24 May 1487
Lambert Simnel crowned

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Lambert Simnel, aged 10 and a pretender to the throne, is crowned Edward VI of England in Dublin by Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th earl of Kildare, the lord deputy of Ireland. About 2,000 German mercenaries arrive in Ireland to help his invasion of England. But on 16 June, Simnel's forces are defeated at Stoke, near Newark, and he is captured. Kildare's brother dies in the battle. Henry VII pardons Simnel and makes him a servant in the royal kitchens, where he lives for almost 40 years. Ireland is full of powerful but discontented nobles who support the Yorkists, and is a launching pad for invasions of England.

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