the effects of this revolt of his Irish subjects, and to prevent their reaching England, found it necessary to satisfy the people of the imposition of Simnel, and that the Earl of Warwick was actually in his possession. He accordingly caused the young captive earl to be taken from the Tower, and publicly conveyed through the city of London, engaged in conversation with several noblemen of the suspected party, that they might not plead ignorance, and finally to be exhibited at St. Paul's in a solemn procession, amidst an unusual concourse of the people. These cautionary steps of the English monarch were not productive of their intent. The Yorkists were bent upon availing themselves of every advantage to contest the right of Henry to the throne.

1486.

the Du

Henry VII.

Margaret of York, the dowager Duchess of Burgun- Intrigues of dy, was the second sister of Edward the Fourth, and chess of Burgundy at this time the relict of Charles Duke of Burgundy. against She was a princess of bold intrigue, rich, and popular; she was indignant at the restoration of the Lancastrian line, and her court became the resort of all the fugitive malecontents of England. Francis Lord Lovel, late chamberlain to Richard the Third, and John Earl of Lincoln, son of John de la Pole Earl of Suffolk by Elizabeth, sister to Edward the Fourth, were her chief instigators and advisers. Sir Thomas Broughton, a zealous agent of the party in England, was the medium of a correspondence regularly carried on with the malecontents, who entered fully into the Irish adventure. Through the means and contrivance of the duchess, a body of 2000 veteran troops was sent from

1487. Flanders under the command of Schwaart, an experi

Simnel

crowned

great solem

nity.

enced general, together with the Earl of Lincoln, Viscount Lovel, and others of that party; and in spite of Henry's précautions to guard the coast, they landed safely in Ireland.

The arrival of this reinforcement inspired the paragain with tisans of the young adventurer with additional confidence. In the mean time they proceeded to a more solemn coronation of their favorite Simnel in the cathedral of Christ Church in Dublin, which was attended by the lord deputy, the officers of state, the English nobles, and all the adherents to the house of York.

Simnel's parliament.

To give consistency to the design, the young crowned adventurer was made to summon his parlia ment, in which laws were enacted and subsidies granted; the utmost vengeance was denounced againsť those, who presumed to resist him, and particularly against the city of Waterford, the possessions and franchises of which were declared forfeited on account of their perverse opposition to the new government. Thomas Butler, one of the Ormond family, who had fled into England to inform Henry of these transactions, was attainted, and his possessions seized. William his brother was also treated as a rebel, and obliged to fly for safety into the neighbouring kingdom. The clergy voted a subsidy to the Pope to induce him to revoke the sentence of excommunication, which Henry had procured against his opposers. The whole administration of government, the proceedings at law, and execution of justice passed for

some time regularly in the name of Edward the Sixth. 1487. It was at first the policy of the party to draw Henry over to Ireland, in order to afford the malecontents in England an opportunity for a bold enterprise in his absence to restore the crown to the house of York. This however was abandoned, and the German corps under Schwaart, with some few thousands of the Irish, landed at Foudrey in Lancashire, and were joined by Sir Thomas Broughton and his troop.

the rebels

The Earl of Kildare was left in Dublin to attend Defeat of the affairs of government. His brother Lord Tho- at Stoke. mas Fitzgerald resigned the great seal, and with Maurice, another brother, and the Earl of Lincoln, followed the adventurer. Henry with a much larger army engaged them near the village of Stoke in the county of Nottingham, and after a bloody contest of more than four hours, obtained a complete victory. The Earl of Lincoln, the Lords Thomas and Maurice Fitzgerald, Plunkett, the gallant Schwaart, Sir Thomas Broughton, and others of distinction fell in the action. Lord Lovel having never been heard of after, was supposed to have undergone the the same fate. Above 4000 of the rebels fell on the field. Among the prisoners were Simnel, and Simon his tutor. Henry consigned Simnel to a menial situation in his kitchen to humble his adherents, and to preserve alive the wretched instrument of their factious enterprise. Simon the priest was cast into prison, and is supposed to have suffered there the punishment due to his offence.

1487.

Whilst Henry was preparing measures of exem

Kildare and plary punishment against the heads of the rebellious

others ob

party in Ireland, the Earl of Kildare and other lords dispatched emissaries to him to implore pardon, which through policy he granted. Kildare was assured, that the royal grace would depend upon his future loyalty, and was continued in the government. The citizens of Dublin, Drogheda, and Trim, the primate of Armagh, and some other offending clergy were also received into favor, and swore allegiance. Thus were the affairs of Ireland settled by general submission to the government of Henry, though the outrages of some of the natives had increased during the late commotions. Nor did this act of royal mercy wholly extinguish the jealousies and animosities of some of the rival lords. Desmond, O'Carrol, Mac Carthy, O'Nial, O'Donnel*, and others, made war and peace with each other, and sometimes against the deputy, as if they had been sovereign and independent princes.

The restless Duchess of Burgundy was not discouraged at the first failure; she persevered in the most determined opposition to Henry. A youth of the name of Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Flemish Jew, was by fresh intrigues of the party selected to assume the cha racter of Richard Plantagenet, supposed to have escaped from the Tower. He also was to be produced

The laconic correspondence on this occasion between O'Nial and O'Donnel gives a fair representation of the Irish character at that time of day. Send me tribute, or else, was the message of O'Nial. The answer of O'Donnel was, I owe you none, and if—

in Ireland; and in the mean time was kept under 1487. tuition in Portugal, till a fair occasion should present itself for introducing him on the scene of action. The design escaped not the vigilance of Henry. The Earl of Kildare was removed from the administration, and Walter, the Archbishop of Dublin, substituted in his room, as deputy to the Duke of Bedford. The Chief Justice Plunkett received the great seal; and Lord Portlester, who had enjoyed the office of treasurer for forty years, resigned in favor of Sir James Ormond, the natural son of the last earl. The disgrace of Kildare, and the return of the Butlers to favor threw these two noble families into open rupture, which proved very detrimental to the English interest in Ireland. The archbishop convened a parliament, which directed their whole power against Kildare and Portlester. This latter was declared to have embezzled the whole revenues of the kingdom for more than forty years, and compelled to pay all arrears into the Exchequer on pain of forfeiture and imprisonment. The conduct of Kildare during the insurrection was condemned with great severity. The citizens of Waterford, who (as that assembly expressed itself) had on false surmises been attainted by authority in the time of Gerald Earl of Kildare, in the reign of the present King, were restored to all their grants and privileges. The like favor was shown to those of the family of Butler, who had been attainted and driven from their possessions, during the administration of Kildare, and the whole was crowned by an act of resumption of all grants from the first year of Henry the Sixth.