Henry VII

Tudor marched immediately to London and he was crowned King Henry VII on 30 October at Westminster Abbey and on 18 January 1486 he married Elizabeth of York. Henry was not secure on his throne, however, and throughout his reign he would have to deal with rebellions in the name of York.

In 1487 and young man named Lambert Simnel was coached to pass himself off as Edward, Earl of Warwick, who was imprisoned in the Tower. Despite Henry parading the Earl through the streets of London, the question as to who was the real son of Clarence remained. On 24 May 1487, this imposter was crowned Edward VI in Ireland. The entire enterprise was probably planned by the Earl of Lincoln, who was the heir to York. He and Viscount Lovell, Richard's former Chamberlain and close friend, mustered troops in Ireland, including 2,000 German mercenaries provided by Margaret of Burgundy and sailed to England, where their rebel army attracted support from former Yorkist retainers. In June the king mustered a large army to meet the rebels. Again, Henry's troops were led by the Earl of Oxford. The two armies met at Stoke, where the rebel army was defeated. Lincoln was killed and Simnel was captured. The Yorkist line was now all but destroyed, and this was to be the last battle of the Wars of the Roses.

A more dangerous uprising was led by Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard, Duke of the York, the younger of the two princes. Warbeck, like Simnel, was supported by Margaret of Burgundy, but was also at various times supported by France, by Maximilian I of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (Holy Roman emperor from 1493), by James IV of Scotland, and by powerful men in both Ireland and England, including William Stanley. Warbeck invaded England three times before being captured in 1497. he was executed, as was William Stanley, the man who troops had won Bosworth for Henry. Warbeck was later charged with conspiring with the Earl of Warwick to escape the Tower and overthrow the government, and they were both executed.

To Bosworth