(We certainly can, and do, decide what sort of king Henry was based on what he had his government get up to, however.). (ROYAL HISTORY) Directors Stuart Elliott Genres Documentary, International Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. [25][80], Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon. 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. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 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. After winning the throne of England, he wed Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of the dead Yorkist king Edward IV. The wedding was a triumph but in April 1502 a messenger brought the King the news that his eldest son had died of sweating sickness. [22] Thus, anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason and Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III, while restoring his own. Quite ambitious in nature, Thomas Penn attempts to write a portrait of Henry VII and his reign. Henry VII is known for successfully ending the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York and for founding the Tudor dynasty. The insurrections fronted by the pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck emerged from wide and formidable networks of conspiracy that drew in foreign rulers and leading English magnates, and infiltrated Henry's court. Pembroke Castle, birthplace of Henry VII [ JKMMX ] [ CC BY-SA 3.0 ]. [49] The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of 24,000. 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 King was heavily guarded. 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. The Merchant Adventurers, the company which enjoyed the monopoly of the Flemish wool trade, relocated from Antwerp to Calais. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. [72] Immediately afterwards, Henry became very sick and nearly died himself, allowing only his mother Margaret Beaufort near him: "privily departed to a solitary place, and would that no man should resort unto him. 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"). He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. Why is this ambitious? Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! 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. Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. 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. Gaunt's nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. [citation needed] [36] However, he spared Warwick's elder sister Margaret, who survived until 1541 when she was executed by Henry VIII. 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 was building a myth, the idea that he and his family were the true royal blood of England. [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. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. [citation needed], Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and the wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey. 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. 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. Henry VII ruled - as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do - through fear rather than love. Penn explained how Henry reworked recent events to suit him. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He had gone from a refugee landing on an isolated beach in Wales to being a great king. [2] His father died three months before his birth. [33], In 1490, a young Fleming, Perkin Warbeck, appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". Moneywise, King Henry the VII was frugal and careful with money. 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. Henrys Chamber Accounts show payment to strangers and people across the sea, who appear to have been part of a network of spies and informers who kept an eye on potential troublemakers and alerted the King. By the way, dont forget that Ian Mortimers Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England is on tonight on BBC2 at 9pm. Henry, son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, was born nearly three months after his fathers death. These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. An ally of Henry's, Viscount Jean du Qulennec[fr], soon arrived, bringing news that Francis had recovered, and in the confusion Henry was able to flee to a monastery. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. (1): (April 24, 1883. Henry Tudor, named after his father, Henry VII, was born by Elizabeth of York June 28, 1491 in Greenwich Palace. Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. 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. Before taking the throne, he was known as Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [a] Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, was a descendant of the Lancastrian branch of the House of Plantagenet. 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. 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. Their main aim was money. 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. Possession of something the French King wanted also made the Duke of Brittany safer in his own duchy. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . His biographer, Professor Chrimes, credits him even before he had become king with "a high degree of personal magnetism, ability to inspire confidence, and a growing reputation for shrewd decisiveness". [21], Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester. He would learn better as the new reign unfolded. Philip had been shipwrecked on the English coast, and while Henry's guest, was bullied into an agreement so favourable to England at the expense of the Netherlands that it was dubbed the Malus Intercursus ("evil agreement"). [citation needed] The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell, which collapsed without fighting. No. He had brought the country to the brink of dynastic ambition, but not quite, so his closest advisers kept his death secret until St Georges Day, the annual meeting of the Order of the Garter. But, his enemies didnt agree. There he claimed sanctuary until the envoys were forced to depart. His younger brother, Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, undertook to protect Edmund's widow Margaret, who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry. I've never read much on the reign of Henry VII - mostly because to really get to grips with his policies, you first have to get to grips with his exhaustively complicated financial policies - but Penn provides a wonderful accessibility through his writing, which provides valuable context to the man who founded England's most famous dynasty. 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. On the other side of the coin, instead of the cross, was a Tudor rose and the arms of England. [citation needed], However, his principal weapon was the Court of Star Chamber. [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. Martin Luther 95 thesis. Only through the deaths of more obvious claimants, and after the accession of Richard III in 1483, when Henry was 26, did he become a leading candidate. Stephens, "affords some illustrations of the avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. King Henry the VII and King Henry the VIII both feared being invaded by foreign countries. Henry came to the throne following the death of his father, Henry VII. Henry VII ruled as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do through fear rather than love. [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. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. [14] In November 1476, Francis fell ill and his principal advisers were more amenable to negotiating with King Edward. Yet Henry's techniques of power went beyond the needs of surveillance and survival. For instance, except for the first few months of the reign, the Baron Dynham and the Earl of Surrey were the only Lord High Treasurers throughout his reign. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. Henry was devastated. Well written and really interesting about an often ignored king. The 17 year-old Prince Henry became King Henry VIII and started a different era. [59][60][61], He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him. Why was Henry VII called the Winter King? We know that Henry attended the wedding celebrations of Arthur and his bride . His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard . All the information is from Thomas Penn. By 1900 the "New Monarchy" interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. 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. 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. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. 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 VII The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. 1517. 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. 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. 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. Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. [4] Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois. 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. Since we are in the middle of winter, Ive been thinking of a volume on my shelves on Henry VII, who could be called the Winter King. Having secured financial backing from Florentine bankers in London, Cabot was granted carefully phrased letters patent from Henry in March 1496, permitting him to embark on an exploratory voyage westerly. 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). : (April 25, 1883. 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 treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. Claiming to be Edward, earl of Warwick, the son of Richard IIIs elder brother, George, duke of Clarence, he had the formidable support of John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, Richard IIIs heir designate, of many Irish chieftains, and of 2,000 German mercenaries paid for by Margaret of Burgundy. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. 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. The Field of Cloth of Gold: Royal Revelry. Having established his claim to be king in his own right, he married Elizabeth of York on January 18, 1486. Hed achieved the impossible, hed risen from refugee to King of England. 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. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. 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. When he met Richard III at Bosworth Field, Henry found that his army of dissidents and mercenaries was completely outnumbered. 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 Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. Henry's original head was cut out of the painting and replaced at some point after the work's creation. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. 1845. 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. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Henry reigned for nearly 24 years and was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII. Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death. 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. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. 'Meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520,' a painting by Friedrich August Bouterwek. He was the last king of England to win . According to John M. Currin, the treaty redefined Anglo-Breton relations. If you missed the programme then here is the YouTube video for you enjoy! The usual courts and justice system were totally circumvented, and there was no chance of appeal other than purchasing extremely high priced royal pardons. 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. Henry VII: The Winter King. 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. 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. Penn graphically describes a huge financial racket run by the king and his profiteering advisers. 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. 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. 24th April 2023 - courses open for registrations. He created the Tudor dynasty. Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle, in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales. Both were survivors and as united in death as in life, as their tomb in Westminster Abbey illustrates. People saw him as being like a traditional king and hoped that his reign would bring positive change. [39] Despite this, during his reign he became a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. How did a precariously enthroned ruler, lacking a police force or a standing army, manage to run roughshod over the law? 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".