Why Did Henry Vii Face Rebellion? (60)

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Why did Henry VII Face rebellion? (60) Henry VII faced rebellion primarily due to his inherent weakness; however there were other factors that also contributed to him facing rebellions such as Taxation, Pretenders and Foreign influence. Henry VII faced the Lambert Simnel rebellion (1486-7), the Yorkshire rebellion (1489), the Cornish rebellion (1497) and the Perkin Warbeck rebellion (1490-1497) all of which arose due to Henrys weak position and as such were the primary cause of the rebellion. Henrys weakness was the main cause of the rebellions in Henry VII’s reign. The Lambert Simnel rebellion (1486-7) came about due to Henry VII weak claim to the throne; after all he was only descended from John of Gaunt, one of Edward III’s sons, and even then he was an illegitimate heir due to being descended from the product of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford illicit union. This left him open to dynastical challenges from members of the ousted House of York, such as the Earl of Warwick, who while believed dead, was not confirmed as such, this enabled Lambert Simnel to claim to be him, and allowed Perkin Warbeck to claim to be Richard Duke of York (one of the princes in the tower), with little challenge to their claim. If Henry had a stronger claim to the throne it would have been a lot harder for Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck to have rallied support for the Yorkist cause and attempt to overthrow him. Henrys dynastical weakness also caused him to be diplomatically weak, due to other countries, such as Scotland, France, Burgundy and the Holy Roman Empire recognizing Warbeck (Richard Duke of York) as the legitimate King of England, Henry was forced to sign many treaties to expel Warbeck from their countries and eliminate their support for him, for example the Treaty of Ayton, whilst expelling Warbeck, also meant that Henrys daughter had to marry the Scottish king.
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