495. However, when a rebel landing party was quickly overwhelmed in Kent, Warbeck decided to return to Ireland. When an Irish landing was also repulsed, Warbeck sailed for SCOTLAND, where JAMES IV, hoping to reacquire BERWICK, was also eager to make difficulties for Henry. James recognized Warbeck as “Richard IV” and allowed him to marry a royal kinswoman, Lady Katherine Gordon. In September 1496, James invaded northern England, ostensibly on Warbeck’s behalf (see North of England and the Wars of the Roses). The enterprise aroused no support for a Yorkist restoration, and the Scottish army soon withdrew. By the spring of 1497, James was listening to offers of alliance from LONDON, and Warbeck once again found himself forced to depart.

   After another abortive attempt on Ireland, Warbeck and a small band of supporters landed in Cornwall in September 1497. Hoping to revive a recently quelled Cornish uprising, Warbeck attracted thousands of recruits, but was unable to capture Exeter and was soon forced to surrender. After making a full confession of his imposture to the king,Warbeck was confined at Westminster, and his wife was allowed to become lady-in-waiting to Queen ELIZABETH OF YORK. In June 1498, Warbeck fled, but he was recaptured and imprisoned in the Tower. When Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain expressed reservations about marrying their daughter to Henry’s son so long as any royal pretender remained in England, the king had Warbeck tried for treason along with his fellow prisoner, Edward PLANTAGENET, earl of Warwick, the last direct male descendent of the house of YORK.Warbeck and Warwick were convicted and executed in November 1499.

   See also Yorkist Heirs (after 1485)

   Further Reading: Arthurson, Ian, The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy, 1491-1499 (Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 1997).