Lambert Simnel

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Lambert Simnel (c. 1477 – c. 1534) was a child pretender to the Throne of England. Together with Perkin Warbeck, he was one of two impostors who threatened the rule of King Henry VII (reigned 1485–1509) during the last decade of the 15th century.

Lambert Simnel was born around 1477. Different sources have different claims of his parentage from a baker and tradesman to organ builder. At the age of about ten, he was taken as a pupil by an Oxford-trained priest named Roger Simon (or Richard or Symonds) who apparently decided to become a kingmaker. He tutored the boy in courtly manners and contemporaries described the boy as handsome.

Originally Simon intended to present Simnel as the Duke of York, son of King Edward IV. However, when he heard rumours that the Earl of Warwick had died during his imprisonment in the Tower of London, he changed his mind. The real Warwick was a boy of about the same age who was a genuine claimant to the throne because he was the son of the Duke of Clarence, King Edward IV's brother.

Simon spread a rumour that Warwick had actually fled from the Tower and was under his guardianship. He gained some support from the House of York. He took Simnel to Ireland where there was still support of Yorkists and presented him to the Earl of Kildare. Kildare was willing to support the story and invade England to overthrow King Henry. On 24 May 1487 Simnel was crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin as "King Edward VI". He was approximately ten years of age. Lord Kildare collected an army of Irish soldiers under the command of Thomas Geraldine.

When the King heard about the matter, he also knew that he had the real Earl of Warwick still imprisoned in the Tower. On 2 February 1487 he presented the real Warwick in public in an attempt to prove that the young pretender was an impostor. The King also declared a general pardon of all offences, including treason against himself, on the condition that offenders submit to him.

The Earl of Lincoln, the designated successor of the late King Richard III, joined the conspiracy against the King and fled to Burgundy. There he claimed that he had taken part in young Warwick's escape. There he also met the Viscount Lovell, who had supported a failed Yorkist uprising in 1486. Margaret of Burgundy collected 2000 Flemish mercenaries and shipped them to Ireland under the command of Martin Schwarz, a noted military leader of the time. They arrived in Ireland on 5 May. King Henry was informed of this and began to gather troops.

Simnel's supporters — mainly composed of Flemish and Irish troops — landed on Piel Island in the Furness area of Lancashire on 5 June 1487 and were joined by some English supporters. However, most local nobles, with the exception of Sir Thomas Broughton, did not join them. They clashed with the King's army on 16 June at the Battle of Stoke Field and were defeated. Lord Kildare was captured, and Lord Lincoln and Sir Thomas Broughton were killed. Lord Lovell went missing and there were rumours that he had escaped and hidden to avoid retribution. Simon avoided execution due to his priestly status but was imprisoned for life.

King Henry pardoned young Simnel (probably because he had mostly been a puppet in the hands of adults) and gave him a job in the royal kitchen as a spit-turner. When he grew older, he became a royal falconer. He died around 1534.

A popular legend attributes the invention of the Simnel cake to Lambert Simnel.