Having seen it pop up in a lot of papers' Books of the Year lists, I think I was expecting something altogether more gripping and dramatic, but in the end I thought the story of Henry VII and the Tudor succession was just not an especially thrilling tale. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. For inheriting an unstable throne, holding it for 25 year and leaving England relatively stable, Henry VII deserves his own biography and a lot more credit. Henry was also worried by the treason of Edmund de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, the eldest surviving son of Edward IVs sister Elizabeth, who fled to the Netherlands (1499) and was supported by Maximilian. [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. Henry's father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, a half-brother of Henry VI of England and a member of the Welsh Tudors of Penmynydd, died three months before his son Henry was born. Castles of . He likens the beginning of Henry VIIIs reign to a metaphorical spring, a second coming of sorts because Henry VIII seemed to be the opposite of his father. The author does a good job drawing on his sources and bringing the characters to life while staying true to the history, but the subject matter is just not inherently as sexy as Henry VIIIs or Elizabeth Is reigns. Updates? Stanley placed Richards circlet on Henrys head, he was now King. By the way, dont forget that Ian Mortimers Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England is on tonight on BBC2 at 9pm. Present were exiles from Richards court, friends of Edward IVths queen, but King Richard was able to bribe the ageing Duke of Brittany to relinquish Henry in return for funds to fight an increasingly hostile French king, whereupon Henry Tudor flew to the French court for sanctuary. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. He was, said Penn, a man who never knew a moments peace during his reign. From his victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, to his secret death and the succession of his son Henry VIII, the film reveals the ruthless tactics . of course, a large proportion of my opinion is probably due to the fact that i knew a lot about henry vii already, and Penn tried to create quite a thrilling/mysterious feel, which is all well and good if you don't already know how everything plays out. A fresh look at the endlessly fascinating Tudorsthe dramatic and overlooked story of Henry VII and his founding of the Tudor Dynastyfilled with spies, plots, counterplots, and an uneasy royal succession to Henry VIII. In turn, Antwerp became an extremely important trade entrept (transshipment port), through which, for example, goods from the Baltic, spices from the east and Italian silks were exchanged for English cloth. [15], By 1483, Henry's mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to Richard III, despite her being married to Lord Stanley, a Yorkist. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. It was really very well researched and painstakingly written. Shakespeare later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. This was excellent. On one side of the coin, instead of a profile of his face, there was a full length depiction of Henry sat on his throne with his crown and sceptre. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. I would read more by this author. Indeed he was born in winter, on January 28th 1457, in Pembroke Castle, in Wales and that is one of the reasons why the Welsh dragon always formed part of his insignia. Through this, he found that his Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in the plot. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". He was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. It is a sobering reflection for professional historians that the apparently unpromising territory of Henry's reign has recently produced two memorable books, both of them written outside their ranks: this one, and Ann Wroe's biography of the pretender, Perkin (2003), a longer work on a shorter subject. His claim to the throne was tenuous and permanently contested. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. [11] When Edward IV became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. 1509. It is not known precisely where Cabot landed, but he was eventually rewarded with a pension from the king; it is presumed that Cabot perished at sea after a later unsuccessful expedition. The Field of Cloth of Gold: Royal Revelry. [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. It was presented by historian Thomas Penn, author of Winter King and was an excellent examination of the King who, as Penn pointed out, tend to be eclipsed by Richard III, the glamour and notoriety of Henry VIII and the charisma of Elizabeth I. Blair Worden's The English Civil Wars is published by Phoenix. Pembroke Castle, and later the Earldom of Pembroke, were granted to the Yorkist William Herbert, who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry. They overrode all the usual legal processed and acted with complete impunity. One of the councils prominent members was Edmund Dudley, a man who helped Henry by enforcing the Kings legal rights, finding old laws to use against people and stretching the law to its limits. The rebels were defeated (June 1487) in a hard-fought battle at Stoke (East Stoke, near Newark in Nottinghamshire), where the doubtful loyalty of some of the royal troops was reminiscent of Richard IIIs difficulties at Bosworth. Claire is going live on YouTube on 11 February! Henry VII: Winter King was aired last night on BBC2 and was the latest programme in BBC2s Tudor Court Season. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. No. Having established his claim to be king in his own right, he married Elizabeth of York on January 18, 1486. : (April 25, 1883. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Before taking the throne, he was known as Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond. [47], Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. The significant role played by bitcoin for businesses! Penn went on to show Henry VIIs wax funeral effigy, which I saw on my recent trip to London, and which shows his fine-boned features and his crooked eye, but also a face bearing the signs of stress and illness. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Henry VII is also known as Henry Tudor. [7] He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr, in legend, the last ancient British king,[8] and on occasion Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. Moneywise, King Henry the VII was frugal and careful with money. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. Thomas Penn's Winter King is not really a biography of Henry VII, and more a study of what he was directing his government to do in his name. His first chance came in 1483 when his aid was sought to rally Lancastrians in support of the rebellion of Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, but that revolt was defeated before Henry could land in England. Prince Arthur was born just eight months after his parents marriage, at Winchester, the seat of King Arthurs Camelot. However, this treaty came at a price, as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492. What old December's bareness every where! She was Edward's heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. His history plays depicted the dramatic conflicts of the wars of the roses, which Henry's accession after his victory at Bosworth in 1485 brought to an end. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.[a]. Philip died shortly after the negotiations. