A more serious menace was Perkin Warbeck, a Flemish youth who posed as Edward IV's son Richard.

Perkin Warbeck ( circa 1474 – 23 November 1499 ) was a pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England.

By claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the Princes in the Tower, Warbeck was a significant threat to the newly established Tudor Dynasty, and gained support outside England.

According to the confession, Warbeck was born to a man called John Osbeck ( also known as Jehan de Werbecque ).

These family ties are backed up by several municipal archives of Tournai which mention most of the people whom Warbeck declared he was related to.

After his time in the Netherlands, Warbeck yearned to visit other countries and was hired by a Breton merchant.

This merchant eventually brought Warbeck to Cork, Ireland in 1491 when he was about seventeen, and it was here that he learnt to speak English.

Henry complained to Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy, about the harbouring of Warbeck, and, since he was ignored, imposed a trade embargo on Burgundy, cutting off important Burgundian trade-links with England.

Warbeck was also welcomed by various other monarchs and was known in international diplomacy as the Duke of York.

Warbeck's small army was routed and 150 of the pretender ’ s troops were killed without Warbeck even disembarking.

Warbeck was well received by James IV of Scotland who realised that his presence gave him international leverage.

Warbeck was permitted to marry James's distant cousin, Lady Catherine Gordon, a daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly.

A red, gold and silver banner was made for Warbeck as the Duke of York ; James's armour was gilded and painted ; and the royal artillery was prepared.

Warbeck proclaimed that he would put a stop to extortionate taxes levied to help fight a war against Scotland and was warmly welcomed.

Warbeck was captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire where he surrendered.

Warbeck was imprisoned, first at Taunton, then at the Tower of London, where he was " paraded through the streets on horseback amid much hooting and derision of the citizens ".

Warbeck was held in the Tower alongside Edward, Earl of Warwick.

Captured once again, on 23 November 1499, Warbeck was drawn on a hurdle from the Tower to Tyburn, London, where he read out a confession and was hanged.

* September 7 – Second Cornish Uprising in England: Perkin Warbeck lands near Land's End ; on September 10 he is proclaimed as King in Bodmin.

* October 4 – Leaders of the Second Cornish Uprising surrender to the King at Taunton ; the following day, Warbeck, having deserted his army, is captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire.

* May – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, recognises Perkin Warbeck as rightful King of England.

* Perkin Warbeck claims to be the son of King Edward IV of England at the court of Burgundy.

The rebels marched on London to protest at King Henry VII's levying a tax to pay for an invasion of Scotland in retaliation for the Scots ' support for the pretender Perkin Warbeck.

In 1496, the pretender to the English throne Perkin Warbeck was married to Catherine Gordon at Huntly Castle, an act witnessed by King James IV of Scotland.

Arguably the most well-known movies Gaines appeared in were The Last Hunter ( starring David Warbeck, Tisa Farrow, Tony King and John Steiner ) ( 1980 ) for director Antonio Margheriti, Robowar ( starring Reb Brown, Catherine Hickland, John P. Dulaney, Max Laurel and Mel Davidson ) ( 1988 ) for director Bruno Mattei and brief parts in American Ninja ( starring Michael Dudikoff and Steve James ) ( 1985 ) for director Sam Firstenberg and Enter The Ninja ( starring Franco Nero, Susan George, Christopher George and Sho Kosugi ) ( 1981 ) for director Menahem Golan.

Some authors, for example Horace Walpole, have even gone as far as to claim that Warbeck actually was Richard, Duke of York, although this is not the consensus.

* Warbeck was portrayed by British actor Richard Warwick in the 1972 BBC television series The Shadow of the Tower.

The main character is Lucas Lovat, a spy in the Court of Henry VII, and a subplot of the novel is his indecision as to whether Warbeck is, or is not, Prince Richard.

* English comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring both make references to Warbeck, and fellow pretender Lambert Simnel in much of their work, both as Lee and Herring and individually.

" History of the life and reign of Richard the Third: to which is added the story of Perkin Warbeck.

Perkin Warbeck, an impostor claimant to the English throne, who claimed to be Edward's son Richard of Shrewsbury, reportedly resembled Edward.

When Perkin Warbeck impersonated her cousin Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, in 1499, her brother Edward was attainted and executed for involvement in the plot.

In the 1490s, Perkin Warbeck, a Pretender for the English crown, claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, but he is generally considered to have been an impostor, and was labeled thus by the Tudor regime.

There have been some, a minority, in every generation since then who have believed that Warbeck was Richard, Duke of York, while others have alleged that he was an illegitimate son of either Edward IV or Richard III.

* Perkin Warbeck ( 1474 – 1499 ), a pretender who claimed to be Richard, Duke of York

* Lady Catherine Gordon, wife of pretender Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York

* September 21 – 25 – James IV of Scotland invades Northumberland in support of the pretender to the English throne Perkin Warbeck.

In September 1496, James IV prepared to invade England with Warbeck.

He saw Roderic de Lalanne, a Flemish knight arrive with two little ships and 60 German soldiers and meet James IV and talk to Warbeck.

The Scottish host assembled near Edinburgh and James IV and Warbeck offered prayers at Holyrood Abbey on the 14 September, and on the next day at St Triduana's Chapel and Our Lady Kirk of Restalrig.

Later, wishing to be rid of Warbeck, James IV provided a ship called the Cuckoo and a hired crew under a Breton captain which returned Perkin to Waterford in shame in July 1497.

Even before Margaret's sixth birthday, Henry VII thought about a marriage between Margaret and James IV as a way of ending the Scottish king's support for Perkin Warbeck, Yorkist pretender to the throne of England.

Margaret consequently was a staunch supporter of anyone willing to challenge Tudor, and backed both Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, even going so far as to acknowledge Warbeck as her nephew, the younger son of Edward IV, the Duke of York.

At the time Henry VII was attempting to collect a subsidy in Cornwall for the despatch of an army to Scotland to punish James IV for supporting Perkin Warbeck.