Read Online The House of Tudor by Alison Plowden - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Alison Plowden
Ads: Link
on the other hand, declares that it was all a deep-laid scheme instigated by Margaret of Burgundy, that inveterate enemy of the House of Tudor, who ‘cherished such a deep hatred of King Henry, that it seemed she would be content with nothing short of his death’. Ever since the Lambert Simnel débâcle , says Vergil, Margaret had been biding her time, hoping to succeed by cunning and craft where force of arms had failed. She had come across Perkin by chance and, being impressed by his appearance and his sharp mind, had kept him secretly in her household while she coached him in the family history, ‘so that afterwards he should...convince all by his performance that he sprang from the Yorkist line’. Margaret had then waited until Henry was embroiled in a dispute with France over the independence of Brittany before unleashing Perkin in Ireland, hoping that he would be successful in stirring up ‘the barbarous natives who were always most ready for new rebellions’.
Whichever of these versions is correct, the latest ‘Earl of Warwick’ had little success among the Irish - even the most barbarous of the native chieftains proved disappointingly chary of making fools of themselves a second time. Perkin’s next appearance was in France, where King Charles welcomed the ‘feigned lad’ with flattering attention, recognizing him not as Warwick but, more dramatically, as Richard Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower, miraculously saved from his brother’s assassins. The ‘Duke of York’ was made much of at the French Court, royally entertained and given a guard of honour, so that the young man from Tournai not surprisingly ‘thought himself in heaven’ - until the autumn of 1492, when a peace treaty was signed between France and England and the ploy had served its purpose. Charles would not go so far as to surrender Perkin to Henry, but he wasted no time in seeing his guest off the premises and Perkin returned, perforce, to Flanders, where he presented himself to his ‘aunt’ Margaret.
The Duchess at first appeared to doubt his claims, but after a careful interrogation she declared herself satisfied that this was indeed her nephew ‘raised from the dead’. Margaret was in transports - ‘so great was her pleasure that her happiness seemed to have disturbed the balance of her mind’ - and Perkin once more received VIP treatment. He was installed in a fine house in Antwerp, given a guard of thirty archers who flaunted the white rose badge on their uniforms, and invited to state functions by Maximilian, King of the Romans.
Perkin was encouraged to tell the story of his adventure, of how he had escaped death by a ruse and of his subsequent wanderings round Europe. The news spread rapidly and created a considerable sensation - especially in England, where rumours that one of King Edward’s sons might be alive after all ‘came blazing and thundering’ and, for a time, gained a good deal of credence, not only among the ordinary gullible public, but among some more important men ‘who considered the matter as genuine’.
The trouble was that Perkin could just have been genuine. The fate of the little princes remained something of a mystery and the King, of course, was in no position to produce the real Duke of York - a point which had not escaped the notice of his adversaries. The most worrying thing from Henry’s point of view was just how many important men did believe - or were ready to pretend to believe - in the impostor. He needed to know urgently if there was anyone in his immediate circle who was in the plot, and he made this his first priority. Fortunately his intelligence service was highly efficient and there were a number of arrests during 1494. But it was December before the King caught a really big fish in his net. This turned out to be no less a person than Sir William Stanley, who had helped to put the crown on Henry’s head at Bosworth, the Earl of Derby’s brother and his own
Whichever of these versions is correct, the latest ‘Earl of Warwick’ had little success among the Irish - even the most barbarous of the native chieftains proved disappointingly chary of making fools of themselves a second time. Perkin’s next appearance was in France, where King Charles welcomed the ‘feigned lad’ with flattering attention, recognizing him not as Warwick but, more dramatically, as Richard Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower, miraculously saved from his brother’s assassins. The ‘Duke of York’ was made much of at the French Court, royally entertained and given a guard of honour, so that the young man from Tournai not surprisingly ‘thought himself in heaven’ - until the autumn of 1492, when a peace treaty was signed between France and England and the ploy had served its purpose. Charles would not go so far as to surrender Perkin to Henry, but he wasted no time in seeing his guest off the premises and Perkin returned, perforce, to Flanders, where he presented himself to his ‘aunt’ Margaret.
The Duchess at first appeared to doubt his claims, but after a careful interrogation she declared herself satisfied that this was indeed her nephew ‘raised from the dead’. Margaret was in transports - ‘so great was her pleasure that her happiness seemed to have disturbed the balance of her mind’ - and Perkin once more received VIP treatment. He was installed in a fine house in Antwerp, given a guard of thirty archers who flaunted the white rose badge on their uniforms, and invited to state functions by Maximilian, King of the Romans.
Perkin was encouraged to tell the story of his adventure, of how he had escaped death by a ruse and of his subsequent wanderings round Europe. The news spread rapidly and created a considerable sensation - especially in England, where rumours that one of King Edward’s sons might be alive after all ‘came blazing and thundering’ and, for a time, gained a good deal of credence, not only among the ordinary gullible public, but among some more important men ‘who considered the matter as genuine’.
The trouble was that Perkin could just have been genuine. The fate of the little princes remained something of a mystery and the King, of course, was in no position to produce the real Duke of York - a point which had not escaped the notice of his adversaries. The most worrying thing from Henry’s point of view was just how many important men did believe - or were ready to pretend to believe - in the impostor. He needed to know urgently if there was anyone in his immediate circle who was in the plot, and he made this his first priority. Fortunately his intelligence service was highly efficient and there were a number of arrests during 1494. But it was December before the King caught a really big fish in his net. This turned out to be no less a person than Sir William Stanley, who had helped to put the crown on Henry’s head at Bosworth, the Earl of Derby’s brother and his own
Similar Books
