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The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 was a Popular Uprising in 1497 by the Tin Miners of Cornwall in the south west of Britain. (See also - Battle Of Deptford Bridge ) The main cause of the rebellion was the raising of war Tax es by King Henry VII for a campaign against Scotland . The Tin miners lived in poverty, earning very small amounts of money, much of which was taxed, and they felt they had no involvement in wars with Scotland as they lived so far from it. Therefore, when the people of Cornwall were charged extra war taxes in 1497 - possibly as a result of the brief skirmish by Scotland into England inspired by Perkin Warbeck 's pretence to the English throne - the Cornish had had enough. To cap their resentment of the tax, it intruded into a previous jurisdiction that Cornwall was exempt from all taxes of 10ths or 15ths of income by demanding one of these amounts. Most of the Cornish would not have been English speaking at this time. In reaction to the tax, Michael Joseph - a local Blacksmith - and Thomas Flamank - a Lawyer from Bodmin - worked the townspeople of St. Keverne , the hometown of Joseph, up into an armed revolt against the King and his tax. The force raised by the two men set off to London , gathering supporters as it went. On reaching Somerset , an impoverished local lord by the name of Lord Audley took command of the rebel army, and it grew to be several thousand men by the time it had reached Blackheath , outside London. The leaders of the rebellion had moved to Deptford hoping to capitalise on the sympathetic feelings between the people of Cornwall and Kent . However, after Jack Cade's Rebellion of 1450 , and its subsequent defeat, the Kentish people refused to join the rebels, and so the Cornish rebels remained in Blackheath. There, they were surrounded by 10,000 men of the King's army under Baron Daubeny where the two armies formed for a brief battle, the Battle Of Deptford Bridge . The skirmish cost the lives of 200 Cornish rebels, and Lord Audley and Flamank were captured on the field of battle. Joseph was caught later, fleeing for Greenwich , where he joined the other rebel leaders in the Tower Of London . On June 27 , Flamank and Joseph were hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn , and they were followed the next day by the beheading of Lord Audley on Tower Hill . The remaining rebels were sent home, ending the rebellion. An Gof before his execution is recorded to have said that he should have "a name perpetual and a fame permanent and immortal". 1997 was the 500th anniversary of the Cornish uprising and a commemorative march ( Keskerdh Kernow 500 ) was held, which retraced the route of the original march from St Keverne, Cornwall to London. A statue depicting An Gof and Flamank was unveiled at An Gof's home town of St. Keverne and a commemorative plaque was also unveiled on Blackheath Common. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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