Michael Joseph was born in the village of Saint Keverne on the Lizard, where he grew up to become the village blacksmith. Later he became joint leader (with Thomas Flamank) of the Cornish 'An Gof' rebellion (1497) arising from Henry VII's imposition of taxes to pay for a war against the Scots. Any additional taxes at this time were regarded as particularly unjust as the bedrock of the Cornish economy, tin production, was in decline. The tin yield had fallen from 1,600 thousand-weight in 1400 to 800 thousand-weight in 1455 (this was probably due to the more accessible streams being worked to exhaustion and new methods of extraction had not been introduced). In addition the Council of Prince Arthur, Duke of Cornwall had sought to impose new regulations covering the recording of tin bounds, blowing houses and the sale of ingots and so angering the Cornishmen who resented the interference in the workings of their regulatory body, the Stannaries. In fact these regulations were ignored and as a result the king, Henry VII, confiscated the Stannary charters and suspended the Stannary government, so inflaming the population even further against the English.
This was a popular uprising in Cornwall and the march on London, to settle their grievances, began at St. Keverne on the Lizard and joined with Thomas Flamank (a lawyer who was the son of Richard Flamank of Boscarne one of those appointed to collect the new taxes)and his supporters at Bodmin. Flamank formalized the complaints of the people and put forward the argument that the responsibility for paying for the defense of those counties that were under attack from the Scots lay with those who resided or owned lands there and not with the Cornish.
As the 'army' progressed in good order, there was no looting,it was joined at Wells, Somerset by James, Lord Audley. Audley, a disaffected nobleman, became the titular leader and the 'army' marched on across England towards London without meeting any resistance. For the most part, those who joined the revolutionary army were common people who had no military training or arms (for the majority it was bows and agricultural implements), in fact the term army is misleading and it would probably be best to think of them as a loosely organized band consisting of not only men but women and children aswell.With no proper staff to organize accommodation and supplies on the march the people were left to fend for themselves, living of the land and finding what shelter they could at night.
The 'army' arrived at Guilford on 14th. June. Here, at Gill Hill, first contact with the Kings forces under the command of Lord Daubeney was made. Daunbeney commanded a force approximately 10,000 that had originally been earmarked for the war against the Scots.It would appear that neither side was prepared to commit to a decisive battle and after maneuvering for several days contact was broken.
The revolutionary army then moved on to Kent, where they had hoped to be joined by the men of Kent. However they were disappointed as the Kentish men had second thoughts and had failed to appear. This was a disaster for the revolutionaries as they knew that the King had been very active in recruiting, training and equipping new recruits to his army and it now numbered around 25,000 in comparison to the 15,000 Cornishmen. This coupled with the lack of supplies and arms demoralized the army and desertion began in ernest.
The remainder of the army pressed on towards London and reached Blackheath on June 16th. Here they were confronted by Henry' enlarged army and the cornish force continued to shrink until there was 8,000 left to face them. The Cornish army was deployed, with its few pieces of artillery and archers to dominate the River Thames at Deptford Strand, thus threatening communication and trade with London.The following day, a Saturday, ill equipped and untrained they where surrounded by the Kings forces.They fought bravely but they had no chance against such a large, well equipped and discipline enemy, they were defeated and approximately 200 were killed with Flamank and Audley captured.
In the confusion An Gof escaped, however not for long as he was captured as he fled into the Friar's Church in Greenwich. Henry decreed that he was taken to the Tower to be examined (tortured to reveal the names of others who had taken part in the rebellion) and a week later in the White Hall at Westminster he was condemned to death in the company of Flamank.
On Tuesday, June 27th. Joseph was taken from the Tower to Tyburn where he was hung, drawn and quartered along with Thomas Flamank