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. [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. Penn explained that the marriage had been one of genuine love and that Henry was shattered by his wifes death. 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. Henry Tudors claim to the throne was, therefore, weak and of no importance until the deaths in 1471 of Henry VIs only son, Edward, of his own two remaining kinsmen of the Beaufort line, and of Henry VI himself, which suddenly made Henry Tudor the sole surviving male with any ancestral claim to the house of Lancaster. As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. Wolf Hall this is not. While there, he feigned stomach cramps and delayed his departure long enough to miss the tides. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. I was disappointed by this it was decent but I think it was somewhat overhyped. Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until her death on February 11th, 1503. The baby died and Elizabeth, herself, died on 11th February 1503, her 37th birthday. This was excellent. 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. : (April 25, 1883. 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. 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. 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. The house of York then appeared so firmly established that Henry seemed likely to remain in exile for the rest of his life. He took care not to address the baronage or summon Parliament until after his coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485. [70] Henry VII falls among the minority of British monarchs that never had any known mistresses, and for the times, it is very unusual that he did not remarry: his son Henry was the only male heir left after the death of his wife, thus the death of Arthur created a precarious political position for the House of Tudor. Henry marries Catherine of Aragon. 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. [citation needed], By 1509, justices of the peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. 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. 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. [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. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. [35] In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed. 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. [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. With the English economy heavily invested in wool production, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade in 1486. Philip died shortly after the negotiations. 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). However, with the help of the forces of his step-father, Lord Stanley, he defeated Richard and Richard was killed on the battlefield. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. 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. [9] He took it, as well as the standard of St. George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. He was the last king of England to win . No. 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. 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 . 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. Henry, son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, was born nearly three months after his fathers death. I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. 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. Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death. [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. Henry came to the throne following the death of his father, Henry VII. 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. 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. 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? Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. 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. Up to a point, he succeeded. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. Henry was devastated. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". [67], Henry made half-hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs, but these never came to anything. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. Castles of . [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. [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. His regime was magnificent, yet terrifying and oppressive. Henry VIII was the first English king to be called "Your Majesty.". Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited as . He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. 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. After the Holy Roman Emperor . Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death. [49] The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of 24,000. He was a ruler to be feared, a ruler to be paid. Moneywise, King Henry the VII was frugal and careful with money. He was, said Penn, a man who never knew a moments peace during his reign. Penn is not one to understate a case. His claim to the throne was tenuous and permanently contested. It was a fantastic programme and I highly recommend Thomas Penns book on Henry VII Winter King. Four different kinds of cryptocurrencies you should know. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. Backdating Henry's Reign. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. Omissions? Thomas Mores coronation poem for Henry VIII contrasted the new Kings reign with the dark days of the past. Swynford was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. [citation needed], All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the justices of the peace. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. Henry VIII Books livestream YouTube 18 February 2023, February 13 A queen and her lady-in-waiting are beheaded. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! 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. In 1485 Henry landed at Milford Haven in Wales and advanced toward London. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. 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 the eighth was a renaissance King. [24][17][25] He was 29 years old, she was 20. All the information is from Thomas Penn. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. 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. Shakespeare later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. This book was way too focused on what happened, but not so much on the why or why it was important. By the way, dont forget that Ian Mortimers Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England is on tonight on BBC2 at 9pm. Old rivalries simmered, however. Stanley placed Richards circlet on Henrys head, he was now King. There's a lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff here, something Henry and certain of his counselors seemed especially skilled at, and it was those parts that I particularly enjoyed. 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. [31] Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. But definitely rewarding! He rewrote history by backdating his reign to 21st August 1485, the day before the Battle of Bosworth Field. People saw him as being like a traditional king and hoped that his reign would bring positive change. [citation needed] Following the example of Edward IV, Henry VII created a Council of Wales and the Marches for his son Arthur, which was intended to govern Wales and the Marches, Cheshire and Cornwall. 