Pretender: Lambert Simnel, c 1477- c 1525

As the main Plantagenet lines started to die out and the Tudor dynasty took control of England, a rash of pretenders continued to threaten Henry Tudor's still fragile hold on power.  While Henry Tudor could be ruthless in putting down the rebellions they caused, to the pretenders themselves he could be merciful, provided they caused no further trouble.

George, Duke of Clarence, died or was forcibly drowned in a butt of wine in the Tower of London in 1478.  His son, who claimed his maternal uncle's title the Duke of Warwick, remained in prison to insure no further trouble to either Edward IV or Richard III.  Having grown up in confinement, Warwick was a naïve young man who was killed trying to escape confinement in the Tower.  Meanwhile, in the English countryside, a young boy called Lambert Simnel was attracting attention because of his similar appearance to members of the late royal family.  He was blonde haired and blue eyed, straight out of Plantagenet Central Casting.  He came to the attention of an Oxford priest named Richard Simon, who wanted to capitalize on the youngster's resemblance to royalty.  He took young Lambert in and gave him an education and etiquette lessons.  To Simon's relief, Lambert lapped up the knowledge, quickly learning to act like a king.  Simon took him to London and presented him to the Earl of Kildare.

Kildare quickly caught on to Simon's plan and arranged for Lambert to be crowned in Christ Church Cathedral as Edward VI, at the age of 10 years old.  The story was quickly spread about that he was either the youngest Prince in the Tower, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, or more likely, Edward, Earl of Warwick.  His handlers stuck with Warwick and the legend spread.  While still a preteen, Lambert was already the head of a dangerous movement.  The Earl of Lincoln, another Plantagenet descendant, joined the movement and went to Burgundy to enlist the help of Edward IV's sister Margaret, who would promote another pretender, Perkin Warbeck.  As Simnel's troops staged in Ireland along with 2,000 Flemish mercenaries funded by Margaret, Henry VII began to scrape his army together.  Simnel's force landed in England and clashed with Henry's men at the Battle of Stokes Field.  Some of Simnel's noble supporters were killed, others fled into exile.  His sponsor Simon was imprisoned for life.

Henry VII decided he could be generous to Lambert Simnel, who was still a boy.  It was obvious to anyone who wasn't been on treason that he couldn't be any of the last Plantagenet striplings.  Henry took Simnel to work in the royal kitchens as a turn-spit.  His job would be to crouch near one of the roaring fireplaces where meat roasted and turn the large carcasses so that they cooked evenly.  Turn-spits were the lowest on the kitchen food chain, and probably Henry thought this was punishment enough.  Later, Simnel became a royal falconer, married and lived out his life without anymore bother to the Tudors.