Henry VII - Rebellions

Lovell/Stafford Rebellion - Easter 1486

Causes:

• Wanted to restart the House of York

• Margret of Burgundy wanted revenge for the murder of her brother Richard III

• It’s led by Lovell who was a supporter of Richard III

Foreign Support:

• Margret of Burgundy – provided sanctuary

How Henry dealt with the rebellion:

• He sent out his military forces

• Stafford was captured and executed by the Kings forces

• Lovell managed to escape

How serious:

Less serious as nothing happened to make Henry leave if anything, it showed how quickly he could shut down rebellions, possibly destroying some ideas people had of starting a rebellion. It also allowed him to get insight into which areas could be a problem or whose family relatives could be a problem

Lambert Simnel/Earl of Lincoln Rebellion - 1486

Causes:

• Earl of Warrick had a stronger claim to the throne than Henry however was imprisoned in the Tower of London

• Lambert Simnel made to impersonate him by Richard Symonds who was a priest in Oxford (formally part of the Yorkist area)

• Wanting the House of York to prevail again

Foreign Support:

• Margaret of Burgundy – provided 2000 soldiers and sanctuary

• Ireland – Simnel got coronated as King Edward V1 allowing him to take irish soldiers with him too

How Henry dealt with the rebellion:

• Henry had heard about the uprising so paraded the imprisoned Earl of Warrick around London to prove that he had the real one locked up and that there was no jeopardy too his throne, so they needed to stay loyal and not join the uprising

• Battle of Stoke Field 1487. Simnel’s forces contained 8000 soldiers, however Henry’s troops were experienced and more organised. 4000 rebels were killed and John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln

How serious:

More serious as now that Simnel had received help from Ireland they now posed as a new threat to Henry as he had captured their “King Edward VI” this could then lead to Irish people coming over to England and starting a rebellion and they were a center of the House of York which for Henry kept being a reoccurring problem due to him defeating them at the Battle of Bosoworth by killing Richard III. Furthermore, Simnel had also gained help from Margret of Burgundy who sent 2000 German soldiers to Simnel therefore henry knew that Margaret was going to become more of a problem as now she was offering military support in order to knock Henry off the throne in an act of revenge for Richard III (her brother). The fact that Simnels scheme had been a serious threat to Henry proved that he needed to reinforce his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York.

Yorkshire Rebellion - 1489

Reasons:

• Parliament raised taxes to pay for the Brittany army

• Yorkshire had a bad harvest so when taxes raised they pay it but others north of Yorkshire didn’t have to pay

Threat:

• Earl of Northumberland (Henry Percy) murdered by tenants whilst collecting taxes

• Earl of Surrey dealt with the rebels

• Henry was lenient and pardoned majority of the protestors

Seriousness:

• Henry collected £27K out of £100K needed which affected his future plans

Facts:

• Leader = Sir John Egremont a Yorkist sympathiser

Perkin Warbeck Rebellion - 1491 till 1497

Causes:

• Warbeck pretended to be Richard, Duke of York who was formerly one of the Prince’s of the Tower however nobody truly knows what happened to them whether they were killed or if they had just been discreetly moved to another country

• Warbeck wanted to recreate the House of York and since he was pretending to be Richard, he could even possibly get the throne for himself

• Both the King of Scotland and Margaret of Burgundy wanted Henry VII off the throne

Foreign Support:

• Margaret of Burgundy – gave Warbeck the funding for an invasion and trained him how to be a prince and convince other people to join his cause, which Margaret then helped spread internationally, trying to get as many forces to help him as possible.

• Flounders – the Flounders offered shelter for Warbeck fir a few months before going to Margaret

• James IV of Scotland – led an invasion in the north of England and gave Warbeck some troops.

How Henry dealt with the rebellion:

• Captured Warbeck and had him executed (after attempted escape of court and then tower of London)

• Made an invasion into France and signed the Treaty of Étaples which meant France couldn’t aid any rebellions that threatened England or the throne such as the Warbeck Rebellion

• Sent military forces north to deal with the invasion or possible invasion in the north

How Serious

More serious as Henry had to invade France and use men to do it, so that the French didn’t get involved in the Warbeck Rebellion. Margaret was also becoming increasingly involved in rebellions which was proving to Henry that she would be a problem that he would have to deal with at some point. Warbeck also got the Flounders which meant that the rebellions were gaining more international support which can pose as a threat to England as it's an island so can get attacked from all sides and inland from Scotland and since they weren't allies other countries could land in Scotland and then attack England.

Cornish Rebellion - 1497

Reasons

• Money needed to fight back Scotland - Warbeck attack

• Usually they didn’t have to pay taxes for Scottish campaigns since they are geographically on the other side of England to the boundary

• A downturn in the tin industry

Threat:

• 15,000 rebels were involved

• Warbeck attempted to exploit the rebellion

• They managed to march to Blackheath in Kent near London which is the furthest a rebellion had been

Seriousness:

• Henry had to move knights form Scotland to deal with the rebellion (contradicting)

• Only punished leaders showing leniency 

• Henry had to make peace with Scotland as he couldn’t keep letting them support pretenders 

Facts:

Leader = Thomas Flamanck and Michael Joseph

Earl of Suffolk Rebellion - 1499

Causes:

• Edmund de la Pole was the nephew of Edward IV and Richard III through Elizabeth of York so had a stronger connection to the throne than Henry

• After the deaths of other Yorkist rebels and his father Edmund de la Pole therefore was a strong Yorkist claimer and wanted revenge for his fellow and old members of the Yorkist family.

Foreign Support

• Emperor Maximilian I (Holy Roman Empire) - granted asylum and expressed political support to Edmund’s scheme

• Philip of Burgundy – used the emperor's territorial control in England and the Flanders and Margarets past experiences to build up a force that Edmund could then use

How Henry dealt with the rebellion

• Issued the immediate arrest of Edmund id he was in England at any point and all his supporters

• Bribed the Emperor £10,000 to stop supporting Edmund

• Imposed trade embargoes to pressure foreign powers to stop supporting Edmund

How Serious

More but less serious as Henry had to use a lot of money which he had just managed to get after having to regain a lot of money after lots were lost during battles to end the War of Roses and stop rebellions. More foreign countries were getting involved with English rebellions. However, nothing happened to affect Henry’s throne.