Today in History: A Challenge to Henry VII

On this day (May 24) in 1487 ten-year-old commoner Lambert Simnel was crowned by rebels as King of England under the name Edward VI. Simnel had the misfortune of looking like the royal line of England and was used by Yorkists in Ireland to inspire a rebellion against Henry VII who had just won the War of the Roses. The rebellion was crushed, but Henry—who killed every possible Yorkist claimant (except his wife) that he could get his hands on—decided not to kill the ten-year-old. Instead he made him a scullion in the palace and used his miserable state to discourage other plots against him.