Through this, he found that his Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in the plot. He had gone from a refugee landing on an isolated beach in Wales to being a great king. Elizabeth had died in childbirth, so Henry had the dispensation also permit him to marry Catherine himself. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". For other uses, see, Henry holding a rose and wearing the collar of the, Law enforcement and justices of the peace, the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Cultural depictions of Henry VII of England, "Tudor Pembroke | Ymddiriedolaeth Harri Tudur | Henry Tudor Trust", "BBC Wales History Themes Pembroke The Main Street", "Westminster Abbey website: Coronations, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York", "Calendar of State Papers, Spain: Supplement To Volumes 1 and 2, Queen Katherine; Intended Marriage of King Henry VII To Queen Juana", "Domestic and foreign policy of Henry VII", "Queen Margaret's Arch | York Civic Trust", "Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond", The Reign of Henry VII. Henry VII's reign has yielded an evocative study, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, ILLUSTRATION: CLIFFORD HARPER/AGRAPHIA.CO.UK. 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. Four different kinds of cryptocurrencies you should know. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort. 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. Early life He spent money lavishly, held big parties. Edward would have liked to rid himself of Henry, a rival to his throne, but Francis kept Henry safe. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. Inadvertently, he provoked a revolution. [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. 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. He likens the beginning of Henry VIII's reign to a metaphorical spring, a second coming of sorts because Henry VIII seemed to be the opposite of his father. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. 1517. [citation needed], Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry in attracting military support and safeguarding his army's passage through Wales on its way to the Battle of Bosworth. The whole system was ingeniously designed to ensure the unchallenged supremacy of the king while stamping out any challenges to his authority from the nobles, merchants, and commons. [10] A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard Andr, also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. 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. Penn is not one to understate a case. 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. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. In response to this threat within his own household, the King instituted more rigid security for access to his person. 3.5 Stars. When he met Richard III at Bosworth Field, Henry found that his army of dissidents and mercenaries was completely outnumbered. 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. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. When the Lancastrian cause crashed to disaster at the Battle of Tewkesbury (May 1471), Jasper took the boy out of the country and sought refuge in the duchy of Brittany. Read all Directors Giulia Clark Stuart Elliott Writers He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. I was disappointed by this it was decent but I think it was somewhat overhyped. The research was thorough and it was presented well and kept me engaged. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. [77][78] His mother died two months later on 29 June 1509. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Corrections? Henry VII ruled from 1485-1509 and had a dubious claim on the throne, spending most of his time before the famous Battle of Bosworth Field in exile and gaining credibility from his marriage to Elizabeth of York. [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. Author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. Please check your email to confirm your subscription. [49] The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of 24,000. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. 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. Henry Tudor, named after his father, Henry VII, was born by Elizabeth of York June 28, 1491 in Greenwich Palace. 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. Henry came to the throne following the death of his father, Henry VII. 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. : (April 25, 1883. 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. 'Meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520,' a painting by Friedrich August Bouterwek. The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke. His spies and informers were everywhere. ||Wordpress installation and design by http://www.MadeGlobal.com, FREE Anne Boleyn I found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. [2] His father died three months before his birth. 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. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with the Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! Thanks largely to the desertion of his stepfather, Lord Stanley, to him, he defeated and slew Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. [57], In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. Two themes of his book preside: the permanent vulnerability of Henry's regime, and his ruthless methods of rule. Since he was the second son, and not expected to become king, we know little of his childhood until the death of his older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales. Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth of York. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. During Henry's early years, his uncle Henry VI was fighting against Edward IV, a member of the Yorkist Plantagenet branch. Henry VII is also known as Henry Tudor. With Elizabeth's death, the possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished. He was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until her death on February 11th, 1503. 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. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. Pembroke Castle, birthplace of Henry VII [ JKMMX ] [ CC BY-SA 3.0 ]. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. [55] Since alum was mined in only one area in Europe (Tolfa, Italy), it was a scarce commodity and therefore especially valuable to its land holder, the Pope. This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states. Lincoln was killed in battle and Henry was victorious. These bonds were enforced by the Council Learned in the Law, a council of legal advisers who were only answerable to the King. Most often asked questions related to bitcoin. [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. This is why he named the book the Winter King. 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. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. If he trusted anyone, it would be his queen and why not, since both had so much in common both being familiar with being in sanctuary, and pawns in the game of power? 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. For him, it was never about glory and battle. We know that Henry attended the wedding celebrations of Arthur and his bride . Celebrating the release of The Colour of Bone A London Charnel House. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. Castles of . Henry was a remarkable man. 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. 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. Gaunt's nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. [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. I'm not giving this a star rating because I suspect it's me at fault not the book. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. I couldn't even stay awake reading this. 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. 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? Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. 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". By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. 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. 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. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. The rebellion began in Ireland, where the historically Yorkist nobility, headed by the powerful Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, proclaimed Simnel king and provided troops for his invasion of England. I'm beginning to wonder if all of the kings beginning with the conquest weren't a little off their rocker in some way. 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. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited as . When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. Henry needed an heir to secure his reign and fortunately an heir came quickly. "King Henry VII" redirects here. Henry VII The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. The devastated King became so ill that he was close to death, but then he recovered and Penn explains that when he took control once more, he was remorseless. Alternate titles: Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, Professor of Medieval History, University of Liverpool, 196780. [47], Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. 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. This is why he named the book the "Winter King". 1845. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! [citation needed], However, his principal weapon was the Court of Star Chamber. His account of Henry's government is more contentious than he lets on. She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III), and his third wife Katherine Swynford. [12], Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. [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. Henry VII: Winter King was aired last night on BBC2 and was the latest programme in BBC2s Tudor Court Season. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. [citation needed], After 1503, records show the Tower of London was never again used as a royal residence by Henry VII, and all royal births under Henry VIII took place in palaces. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. 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.