Perkin Warbeck

A young man claiming to be Richard, the younger of the Princes in the Tower emerged in 1491. Most historians identify him as Perkin Warbeck (or Piers Osbeck) son of Jehan de Werbecque and Nicaise (or Kataryn) Farou of Tournai. But to this day opinion is divided on the question whether he was an imposter or if he really was Richard of Shrewsbury.

He was accepted by royalty including  Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy who was aunt to the real Richard. His facial features were said to resemble those of Edward IV, his putative father, and his manners were as expected of royalty. In a recently published account of his life after entering the Tower of London in 1483, he claimed that he and his brother had been separated by the duke of Buckingham and that John Howard, duke of Norfolk had arranged for him to be taken out of the Tower and hidden on the Continent. In 1487 he had left Flanders for Portugal in the household of Lady Margaret Beaumont, wife of the trader Sir Edward Brampton. After a period of service with the royal councillor and explorer Pero Vaz de Cunha, he entered the employ of a Breton merchant, Pregent Meno, with whom he sailed to Cork in December 1491. It was here that he was first publicly identified as Richard of Shrewsbury.

If he was who he claimed to be, and if his older brother were dead, he would have been the rightful king of England as Richard IV. The young man  was entertained as Richard of England by Charles, King of France, Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor, and by James IV of Scotland. James IV even gave his cousin Catherine Gordon in marriage to the pretender, in 1495, although within two years James refused to back his claim to the English throne.

Henry VII was clearly very worried by the possible existence of either of the Princes in the Tower.  Henry made strenuous efforts to track him down. In 1493, by the Treaty of Etaples, Charles of France agreed not to support any pretenders to the English throne. Richard of England/Warbeck at this time was being maintained by Charles at the castle at Amboise, and therefore had to make a hasty retreat to safety at Maximilian’s court as, by the above treaty, Charles was to hand any pretender  over to Henry VII at once.

In retaliation for Maximilian’s recognition of the pretender’s claim to the English throne, Henry VII opened economic warfare with the Holy Roman Emperor and English merchants were forbidden to trade with Antwerp and the Low Countries.

Richard of England/Warbeck made several attempts to invade England with the support of Irish and Scottish troops and, after a country-wide search, was captured by Henry at Taunton in 1497. Henry had him beaten up so badly that he was unrecognisable. Interestingly it seems he was never allowed to meet his alleged sister Elizabeth with whom he grew up and who might have been able to settle the question of his identity. He was persuaded to confess to Henry that he was not really Richard and was then treated more as a guest than a prisoner. However, he absconded and was recaptured in June 1498. He was then confined in the Tower with Edward, 17th Earl of Warwick who was a Yorkist candidate for the throne. It is not known if they plotted together against the king or not, but both claimants  were executed in 1499.

Henry was at this time persuading Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain to allow a marriage between their daughter Katherine of Aragon and his son Prince Arthur. The alliance became more likely when Henry eliminated any rival claimants to the throne.

IWF