7.1 59min 2013 16+. Edward would have liked to rid himself of Henry, a rival to his throne, but Francis kept Henry safe. Even if the king outfaced his enemies in his lifetime, would they not forestall a Tudor succession? The baby died and Elizabeth, herself, died on 11th February 1503, her 37th birthday. But that's not really what I wanted from a book about Henry VII. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, was a descendant of the Lancastrian branch of the House of Plantagenet. Henry VII, also called (145785) Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, (born January 28, 1457, Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Walesdied April 21, 1509, Richmond, Surrey, England), king of England (14851509), who succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York and founded the Tudor dynasty . Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The King, normally a reserved man who rarely showed much emotion in public unless angry, surprised his courtiers by his intense grief and sobbing at his son's death, while his concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one, as is his reaction to Queen Elizabeth's death the following year, when he shut himself away for several days, refusing to speak to anyone. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. 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. 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 . Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. Consultant editor for the. Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with the Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. Henry VIII Books livestream YouTube 18 February 2023, February 13 A queen and her lady-in-waiting are beheaded. Overblown prose trumpeting his reign seemed to be the order of the day. It was really very well researched and painstakingly written. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Warbeck was finally captured in 1497 and executed. After the Holy Roman Emperor . It was no easy feat. Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle, in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales. [52] He also concluded the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Scotland (the first treaty between England and Scotland for almost two centuries), which betrothed his daughter Margaret Tudor to King James IV of Scotland. Their main aim was money. 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). Thomas Mores coronation poem for Henry VIII contrasted the new Kings reign with the dark days of the past. I picked this audiobook up because it was narrated by Simon Vance. 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. (We certainly can, and do, decide what sort of king Henry was based on what he had his government get up to, however.). Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! [46] In 1506 he resumed the construction of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, started under Henry VI, guaranteeing finances which would continue even after his death. In 1622 Francis Bacon published his History of the Reign of King Henry VII. Through luck, guile and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, had clambered to the top of the heap--a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne. The king's own death seven years later had to be kept secret until his nervous entourage had ensured the succession. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. Henry was building a myth, the idea that he and his family were the true royal blood of England. 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. Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death. [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. He was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. More wrote that this King is loved and compared Henrys accession to the coming of a new season, a new spring following a winter of repression. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. But now, sensitivity readers are pushing back . My obsession is European history from the 12th through 17th centuries - especially British history - so of course, when I was offered the chance to review this book, my interest was piqued immediately. Famed British author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. [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. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. [29] Henry secured his crown principally by dividing and undermining the power of the nobility, especially through the aggressive use of bonds and recognisances to secure loyalty. [citation needed] 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. 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). It was the end of the union of Lancaster and York and many had only accepted Henry as King because of his wifes Yorkist roots, so Henry was once more on shaky ground with his old enemies resurfacing and raising armies. [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. For example, they could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. Henry VIII was spring and Henry VII was winter. I really enjoyed it. He created the Tudor dynasty. [14] In November 1476, Francis fell ill and his principal advisers were more amenable to negotiating with King Edward. [16] With money and supplies borrowed from his host, Francis II of Brittany, Henry tried to land in England, but his conspiracy unravelled resulting in the execution of his primary co-conspirator, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Who could have expected that he would rule for 24 years, die in his bed, bequeath the first orderly succession to the throne for nearly a century, and found a famous dynasty? There were some sections I had to skim because I didn't feel they were relevant to the storyline, but mostly I was hooked into this very complex King. However, this treaty came at a price, as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492. It was a fantastic programme and I highly recommend Thomas Penns book on Henry VII Winter King. 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). 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. Years of instability, factionalism and his predecessors' penchant for war had seen royal finances severely battered. After winning the throne of England, he wed Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of the dead Yorkist king Edward IV. Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. 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. There's a (relatively) brief explanation of Henry's rather tumultuous childhood and his rise to the throne, before Penn really gets into the nitty gritty details during the second half of Henry's reign, focusing on his intricate foreign policy, his increasing use of finance as a means of control over his subjects and, most entertaining to me, the various plots and conspiracies of Henry's enemies. Overall, this was a successful area of policy for Henry, both in terms of efficiency and as a method of reducing the corruption endemic within the nobility of the Middle Ages. Henry attained the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. There he claimed sanctuary until the envoys were forced to depart. [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. [18] He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. [26] Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes, and he was largely successful. [35] In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed. $14.97 1 Used from $14.96 3 New from $14.97. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. 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 became paranoid and made the decision that if his people couldnt love him then they should fear him. Henry VII The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. He passed laws against "livery" (the upper classes' flaunting of their adherents by giving them badges and emblems) and "maintenance" (the keeping of too many male "servants"). Prince Arthur was born just eight months after his parents marriage, at Winchester, the seat of King Arthurs Camelot. This definitely was not that. I found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. Many influential Yorkists had been dispossessed and disappointed by the change of regime, and there had been so many reversals of fortune within living memory that the decision of Bosworth did not appear necessarily final. He had enough of that getting himself to the throne. