Teaching notes The following activity is designed to cover the rebellion of Lambert Simnel against Henry VII. Activity one: people sheet Several different individuals appear throughout the rebellion and therefore knowledge of them is vital. Students should be given several minutes to study the sheet (p.2) and then devise two questions e.g. where was Margaret now based? Questions are designed to test the knowledge of the other students. Activity two: details of the rebellion The activity is designed as a decision making task, where students work through the different stages imagining how they would develop the rebellion if they were Richard Symonds, the priest controlling Simnel. The point of the decision making task is for students to consider which factors make a rebellion serious. Print the stage cards on separate pieces of paper to ensure that the students can t read ahead. Students should use the cards to complete the grid, recording the key events of the rebellion, and then discuss what they would do as Symonds and how concerned they think Henry VII would have been. There are prompt questions for discussion at the bottom of each stage card. Activity three: summary Students should now be able to complete the rebellion card (p.8) to summarise the rebellion. www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 1 of 8
Key people in the Simnel rebellion John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln He was seen to be the Yorkist successor of Richard III. He was related by blood to Richard. Edward, Earl of Warwick A leading Yorkist claimant, he had been arrested at Bosworth and had not been seen in public since. He was held in the tower by Henry VII. Margaret of Burgundy The sister of Richard III, she was powerful and able to command troops from the Low Countries. She had lost trading rights when Henry VII took the throne. Richard Symonds A priest from Oxford, he had known Yorkist sympathies. The Princes in the Tower Edward V and Richard Duke of York. They had gone missing in the reign of Richard III and most assumed they were both dead. Some defenders of Richard III argue that they lived on until Henry VII, who had them killed once he became King. No one knows what happened to them! www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 2 of 8
Stage one: The uncertainty over the fate of the Princes in the Tower gave Henry VII a problem. While most people believed they were dead, any doubt allowed those who supported the Yorkists to rally around someone claiming to be one of them, in order to challenge Henry VII. It didn t really matter if it wasn t one of the princes; people hadn t seen them in so long that someone else could easily pass a boy or a similar age off as one of them. The first of these people to be used was Lambert Simnel, a boy aged ten. Richard Symonds was a priest from Oxford. One of his pupils was Simnel who had a striking similarity to the sons of Edward IV. Symonds, a Yorkist, first decided to pass off Simnel as Richard of York, the younger of the two boys but then decided to pass him off as the Earl of Warwick. As Symonds: How could you build popular support? Where might you take Simnel to generate backing? What do you need that you currently lack? www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 3 of 8
Stage two: Symonds took Simnel to Ireland as it had been a centre of Yorkist support. The Lord Lieutenant there, the Earl of Kildare, proclaimed Simnel as King Edward VI. The pretender to the throne received support from the Duchess of Burgundy the daughter of Edward IV. She sent a force of 2,000 German mercenaries to Ireland commanded by Martin Schwarz a talented military leader. Backed by this force, the Irish became more confident and actually crowned Simnel king in Dublin in May 1487. While on paper the challenge seemed absurd, it was one that Henry VII had to deal with especially when the Earl of Lincoln rallied to the cause and fled via Flanders to Ireland, also in May 1487. If Henry lost control of his senior nobility, his chance of remaining king was limited and at the very least the War of the Roses would restart. Lincoln was a senior nobleman and he had to be dealt with. As Symonds: You now have support and military assistance. Where would you go next? www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 4 of 8
Stage three: Henry had an unusual approach to what was potentially a serious problem. Not knowing how many of the nobles supported Lincoln, Henry pardoned known rebels such as Thomas Broughton. On 4 June 1487, Lincoln and his army landed at Furness in Lancashire. He marched across the Pennines and then south. However, Lincoln did not receive as much support as he had anticipated. The locals were suspicious of the Irish soldiers who accompanied Lincoln and did not rally to his cause. They were equally as concerned about another civil war starting, with all the dislocation to life that would have caused. Henry was prepared for Lincoln and the two armies met just outside Newark at East Stoke on 16 June 1487. Lincoln s army stood at 8,000 while Henry could call on 12,000 men. The battle lasted for three hours. In the initial stages Lincoln s force held the upper hand as the German soldiers who were with Schwarz proved effective. However, the king s army held firm and at the end Lincoln, Schwarz, Broughton (who had not accepted his pardon) and the leader of the Irish, Thomas Geraldine, were killed. Over half of Lincoln s force was killed. As Symonds: What do you now? Is there a way to save yourself? Would you try to protect the boy or would you blame him? www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 5 of 8
Stage four: Richard Symonds was arrested and sentenced to life in a bishop s prison. Simnel was given a position in the king s kitchen as Henry recognised that he was not the cause of the invasion but a mere pawn in a very dangerous game. Simnel was later given the post of king s falconer in recognition of how well he had worked. Those nobles who had supported Lincoln were not as generously treated. Twenty eight of them were attainted and had their estates confiscated. This served a dual purpose. It sent a clear message that anyone who betrayed the king would be dealt with severely. It also enhanced Henry s wealth as all attainted land and estates became the property of the king. How significant was the rebellion? How easily could the Battle of Stoke have become a second Bosworth? How effectively did Henry deal with the threat? www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 6 of 8
Stage Events What I d do next Level of threat to Henry VII 1 2 3 4 www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 7 of 8
Rebellion card Monarch... Rebellion... Date... Causes of the rebellion: Short term Long term Objectives:...... Leaders:... Size:... Main events:...... Government response:...... Results: Any success (long/short term)? Reasons why? Give evidence. Any failure (long/short term)? Reasons why? Give evidence. Extent to which it presented a threat to the government:...... www.teachithistory.co.uk 2015 25144 Page 8 of 8