PERKIN WARBECK
The battle of Stoke, near Newark—the battle which saw the end of the hopes of Simnel and his upholders—was fought on 16 June, 1487. Five years afterwards Perkin Warbeck made his appearance in Cork24 as Richard Plantagenet Duke of York. The following facts regarding him and his life previous to 1492 may help to place the reader in a position to understand other events and to find causes through the natural gateway25 of effects.
To Jehan Werbecque (or Osbeck as he was called in Perkin’s “confession26”), Controller of the town of Tournay in Picardy, and his wife, née Katherine de Faro, was born in 1474, a son christened Pierrequin and later known as Perkin Warbeck.6 The Low Countries in the fifteenth century were essentially28 manufacturing and commercial, and, as all countries were at that period of necessity military, growing youths were thus in touch at many points with commerce, industry and war. Jehan Werbecque’s family was of the better middle class, as witness his own position and employment; and so his son spent the earlier years of his life amid scenes and conditions conducive29 to ambitious dreams. He had an uncle John Stalyn of Ghent. A maternal30 aunt was married to Peter Flamme, Receiver of Tournay and also Dean of the Guild31 of Schelde Boatmen. A cousin, John Steinbeck, was an official of Antwerp.
In the fifteenth century Flanders was an important region in the manufacturing and commercial worlds. It was the centre of the cloth industry; and the coming and going of the material for the clothing of the world made prosperous the shipmen not only of its own waters but those of others. The ships of the pre-Tudor navy were small affairs and of light draught32 suitable for river traffic, and be sure that the Schelde with its facility of access to the then British port of Calais, to Lille, to Brussels, to Bruges, to Tournai, Ghent, and Antwerp, was often itself a highway to the scenes of Continental33 and British wars.
About 1483 or 1484, on account of the Flemish War, Pierrequin left Tournay, proceeding34 to Antwerp, and to Middleburg, where he took service7 with a merchant, John Strewe, he being then a young boy of ten or twelve. His next move was to Portugal, whither he went with the wife of Sir Edward Brampton, an adherent35 of the House of York. A good deal of his early life is told in his own confession made whilst he was a prisoner in the Tower about 1497.
In Portugal he was for a year in the service of a Knight36 named Peter Vacz de Cogna, who, according to a statement in his confession, had only one eye. In the Confession he also states in a general way that with de Cogna he visited other countries. After this he was with a Breton merchant, Pregent Meno, of whom he states incidentally: “he made me learn English.” Pierrequin Werbecque must have been a precocious37 boy—if all his statements are true—for when he went to Ireland in 1491 with Pregent Meno he was only seventeen years of age, and there had been already crowded into his life a fair amount of the equipment for enterprise in the shape of experience, travel, languages, and so forth38.
It is likely that, to some extent at all events, the imposture of Werbecque, or Warbeck, was forced on him in the first instance, and was not a free act on his own part. His suitability to the part he was about to play was not altogether his own doing. Nay27, it is more than possible that his very blood aided in the deception39. Edward IV is described as a handsome debonair40 young man, and Perkin8 Warbeck it is alleged41, bore a marked likeness42 to him. Horace Walpole indeed in his Historic Doubts builds a good deal on this in his acceptance of his kingship. Edward was notoriously a man of evil life in the way of affairs of passion, and at all times the way of ill-doing has been made easy for a king. Any student of the period and of the race of Plantagenet may easily accept it as fact that the trend of likelihood if not of evidence is that Perkin Warbeck was a natural son of Edward IV. Three hundred years later the infamous43 British Royal Marriage Act made such difficulties or inconveniences as beset44 a king in the position of Edward IV unnecessary: but in the fifteenth century the usual way out of such messes was ultimately by the sword. Horace Walpole, who was a clever and learned man, was satisfied that the person who was known as Perkin Warbeck was in reality that Richard Duke of York who was supposed to have been murdered in the Tower in 1483 by Sir James Tyrrell, in furtherance of the ambitious schemes of his uncle. At any rate the people in Cork in 1491 insisted on receiving Perkin as of the House of York—at first as a son of the murdered Duke of Clarence. Warbeck took oath to the contrary before the Mayor of Cork; whereupon the populace averred45 that he was a natural son of Richard III. This, too, having been denied by the newcomer, it was stated that he was the son of the murdered Duke of York.
