The kind of support that Simnel received seemed dangerous for Henry, as he had gained a lot of support from abroad. This could have increase the worry of being attacked from other countries and the risk of possible foreign policy breaches with England. However, Warbeck had more foreign support than Simnel as he had the backing of France, Burgundy, Scotland and the Habsburgs which all together proved to be more of a threat to Henry’s foreign relations than that of Simnel.
Warbeck however added to a considerable amount of problems overseas, and threatened Henry’s aim to form an alliance between England and Spain through a marriage of his son, Arthur, to Catherine of Aragon. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon would not allow the marriage to take place unless Henry place as King was secure. Warbeck had been welcomed by Charles VIII, who was keen to threaten Henry as he wanted control over the English-owned province of Brittany.
Warbeck lost his support from the French as France and England had signed the Treaty of Etaples. Henry had probably done this to purposely push Warbeck out of France and this shows that Henry had tried to maintain the foreign policy with France and to avoid conflict. The cost of this for England was the loss of Brittany. Henry, at the time, must have felt that the threat of Warbeck was more of a serious threat to him now and he was trying to cut off Warbeck’s support and render him captured.
Margaret had provided Lambert with an army of 2000 German troops to aid him in his battle to get the crown from Henry. Margaret was the sister of Richard III and wanted revenge against the usurper (Henry) who had taken his throne and lead to his death in battle. Margaret had also recognised Simnel as her nephew, which could have influenced others to follow and support him in his claim too. She therefore was the most powerful of Simnel’s supporters.
Warbeck did not receive as bigger support as Lambert had from Margaret, he had to get troops from elsewhere and even re-sparked the Cornish rebellion in the South of England in an attempt to match the kings forces. This attempt proved to be as unsuccessful as the first Cornish rebellion and resulted in Warbeck’s final capture.
When this is compared with Simnel’s battle it appears to be of less consequence as the Battle of Stoke actually involved the King in the Battle, similar to the Battle with King Richard III and Henry the ‘pretender’. The Earl of Lincoln, John de la Pole also joined the cause for Lambert and fled overseas to Ireland to return on the 4th June 1487 with his army to challenge the king. This didn’t prove to be a good move as the attack failed and the Earl of Lincoln died in the battle which may have shown Simnel’s fighting as not a well thought through plan and therefore an easy opponent for Henry.
At the battle of Stoke, none of the country’s Nobles had stepped in to defend Henry when Simnel invaded the country which could not only be seen as a lack of respect that they held for Henry but also this opinion could have been shared vastly throughout the whole of the country at the time, in which case, Henry had an insecure hold on the throne and the people he reigned over.
Another one of the greatest threats to Henry was the fact that Lambert Simnel had been crowned as the king of Ireland and England as King Edward VI in 1487. This was one of the more important points of the rebellion as someone else actually held the same title as Henry and this will have no doubt have put a strain on his position in power of the country. Warbeck had no suck power over Henry in his Rebellion even though he had married into the Scottish royal family. With the threat of the crowning Henry will have feared that if he lost control of his nobility, the War of the Roses would restart which is a key element of the country that Henry had worked hard to unite.
Warbeck’s act was said to be very believable and this may partly be as there was no physical evidence that had been found at the time to dismiss Warbeck’s claims that he was really the younger of the two princes. The bodies of the princes were not found at this time so this may have increased suspicions from the people of England and Henry’s supporters that Warbeck could have been the real Prince, and the execution could have been a way of removing Warbeck from getting the crown. However with Simnel, physical evidence did exist at the time to prove that Simnel was a pretender as the real Edward Earl of Warwick had been locked up in the Tower by Henry, so there was no continued threat from this pretender as Henry had shown everyone the evidence that the true Earl was not the young boy. Henry may have also used this opportunity to show others just how much of a threat he thought the boy was, as he employed him to work in the Royal Kitchens. He seemed as though he was never actually worried about the boy’s claim at all.
After careful consideration I have concluded that Perkin Warbeck appeared to be the greatest threat to Henry as Perkin Warbeck had extensive support from Europe, threatened Henry’s foreign policy and had noticeable support from various nobles such Margaret de Burgundy who had learned from her previous mistake. It took eight years to finally capture him and have him executed which finally eliminate the ongoing threat.
Lambert’s rebellion was dangerous, as his uprising was a similar one to that of King Henry himself, however he did not appear to be such a great threat as his threat diminished to the point where he became a servant in the royal kitchens after the act.
Henry faced no further challenges from armed forces, he had treaties with France and Scotland to strengthen foreign policies, secured two marriages which brought peace and secured his dynasty. Warbeck was perhaps the most serious threat Henry had faced up to that point, and afterwards too.