James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley was the only lord to fully join the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 opposing the rule of Henry VII of England. He was a leader in the rebel army's march to the edge of London, and in its defeat at the Battle of Deptford Bridge. Captured on the battlefield, he was sentenced for treason and beheaded. His peerage was forfeited, but restored to his son in 1512.
James Tuchet's father, John, the 6th Baron Audley, had joined the Yorkist side in the Wars of the Roses, and prospered under both King Edward IV and King Richard III, becoming Lord High Treasurer under the latter. James himself had, as a child, been made a Knight Bachelor by Edward IV when the latter's young son was created Prince of Wales. But under Henry VII, who overthrew the Yorkist dynasty of kings, the Tuchets were out of favour. Compared with other nobility, the family's landed wealth was small. Nevertheless, having succeeding to the Audley barony on the death of his father, on 26 September 1491, James Tuchet was called to join King Henry's expeditionary force against the French in 1492. The Siege of Boulogne resulted in a favourable treaty for Henry, but the expedition was probably personally costly for James. Audley was summoned to attend sessions of Parliament from 1492. In 1496 he was compelled to contribute £200 as part of a bond guaranteeing the loyalty of another Yorkist, the Marquess of Dorset. In early 1497, King Henry levied heavy taxes to raise an army against the Scots and the Yorkist rebellion of the pretender Perkin Warbeck. Audley objected to the subsidy granted in Parliament. At home it was his role to collect taxes, and at the same time he was ordered to provide 100 men for Henry's army. When a new rebellion began in Cornwall later that year, the participants’ grievances evidently chimed with those of Audley. Francis Bacon stated that his character was “unquiet and popular and aspiring to ruin”. A.L.Rowse further surmises he "cherished some disappointment that his services had not been better rewarded by the king".
The Cornish Rebellion of 1497
The rebel army from Cornwall was led by a blacksmith, Michael Joseph, and a lawyer, Thomas Flamank. Audley met it when it reached Wells in Somerset. It seems Audley had already been in correspondence with An Gof and Flamank. Now, as a nobleman with military experience, he was acclaimed by the rebels as their commander. His exact qualities in this role are unclear but it was to turn out that he failed to provide a sound strategy or create a unified sense of purpose, and militarily he led the army only to defeat. The force approached London via Salisbury and Winchester, and then skirted to the south, via Guildford, evidently in the hope of gaining popular support in Kent. No such uprising materialised, however. Reaching Blackheath near Deptford, south-east London, they were opposed by an army of King Henry's under Lord Daubeny and the Earl of Oxford. Many of the rebels were dismayed and wanted to submit themselves to the king. Reportedly it was An Gof who insisted on fighting. After desertions, Audley commanded a greatly outnumbered army against better-equipped opposition. The rebels were soundly defeated in the ensuing Battle of Deptford Bridge on Saturday 17 June 1497. Audley was captured on the battlefield. Like An Gof and Flamank he was imprisoned in the Tower of London; the three were examined by the King in Council in the Tower on Monday 19 June. A week later, An Gof and Flamank were tried and, the following day, executed by hanging & beheading. Audley, as a nobleman, was instead taken to Westminster to be sentenced by the office of the Earl Marshal. Being condemned to death, he spent the night in Newgate Gaol. On Wednesday 28 June 1497, he was transported to Tower Hill on display with his coat of arms painted on paper upside-down and torn, and there beheaded. His head was stuck on London Bridge and his body was buried at Blackfriars. Audley's lands were confiscated, later to be returned to his son John in 1533. The manor of Honybere was granted for life to Sir John Arundell, for the latter's service against the rebels. The Audley title was forfeit but was restored to John Tuchet in 1512.
