A year after Richard III’s death, a boy claiming to be a Yorkist prince appeared as if from nowhere, claiming to be Richard III’s heir and the rightful King of England. In 1487, in a unique ceremony, this boy was crowned in Dublin Cathedral, despite the Tudor government insisting that his real name was Lambert Simnel and that he was a mere pretender to the throne.
Now, in The Dublin King, author and historian John Ashdown-Hill questions that official view. Using new discoveries, little-known evidence and insight, he seeks the truth behind the 500-year-old story of the boy-king crowned in Dublin. He also presents a link between Lambert Simnel’s story and that of George, Duke of Clarence, the brother of Richard III. On the way, the book sheds new light on the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’, before raising the possibility of using DNA to clarify the identity of key characters in the story and their relationships.
PREFACE: The Crusades—Medieval and Modern
PROLOGUE: The Coronation of Emperor Baldwin
Chapter 1. The Origins and Preaching of the Fourth Crusade, 1187—99
Chapter 2. Abbot Martin’s Crusade Sermon, Basel Cathedral, May 1200
Chapter 3. The Tournament at Écry, November 1199
Chapter 4. The Treaty of Venice, April 1201
Chapter 5. Final Preparations and Leaving Home, May 1201—June 1202
Chapter 6. The Crusade at Venice and the Siege of Zara, summer and autumn 1202
Chapter 7. The Offer from Prince Alexius, December 1202-May 1203
Chapter 8. The Crusade Arrives at Constantinople, June 1203
Chapter 9. The First Siege of Constantinople, July 1203
Chapter 10. Triumph and Tensions at Constantinople, July—August 1203
Chapter 11. The Great Fire of August 1203
Chapter 12. The Murder of Alexius IV and the Descent into War, early 1204
Chapter 13. The Conquest of Constantinople, April 1204
Chapter 14. The Sack of Constantinople, April 1204
Chapter 15. The End of the Fourth Crusade and the Early Years of the Latin Empire, 1204—5
Chapter 16. The Fate of the Latin Empire, 1206—61