[54], Henry VII was much enriched by trading alum, which was used in the wool and cloth trades as a chemical fixative for dyeing fabrics. During his 23-year reign, Henry had only two Lord High Treasurers, and this continuity helped provide stability. At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. [51], Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom; he concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo, by which his son Arthur, Prince of Wales, was married to Catherine of Aragon. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Backdating Henry's Reign. He was the last king of England to win . His second son, also called Henry, inherited the throne and became . Raised in France, admiring of Italian-trained lawyers (and reaping the reward of the return of a whole generation of educated English commoners who sat out the War of the Roses abroad), with good taste in Renaissance art and advised by his gracious wife and steely mother, Henry VII is a major figure, not a prequel. Files Welcome Pack of 5 goodies, 28 January 1457 Birth of Henry VII at Pembroke Castle, 30 October 1485 Coronation of Henry VII, Henry VIIIs Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell A Review and Rundown, Henry VII: Winter King A Review and Rundown, 31 May 1533 The Coronation Procession of Queen Anne Boleyn, Why I think Henry VIII was ultimately responsible for Anne Boleyns downfall, 4 March 1522 Anne Boleyn plays Perseverance, The Boleyns of Hever Castle now 99p on Kindle on Amazon UK, YouTube Live 4 March 2023 The Fascinating Background of Henry VIII. [62], Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. Hed achieved the impossible, hed risen from refugee to King of England. Hidden under the floor in St George's Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. Author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. The 17 year-old Prince Henry became King Henry VIII and started a different era. ||sitemap_index.xml Many of the entries show a man who loosened his purse strings generously for his wife and children, and not just on necessities: in spring 1491 he spent a great amount of gold on a lute for his daughter Mary; the following year he spent money on a lion for Elizabeth's menagerie. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . The research was thorough and it was presented well and kept me engaged. 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. Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. Shakespeare later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. All the powers of Europe doubted Henrys ability to survive, and most were willing to shelter claimants against him. 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 was, said Penn, a man who never knew a moments peace during his reign. Through this, he found that his Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in the plot. [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. So Henry was a valuable bargaining tool, whose fate always depended on what relations were between England and France, always tainted by the recent Hundred Years War, and how Brittany sought to ward off threats to its own independence. Doubtless the plotters were encouraged by the deaths of Henrys sons in 1500 and 1502 and of his wife in 1503. Having established his claim to be king in his own right, he married Elizabeth of York on January 18, 1486. After winning the throne of England, he wed Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of the dead Yorkist king Edward IV. It was 1501. [citation needed] Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life before becoming king. 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. But that's not really what I wanted from a book about Henry VII. These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. His first chance came in 1483 when his aid was sought to rally Lancastrians in support of the rebellion of Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, but that revolt was defeated before Henry could land in England. Rarely was a father's reign so widely disparaged and disowned on the accession of the son. This was excellent. [19] He marched toward England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. Henry was building a myth, the idea that he and his family were the true royal blood of England. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. [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. Henry VII ruled as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do through fear rather than love. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. 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. [33], In 1490, a young Fleming, Perkin Warbeck, appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". 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. 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. He was probably baptised at St Mary's Church, Pembroke,[1] though no documentation of the event exists. They were appointed for every shire and served for a year at a time. 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. Penn then went on to talk about the heir to the throne, the young Prince Henry, who seemed very different to the King. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. 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. 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. Henry VII shut himself away in Richmond Palace from January 1509 and at 11pm on Saturday 21st April 1509 he died. [47], Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. [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. Henry VII ruled - as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do - through fear rather than love. I thought the book was well written, even though a bit dry is spots. 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. 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. Penn pointed out that for over half a century no king had passed on the crown without turmoil and Henry knew that what had happened to Richard could happen to him. Some of it is due to his personality--he played his cards close to the vest, unlike his son--and some of it is due to Tudor spin--they were, after all trying to bolster up the royal credentials for a man who didn't have that many. [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. [31] Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. Soon after his fathers burial on 10 May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine, leaving unresolved several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the marriage portion. [58], Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. enry VII can look a dull king, so dull that Thomas Penn's title omits his name. 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 . 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. I don't read a lot of NF because I usually find it to be tedious, but The Winter King certainly wasn't that. [citation needed] The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell, which collapsed without fighting. [7] He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr, in legend, the last ancient British king,[8] and on occasion Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. Famed British author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. [59][60][61], He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him. Stanley placed Richards circlet on Henrys head, he was now King. He spent his entire reign fixated on eliminating or disarming his enemies, and stabilizing England after the bloody, seemingly endless War of the Roses. Penn graphically describes a huge financial racket run by the king and his profiteering advisers. From 1527 Henry pursued what became known as "the King's great matter": his divorce from Catherine. 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. Some of them have more to say than Penn about the constructive sides of the reign, which developed the state-building methods of his Yorkist predecessors. This book was way too focused on what happened, but not so much on the why or why it was important. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. 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 . No. Loyalty was ensured, and the nobility was effectively neuteredand Henry became the richest monarch in Europe. [2] His father died three months before his birth. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited as . Life at court was merry under Henry 8th, a fresh new beginning likened to springtime. On 7th August 1485, he dropped anchor at Mill Bay, Milford Haven, and when he reached the beach he prayed Judge me, O Lord, and favour my cause. The odds were stacked against him in his quest to take the throne of England. 