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. [48], Henry later concluded a treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England, and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne, such as Perkin Warbeck. His claim to the throne was precarious and was from an illegitimate line, a family who had been banned from taking the throne, so Henry needed to make the people believe that he was their rightful King and to do that he had to start behaving like one. [citation needed], Henry began taking precautions against rebellion while still in Leicester after Bosworth Field. [44] Following Henry VII's death, Henry VIII executed Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley, his two most hated tax collectors, on trumped-up charges of treason. Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. After winning the throne of England, he wed Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of the dead Yorkist king Edward IV. It was no easy feat. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance, the great lords' practice of having large numbers of "retainers" who wore their lord's badge or uniform and formed a potential private army. The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. Royal Collection Trust At the summit, even dinnerware testified to its owner's status. With Elizabeth's death, the possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished. Doubtless the plotters were encouraged by the deaths of Henrys sons in 1500 and 1502 and of his wife in 1503. [76] He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 150947), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. Henry VII shut himself away in Richmond Palace from January 1509 and at 11pm on Saturday 21st April 1509 he died. [56] This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper, which raised opposition from Pope Julius II, since the Tolfa mine was a part of papal territory and had given the Pope monopoly control over alum. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example)[27] with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne. Penn then went on to talk about the heir to the throne, the young Prince Henry, who seemed very different to the King. He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. Iain Hollingshead reviews Henry VII: Winter King, a BBC Two documentary which examines how the first Tudor monarch came to power and went on to have a 23-year reign. [citation needed] Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life before becoming king. Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Early life She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III), and his third wife Katherine Swynford. The marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon would be the culmination of everything that Henry VII had fought for at the Battle of Bosworth, so in 1501 there was a fortnight of marriage celebrations and London was in a carnival mood. Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. Loyalty was ensured, and the nobility was effectively neuteredand Henry became the richest monarch in Europe. He spent his entire reign fixated on eliminating or disarming his enemies, and stabilizing England after the bloody, seemingly endless War of the Roses. Penn explained that the marriage had been one of genuine love and that Henry was shattered by his wifes death. I don't read a lot of NF because I usually find it to be tedious, but The Winter King certainly wasn't that. He had finished his palace of Richmond, he was controlling his allies and keeping an eye on his enemies, and now was the time to finalise the marriage agreement between England and Spain. You can find out more on the conflicts between England and France, the Wars of the Roses and also the Tudors in our history courses. [34], When the King's agents searched the property of William Stanley (Chamberlain of the Household, with direct access to Henry VII) they found a bag of coins amounting to around 10,000 and a collar of livery with Yorkist garnishings. [68] In 1505 he was sufficiently interested in a potential marriage to Joanna of Naples that he sent ambassadors to Naples to report on the 27-year-old Joanna's physical suitability. Detailed Information. Henry showed remarkable clemency to the surviving rebels: he pardoned Kildare and the other Irish nobles, and he made the boy, Simnel, a servant in the royal kitchen where he was in charge of roasting meats on a spit. The treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it. France, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. [75], Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 and was buried in the chapel he commissioned in Westminster Abbey next to his wife, Elizabeth. This revived an earlier practice of using a small (and trusted) group of the Privy Council as a personal or Prerogative Court, able to cut through the cumbersome legal system and act swiftly. For him, it was never about glory and battle. He invited artists, musicians and scholars to live at his court. Their main aim was money. [citation needed], Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and the wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey. [12], Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. I found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. Hed achieved the impossible, hed risen from refugee to King of England. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth of York. [9] He took it, as well as the standard of St. George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. The Lancastrians triumphed under the leadership of a 28-year-old exile named Henry Tudor. Henry himself was clearly a distant figure who governed through his ministers, but this means that it's quite hard to get much of a sense of his character from the few sources available. Lincoln was killed in battle and Henry was victorious. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. It seems that Henry was skilful at extracting money from his subjects on many pretexts, including that of war with France or war with Scotland. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VII-king-of-England, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Henry VII, English Monarchs - Biography of Henry VII, Henry VII - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Henry VII - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. Penn's picture of a reign of terror carries disturbing echoes of the Roman historian Tacitus's account of the emperor Tiberius, another ruler whose abridgements of liberty followed an era of civil strife. Famed British author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. With the assistance of the Italian merchant banker Lodovico della Fava and the Italian banker Girolamo Frescobaldi, Henry VII became deeply involved in the trade by licensing ships, obtaining alum from the Ottoman Empire, and selling it to the Low Countries and in England. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. The fact that a Cockney could provide a recognisable representation of him gives away part of his enduring appeal; in national memory, Henry was one of the lads, the only English king to have. In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. [citation needed] Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of Henry VI (son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois), his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret's uncle, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Elizabeth did get pregnant, but then went into premature labour. Wolf Hall this is not. But now, sensitivity readers are pushing back . [citation needed], Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. Henry VII ruled as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do through fear rather than love. Yet Henry's techniques of power went beyond the needs of surveillance and survival. Henry VIII was spring and Henry VII was winter. Henry was a remarkable man. enry VII can look a dull king, so dull that Thomas Penn's title omits his name. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. He entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew the alliance with Spain Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (a niece of Queen Isabella of Castile), Queen Joanna of Castile, and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile), were all considered. After the Holy Roman Emperor . Henry VIII Books Exploring the Best Books on Englands Most Infamous King, 18 February 1516 The birth of Queen Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. I am glad to say that I think it does, for it concentrates on the reign, and court, of Henry VII, giving a different slant to the well known story. It was a fantastic programme and I highly recommend Thomas Penns book on Henry VII Winter King. The house of York then appeared so firmly established that Henry seemed likely to remain in exile for the rest of his life. Life at court was merry under Henry 8th, a fresh new beginning likened to springtime. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. Until the death of his wife, the evidence is clear from these accounting books that Henry was a more doting father and husband than was widely known and there is evidence that his outwardly austere personality belied a devotion to his family. Hidden under the floor in St George's Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. All the information is from Thomas Penn. Quite ambitious in nature, Thomas Penn attempts to write a portrait of Henry VII and his reign. Get help and learn more about the design. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. As his mother was only 14 when he was born and soon married again, Henry was brought up by his uncle Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke. Reading this, I got a much better understanding of where Henry VIII came from, and why he was destined to be the colorful ruler he became, as an antidote to his own father. Henry the older was lean and shriveled, rigid with prudence, empty of any hunger other than a desire to secure his throne through the acquisition of cash. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. Thank you for subscribing. Up to a point, he succeeded. Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent 6,000 troops to France. This meant that Henry had been the rightful King in the battle and that Richard had been the usurper, and those who supported him had been traitors. He attained the throne when his forces, supported by France, Scotland, and Wales, defeated Edward IV's brother Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry IV had confirmed Richard IIs legitimation (1397) of the children of this union but had specifically excluded the Beauforts from any claim to the throne (1407). How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. Sometimes, Penn explained, charges against people were fabricated so that they would have to pay a fine, for example, a man who was charged with murdering a child and who was found guilty because the jury was rigged. ), Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_VII_of_England&oldid=1141813382, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from September 2021, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2021, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Articles needing additional references from October 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Katherine (2 February 1503 10 February 1503), This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 23:16. Read all Directors Giulia Clark Stuart Elliott Writers Happy St Davids Day! Henry VII is usually treated as a charmless and thrifty prelude to the big reign of Henry VIII, with the inevitable marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, and the reversal of his father's bully policies for a golden age of chivalry and, you know, all the crazy shit Henry VIII was about to do. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. Thus, the two warring houses were joined in marriage. [57], In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy. Thus, Henry Tudor had no choice but to gather together an army including mercenary soldiers as well as his own supporters, and he landed in Wales in August, 1485. At any rate, the Wars of the Roses had ended with a victory by which the winner took all, and regardless of his somewhat dubious Plantagenet ancestry. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. Bacon wanted the future Charles I to learn from Henry's reign, but the financial methods that would provoke fatal opposition to Charles look pale beside the exactions levied by Henry from often innocent subjects, who were denied legal process or threatened with trumped-up prosecutions and had to buy their freedom (though at moments of apparently impending death the king would repent of his methods and have the jails cleared and pardons issued). When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort. [13] When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470, Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court. On 7th August 1485, he dropped anchor at Mill Bay, Milford Haven, and when he reached the beach he prayed Judge me, O Lord, and favour my cause. The odds were stacked against him in his quest to take the throne of England. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. [39] Despite this, during his reign he became a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with a few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed. If you are new the era, this wouldn't the first book I would pick up because it does flip flop around a bit in the beginning-but if you want to understand the players that ultimately have a significant impact on Henry VIII, this is the book for you. Dydd Gyl Dewi Hapus! An easy read? The country was in a perpetual state of emergency and Henrys subjects were scared and resentful. [63] Despite this, Henry was keen to constrain their power and influence, applying the same principles to the justices of the peace as he did to the nobility: a similar system of bonds and recognisances to that which applied to both the gentry and the nobles who tried to exert their elevated influence over these local officials. This book is a nonfiction look at King Henry the VII. Henry marries Catherine of Aragon. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. Henry had only been accepted as King because the Princes in the Tower, the sons of Edward IV, were dead, so when Yorkist exiles groomed Perkin Warbeck to pose as one of the princes and raised an army it was a huge threat. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. To strengthen his position, however, he subsidised shipbuilding, so strengthening the navy (he commissioned Europe's first ever and the world's oldest surviving dry dock at Portsmouth in 1495) and improving trading opportunities. The reigns of his three predecessors were interrupted or foreshortened. [18] He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. All the powers of Europe doubted Henrys ability to survive, and most were willing to shelter claimants against him. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. [69] The wedding never took place, and the physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors of what he desired in a new wife matched the description of his wife Elizabeth. 'Meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520,' a painting by Friedrich August Bouterwek.
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