Perkin Warbeck (NZ version) - Richard III Society - New Zealand ...

events in their lives allegedly to proof that he really is her son. However, all this
shows is that he seems to know about them, as a foster child would as well. And
the events do not add up either. He refers to the death of his sister Jehanne
from the plague in 1487, while according to the archives she was still alive and
married in 1517. Nor was there any plague in Tournai in 1487 or about that time.
The letter also mentions the death of the father in 1497, when the archives
indicate that he only died in 1498 49 .
All this shows that some serious doubts regarding the truthfulness of the
confession are justified.
3. Behaviour of European Rulers
Another reason for his being an impostor is often seen in the support he received
from other European rulers. The theory goes that they needed someone for their
own ends to play the prince and that they dropped him as soon as he had
reached his use-by-date 50 . This logic seems somewhat flawed: a real prince
would have served the same purpose as an impostor. Nor can it be maintained
that they all got something out of it, nor did all drop him. Lets look at the actions
of these rulers more closely:
3.1 Charles VIII of France: He certainly used him for his own ends. However,
while Richard was at his court, Charles wrote to James IV of Scotland that this
was indeed Richard of York. In the treaty Henry had demanded that he should
hand Richard over to Henry, but Charles facilitated his escape instead 51 . Nothing
there to show that he thought him an impostor!
3.2 Margaret of Burgundy: If we accept that the two boys were smuggled out
of England and she was responsible for hiding them, she would have known who
this young man was. Since 1488 she was in regular contact with James IV of
Scotland about her nephew. From 1490 onwards, when he was still in Portugal,
she actively spread rumours that Richard was alive 52 . She tirelessly worked
towards the restoration of the House of York, which brought her a bad press from
Tudor historians. They say that she taught the young man all the details he knew
about the court of Edward IV. However, she had left England before Richard
was born and only returned for a short visit in 1480 and would not have known
much herself 53 .
I doubt, whether someone with such a strong sense of family, as she by all
49 Kleyn, pp. 197-198
50 An example is Macdougall, p. 23. Macdougall, Norman, “The Debate: Who was Perkin Warbeck?”
Ricardian Bulletin, Summer 2005, pp. 22 - 24
51 Wroe, Perfect Prince, pp. 115-120
52 Wroe, Perfect Prince, p. 91
53 Kleyn, pp. 96-97