САМОЗВАНЕЦ ИЛИ ВСЁ-ТАКИ ПРИНЦ? ПЕРКИН УОРБЕК В ИСТОРИЧЕСКОЙ ПАМЯТИ АНГЛИЧАН

Abstract

In the XVI–XXI centuries, ideas about Perkin Warbeck made a full circle – from the perplexity of contemporaries, through the unconditional rejection of Tudor century, the first attempts to justify Warbeck of the XVII–XVIII centuries, sentimental novels and poems of the XIX century, scrupulous studies of the turn of the XX–XXI centuries, historians returned to the beginning. Аs well as contemporaries, they distrust the official, Tudor version of events and admit that the real prince, the rightful heir of the Yorks, was sent to the gallows. The image of Warbeck turned out to be so contradictory because the choice between an "impostor" and a "prince" did not always depend on objective, scientific calculations. Often the decision was determined by an assessment of the Tudor rule and of the preceding period of the Wars of the Roses (especially the personality and reign of Richard III). There were also non-scientific factors. To find an extra-political explanation for Warbeck's success, even under the Tudors he was turned into an immensely charming handsome man, a victim of intrigues. Artists, poets and novelists were happy to exploit and develop this emotional component; as the historical distance lengthened, the image of Warbeck became more and more touching and sentimental.