oa De constructie van een vorstelijk imago - Perkin Warbeck in de Nederlanden en het Heilige Roomse Rijk (1492-1495)

This article explores how the ‘royal image’ of the English pretender to the throne, Perkin Warbeck, was created during his stay in the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire between 1492 and 1495. This process of ‘construction’ was not uniform. It was ever evolving and unlinear. It contained the formulation of a credible claim to the throne and the adoption of a plausible princely appearance. Warbeck participated in ceremonial and political transactions and affirmed in this manner his new social position. Nevertheless, as well on the side of Warbeck as Henry VII – the Tudor whose kingship was menaced – a ‘deconstruction’ of the other’s kingship was simultaneously pursued. This also formed an integral part of rulers’ reputations.