[26] Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes, and he was largely successful. In 1485, history was about to be changed for ever by a man who was a refugee, a fugitive whod spent half his life on the run and with barely a claim to the throne: Henry Tudor. Edward would have liked to rid himself of Henry, a rival to his throne, but Francis kept Henry safe. Detailed Information. 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. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Categories: Monarchy, NewsTags: birth of Tudor dynasty, Henry Tudor, Henry VII, Thomas Penn, Tudor dynasty, Winter King, Copyright 2023 The Anne Boleyn Files They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Read all Directors Giulia Clark Stuart Elliott Writers Up to a point, he succeeded. 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. 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. 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. Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. 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. Its goals, relentlessly pursued until Henry's death in 1509, were the establishment of a royal house, the elimination of opposition, and the steady accumulation of power and wealth. [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. The Lancastrian Henry and his Yorkist wife Elizabeth strove to reconcile the factions, but unreconciled Yorkists, to whom he was no more than a usurper, harassed his reign. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. Henry VII ruled - as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do - through fear rather than love. But now, sensitivity readers are pushing back . I had an idea Henry VII was a force for stability; in fact he was a terrifying kleptocrat, abusing the law with arbitrary fines and imprisonment, scheming to effectively steal entire estates and wring every penny out of subjects as well as impose political control through financial means. After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry Tudor spent 14 years in exile in Brittany. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. Hence, the king was plagued with conspiracies until nearly the end of his reign. 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. He had finished his palace of Richmond, he was controlling his allies and keeping an eye on his enemies, and now was the time to finalise the marriage agreement between England and Spain. [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. 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. He died shortly afterwards in Carmarthen Castle. He would learn better as the new reign unfolded. Overblown prose trumpeting his reign seemed to be the order of the day. 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. 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. He spent money lavishly, held big parties. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth of York. Henry the eighth was a renaissance King. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. 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. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. 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. Otherwise, at the time of his father's arranging of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the future Henry VIII was too young to contract the marriage according to Canon Law and would be ineligible until age fourteen. 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. Gaunt's nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. [69] The wedding never took place, and the physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors of what he desired in a new wife matched the description of his wife Elizabeth. 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. Henry VII The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. Alternate titles: Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, Professor of Medieval History, University of Liverpool, 196780. 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. I thought the book was well written, even though a bit dry is spots. [citation needed], Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. ), The Reign of Henry VII. "[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. His first son and heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at Ludlow Castle, very likely from a viral respiratory illness known at the time as the "English sweating sickness". By 1900 the "New Monarchy" interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power. 1) The number of books on Henry VII can basically be counted on one hand 2) This is Penns first book. 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. Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. His legacy was his son, Henry VIII, lucky old England Penn commented. 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. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. I'm beginning to wonder if all of the kings beginning with the conquest weren't a little off their rocker in some way. A man who rewrote history and rebuilt the crown, but who was paranoid, manipulative and suspicious; a dark prince with a wintery reign. 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 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"). People saw him as being like a traditional king and hoped that his reign would bring positive change. 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. 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. Thus, Henry Tudor had no choice but to gather together an army including mercenary soldiers as well as his own supporters, and he landed in Wales in August, 1485. Their main aim was money. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. This book is a nonfiction look at King Henry the VII. [15], By 1483, Henry's mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to Richard III, despite her being married to Lord Stanley, a Yorkist. 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. It was really very well researched and painstakingly written. He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. Philip died shortly after the negotiations. 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? [21], Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester. On the other side of the coin, instead of the cross, was a Tudor rose and the arms of England. 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. Henry VIII had become heir to the throne when his elder brother, Arthur, died in 1502. [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. Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. Its restoration by the Magnus Intercursus was very much to England's benefit in removing taxation for English merchants and significantly increasing England's wealth. When he met Richard III at Bosworth Field, Henry found that his army of dissidents and mercenaries was completely outnumbered. Henry VII was also shown, but his black line just traced back to Owen Tudor, a chamber servant. 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. For me, history is alive and energizing - not something static and remote. Henry VII: The Winter King (95) 59min 2013 PG. [19] He marched toward England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. During his 23-year reign, Henry had only two Lord High Treasurers, and this continuity helped provide stability. 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. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. [72] Immediately afterwards, Henry became very sick and nearly died himself, allowing only his mother Margaret Beaufort near him: "privily departed to a solitary place, and would that no man should resort unto him. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 4. Sometimes when reading nonfiction of this type, I never know if it is going to be dry and dull or not. He created the Tudor dynasty. [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. 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]. Before taking the throne, he was known as Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond. [47], Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. 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. France, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. The 17 year-old Prince Henry became King Henry VIII and started a different era. Then in 1491 appeared a still more serious menace: Perkin Warbeck, coached by Margaret to impersonate Richard, the younger son of Edward IV.
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