7/29/2019 The Lambert Simnel Rebellion

1/1

The Lambert Simnel Rebellion

Lambert Simnel presented Henry VII with the first major challenge of his reign. Lambert Simnel, a boy of

ten, was used by others to reassert the House of Yorks claim to the throne. For Henry VII the problem was

simple: if he failed to assert himself at the first opportunity he had to do so, then the probability was that

Henry would fall from power. For the king it was all or nothing.

The first initial problem Henry had was one he inherited from Richard III the Princes in the Tower. Whilethere was even the slightest doubt that these two boys were dead those who supported the Yorkists always

had a chance of rallying around someone to challenge Henry VII. The first of these people was Lambert

Simnel.

Richard Symonds was a priest from Oxford. One of his pupils was Lambert Simnel who had a striking

similarity to the sons of Edward IV the Princes in the Tower. Simnels father was an organ maker.

Symonds, a Yorkist, first decided to pass off Simnel as Richard of York, the younger of the two boys but then

decided to pass him off as the Earl of Warwick. Symonds took Simnel to Ireland as it had been a centre of

Yorkist support. The Lord Lieutenant there, the Earl of Kildare, proclaimed Simnel as King Edward VI. The

pretender to the throne received support from the Duchess of Burgundy the daughter of Edward IV. She

sent a force of 2000 German soldiers/mercenaries to Ireland commanded by Martin Schwarz a talentedmilitary leader. Backed by this force, the Irish became more confident and actually crowned Simnel king in

Dublin in May 1487.

While on paper the challenge seemed absurd, it was one that Henry VII had to deal with especially when the

Earl of Lincoln rallied to the cause and fled via Flanders to Ireland also in May 1487. If Henry lost control of

his senior nobility, his chance of remaining king was limited and at the very least the War of the Roses would

restart. Lincoln was a senior nobleman and he had to be dealt with.

Henry had an unusual approach to what was potentially a serious problem. Not knowing how many of the

nobles supported Lincoln, Henry pardoned known rebels such as Thomas Broughton. The logic behind this

was to get the former rebels onto his side. Was this successful?

On June 4th, 1487, Lincoln and his army landed at Furness in Lancashire. He marched across the Pennines

and then south. However, Lincoln did not receive as much support as he had anticipated. The locals were

suspicious of the Irish soldiers who accompanied Lincoln and did not rally to his cause. They were equally as

concerned about another civil war starting with all the dislocation to life that would have caused. Henry was

prepared for Lincoln and the two armies met just outside of Newark at East Stoke on June 16th 1487.

Lincolns army stood at 8,000 while Henry could call on 12,000 men. The battle lasted for three hours. In the

initial stages Lincolns force held the upper hand as the German soldiers who were with Schwarz proved

effective. However, the kings army held firm and at the end Lincoln, Schwarz, Broughton (who had not

accepted his pardon) and the leader of the Irish, Thomas Geraldine, were killed. Over half of Lincolns forcewas killed.

Richard Symonds was arrested and sentenced to life in a bishops prison. Simnel was given a position in the

kings kitchen as Henry recognised that he was not the cause of the invasion but a mere pawn in a very

dangerous game. Simnel was later given the post of kings falconer in recognition of how well he had

worked. Those nobles who had supported Lincoln were not as generously treated. Twenty eight of them were

attainted and had their estates confiscated. This served a dual purpose. It sent a clear message that anyone

who betrayed the king would be severely dealt with. It also enhanced Henrys wealth as all attainted land and

estates became the property of the king.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/henry7.htmhttp://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/henry7.htm