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PERKIN WARBECK (c. 1474-1499)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 317 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PERKIN See also:WARBECK (c. 1474-1499)  , pretender to the See also:throne of See also:England, was the son of Jehan de Werbecque, a poor See also:burgess of Tournay in See also:Flanders and of his wife Katherine de See also:Faro . The exact date of his See also:birth is unknown, but as he represented himself as having been nine years old in 1483, it must have taken See also:place in, or See also:close on, 1474 . His See also:confession made at the end of his See also:life was an See also:account of his See also:early years which is to some extent supported by other testimony . The names of his See also:father and other relations whom he mentions have been found in the municipal records of Tournay, and the See also:official description of them agrees with his statements . According to this version, which may be accepted as substantially true, he was brought up at See also:Antwerp by a See also:cousin Jehan Stienbecks, and served a See also:succession of employers as a boy servant . He was for a See also:time with an Englishman See also:John Strewe at Middleburg, and then accompanied See also:Lady See also:Brampton, the wife of an exiled See also:partisan of the See also:house of See also:York, to See also:Portugal . He was for a See also:year employed by a Portuguese See also:knight whom he described as having only one See also:eye, and whom he names See also:Vacz de Cogna (Vaz da Cunha ?) . In 1491 he was at See also:Cork as the servant of a See also:Breton See also:silk See also:merchant Pregent (See also:Pierre See also:Jean) Meno . See also:Ireland was strongly attached to the house of York, and was full of intrigue against See also:King See also:Henry VII . See also:Perkin says that the See also:people seeing him dressed in the silks of his See also:master took him for a See also:person of distinction, and insisted that he must be either the son of See also:George, See also:duke of See also:Clarence, or a See also:bastard of See also:Richard III . He was more or less encouraged by the earls of See also:Desmond and See also:Kildare . The facts are See also:ill recorded, but it is safe to presume that intriguers who wished to disturb the See also:government of Henry VII. took See also:advantage of a popular delusion, and made use of the lad as a See also:tool .

At this time he spoke See also:

English badly . By 1492 he had become sufficiently notorious to attract the See also:attention of King Henry's government and of See also:foreign sovereigns . He was in that year summoned to Flanders by See also:Margaret, the widowed duchess of See also:Burgundy, and See also:sister of See also:Edward IV., who was the See also:main support of the Yorkist exiles, and who was the enemy of Henry VII. for See also:family reasons and for See also:personal reasons also, for she wished to extort from him the See also:payment of the See also:balance of her See also:dowry . She found the impostor useful as a means of injuring the king of England . Several See also:European sovereigns were moved to help him by the same See also:kind of See also:reason . The suppositions that he was the son of Clarence or of Richard III. were discarded in favour of the more useful See also:hypothesis that he was Richard, duke of York, the younger of the two sons of Edward IV., murdered in the See also:Tower . See also:Charles VIII., king of See also:France, the counsellors of the youthful duke of Burgundy, the duke's father See also:Maximilian, king of the See also:Romans, and See also:James IV. of See also:Scotland, none of whom can have been really deceived, took up his cause more or less actively . He was entertained in France, and was taken by Maximilian to attend the funeral of the See also:emperor See also:Frederick III. in 1493 . At See also:Vienna he was treated as the lawful king of England . He was naturally the cause of considerable anxiety to the English government, which was well acquainted with his real See also:history, and made attempts to get him seized . His protectors entered into negotiations which in fact turned on the question whether more was to be gained by supporting him, or by giving him up . An See also:appeal to See also:Isabella, See also:queen of See also:Castile, met with no response .

In See also:

July 1495 he was provided with a few See also:ships and men by Maximilian, now emperor, and he appeared on the See also:coast of See also:Kent . No See also:movement in his favour took place . A few of his followers who landed were cut off, and he went on to Ireland to join the See also:earl of Desmond in See also:Munster . After an unsuccessful attack on See also:Waterford in See also:August, he fled to Scotland . Here King James IV. showed him favour, and arranged a See also:marriage for him with See also:Catherine See also:Gordon, daughter of the earl of See also:Huntly . He was helped fo make a See also:short inroad into See also:Northumberland, but the intervention of the See also:Spanish government brought about a See also:peace between England and Scotland . In 1497 Perkin was sent on his travels again with See also:Declaration of See also:war . two or three small vessels, and accompanied by his wife, who had See also:borne him one or two See also:children . After some obscure adventures in Ireland, he landed at Whitesand See also:Bay, near the See also:Land's End, on the 7th of See also:September, and was joined by a See also:crowd of the See also:country people, who had been recently in revolt against excessive See also:taxation . He advanced to See also:Exeter, but was unable to master the See also:town . On the approach of the royal troops he deserted his followers, and ran for See also:refuge to the See also:sanctuary of See also:Beaulieu in See also:Hampshire . He then surrendered .

His wife was kindly treated and placed in the See also:

household of Henry's queen See also:Elizabeth . Perkin was compelled to make two ignominious public confessions at See also:Westminster, and in Cheapside on the 15th and loth of See also:June 1498 . On the 23rd of See also:November 1499 he was hanged on a See also:charge of endeavouring to See also:escape from the Tower with the imprisoned earl of See also:Warwick . See James See also:Gairdner, Richard the Third, and the See also:Story of Perkin See also:Warbeck (See also:Cambridge, 1898) .

End of Article: PERKIN WARBECK (c. 1474-1499)
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