Throughout history, the throne of England has, of course, changed many times. Over the centuries, since 1066, many of the changes included a bloody death or two. Often they were individuals who claimed they were the rightful heir to the kingdom. Some were, some were not and some we have no real idea about.
One of the latter was a man named Perkin Warbeck who became known as the Great Pretender. He was born in 1474. One of the problems that led to many claims to the throne was the fact that many kings down the years had illegitimate children. Some of these believed they also had a claim to the throne as the legitimate children as they all had the same Daddy!
In Perkin’s case, he claimed his real name was Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. This would make him the younger son of Edward IV. Perkin made several attempts at gaining the crown to no avail. But, he was not without some support in royal circles. The sister of Edward IV, Margaret of York, struck her colours behind him. However, we are unsure whether this was because she believed his claim or needed a political ally.
Of course, trying to usurp the king was not something that would make you popular and eventually Perkin or Richard if you prefer, was captured and imprisoned. It was there that he was tortured and under duress, confessed that he was in fact, Flemish and had learned to speak English whilst living in Ireland. Some historians question this as he was being tortured and may have made up this story to avoid the death penalty.
Unfortunately for Perkin, it did not work and in 1499, he was executed on the gallows. His body was taken down and sent to the surgeons to be dissected. This was often the fate of convicted criminals who had paid with their lives. It was for many years, the only legitimate way surgeons could practice their art or teach it to medical students. This has resulted in having no bodily remains to examine. So, possible DNA analysis which might have given us the truth is not possible.
I think that is a shame because it might have been fun to have had King Perkin on the throne!
John Pullen 