9 It cannot be denied that the Irish people were in this matter as unstable46 as they were swift in their judgments47, so that their actions are really not of much account. Five years before they had received the adventurer Lambert Simnel as their king, and he had been crowned at Dublin. In any case the allegations of Warbeck’s supporters did not march with established facts of gynecology. The murdered Duke of York was born in 1472, and, as not twenty years elapsed between this period and Warbeck’s appearance in Ireland, there was not time in the ordinary process of nature, for father and son to have arrived at such a quality of manhood that the latter was able to appear as full grown. Even allowing for an unusual swiftness of growth common sense evidently rebelled at this, and in 1492 Perkin Warbeck was received in his final semblance48 of the Duke of York, himself younger son of Edward IV. Many things were possible at a period when the difficulties of voyage and travel made even small distances insuperable. At the end of the fifteenth century Ireland was still so far removed from England that even Warbeck’s Irish successes, emphasised though they were by the Earls of Desmond and Kildare and a numerous body of supporters, were unknown in England till considerably49 later. This is not strange if one will consider that not until centuries later was there a regular postal50 system, and that nearly two centuries later the Lord Chief Justice Sir Matthew10 Hale, who was a firm believer in witchcraft51, would have condemned52 such a thing as telegraphy as an invention of the Devil.
In the course of a historical narrative53 like the present it must be borne in mind (amongst other things) that in the fifteenth century, men ripened54 more quickly than in the less strenuous55 and more luxurious56 atmosphere of our own day. Especially in the Tudor epoch57 physical gifts counted for far more than is now possible; and as early (and too often sudden) death was the general lot of those in high places, the span of working life was prolonged rather by beginning early than by finishing late. Even up to the time of the Napoleonic Wars, promotion58 was often won with a rapidity that would seem like an ambitious dream to young soldiers of to-day. Perkin Warbeck, born in 1474, was nineteen years of age in 1493, at which time the Earl of Kildare spoke59 of “this French lad,” yet even then he was fighting King Henry VII, the Harry60 Richmond who had overthrown at Bosworth the great and unscrupulous Richard III. It must also be remembered for a proper understanding of his venture, that Perkin Warbeck was strongly supported and advised with great knowledge and subtlety61 by some very resolute62 and influential63 persons. Amongst these, in addition to his Irish “Cousins” Kildare and Desmond, was Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, sister of Edward IV, who helped the young adventurer in his plot by “coaching” him up11 in the part which he was to play, to such an extent that, according to Lord Bacon, he was familiar with the features of his alleged family and relatives and even with the sort of questions likely to be asked in this connection. In fact he was, in theatrical64 parlance65, not only properly equipped but “letter-perfect” in his part. Contemporary authority gives as an additional cause for this personal knowledge, that the original Jehan de Warbecque was a converted Jew, brought up in England, of whom Edward IV was the godfather. In any case it may in this age be accepted as a fact that there was between Edward IV and Perkin Warbeck so strong a likeness as to suggest a prima facie possibility, if not a probability, of paternity. Other possibilities crowd in to the support of such a guess till it is likely to achieve the dimensions of a belief. Even without any accuracy of historical detail there is quite sufficient presumption66 to justify67 guess-work on general lines. It were a comparatively easy task to follow the lead of Walpole and create a new “historic doubt” after his pattern, the argument of which would run thus:
After the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury in 1471, Edward IV had but little to contend against. His powerful foes68 were all either dead or so utterly69 beaten as to be powerless for effective war. The Lancastrian hopes had disappeared with the death of Henry VI in the Tower. Margaret of Anjou (wife of Henry VI) defeated at Tewkesbury,12 was in prison. Warwick had been slain70 at Barnet, and so far as fighting was concerned, King Edward had a prolonged holiday. It was these years of peace—when the coming and going of even a king was unrecorded with that precision which marks historical accuracy—that made the period antecedent to Perkin’s birth. Perkin bore an unmistakable likeness to Edward IV. Not merely that resemblance which marks a family or a race but an individual likeness. Moreover the young manhood of the two ran on parallel lines. Edward was born in 1442, and in 1461, before he was nineteen, won the battle of Mortimer’s Cross which, with Towton, placed him on the throne. Perkin Warbeck at seventeen made his bid for royalty71. It is hardly necessary to consider what is a manifest error in Perkin’s Confession—that he was only nine years old, not eleven, at the time of the murder of Edward V. Nineteen was young enough in all conscience to begin an intrigue72 for a crown; but if the Confession is to be accepted as gospel this would make him only seventeen at the time of his going to Ireland—a manifest impossibility. Any statement regarding one’s own birth is manifestly not to be relied on. At best such can only be an assertion minus the possibility of testing whence an error might come. Regarding his parentage, in case it may be alleged that there is no record of the wife of Jehan Warbecque having been in England, it may be allowed to recall13 a story which Alfred, Lord Tennyson used to say was amongst the hundred best stories. It ran thus:
A noble at the Court of Louis XIV was extremely like the King, who on its being pointed73 out to him sent for his double and asked him:
“Was your mother ever at Court?”
