Henry, son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, was born nearly three months after his fathers death. It was a fantastic programme and I highly recommend Thomas Penns book on Henry VII Winter King. ), The Reign of Henry VII. Read all Directors Giulia Clark Stuart Elliott Writers Henry VII was born in Pembroke Castle , Wales, on January 28 th, 1457. Quite ambitious in nature, Thomas Penn attempts to write a portrait of Henry VII and his reign. Hidden under the floor in St George's Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. 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. 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. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. The usual courts and justice system were totally circumvented, and there was no chance of appeal other than purchasing extremely high priced royal pardons. [citation needed] The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell, which collapsed without fighting. He rewrote history by backdating his reign to 21st August 1485, the day before the Battle of Bosworth Field. [42], The capriciousness and lack of due process that indebted many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VII's death, after a commission revealed widespread abuses. 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 (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. He had brought the country to the brink of dynastic ambition, but not quite, so his closest advisers kept his death secret until St Georges Day, the annual meeting of the Order of the Garter. 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. [57], In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy. 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. 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 . Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. Penn then moved on to how Henry became King. Henry the older was lean and shriveled, rigid with prudence, empty of any hunger other than a desire to secure his throne through the acquisition of cash. He was the last king of England to win . 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. Old rivalries simmered, however. The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. He was, said Penn, a man who never knew a moments peace during his reign. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. The nobility was forced into bonds, legal agreements that they would act as the King wanted or be fined. 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. [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. Henry then cemented his claim to the throne and his dynastic ambitions by marrying Elizabeth of York and bringing the Houses of Lancaster and York together; the red rose and white rose combined to become the Tudor rose. 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. 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. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. 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. There were some sections I had to skim because I didn't feel they were relevant to the storyline, but mostly I was hooked into this very complex King. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. Amateur historians Bertram Fields and Sir Clements Markham have claimed that he may have been involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower, as the repeal of Titulus Regius gave the Princes a stronger claim to the throne than his own. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . From 1527 Henry pursued what became known as "the King's great matter": his divorce from Catherine. You can find out more on the conflicts between England and France, the Wars of the Roses and also the Tudors in our history courses. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This is why he named the book the "Winter King". 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. But he leaves us wondering how Henry got away 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. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. 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. Thank you for subscribing. But, his enemies didnt agree. 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. I picked this audiobook up because it was narrated by Simon Vance. Henry then consolidated his reign with magnificent architecture, an opulent household and money. [76] He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 150947), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York. Then in 1491 appeared a still more serious menace: Perkin Warbeck, coached by Margaret to impersonate Richard, the younger son of Edward IV. $14.97 1 Used from $14.96 3 New from $14.97. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. Henry came to the throne following the death of his father, Henry VII. I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. [10] A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard Andr, also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. Elizabeth did get pregnant, but then went into premature labour. Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. 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. Henry VII: Winter King was aired last night on BBC2 and was the latest programme in BBC2s Tudor Court Season. [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. 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 . Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. The King was heavily guarded. 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". [2] His father died three months before his birth. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! Stephens, "affords some illustrations of the avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". 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. Martin Luther 95 thesis. Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. He was the founder of the Tudor dynasty, and his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville brought together the too sides that were facing off during the Wars of the Roses (the Lancasters and the Yorks) basically uniting the two houses into a single family. 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. Two themes of his book preside: the permanent vulnerability of Henry's regime, and his ruthless methods of rule. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". Most often asked questions related to bitcoin. [35] In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed. Henry VII was also shown, but his black line just traced back to Owen Tudor, a chamber servant. 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. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard III as a usurper. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . The reigns of his three predecessors were interrupted or foreshortened. Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death. [65] Henry VII was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death impacted him severely. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. The Lancastrians triumphed under the leadership of a 28-year-old exile named Henry Tudor. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. 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. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. [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. (ROYAL HISTORY) Directors Stuart Elliott Genres Documentary, International Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English. 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. MP3 CD. His claim to the throne was precarious and was from an illegitimate line, a family who had been banned from taking the throne, so Henry needed to make the people believe that he was their rightful King and to do that he had to start behaving like one. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited as . Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. [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. [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. He had gone from a refugee landing on an isolated beach in Wales to being a great king. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . 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. [citation needed], Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and the wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey. [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. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. 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. Through this, he found that his Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in the plot. Swynford was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. He spent money lavishly, held big parties. He explained how Henry VII had achieved what he set out to do, he had passed on the crown successfully. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. 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. [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 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. 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. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. 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. The new prince was the embodiment of the red and white rose, he was the Tudor rose incarnate. Henry was a remarkable man. 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. 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. Luther gained support for his ideas and Europe became . 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. Yet Henry's techniques of power went beyond the needs of surveillance and survival. [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. 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. [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. A King from upstart usurper to renaissance monarch to Machiavellian schemer. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. 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. 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. He had enough of that getting himself to the throne. She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III), and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [3] Henry's paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of King Henry V. He rose to become one of the "Squires to the Body to the King" after military service at the Battle of Agincourt. Henry VII was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and father of Henry VIII and Ive been doing a bit of digging on this lesser known Tudor. 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? [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. [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. He likens the beginning of Henry VIIIs reign to a metaphorical spring, a second coming of sorts because Henry VIII seemed to be the opposite of his father. They were appointed for every shire and served for a year at a time. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the Low Countries had long-lasting benefit to the English economy. [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. enry VII can look a dull king, so dull that Thomas Penn's title omits his name. [14] In November 1476, Francis fell ill and his principal advisers were more amenable to negotiating with King Edward. Henry marries Catherine of Aragon. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [62], Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. Years of instability, factionalism and his predecessors' penchant for war had seen royal finances severely battered. At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. It seems that Henry was skilful at extracting money from his subjects on many pretexts, including that of war with France or war with Scotland. Henry VII comes across as a talented micromanager and financier. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. For many he remained a usurper, a false king.
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