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. Though this was not achieved during his reign, the marriage eventually led to the union of the English and Scottish crowns under Margaret's great-grandson, James VI and I, following the death of Henry's granddaughter Elizabeth I. Henry Tudor is a familiar name to students of English history, especially the military side of it. Based on the terms of the accord, Henry sent 6000 troops to fight (at the expense of Brittany) under the command of Lord Daubeney. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". His spies and informers were everywhere. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. 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). The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. His regime was magnificent, yet terrifying and oppressive. 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 Henry VII, it was all about the money and stability. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. [56] This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper, which raised opposition from Pope Julius II, since the Tolfa mine was a part of papal territory and had given the Pope monopoly control over alum. But definitely rewarding! 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. To say the least, Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England is quite an interesting read. [20] He amassed an army of about 5,0006,000 soldiers. 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. 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 Reign of Henry VII. [citation needed], However, his principal weapon was the Court of Star Chamber. Edward would have liked to rid himself of Henry, a rival to his throne, but Francis kept Henry safe. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. 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. 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. His history plays depicted the dramatic conflicts of the wars of the roses, which Henry's accession after his victory at Bosworth in 1485 brought to an end. Why is this ambitious? This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states. 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. Possession of something the French King wanted also made the Duke of Brittany safer in his own duchy. [25][80], Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon. 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. Claire is going live on YouTube on 11 February! But, his enemies didnt agree. For me, history is alive and energizing - not something static and remote. His spies and informers were everywhere. He spent money lavishly, held big parties. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. 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"). [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. He explained how Henry VII had achieved what he set out to do, he had passed on the crown successfully. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. 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. Henry VII is also known as Henry Tudor. He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495, and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496. 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. [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. Wow, it was like being battered by facts without remission for good intentions. [citation needed], Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. Castles of . Omissions? These bonds were enforced by the Council Learned in the Law, a council of legal advisers who were only answerable to the King. As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. Next month find out more on someone known as The Winter Queen! The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. [citation needed], Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and the wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey. The usurpation of Richard III (1483), however, split the Yorkist party and gave Henry his opportunity. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. The treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. 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. Shakespeare later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III), and his third wife Katherine Swynford. 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. The new prince was the embodiment of the red and white rose, he was the Tudor rose incarnate. [citation needed] John Cabot, originally from Genoa and Venice, had heard that ships from Bristol had discovered uncharted new found territory far west of Ireland. 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. Henry then consolidated his reign with magnificent architecture, an opulent household and money. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . 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. Blair Worden's The English Civil Wars is published by Phoenix. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. Not only was . Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! Author of, Assistant Master and Professor of History, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. 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. 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. Dydd Gyl Dewi Hapus! Thank you for subscribing. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. On the other side of the coin, instead of the cross, was a Tudor rose and the arms of England. 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. When Henry VII became king, the royal exchequer was effectively bankrupt. However, as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars, the French were happy to agree to the Treaty of Etaples. What old December's bareness every where! In 1407, Henry IV, Gaunt's son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. "King Henry VII" redirects here. I'm not giving this a star rating because I suspect it's me at fault not the book. Before taking the throne, he was known as Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond. Historians debate the extent of Henry's rapacity. [13] When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany. The parts on how he abused his position and the law to enrich himself while an entire nation watched helplessly are, frankly, pretty relevant to now. Edward, Earl of Warwick, the ten-year-old son of Edward IV's brother George, Duke of Clarence, was the senior surviving male of the House of York. 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). This is why he named the book the "Winter King". Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. Prince Arthur was born just eight months after his parents marriage, at Winchester, the seat of King Arthurs Camelot. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. [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. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. 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. Seriously, got nudged by my partner when I'd nodded off. Updates? The reigns of his three predecessors were interrupted or foreshortened. On one side of the coin, instead of a profile of his face, there was a full length depiction of Henry sat on his throne with his crown and sceptre. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Scapegoats were needed for Henry VIIs reign, people to blame for the old regime, so Edmund Dudley was imprisoned and executed on trumped up charges. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. [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. 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. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example)[27] with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the 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. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Wolf Hall this is not. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. Most often asked questions related to bitcoin. Please check your email to confirm your subscription. The King was heavily guarded. Penn is not one to understate a case. Thomas Mores coronation poem for Henry VIII contrasted the new Kings reign with the dark days of the past. [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. 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. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. The baby died and Elizabeth, herself, died on 11th February 1503, her 37th birthday. [76] He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 150947), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". [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. According to John M. Currin, the treaty redefined Anglo-Breton relations. Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. The usual courts and justice system were totally circumvented, and there was no chance of appeal other than purchasing extremely high priced royal pardons. His account of Henry's government is more contentious than he lets on. 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).
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