Bowing low, he replied:
“No, sire; but my father was!”
Of course Perkin Warbeck’s real adventures, in the sense of dangers, began after his claim to be the brother of Edward V was put forward. Henry VII was not slow in taking whatever steps might be necessary to protect his crown; there had been but short shrift for Lambert Simnel, and Perkin Warbeck was a much more dangerous aspirant. When Charles VIII invited him to Paris, after the war with France had broken out, Henry besieged74 Boulogne and made a treaty under which Perkin Warbeck was dismissed from France. After making an attempt to capture Waterford, the adventurer transferred the scene of his endeavours from Ireland to Scotland which offered him greater possibilities for intrigue on account of the struggles between James IV and Henry VII. James, who finally found it necessary to hasten his departure, seemed to believe really in his pretensions,14 for he gave him in marriage a kinswoman of his own, Catherine Gordon, daughter of the Earl of Huntly—who by the way was re-married no less than three times after Perkin Warbeck’s death. Through the influence of Henry VII, direct or indirect, Perkin had to leave Scotland as he had been previously75 forced from Burgundy and the Low Countries. Country after country having been closed to him, he made desperate efforts in Cornwall, where he captured St. Michael’s Mount, and in Devon, where he laid siege to Exeter. This however being raised by the Royal forces, he sought sanctuary76 in Beaulieu in the New Forest where, on promise of his life, he surrendered. He was sent to the Tower and well treated; but on attempting to escape thence a year later, 1499, he was taken. He was hanged at Tyburn in the same year.
Pierrequin Warbecque’s enterprise was in any case a desperate one and bound to end tragically—unless, of course, he could succeed in establishing his (alleged) claim to the throne in law and then in supporting it at great odds77. The latter would necessitate78 his vanquishing79 two desperate fighting men both of them devoid80 of fear or scruples—Richard III and Henry VII. In any case he had the Houses of Lancaster, Plantagenet and Tudor against him and he fought with the rope round his neck.
15 An Act of Parliament, 1 Richard III, Cap. 15, made at Westminster on the 23 Jan., 1485, precluded81 all possibility—even if Warbeck should have satisfied the nation of his identity—of a legal claim to the throne, for it forbade any recognition of the offspring of Lady Elizabeth Grey to whom Edward IV was secretly married, in May, 1464, the issue of which marriage were Edward V and his brother, Richard. The act is short and is worth reading, if only for its quaint82 phraseology.
Cap XV. Item for certayn great causes and consideracions touchynge the suretye of the kynges noble persone as of this realme, by the advyce and assente of his lordes spirituall and temporal, and the commons in this present parliament assembled, and by the auctorite of the same. It is ordeined established and enacted83, that all letters patentes, states confrymacions and actes of parlyament of anye castels seignowries, maners, landes, tenementes, fermes, fee fermes, franchises84, liberties, or other hereditamentes made at any tyme to Elizabeth late wyfe of syr John Gray Knight; and now late callinge her selfe queene of England, by what so ever name or names she be called in the same, shalbe from the fyrst day of May last past utterly voyd, adnulled and of no strengthe nor effecte in the lawe. And that no person or persons bee charged to our sayde soveraygne lord the Kynge, nor to the sayde Elyzabeth, of or for any issues, prifites, or revenues of any of the sayde seignowries, castelles, maners, landes, tenementes, fermes or other hereditamentes nor for any trespas or other intromittynge in the same, nor for anye by suretye by persone or16 persones to her or to her use—made by them before the sayde fyrst daie of May last passed, but shalbe therof agaynste the sayd Kynge and the sayde Elizabeth clerly discharged and acquyte forever.1
1 In the above memorandum85 no statement is made regarding Jane Shore, though it may be that she had much to do with Perkin Warbeck.
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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steering
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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aspirant
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| n.热望者；adj.渴望的 | |
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militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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forerunner
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| n.前身，先驱（者），预兆，祖先 | |
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ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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guild
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| n.行会，同业公会，协会 | |
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draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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adherent
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| n.信徒，追随者，拥护者 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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debonair
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| adj.殷勤的，快乐的 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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postal
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| adj.邮政的，邮局的 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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parlance
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| n.说法；语调 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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74
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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76
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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77
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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78
necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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79
vanquishing
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| v.征服( vanquish的现在分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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80
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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81
precluded
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| v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
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82
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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83
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
franchises
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| n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 ) | |
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85
memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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