Page 76 - All About History - Issue 12-14

HISTORY’S 10 GREATEST IMPOSTORS

AGED JUST TEN, HIS IDENTITY WAS FAKED TO TRY AND GRAB THE ENGLISH CROWN

Lambert Simnel the Tower of London. He figured he could pass
English, 1477-1535 Simnel off as Warwick instead so took him to
Ireland, where he was crowned as King Edward
Henry VII became King of England after seizing VI in 1487. Henry VII was astonished and angry. ē RATING ē
the crown on 22 August 1485. He had defeated He paraded the real Earl of Warwick through Cunning:
Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. It bred London’s streets to show that Simnel was an Audacity:
a great deal of resentment among the losing party impostor but it seemed to do little good. Media storm:
and sparked a Yorkist rebellion, organised by John Edward IV’s daughter and an enemy of Henry, Success:
de la Pole, the Earl of Lincoln. the Duchess of Burgundy, sent troops to Ireland
At that point, Lambert Simnel was an to bolster Simnel and Symonds’ claim and the
innocuous ten-year-old son of an Oxford joiner. Earl of Lincoln moved to Ireland. Feeling he could
But a priest called Richard Symonds believed defeat the English king, Lincoln went with his
he resembled the two sons of Edward IV, both army to Furness in Lancashire.
of whom had disappeared at the time Richard He travelled south and fought with the
III took the throne. Although they were possibly Lancastrian army in the Battle of Stoke Field on
murdered, rumours persisted they were still alive 16 June 1487. But the Yorkist army was defeated,
and so the intention was for Simnel to be passed Lincoln killed in the fight and the Tudor dynasty
off as one of those sons, Richard of York. was established. Thankfully, he was lenient on
Symonds’ plan changed when he heard false Simnel, who was eventually pardoned and given a
rumours that the Earl of Warwick had died in job in the royal kitchen.

THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER
Edward V of England and Richard
Shrewsbury were the last two surviving
sons of Edward IV of England. Their
protector and uncle, Richard, Duke of
Gloucester sent them to the Tower of
London when they were 12 and nine
years old, supposedly before Edward’s
coronation. The Lord Protector took the
throne for himself and became Richard III.
The two boys disappeared around 1483
and the assumption was that they had
been murdered. With rumours abounding
that they were still alive, it paved the way
for Richard Symonds to attempt to pass
Lambert Simnel off as first Richard, Duke
of York then the Earl of Warwick.

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