Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent 6,000 troops to France. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. 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. Interesting look at the founder of the Tudor dynesty. I would read more by this author. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. The significant role played by bitcoin for businesses! Henry, son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, was born nearly three months after his fathers death. He spent his entire reign fixated on eliminating or disarming his enemies, and stabilizing England after the bloody, seemingly endless War of the Roses. 'Meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520,' a painting by Friedrich August Bouterwek. 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. 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 . [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. [81], Henry VII and Elizabeth had seven children:[b]. 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. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. Stanley placed Richards circlet on Henrys head, he was now King. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! 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. He was a ruler to be feared, a ruler to be paid. Blair Worden's The English Civil Wars is published by Phoenix. Luther gained support for his ideas and Europe became . How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! By subscribing you confirm that you have read and agree to the Privacy Policy [opens in new window] and the Terms & Conditions [opens in new window]. He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. 3.5 Stars. To be notified of special offers, news, new courses, and new tutors, please subscribe to our newsletter. The usual courts and justice system were totally circumvented, and there was no chance of appeal other than purchasing extremely high priced royal pardons. [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. [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. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard . [39] Despite this, during his reign he became a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. The union was both symbolic and necessary. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. 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. 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. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. [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 The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. 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). 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. A fresh look at the endlessly fascinating Tudorsthe dramatic and overlooked story of Henry VII and his founding of the Tudor Dynastyfilled with spies, plots, counterplots, and an uneasy royal succession to Henry VIII. Sometimes when reading nonfiction of this type, I never know if it is going to be dry and dull or not. [65] Henry VII was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death impacted him severely. Richard III's death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. Alternate titles: Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, Professor of Medieval History, University of Liverpool, 196780. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. It was no easy feat. During his 23-year reign, Henry had only two Lord High Treasurers, and this continuity helped provide stability. Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle, in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales. Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. These bonds were enforced by the Council Learned in the Law, a council of legal advisers who were only answerable to the King. The house of York then appeared so firmly established that Henry seemed likely to remain in exile for the rest of his life. Claire is going live on YouTube on 11 February! In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". 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. That is, suspicious, insecure and crafty but also determined, patient and fiercely proud of his Lancastrian ancestry. 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"). 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. 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. Happy 14th Birthday to the Anne Boleyn Files! Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. He created the Tudor dynasty. 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. 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. Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. Henry was devastated. 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. He spent money lavishly, held big parties. [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. His early reign was plagued by pretenders to the throne, giving the new Tudor dynasty a rocky start and a fear of conspiracy which dogged Henry VII throughout his life. Lincoln was killed in battle and Henry was victorious. In 1502 the death of his heir Arthur left the dynasty's prospects with Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry. Consultant editor for the. For Henry VII, it was all about the money and stability. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. 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. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. 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. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Yet Henry's techniques of power went beyond the needs of surveillance and survival. 1517. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. [13] When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany. By the way, dont forget that Ian Mortimers Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England is on tonight on BBC2 at 9pm. 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. 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. All the information is from Thomas Penn. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard III as a usurper. 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. Yet in the hands of a narrator as accomplished as Penn, the reign acquires its own, troubling fascination. [25][80], Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. 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. [10] A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard Andr, also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. [76] He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 150947), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. Henry VII: The Winter King. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! Overblown prose trumpeting his reign seemed to be the order of the day. [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. 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. As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. [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. 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. 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. 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. It was propaganda to spread the message that he was the rightful King. 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. 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. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. [37], For most of Henry VII's reign Edward Story was Bishop of Chichester. enry VII can look a dull king, so dull that Thomas Penn's title omits his name. What are the differences between Henry VII and Henry VIII? Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. The first rising, that of Lord Lovell, Richard IIIs chamberlain, in 1486 was ill-prepared and unimportant, but in 1487 came the much more serious revolt of Lambert Simnel. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. King Henry the VII and King Henry the VIII both feared being invaded by foreign countries. 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. 