Henry, son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, was born nearly three months after his fathers death. [43] According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple "greed" underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. When Richard III became King, Henrys strategy, planned by Margaret Beaufort, the mother whom he had not seen for years, was to declare in public, in Brittanys Rennes Cathedral, that he would marry Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth, then in sanctuary with her mother, and thus bury the enmity between Lancaster and York by making her his queen. 1) The number of books on Henry VII can basically be counted on one hand 2) This is Penns first book. In 1485 Henry landed at Milford Haven in Wales and advanced toward London. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. Get help and learn more about the design. Catherine's mother Isabella I of Castile had died and Catherine's sister Joanna had succeeded her; Catherine was, therefore, daughter of only one reigning monarch and so less desirable as a spouse for Henry VII's heir-apparent. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. When Henry VII became king, the royal exchequer was effectively bankrupt. I couldn't even stay awake reading this. Most often asked questions related to bitcoin. 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. Detailed Information. Henry VIII Books livestream YouTube 18 February 2023, February 13 A queen and her lady-in-waiting are beheaded. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. He had gone from a refugee landing on an isolated beach in Wales to being a great king. Author of, Assistant Master and Professor of History, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Henry spared Richard's nephew and designated heir, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, and made the Yorkist heiress Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury suo jure. 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). All the powers of Europe doubted Henrys ability to survive, and most were willing to shelter claimants against him. 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. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. 7.1 59min 2013 16+. Henry VII comes across as a talented micromanager and financier. Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of. [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. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. Thomas More hailed the end of "slavery" and the return of "liberty", "the end of sadness, the beginning of joy". But definitely rewarding! Based on the terms of the accord, Henry sent 6000 troops to fight (at the expense of Brittany) under the command of Lord Daubeney. Why did the nobility accept the curtailment of the military power it had wielded in the wars of the roses and swallow the elevation of upstarts at Henry's court? 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. (HIST003) Persecutions, Populations and Politics: Early Modern Britain 1550-1750, (HIST004) Country, Colonies and Culture: Early Modern Britain 1550-1750, (HIST006) The Stuart Court: History Politics and Culture, (HIST010) The Tudors: History, Culture and Religion, (HIST011) The English Country House: History, Architecture and Landscape, (HIST018) The Changing English Countryside, 20th Century Musicals: A Celebration of Song and Dance on the Silver Screen and the Stage. It took Henry, who in any case needed to marry her if the expected issue was to solve the succession problem, some six years to achieve their joint purpose. Henry, recognizing that Simnel had been a mere dupe, employed him in the royal kitchens. [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. [51], Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom; he concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo, by which his son Arthur, Prince of Wales, was married to Catherine of Aragon. Yorkist malcontents had strength in the north of England and in Ireland and had a powerful ally in Richard IIIs sister Margaret, dowager duchess of Burgundy. 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. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. He made huge gobs of money binding his subjects to him with loyalty bonds. His early reign was plagued by pretenders to the throne, giving the new Tudor dynasty a rocky start and a fear of conspiracy which dogged Henry VII throughout his life. 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. : (April 25, 1883. He was supported in this effort by his chancellor, Archbishop John Morton, whose "Morton's Fork" was a catch-22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes: those nobles who spent little must have saved much, and thus could afford the increased taxes; in contrast, those nobles who spent much obviously had the means to pay the increased taxes. The rest, as we say, is history; Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth and Henry Tudor had arrived out of nowhere and avenged the death of the little princes in the tower, although there is some debate as to who was actually responsible for their murder. Henry VIII had become heir to the throne when his elder brother, Arthur, died in 1502. Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. The King was heavily guarded. Henry then cemented his claim to the throne and his dynastic ambitions by marrying Elizabeth of York and bringing the Houses of Lancaster and York together; the red rose and white rose combined to become the Tudor rose. Henry VII: The Winter King (95) 59min 2013 PG. Inadvertently, he provoked a revolution. 3.5 Stars. While most of us are familiar with Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and we probably have a sense of the Wars of the Roses in England, but how many of us are familiar with Henry VII. Elizabeth had died in childbirth, so Henry had the dispensation also permit him to marry Catherine himself. [citation needed] 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. Henry gained the support of the Woodvilles, in-laws of the late Edward IV, and sailed with a small French and Scottish force, landing at Mill Bay near Dale, Pembrokeshire. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. It's difficult to get a handle on Henry VII. [13] When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany. Though this was not achieved during his reign, the marriage eventually led to the union of the English and Scottish crowns under Margaret's great-grandson, James VI and I, following the death of Henry's granddaughter Elizabeth I. Years of instability, factionalism and his predecessors' penchant for war had seen royal finances severely battered. Many of the entries show a man who loosened his purse strings generously for his wife and children, and not just on necessities: in spring 1491 he spent a great amount of gold on a lute for his daughter Mary; the following year he spent money on a lion for Elizabeth's menagerie. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. ), The Reign of Henry VII. I picked this audiobook up because it was narrated by Simon Vance. 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. 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. Blair Worden's The English Civil Wars is published by Phoenix. [6] Henry IV's action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it weakened Henry's claim. His account of Henry's government is more contentious than he lets on. On the other side of the coin, instead of the cross, was a Tudor rose and the arms of England. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. [23] After his coronation Henry issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would, notwithstanding any previous attainder, be secure in his property and person. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. 1845. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. He spent his entire reign fixated on eliminating or disarming his enemies, and stabilizing England after the bloody, seemingly endless War of the Roses. 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. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. 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 . [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. [21], Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester. Hed achieved the impossible, hed risen from refugee to King of England. Possession of something the French King wanted also made the Duke of Brittany safer in his own duchy. this was well-written and i love henry vii for how he managed to a) get the throne of england and b) keep it and make the crown so solvent after the devastating years of the Wars of the Roses, but i can't help but think that a lot of this was rather dry. And yet this time removed was summer's time, The teeming autumn, big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, Like widow'd wombs after their lords . Unfortunately, since all I really wanted to know about was learning about Henry the 7th and his family as people - the things that happened to them, what kind of people they were, etc. The baby died and Elizabeth, herself, died on 11th February 1503, her 37th birthday. There were too many powerful noblemen and, as a consequence of the system of so-called bastard feudalism, each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers (mercenaries masquerading as servants). From 1527 Henry pursued what became known as "the King's great matter": his divorce from Catherine. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Annoyingly, much of the most interesting stuff concerns his son, and whenever Penn comments intelligently on how the events here affected the future Henry VIII's reign I found myself perking up such as the suggestion that Henry VII's marriage to Elizabeth was the kind of marriage that their second son, Prince Henry, would spend his whole life trying to find. His first son and heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at Ludlow Castle, very likely from a viral respiratory illness known at the time as the "English sweating sickness". [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. Effectively an orphan, he had spent wretched years as a fugitive in Brittany. 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. 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. Henry was a remarkable man. Henry VII (28 January 1457 21 April 1509) was King of England from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He died shortly afterwards in Carmarthen Castle. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. I thought the book was well written, even though a bit dry is spots. I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. It was propaganda to spread the message that he was the rightful King. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard . [31] Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. I thought the way he controled the nobility was fascinating - keeping them in check as well a raising vast sums of money at the same time. The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke. He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. But now, sensitivity readers are pushing back . Accordingly, he arranged a papal dispensation from Pope Julius II for Prince Henry to marry his brother's widow Catherine, a relationship that would have otherwise precluded marriage in the Church. His spies and informers were everywhere. Its goals, relentlessly pursued until Henry's death in 1509, were the establishment of a royal house, the elimination of opposition, and the steady accumulation of power and wealth. 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. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Henry VII was born in Pembroke Castle , Wales, on January 28 th, 1457. Why is this ambitious? This definitely was not that. Henry VII is also known as Henry Tudor. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. This family took a dim view of Henry and it was John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who instigated the first rebellion against him. Even if the king outfaced his enemies in his lifetime, would they not forestall a Tudor succession? [32], Next, in 1487, Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of Lambert Simnel, a boy they claimed to be Edward of Warwick (who was actually a prisoner in the Tower). One interesting thing about him is his early youth and the fourteen years he spent in exile in France Brittany to be precise and those, I believe, made him the man he was eventually to become. Four different kinds of cryptocurrencies you should know. Hidden under the floor in St George's Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. Henry VIII, (born June 28, 1491, Greenwich, near London, Englanddied January 28, 1547, London), king of England (1509-47) who presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation. Backdating Henry's Reign. Not only was . Henry VII ruled - as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do - through fear rather than love. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. 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. His spies and informers were everywhere. 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. That is, suspicious, insecure and crafty but also determined, patient and fiercely proud of his Lancastrian ancestry. He rewrote history by backdating his reign to 21st August 1485, the day before the Battle of Bosworth Field.