Discuss the view that Henry VII defeat of the pretenders was the most important contribution factor to his security.

Through the reign of Henry VII there were many dangers, which threatened to take his throne away. But once the threats were dealt with it would contribute to his security.

Pretenders in henrys case were people who impersonated particular people to challenge him. The two main pretenders that had caused Henry a lot of trouble were Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. They presented such a dangerous challenge to his hold on the crown both because of their entanglement with other European states, particularly Burgundy, and because they lingered on for such a long time.

Lambert Simnel was a striking resemblance of the Earl of Warwick, and so he claimed to be this grandson of Edward IV. He secured the support of Margaret of Burgundy (always a supporter of Yorkist claimants) and John de la Pole. He made his way with 2000 mercenaries to Ireland, where he was crowned King of England, and then to England. To Henry, the threat was very real; he had no way of assessing the amount of support Simnel had mustered on his route south. These forces met the King's army at Stoke on 24th May 1487, where they suffered a complete defeat. But it wasn't until 1497 that Simnel was handed over to Henry. Two years later he made his way to the scaffold.

Lambert Simnel was one example to show how easy it was to cause problems, but it was never a threat to Henry, as the real Earl of Warwick had been in his custody since he became King.

Perkin Warbeck Like Lambert Simnel, claimed to be an heir to the throne of England. And like Simnel had the backing of a foreign country. This time it was France. The French King, Charles VIII was eager to distract Henry away from his designs on Brittany. In addition, Warbeck also secured Scottish aid. James IV welcomed Warbeck in 1495, marrying him to a ...

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Lambert Simnel was one example to show how easy it was to cause problems, but it was never a threat to Henry, as the real Earl of Warwick had been in his custody since he became King.

However, in 1497, Henry renewed a truce with Scotland and James was forced to abandon his Flemish pretender. Warbeck fled to the south of England, and was arrested while trying to escape from the port of Southampton.

Initially, Henry showed clemency. But he abused this clemency and was executed in November 1499. From both examples of pretenders, both have a specific point in which they have in common, they both needed the backing of foreign countries. And both were settled by negotiating with the foreign countries. Although this saw the last of the pretenders, from this point onwards Henry ruled in relative security. But it could be argued that it was Henrys clever use of foreign policy to neutralise the pretender’s base that contributed to his security not the defeat of the pretenders. Foreign policy also helped stability by avoiding the expense of war, by extending England’s alliances.

Nobles are one example of a very important contributor to the stability of Henry. Many problems that could break out could be worsened if the nobles wanted it to be. If nobles misbehaved then the pretenders would have gone further. Central government and local respect for the crown, which relied on the support of the nobles, would go into decline. This would hit finance. Foreign powers were more likely to be interested in England if its government was weak.

Pretenders were only a small obstacle that Henry had to go through, although, it was significant because it caused a lot of trouble to Henry e.g. battle of stoke. And when it was sorted out it gave Henry a sign of relief due to the fact that it had all dragged on so much, and this may have frightened Henry as it showed how easily trouble could be caused from people with foreign support. The defeat of the pretenders is relatively important to contribute to security, as it is almost a test and Henry had to show that he could handle them, which showed he was a strong and able king. Nobles the most important contributor to security, may then admire and give respect to Henry, which in turn improves the loyalty of the nobles and reducing their misbehaviour. So it could also be argued that with respect given from the nobles due to the defeats of the pretenders the overall stability would improve.

Discuss the view that Henry VII defeat of the pretenders was the most important contribution factor to his security.

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