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. He spent his entire reign fixated on eliminating or disarming his enemies, and stabilizing England after the bloody, seemingly endless War of the Roses. 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. $14.97 1 Used from $14.96 3 New from $14.97. Loyalty was ensured, and the nobility was effectively neuteredand Henry became the richest monarch in Europe. 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. [citation needed] Henry also formed an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (14931519) and persuaded Pope Innocent VIII to issue a papal bull of excommunication against all pretenders to Henry's throne. 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. By 1600 historians emphasised Henry's wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs. Blair Worden's The English Civil Wars is published by Phoenix. With Elizabeth's death, the possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth of York. The portly Henry VIII, and the ill-fated destinies of most of his six wives, is one of the first historical figures primary-aged pupils are aware of.. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. Please check your email to confirm your subscription. Overblown prose trumpeting his reign seemed to be the order of the day. 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". Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. Henry VII declared himself king by just title of inheritance and by the judgment of God in battle, after slaying Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. [11] When Edward IV became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. Alison Weir points out that the Rennes ceremony, two years earlier, was plausible only if Henry and his supporters were certain that the Princes were already dead. I would read more by this author. [33], In 1490, a young Fleming, Perkin Warbeck, appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". MP3 CD. Penn notes something else about the paeans on the son's accession: later in the Tudor period, apologists for the regime would remember Henry VII as the restorer of national peace and unity, but in 1509 it was the king's death, not his rule, that was held to have ended a long era of dark instability. He made huge gobs of money binding his subjects to him with loyalty bonds. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". 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. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry's father. Henry VII can look a dull king, so dull that Thomas Penn's title omits his name. [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. 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. 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. 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. - and that was only about 50% of the book, it was only about 50% interesting to me. Warbeck was finally captured in 1497 and executed. [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. [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. Lincoln was killed in battle and Henry was victorious. 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. 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. Anyone perceived to have any potential political power or social capital was rendered deeply indebted to the crown and at risk of complete financial ruin upon the whim of the king and his councillors. There are an awful lot of books written about the Tudor era, both fiction and non-fiction, so you have to ask whether this book adds anything new. His dynasty was hanging by a thread and all his hopes had to rest on his youngest son, Henry, and Elizabeth of York producing another son, a spare. "King Henry VII" redirects here. Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. The union was both symbolic and necessary. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. (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. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. 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. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort. Two themes of his book preside: the permanent vulnerability of Henry's regime, and his ruthless methods of rule. [18] He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. 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. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. Updates? If you missed the programme then here is the YouTube video for you enjoy! [citation needed], Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. [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. 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. [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. [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. The nobility was forced into bonds, legal agreements that they would act as the King wanted or be fined. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with the Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! The future Henry VIII, in contrast,. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . Happy St Davids Day! His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard III as a usurper. He became paranoid and made the decision that if his people couldnt love him then they should fear him. 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. Henry VIII was spring and Henry VII was winter. [79], Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. Claiming the throne by just title of inheritance and by the judgment of God in battle, he was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. 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. For me, history is alive and energizing - not something static and remote. Alternate titles: Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, Professor of Medieval History, University of Liverpool, 196780. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Penn then moved on to how Henry became King. [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. 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. Get help and learn more about the design. [12], Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. [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. Next month find out more on someone known as The Winter Queen! England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. He was probably baptised at St Mary's Church, Pembroke,[1] though no documentation of the event exists. Claire is going live on YouTube on 11 February! 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. He explained how Henry VII had achieved what he set out to do, he had passed on the crown successfully. 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. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. He had to pay a 500 fine to save himself, to buy a pardon for the crime. 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. Poor Henry VII. Before Henry VIII, English kings were addressed as "Your Grace" or "Your Highness.". 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. Sometimes when reading nonfiction of this type, I never know if it is going to be dry and dull or not. There he found more English fugitives, willing to invade England in support of Henry, and bearing news that Richard III had serious plans to marry the princess Elizabeth himself. Consultant editor for the. ||sitemap_index.xml 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. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement.
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