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. As his mother was only 14 when he was born and soon married again, Henry was brought up by his uncle Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Henry VIII had become heir to the throne when his elder brother, Arthur, died in 1502. Seriously, got nudged by my partner when I'd nodded off. 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. [9] He took it, as well as the standard of St. George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. Read all Directors Giulia Clark Stuart Elliott Writers Old rivalries simmered, however. For him, it was never about glory and battle. [38], Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. By 1900 the "New Monarchy" interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power. 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. : (April 25, 1883. 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 found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, was a descendant of the Lancastrian branch of the House of Plantagenet. 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. I thought the way he controled the nobility was fascinating - keeping them in check as well a raising vast sums of money at the same time. "[73] Further compounding Henry's distress, his older daughter Margaret had previously been betrothed to King James IV of Scotland and within months of her mother's death she had to be escorted to the border by her father: he would never see her again. Until the death of his wife, the evidence is clear from these accounting books that Henry was a more doting father and husband than was widely known and there is evidence that his outwardly austere personality belied a devotion to his family. 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. 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. 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. 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. He had to pay a 500 fine to save himself, to buy a pardon for the crime. 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. 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. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. "King Henry VII" redirects here. 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"). There were too many powerful noblemen and, as a consequence of the system of so-called bastard feudalism, each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers (mercenaries masquerading as servants). 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. 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. [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 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. He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495, and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496. Updates? He had enough of that getting himself to the throne. Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until her death on February 11th, 1503. Wales was historically a Lancastrian stronghold, and Henry owed the support he gathered to his Welsh birth and ancestry, being agnatically descended from Rhys ap Gruffydd. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . ), The Reign of Henry VII. His regime was magnificent, yet terrifying and oppressive. Early life Henry VII ruled as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do through fear rather than love. 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. Life at court was merry under Henry 8th, a fresh new beginning likened to springtime. [4] Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois. I have to admit to being a history geek. Henry VII was also shown, but his black line just traced back to Owen Tudor, a chamber servant. There's a (relatively) brief explanation of Henry's rather tumultuous childhood and his rise to the throne, before Penn really gets into the nitty gritty details during the second half of Henry's reign, focusing on his intricate foreign policy, his increasing use of finance as a means of control over his subjects and, most entertaining to me, the various plots and conspiracies of Henry's enemies. [45], Henry VII established the pound avoirdupois as a standard of weight; it later became part of the Imperial[46] and customary systems of units. [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. [75], Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 and was buried in the chapel he commissioned in Westminster Abbey next to his wife, Elizabeth. 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. [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. 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. [2] His father died three months before his birth. Doubtless the plotters were encouraged by the deaths of Henrys sons in 1500 and 1502 and of his wife in 1503. 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. Their main aim was money. They were appointed for every shire and served for a year at a time. Supported at one time or another by France, by Maximilian I of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (Holy Roman emperor from 1493), by James IV of Scotland, and by powerful men in both Ireland and England, Perkin three times invaded England before he was captured at Beaulieu in Hampshire in 1497. This is why he named the book the Winter King. The baby died and Elizabeth, herself, died on 11th February 1503, her 37th birthday. 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. 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. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. Penn explained that the marriage had been one of genuine love and that Henry was shattered by his wifes death. Henry Tudor, named after his father, Henry VII, was born by Elizabeth of York June 28, 1491 in Greenwich Palace. Please check your email to confirm your subscription. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. He invited artists, musicians and scholars to live at his court. In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. 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. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry's father. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. 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 father was the son of Owen Tudor, a Welsh squire, and Catherine of France, the widow of King Henry V. His mother was the great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, whose children by Catherine Swynford were born before he married her. 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. The King, normally a reserved man who rarely showed much emotion in public unless angry, surprised his courtiers by his intense grief and sobbing at his son's death, while his concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one, as is his reaction to Queen Elizabeth's death the following year, when he shut himself away for several days, refusing to speak to anyone. The Lancastrians triumphed under the leadership of a 28-year-old exile named Henry Tudor. 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. [citation needed] The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell, which collapsed without fighting. 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. - and that was only about 50% of the book, it was only about 50% interesting to me. Much of the ruthless machinery of control was designed to deal with ongoing challenged like pretenders and Yorkist sleepers and expats. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". 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. Stephens, "affords some illustrations of the avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states. 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.. 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 . But he leaves us wondering how Henry got away with it. He created the sovereign coin to spread the message that he was King. His claim to the throne was tenuous and permanently contested. 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 . In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with the Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. People saw him as being like a traditional king and hoped that his reign would bring positive change. 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.