Welcome to Noeple Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky, listener discretion advised.

Henry Tudor, the newly crowned King Henry VII, was in a very delicate position.

King Richard III had been killed in battle.

The Yorks were defeated, and Henry Tudor, the victor, had married Elizabeth of York to unite the families under the banner of the new House of Tudor.

He was king after the extremely costly and deadly wars of the roses.

Finally, it was over, except Henry's claim to the throne wasn't all that secure.

Historian J.E. Cussin frames it well, writing, quote, Henry VII, claimed the crown of England by three titles, Descent, Alliance, and Conquest.

Let's work backwards on those three, shall we? Conquest, well, that was inarguable.

Henry had defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

But the problem with claiming a throne through conquest meant that anyone else could come along and beat him, giving them as much of a claim as he had.

In terms of Alliance, number two, Henry's marriage to Elizabeth of York had been a smart move.

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Edward VII, the older sister of the two princes lost in the tower.

The princes who were allegedly killed by their uncle, also Elizabeth's uncle, Richard III.

But on the other title that Henry was claiming the crown of England, Descent, well, that was a shaky claim at best.

Henry was the illegitimate great, great grandson of John of Gent, and it was an even weaker claim because it was through the female line.

But who cares about that if everyone agreed that he was King, he was King, and who was going to challenge him?

In September of 1497, a man was leading an army east from Cornwall toward Tonton.

He was supported by thousands of troops, mainly Cornishmen, who were upset at King Henry VII's high taxes and poor treatment.

And they were throwing their lot behind someone else, someone with a much, much, more legitimate claim to throne.

If you believed he was who he said he was.

History would come to call the man who led that army, Perkin Warbeck.

But Warbeck claimed he had another name, a secret name.

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