Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke

This book probes the mysteries surrounding Simnel, raises new questions about his identity and charts the history of the rebellion ending at the battle of Stoke

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Within two years of the battle of Bosworth, Henry Tudor was forced to defend his throne against a formidable challenge mounted on behalf of a ten-year-old boy who had been crowned in Dublin as ‘Edward VI’. Though presented as the last surviving Plantagenet, the young lad is generally known to history as Lambert Simnel.

Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke unravels the tangled web of dynastic politics and rivalries in Yorkist England, seeking a context for the bizarre events of 1487. It considers the political instability and the miasma of intrigue associated with the reign of Richard III and the first years of Henry VII. It seeks to probe the mysteries surrounding Lambert Simnel, raising questions about his identity and the roots and ramifications of the movement that centred on him. Above all, it charts the progress of the conspiracy and rebellion, from the raising of troops in the Netherlands and Ireland to the ‘coronation’ in Dublin in May 1487, from the invasion of northern England through to the final, bloody encounter outside the village of East Stoke, near Newark, in June. Henry’s triumph in the field, the last occasion when an English king personally took to the field against a rival, marked an important stage in the development of Tudor polity.

In this revised and updated edition, Professor Michael Bennett offers new information and insights on this remarkable episode in English history, seeks clarity and coherence in accounts of the fast-moving drama, re-examines old and new evidence, including misconceptions and misinformation, and addresses recent theories regarding the identity of the Dublin king.