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the Low Countries had long-lasting benefit to the English economy. More than a biography of Henry VII, this book is really a highly detailed history of the last ten years of his reign, and how he meticulously and ruthlessly turned England into a police state ruled by what amounted to an organized crime syndicate. 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". In many ways, it highlights that Henry VIII was a feckless inheritor of the tools of Machiavellian power, but had no idea to what productive end to put them. Stanley placed Richards circlet on Henrys head, he was now King. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . February 7 Sir Francis Bryan loses an eye and Henry VIII has a new love, An interview with historical novelist Sandra Byrd, Henry VIII and His Six Wives event open for registration. Lincoln was killed in battle and Henry was victorious. Doubtless the plotters were encouraged by the deaths of Henrys sons in 1500 and 1502 and of his wife in 1503. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". Author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. Through luck, guile and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, had clambered to the top of the heap--a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne. His claim to the throne was tenuous and permanently contested. The 17 year-old Prince Henry became King Henry VIII and started a different era. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. The new prince was the embodiment of the red and white rose, he was the Tudor rose incarnate. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 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 . [65] Henry VII was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death impacted him severely. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. 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. Through luck, guile, and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, emerged as rulerbut as a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne, he remained a usurper and false king to many, and his hold on power was precarious. 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. Several of Richard's key allies, such as Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, and also Lord Stanley and his brother William, crucially switched sides or left the battlefield. [citation needed], In 1506, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller Emery d'Amboise asked Henry VII to become the protector and patron of the Order, as he had an interest in the crusade. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. ), 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. Through this, he found that his Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in the plot. [citation needed], By 1509, justices of the peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. I had an idea Henry VII was a force for stability; in fact he was a terrifying kleptocrat, abusing the law with arbitrary fines and imprisonment, scheming to effectively steal entire estates and wring every penny out of subjects as well as impose political control through financial means. Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. Henry VII, grown rich from Morton's Fork and other squeezes, was far from a bumpkin trying to break into the royal circles of western Europe--he was being courted, and he knew very well to play Castile (Hapsburg) and Aragon off against one another after Isabella died (and Catherine might very well have been packed off home to marry someone else, it was common). 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. 24th April 2023 - courses open for registrations. [62], Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. 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. It's difficult to get a handle on Henry VII. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. 4. Updates? 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 usual courts and justice system were totally circumvented, and there was no chance of appeal other than purchasing extremely high priced royal pardons. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. [76] He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 150947), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. With Elizabeth's death, the possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished. 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. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. Penn then moved on to how Henry became King. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. [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. Henry needed an heir to secure his reign and fortunately an heir came quickly. If Penn's interpretation can sometimes seem slanted, its exposition would be hard to over-praise. Moneywise, King Henry the VII was frugal and careful with money. Henry VII was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. The Merchant Adventurers, the company which enjoyed the monopoly of the Flemish wool trade, relocated from Antwerp to Calais. [41] Henry also increased wealth by acquiring land through the act of resumption of 1486 which had been delayed as he focused on defence of the Church, his person and his realm. 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. [citation needed], During his lifetime the nobility often criticised Henry VII for re-centralizing power in London, and later the 16th-century historian Francis Bacon was ruthlessly critical of the methods by which he enforced tax law, but it is equally true that Henry VII was diligent about keeping detailed records of his personal finances, down to the last halfpenny;[71] these and one account book detailing the expenses of his queen survive in the British National Archives, as do accounts of courtiers and many of the king's own letters. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. On the other side of the coin, instead of the cross, was a Tudor rose and the arms of England. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. Henry was a remarkable man. To unite the opponents of Richard III, Henry had promised to marry Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV; and the coalition of Yorkists and Lancastrians continued, helped by French support, since Richard III talked of invading France. France, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. 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. Penn showed a genealogical roll that had belonged to the de la Pole family which showed Henry VI being the end of the Lancastrian line and the Yorkist line continuing on to Richard III. 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. [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 later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. Rarely was a father's reign so widely disparaged and disowned on the accession of the son. The usurpation of Richard III (1483), however, split the Yorkist party and gave Henry his opportunity. [74] Margaret Tudor wrote letters to her father declaring her homesickness, but Henry could do nothing but mourn the loss of his family and honour the terms of the peace treaty he had agreed to with the King of Scotland. [a] Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, was a descendant of the Lancastrian branch of the House of Plantagenet. To be notified of special offers, news, new courses, and new tutors, please subscribe to our newsletter. [citation needed], In 1502, Henry VII's life took a difficult and personal turn in which many people he was close to died in quick succession. Penn ended the programme by visiting the tombs of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in Henrys chapel at Westminster Abbey, a chapel that remains at the heart of political life. In my never-ending quest to read possibly every single published book on the Tudor monarchy, I spied this little gem a few weeks ago and picked it up. 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. Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. 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. [citation needed], All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the justices of the peace. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. 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. Henry marries Catherine of Aragon. 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. [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. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. [30] Before departing for London, Henry sent Robert Willoughby to Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, to arrest Warwick and take him to the Tower of London.