All about Henry VII and Francis Lovell, the early assassination attempt and Tudor rebellion. So let’s go all the way back to 1486. England is scarred by the War of the Roses and there’s the dawning of a new era, the Tudor dynasty has begun with the coronation of Henry VII, but the weight of the crown is of course heavy.
There’s the legacy of Bosworth where the last Plantagenet king, Richard III met his end. The land is still rife with tension because of course, they do not know that it’s the end of the Wars of the Roses. We can look back on it now and say that was the end of the Wars of the Roses or I suppose a lot of historians would say later, the Battle of Stoke Field was the definitive end.
But we can look at Henry Tudor and say, he was the first Tudor and started the Tudor dynasty. For them living through it, it was not that clear. So the Yorkists were still reeling from their loss, but they, of course, for all they knew they had been in bad spots before, they could regroup and that was the plan. They found hope in figures like Francis Lovell.
He had just unwavering loyalty to Richard III and he was still known as being loyal to the Yorkist cause. So the Yorkist cause finds new life with him. The Yorkists of course, want to return to power and for some, that means the end of the Tudor king. All roads lead to the ancient city of York and here a plot is brewing, a plan to cut short the reign of the first Tudor king.
So Henry VII was trying to visit his various new territories. His land that he now was the king of. And so he was going to York, within York, no one could anticipate the treachery that was afoot. Within the city, a group of disgruntled Yorkists had gathered, devising a plan to ambush Henry as he visited through the narrow crowded streets. The plot’s linchpin was the element of surprise, hoping to catch the newly crowned monarch off guard, away from the fortified walls of his palaces and the heart of his power.
However, even the best-laid plans can unravel. The Earl of Northumberland who was once aligned with the Yorkist cause had by now pledged allegiance to Henry. When whispers of the conspiracy reached his ears, he found himself at a crossroads of loyalty and honor in a decisive move.
He warned the king, thwarting the assassination attempt, even before it could fully take shape. Henry’s response to the near miss was both unexpected and astute. Instead of enacting vengeance, he chose clemency. He offered pardons to the conspirators. And he displayed a calculated magnanimity. He wanted to heal the rifts that had torn the country apart.
This strategy was more about securing his reign’s longevity than a simple act of mercy. By choosing forgiveness over retribution, he hoped to weaken the resolve of potential rebels and deter future conspiracies. But for Francis Lovell, the King’s pardon was neither sought nor was it desired. As the net of royal enforcers tightened around York, Lovell made a desperate bid for freedom.
He fled the city and was then hunted down by Richard Edgcumbe and William Tyler but he actually was able to escape to Flanders where he received the support of Margaret of York, who of course was regularly funding Yorkist pretenders and Yorkist rebellions.
Lovell continued to actually be involved in plots. He was at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487, fighting for Lambert Simnel. The battle went for Henry Tudor, the Yorkists were fully defeated. Lambert Simnel was captured. His prominent supporters were killed either in battle or shortly afterwards, except Francis Lovell who escaped and he fled to Scotland in 1488.
He was given safe conduct by James IV and this is actually the last record of Francis Lovell’s existence. That is one of the reasons why I’m very interested in Francis Lovell, because it’s very hard for a prominent figurehead of an agenda, like the Yorkist agenda, to just disappear and he does. He just disappears from the record.
So there’s a lot of history’s mystery around Francis Lovell himself and that’s what I’m going to do a full episode on is looking at the different possibilities of what happened with him and his life. But for the purposes of this video, we’re talking about this early assassination attempt in York, where Francis Lovell was part of that.
It was merely a symptom of the larger problem that was facing Henry, trying to unite the country after decades of civil war. Of course, there was then another rebellion led by Humphrey Stafford and that then led to the Stafford brothers fleeing.
These early challenges to Henry’s rule underscored a fundamental reality – the Tudor dynasty was in its infancy. It was very, very vulnerable to the still smoldering embers of the Wars of the Roses. Yet with each confrontation, Henry refined his approach, blending a mix of diplomacy, strategic pardons, and when necessary decisive action.
It was this adaptability that would serve as the cornerstone of Tudor resilience. From a reign that began under the shadow of assassination plots and uprisings, emerged a dynasty that would reshape the course of English history.
Related links:
Episode 051: Rebellions One
Episode 052: Rebellions Part Two
Episode 054: Rebellions Part Three
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.