Perkin Warbeck was a man who made claims to the English throne during the reign of Henry VII. He claimed he was the real Duke of York , Richard the younger son of King Edward IV. Richard was supposed to have been murdered in the Tower of London by order of Richard III. Perkin Warbeck made a number of attempts to raise support in Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. He first gained support from Scotland and was allowed to marry Catherine Gordon who was a member of the Scottish royal family. Perkin Warbeck warred with England from Scotland for five years until an embarrassing defeat saw him exiled from Scottish favour. At this time he withdrew to Ireland to escape Scottish wrath.

During this war King Henry collected taxes especially from the people of Cornwall to enable him to pay for it. The provost of Penryn was said to be particularly obnoxious to the poor in Cornwall in collecting the taxes. This resulted in the Cornish rebellion of 1497. The provost fled from Cornwall, in fear of his life, to Exeter. The rebels stormed Exeter and the provost again had to flee this time he sought the safety of Taunton Castle as his sanctuary. At Taunton the rebels managed to seize the provost and killed him. The rebels proceeded on to the battle of Blackheath where they were defeated by the King.

This defeat did not deter the Cornish and they invited Perkin Warbeck from Ireland to join there cause. He sailed to Whitsand Bay in Cornwall, assumed the title Richard IV and invited the people to join his standard. He raised a large army and attempted to take Exeter but failed to do so. Having failed to take Exeter he turned his attention to Taunton.

On the 20th September 1497 Perkin Warbeck and his forces took Taunton Castle and made himself ready to take a stand against the King who was advancing towards Taunton at this time. As the King approached the town he took stock of the situation. He sent some of his army to take Taunton while he held back. It appears that between the King sending his men to take Taunton and them arriving most of Perkins men had secretly deserted him. And afraid of a miserable defeat he fled the town and hid at Beaulieu Monastary near Southampton. He was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually hanged as a traitor.