A commoner's son crowned king before he turned eleven, then set to work turning the spit in the royal kitchens for the rest of his life. This deep dive explores how Lambert Simnel became the figurehead of a bloody rebellion that came remarkably close to toppling the newly established Tudor dynasty, and how his greatest triumph was simply surviving.

We trace the conspiracy engineered by the priest Richard Simon, who trained an obscure boy to impersonate a Yorkist prince, and follow the plot through Ireland, Burgundy, and a decisive battlefield in England. It is a study in how a strategically placed rumor could rally an entire army.

• Simon's decision to pass Simnel off as Edward, Earl of Warwick, after a shift in political rumors
• The 1487 coronation as King Edward VI at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin
• Margaret of Y ...