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Perkin Warbeck

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Outlaw

The Resume

    (circa 1474-November 23, 1499)
    Born in Tournai, Belgium
    Royal pretender
    Claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York -- second son of King Edward IV and younger brother of King Edward V
    Joined King James IV of Scotland in an invasion of England (September 21-25, 1496)
    Landed in Cornwall with 120 followers (September, 1497)
    Captured at Beaulieu Abbey by forces of King Henry VII (October 4, 1497)

Why he might be annoying:

    An attempt at landing in Kent in hopes of sparking a popular uprising went so badly that 150 of his supporters were killed before he even disembarked from his ship (July 3, 1495).
    His invasion from Scotland with King James VII collapsed when the army began running low on provisions and a hoped for uprising in Northumberland failed to materialize.
    During the invasion of Cornwall, he panicked and abandoned his followers after hearing that Henry's army was approaching.
    He was initially treated fairly leniently, until he attempted to escape, after which he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
    After a failed escape attempt from the Tower, he was hanged.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He strongly resembled Edward IV, leading some authors (including Francis Bacon) to suspect that he was one of Edward's children born out of wedlock.
    He was recognized as Richard of Shrewsbury by Margaret of Burgundy, the sister of Edward IV and, thus, aunt of the real Richard. (Although it is uncertain whether she genuinely believed Warbeck to be her nephew, or suspected he was an imposter but supported him in hopes of overthrowing the Tudors.)
    Given that Richard and Edward V had disappeared, leaving it uncertain if they were alive or dead, his claim to the throne had some plausibility.
    After his initial capture by Henry's forces and confession of being an imposter, he was allowed to stay at the royal court under supervision.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying