[music] It is the 22nd of August 1485, at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, England. 5000 men stand against 10,000 on Ambion Hill, in the final battle of the Wars of the Roses,
The smaller force advances on foot, peppered by artillery fire and arrows, their lesser numbers invite an attack from the enemy infantry, and bloody fighting ensues. King Richard III, the leader of the larger army, then sights his mortal foe, the commander of the opposing force and charges, killing his standard bearer in the crush. Then, waiting in the wings, a third force under Sir William Stanley joins the fray, not with the Yorkist King Richard, but with the Lancastrian pretender. Isolated and surrounded, Richard fights like a lion, but is knocked from his horse and killed, impaled by a pikeman, ending forever, Plantagenet rule.
After the battle, the crown is placed on the victor’s head, marking the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty. His name…… Henry Tudor……. King Henry VII of England. The man known to history as Henry Tudor, King Henry VII of England, was born in Pembroke Castle in western Wales on the 28th of January 1457. Henry’s father, was Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, he was the son of Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor who Queen Catherine married when her husband Henry V died, this made Edmund Tudor, a half-brother to the reigning King of England, Henry VI. Henry’s mother, was Lady Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, through her father John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, she was born at Bletsoe Castle in Bedfordshire. Henry’s beginnings were fraught with danger, as would be the rest of his life, as three months before he was born his father, Edmund Tudor, died of bubonic plague, his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort, . who was only thirteen years old and six months pregnant at the time, fled Carmarthen where her husband had been imprisoned folllowing a Welsh feud, and sought refuge at Pembroke Castle with her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor, who would become a surrogate father to his newborn nephew. It was the middle of winter, and the plague continued to sweep mercilessly across Wales and southern England, Margaret, thin, short, and far too young to give birth, struggled so intensely throughout her labour, that her attendants thought it likely that both she and her child would die. Miraculously, Henry survived, and Margaret recovered, although it is likely that childbirth at such an early age may have done her severe physical damage, because despite being married twice more throughout her life, Margaret would have no more children, and her only child, Henry, remained the center of Margaret’s world, she both loved and defended him fiercely, nurturing great ambitions for his future. Margaret had been betrothed to Edmund Tudor at age nine, three years prior to her marriage, at the age of twelve, and at the time of the betrothal, the reigning King Henry VI had no heir, though a son, Edward of Westminster, would be born to him and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou, in 1453, nonetheless, this precarious dynastic position had to be quickly rectified, and the English throne safeguarded with more Lancastrian heirs. The richest heiress in England, with an annual income of one thousand pounds, Margaret Beaufort was not only a Lancastrian, she was also of royal blood, she was the great-grand-daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third son of the last undisputed Plantagenet King, Edward III, whereas, the rival House of York was descended from the second and fourth sons of Edward III, illustrating why the early conflicts of the Wars of the Roses, became known as the “Cousins’ War.” Margaret Beaufort’s family was descended from John of Gaunt’s third marriage to Katherine Swynford, who had been the Duke’s mistress for 25 years, and whose children had all been born before their marriage, making them of royal blood, but illegitimate, the Yorks had a better claim to the English throne, at least as good as the Lancastrian King Henry VI, the Tudors, however, had no seemingly legitimate claim to the English throne at all. Henry VI had conferred titles on his two half-brothers, and had always shown Edmund and Jasper Tudor kindness and favour, even though, they were the children of King Henry V’s widow, the Dowager Queen Catherine of Valois, through her marriage to a common guard and servant in the Queen’s household, Owen Tudor, whom the Queen secretly wed after Henry V’s death. The lineage of his father, Edmund Tudor, gave Henry VII no direct claim on the English crown, and indeed, Parliamentary decree during the reign of Henry IV, had legitimized the Beauforts but barred them from ever inheriting the throne, considering these circumstances, Henry’s chances of ever becoming king seemed unlikely, however, those who believed this to be the case, reckoned without Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret. Margaret Beaufort, who was married off when she was little more than a child herself, proved to be far more than the bargaining chip of English powerbrokers, the eventual ascension of Henry VII to the throne was due, in large part, to his mother, who was as ambitious and strong-willed as her son would prove to be. Indeed, a sixteenth-century Welsh chronicler claimed, that Jasper Tudor had first had his newborn nephew christened “Owen Tudor”, but that Margaret had ordered the officiating bishop to perform the christening again, this time giving her son the name associated with the English throne, “Henry”, if true, this anecdote demonstrates that Margaret must have nurtured the hope from the very beginning, that one day, her son might be King of England. Few specific details are known about Henry’s childhood and education, as a Lancastrian, second in line to the throne, he would have been entitled to a royal education including grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, history, languages, geography, religious studies, and military training, it is highly likely also that Lady Margaret would have involved herself personally in Henry’s studies, however, Henry’s guardianship and place of residence changed several times during his childhood and adolescence, and often under strained circumstances, with little warning, so his education would have been disrupted frequently. Henry grew up in an England torn by civil war, and even though he may have been the second Lancastrian in line for the throne, this very fact ensured that his life was frequently endangered, a life of constant instability probably meant, that his education was missing significant gaps, moreover, it probably made his childhood lonely, difficult, unpredictable, and confusing. The life-long bond between Henry and his mother would remain strong, but sadly, they would be separated before Henry’s first birthday, during February and March of 1457, Margaret remained with her baby and brother-in law, Jasper, at Pembroke, mourning her late husband and caring for her son, however, in order to protect him, she knew she must marry again, and into a family as powerful as possible, this would not be a difficult task for Margaret, now Countess of Richmond, and still the wealthiest heiress in the country. By April, the now fourteen-year-old Margaret Beaufort was betrothed to Henry Stafford, second son of the Duke of Buckingham, and fifteen years older than herself, the two were married on the 3rd of January 1458, and from all accounts, Margaret’s second marriage was a happy one, her new husband loved and doted on her, and her in-laws treated her kindly, whilst her one-year-old son, Henry, was left in the care of his Uncle Jasper at Pembroke Castle, not as harsh an action as it seems. All evidence indicates that Jasper adored his nephew, was highly active in his upbringing and education, and thought of him as the son he had never had, moreover, while convention dictated that Margaret must not bring her baby to live with her new husband and family, both she and Stafford visited Henry and Jasper at Pembroke Castle periodically, but young Henry’s life, like most others in England at the time, was inextricably bound to the changing fortunes in the Wars of the Roses, each shift in power brought abrupt changes to his status, his security, and his daily life. King Henry VI had ascended the English and French thrones when he was nine months old, thanks to his father, Henry V’s victory over the French, most notably at the battle of Agincourt, Henry VI’s reign was marked by both regencies, as well as a decline in England’s power, as the heads of noble families sought to rule through the king, or to press their own family claims to the throne, in order to be declared the King’s heirs. To make matters worse, as Henry VI approached adulthood, he suffered from periodic mental health issues, frequently lapsing into bouts of dementia-like confusion, and sometimes near-catatonic behavior, the King’s precarious health and long periods of unresponsiveness, resulted in a breakdown in governance and authority, and allowed the opening of a power vacuum. Power now rested with those closest to this weakened king, and the Yorks would grow resentfull, of what they viewed, as the corrupt exploitation of Henry’s vulnerable state by his Lancastrian ministers and advisers, they would also blame the steady losses of Henry V’s gains in France, on the Lancastrians, and distrusted Henry’s Queen, Margaret of Anjou, whom they resented for taking an intensely active role in governance and military matters, on her husband’s behalf. Meanwhile, the Lancastrians actively worked to keep the Yorks, their Plantagenet cousins, from reaching for the throne themselves, as several of their forebears had done, in the previous eighty years since the death of Edward III, tensions between those surrounding the King, rose throughout the 1450s, breaking out into violent hostility by the spring of 1455, and over the next five years, hostilities would continue to escalate, leading to the Yorks being accused of treason, leaving them with little choice but to fight to win the throne. The leader of the Yorkist faction, Richard, Duke of York, had declared his claim to the crown, but when he died at the Battle of Wakefield on the 30th of December, 1460, his eldest surviving son and heir, the eighteen-year-old Edward, took up his father’s claim and his cause, ultimately winning a crushing victory against the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton on the 20th of March 1461, which is believed to be the single bloodiest conflict, ever to have taken place on English soil, with approximately 50,000 troops engaged, at the peak of the twelve-hour battle, and about 20,000 killed. On the 28th of June 1461, Edward of York was crowned King Edward IV at Westminster Abbey, and four-year-old Henry Tudor’s life changed forever, the first years of Edward IV’s reign saw his attempts to consolidate his rule, by removing or disempowering other claimants to the English throne, Henry VI and Queen Margaret fled, first to Scotland, and after Edward captured Henry, his Queen, Margaret, fled to France with her young son, Edward of Westminster, the Lancastrian Prince of Wales. King Edward imprisoned Henry VI in the Tower, and meanwhile, four-year-old Henry Tudor was stripped of his estates and title, Earl of Richmond, which King Edward IV gave to his own brother, George, Duke of Clarence. Henry’s uncle Jasper, a loyal Lancastrian general whose life was now in danger, bid a brief and sad farewell to his nephew, before fleeing into exile in France, subsequently, King Edward IV granted both Jasper Tudor’s Earldom of Pembroke, and wardship of Henry Tudor, to the York loyalist, Sir William Herbert, and Henry remained at Pembroke with Herbert, for the next eight years. While Henry’s position had changed substantially, he was likely too young to understand, Edward IV had assigned him a Yorkist guardian in order to watch him, to ensure that he did not develop any conviction, concerning his right to be King, and to ensure that no Lancastrian could use the child, to depose Edward, placing young Henry on the throne instead. Although the boy was technically a prisoner, there is no evidence that Sir Herbert mistreated Henry, who continued to live in the home he knew, and continued to receive regular, though closely supervised, visits from his mother and stepfather, whilst, in his position as the new Earl of Pembroke, Herbert brought his family, including his two young sons, to live at the castle, and Henry at last had other children to play and study with. Henry’s life changed abruptly once again in 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as the “Kingmaker”, for his role in engineering the rise of Edward IV to the throne, rebelled against the King, attempting to depose Edward and place his younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence, on the throne, Clarence himself had already begun attempting to clear his own path to the throne, by reviving old rumours that the King had been secretly married to another woman, before his marriage to his Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, making the union illegal, and all of their children, bastards. Young Henry’s guardian, Sir William Herbert, fought for King Edward as a loyal Yorkist, but after their loss at the Battle of Edgecote Moor in July 1469, Herbert was captured by Warwick, denounced as an “evil adviser” to the king, and executed, and with his protector dead, the twelve-year-old Henry sought refuge with his mother and stepfather, at their estate at Woking. By 1470, it was clear that Warwick had failed to gain support to place the Duke of Clarence on the throne, and having gone too far to reconcile with Edward now, he instead threw in his lot with the Lancastrians, traveling to France, and making a deal with Margaret of Anjou to place her husband, Henry VI, still imprisoned In the Tower, back on the throne, and so in October of 1470, Warwick returned to London in triumph, having driven King Edward and his family into hiding, and liberated a confused Henry VI from the Tower. Jasper Tudor returned from exile, and promptly brought the thirteen-year-old Henry to court, where he was restored to the line of succession, an uneasy peace reigned for less than a year, before Edward IV returned, defeated the forces of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet, on the 14th of April 1471, and then defeated the combined forces of Margaret of Anjou and the Lancastrians, at the Battle of Tewkesbury on the 4th of May, after this, he resumed the throne, officially, on the 21st of May, and that very night, Henry VI was murdered in the Tower, most likely by a hard blow to the back of his head, and some historians believe that the murder, ordered by King Edward, was actually carried out by his younger brother, Richard, later, the reputedly ruthless Richard III. Most Lancastrians fled England, believing that Edward, to avoid being deposed again, would execute them all, and fearful that Henry’s life would be in danger, Margaret Beaufort advised her fourteen-year-old son, to leave the country, having fled defeat at Tewkesbury, Jasper Tudor collected his nephew, and the two boarded a ship at Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, setting sail for Brittany and exile, where they would remain for the next fourteen years. Margaret’s husband and Henry’s stepfather, Henry Stafford, had been killed at the Battle of Barnet, and one year later, in 1472, Margaret married again, this time to the Yorkist, Lord Thomas Stanley, some historians claim that this was a marriage of political expediency, that Margaret viewed the marriage as a way of staying safely close to the York court of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville, and with Henry safely away in Brittany, she would be able to monitor the political situation and promote her son more easily. Henry and Jasper journeyed to the city of Nantes, to seek asylum at the court of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, the Duke graciously received the two as his guests, and they accompanied the court on their progress to Vannes the following year, however, Duke Francis was in a difficult position, as he had given his word to shelter, protect, and provide for his guests, but two far more powerful men than he, also took a keen interest in the fate of Henry and Jasper. King Edward IV continually demanded, that the Duke extradite them back to England, Edward’s goal was undoubtedly to eliminate the last living Lancastrian claimant to the throne, now that Henry VI was dead, and his son, Edward of Westminster, had been executed, following Edward’s victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Duke Francis also had to consider the wishes of King Louis XI of France, who was first cousin to Jasper, and second cousin to Henry, and who also wanted to keep the Tudors safe, as potential bargaining chips with England. Duke Francis therefore had to maintain a delicate balancing act, he needed to keep his word to shelter and protect his guests, continually resist the bribes of King Edward IV and beg his indulgence in not sending Henry back to England, and promise both King Edward and King Louis, to keep the Tudors closely guarded, to prevent their escape, and so it was that Henry and Jasper’s initially comfortable haven, began increasingly to take on the feel of a prison. When the Breton court returned to Nantes in the autumn of 1472, Henry and Jasper were sent to the Duke’s exquisite Chateau de Suscinio overlooking the Gulfe de Morbihan, the estate was fortified and well-guarded, but with extensive grounds, and Henry and Jasper, no doubt, would have enjoyed the endless opportunities for riding, hunting, and fishing off the coast, however, they would spend less than two years at Suscinio. The demands on Duke Francis, by both Edward IV of England and King Louis XI of France, had grown more urgent, apparently, Suscinio’s proximity to the coast, made Edward fear that Henry and Jasper could easily escape, and made Louis fear that it left them open to easy kidnapping, both demanded of Duke Francis that the Tudors be moved, and more greatly restricted, Duke Francis was forced to separate Jasper and Henry, sending Jasper to the Chateau de Josselin in the heartland of Brittany, and Henry to the Chateau Largoet, originally a military fortress, in the town of Elven. For the first time in his life, Henry, now seventeen, was left alone, and for three lonely years, he was well guarded ,and housed in a small, narrow room in the chateau’s highest tower, in fact the tallest dungeon in France, measuring six stories, and was permitted supervised activity on the grounds of the estate, his guardian, Lord Jean of Rieux, who was an ally and supporter of Henry’s, showed him kindness and deference, and expressed pride and devotion to his duty, to ensure that Henry would be kept safe, and that he would not lose the boy to kidnapping or escape, but in the meantime, Edward IV continued to press for Henry’s extradition. In 1476, the English changed their tactics, Edward IV now “invited” Henry to return to England, so that his marriage to a Yorkist woman could be arranged, Edward may have been sincere in this offer, and may have had his own eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York in mind, the King further promised that if Henry returned now, he would inherit the vast Beaufort fortune and estates, currently held by his mother, Margaret, but if Henry did not return, Edward IV declared, he would receive nothing, and his exile would be permanent. During the winter of 1476, Duke Francis, weakened by illness, and swayed by counselors who thought it expedient to accede to King Edward’s wishes, finally capitulated, and handed the now nineteen-year-old Henry over to English envoys, the English envoys carried their prisoner to the port town of St. Malo, where their ship, bound for England, was docked and waiting, Henry’s panic at that moment can only be imagined, thinking quickly, he feigned illness, and managed to slip away from his captors, disappearing into the labyrinth of twisting streets, running through St. Malo. Henry ran until he found a church, St. Vincent’s Cathedral, where he sought the age-old mercy of sanctuary, in the meantime, Duke Francis feeling guilty, had a change of heart, and the Duke’s retainers arrived in St. Malo just in time to intercept the English envoys, and inform them that the deal was off, the English envoys, bitterly disappointed, but unwilling to violate the conventions of sanctuary, and enter the church armed, to extract Henry, were instead forced to leave Brittany empty-handed. Duke Francis was contrite and apologetic when Henry returned to his court at Nantes, and renewed his promise to keep his word, and shelter Henry from harm, the Duke must have done so quite admirably, for there is little historical evidence over the next four years, to indicate just where Henry’s next place of residence was, but by 1480, he was housed at the Chateau L’Hermine in Vannes, where he was finally reunited with his uncle Jasper, after six years apart. In June 1482, Edward IV renewed his offer to arrange Henry’s marriage, to a woman of the House of York, promising him his mother’s inheritance and much more, if he would only come home, some historians believe that Lady Margaret may have even supported this course of action, perhaps believing, that marriage to the House of York, and a favoured position at court, might be the best that Henry was ever going to achieve, Edward IV had, after all, presided over a decade of peace thus far, and the Wars of the Roses seemed to have come to an end, yet, Henry and Jasper, still distrustful of King Edward’s repeated appeals, remained in exile, however, the following spring, everything changed. On the 9th of April 1483, the obese Edward IV, whose health had been failing throughout the preceding year, died, he was survived by his widow, now the Dowager Queen of England, Elizabeth Woodville, and seven children, five daughters, and importantly, two sons, his eldest son, Edward, was promptly proclaimed King Edward V, but there was disagreement within the House of York, over whether the boy was old enough to govern in his own name, Queen Elizabeth believed so, and the former King’s counsel agreed, that Edward should be crowned without delay, the boy’s uncle, King Edward IV’s younger brother, Richard, evidently saw it differently. Richard was now the pre-eminent son of York, the last of King Edward’s brothers, since his brother George, Duke of Clarence, had finally been executed for treason five years before, now, Richard managed to have himself named Lord Protector, until the boy king came of age, and he intended to exercise his new role. Within only a few days of his father’s death, Edward V left Ludlow Castle in the Welsh marches, accompanied by two thousand men, and began his journey to London for his coronation, he was intercepted on the road to London, by his uncle Richard, accompanied by six hundred of his own men, Richard told his young nephew, that there was a plot afoot, to deny Richard as Lord Protector of the Realm, he then had the prince’s uncle, Earl Rivers, and several of his retainers arrested, took Edward into custody, brought him to London, and placed him in lodgings in the Tower, his coronation was postponed until the 22nd of June. This was the beginning of a fragmentation in the House of York, which spiraled out of control the longer Edward V remained uncrowned, supposedly for his own “security”, and to help his brother prepare for his coronation, Richard demanded that Edward’s younger brother, Richard, be handed over also, Queen Elizabeth Woodville, who had fled into sanctuary in Westminster Abbey with her other children, when Richard seized her eldest son, was forced to comply, and ten-year-old Richard joined his brother, Edward, in the Tower. On the morning of the 22nd of June, a sermon was preached outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, which revived the same rumours, once stirred by the Duke of Clarence, that the marriage of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had been illegal, and their children illegitimate, the same day, a petition was submitted by citizens, nobles and commons in the city of London, asking Richard, the Lord Protector, to assume the throne as King of England, three days later, on the 25th June, Parliament declared King Edward and Queen Elizabeth’s marriage null and void, and their children, bastards. Richard accepted the petition to assume the throne the very next day, and on the 6th of July 1483, he was crowned King Richard III in Westminster Abbey, Parliamentary recognition of his right to the crown, followed early in 1484, Richard’s coup against his nephews was complete, the fate of the boys, whom history would remember as “the Princes in the Tower” remains a mystery. Apparently, after Richard’s coronation, they were seen with less and less frequency around the Tower, until they seemed to have vanished completely, and writing decades later, Sir Thomas More claimed that King Richard had ordered the Constable of the Tower to murder the princes, but that he had refused to do so, More asserted that conspirators hired by Richard, had “smothered the boys to death with pillows in their sleep.” Whether the rumours were true or not, most believed that Richard had indeed, murdered his two nephews, to gain the throne, and disgusted Yorkists began to quietly depart England for exile, many of them now began to look, to the twenty-six-year-old exile, Henry Tudor, still sheltering in Brittany, as their hope for the future. For the next two years, disaffected Englishmen, unhappy with Richard’s regime, flocked to Brittany to join Henry’s growing numbers of supporters, indeed, Henry’s prospects had been looking brighter since the death of Edward IV, and with the extradition pressure eased temporarily, Duke Francis had permitted Henry a great deal more freedom, and as opposition to Richard III grew, Henry’s star began to rise. Meanwhile, back in England, Henry’s mother, Margaret Beaufort, was serving at the York court as lady-in-waiting to Richard’s Queen, Anne Neville, as she had previously served Queen Elizabeth Woodville, and as opposition to Richard’s rule crystallized, over the disappearance and assumed murder of the princes in the Tower, Margaret realized that her son’s path to the throne of England, might have opened up at last, she entered into secret negotiations with Elizabeth Woodville, still in sanctuary with her daughters, proposing that Margaret’s son Henry should marry Elizabeth and Edward IV’s eldest daughter, also named Elizabeth. The two warring houses of York and Lancaster would be united, bringing England’s struggles to an end, and unseating the treacherous Richard III from the throne, later that year, Margaret was instrumental, in organizing a rebellion and attempted coup, with the Duke of Buckingham, she wrote to Henry about the negotiations for his marriage, and told him to prepare an invasion, to coincide with the planned rebellion. With ships, men, and supplies loaned from the Duke of Brittany, Henry attempted to sail for England, but was prevented for several days, by inclement weather conditions on the channel, Richard promptly crushed the rebellion, having Buckingham executed, confiscating Lady Margaret’s estates and income, and gifting them to her husband, Lord Stanley, whom Richard commanded, to keep his wife under permanent house arrest. Richard immediately demanded of the Duke of Brittany, that he extradite Henry Tudor, back to England, but Henry promptly escaped to France, where he was warmly welcomed by King Louis XI, and was provided with more men and financial support, and although forbidden from doing so, Margaret continued to write secretly to her son, keeping him informed of developments in England. Those who had survived Buckingham’s failed rebellion, had joined the growing numbers of supporters surrounding Henry in France, but although the cruelty of Richard III had made him unpopular, that had not altered the fact, that Henry Tudor’s claim to the throne was tenuous at best, and that he was still a Lancastrian, the Yorks supporting him, might not continue to do so, for long after Richard’s removal, if they felt that the crown would simply be handed to a Lancastrian, with no guarantee of concessions to the Yorks. On Christmas Day, 1483, Henry addressed his supporters at Rennes Cathedral, swearing an oath to lead them to victory against Richard III, and to marry Elizabeth of York, as his mother and Elizabeth Woodville had planned, marriage to Elizabeth not only appeased the Yorks, who had known peace under her father, Edward IV’s reign, it also added legitimacy to his kingship, by ensuring that any children born of their marriage, would be the grandchildren of Edward IV, this notion was not lost on Richard III. After his Queen, Anne Neville, died in March of 1485, rumours began to circulate at Richard’s court, that he intended to marry Elizabeth himself, despite the fact that she was his niece, and therefore the union would doubtless not receive dispensation from the Church, such an action, however, would prevent Henry from gaining legitimacy by marrying her, this development lent urgency to Henry’s second attempt at an invasion of England, and he finally set sail for England on the 1st of August 1485, accompanied by only a few thousand men. A small and not very unified force, Henry’s army was comprised of Englishmen, Welshmen, and French mercenaries, they landed quietly in Wales, hoping to raise additional support locally, before confronting Richard III’s forces, they dropped anchor on the 7th of August at Mill Bay, and struggled ashore, near the town of Milford Haven, in Henry’s native Pembrokeshire, from which he had fled, seemingly never to return, fourteen long years before. Henry, overcome with emotion, fell to his knees and kissed the soil beneath his feet, quoting the biblical Psalm 43: “Judge me, O Lord, and fight my cause.” He then rose to his feet and cried out in a loud voice for his men to follow him, in the name of God, and St. George. Henry was able to raise additional military support in Wales, marching over the English border with about 5000 men, they met with Richard III’s significantly larger force of between 10,000 and 15,000 at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, Richard’s army held the high ground on Ambion Hill, as well as, it seemed, all other advantages including superior cavalry, artillery, and reserves, however, the considerable forces of Lord Thomas Stanley, Henry’s stepfather, had not yet committed for either side, despite the fact that Richard was holding Stanley’s son, Lord Strange, hostage, to ensure Stanley’s military support. Henry’s infantry advanced first, under an intense exchange of artillery fire, and to reduce the damage of the barrage, they spaced themselves out across the field as they advanced, the vulnerability of these lines, encouraged Richard’s infantry to charge, at which point, Henry’s infantry re-formed into a dense, wedge-shaped formation, against which Richard’s attack collapsed, Richard then attempted to send in his reserves, the men of the Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy. It is unclear why they failed to charge. Northumberland may have been hesitant to send his men into battle, because he was waiting to see what Lord Stanley would do, it is also possible that he, and his men, may have been constrained from mobilization by the marshy ground, but Richard, it seemed, had grown too impatient to wait any longer, he had sighted Henry at the rear of his army, with a small cavalry contingent, assembling a retinue of his household knights, Richard led a charge down the hill, towards the bodyguard surrounding Henry Tudor. Richard, in full plate covered by a light royal robe, and wearing a golden battle crown, atop his helmet, charged boldly, or perhaps, desperately, across the field on his horse, he killed Henry’s standard bearer, coming within inches of Henry himself, the moment of Richard’s attack, however, was the same moment Lord Stanley gave his men the order to join the battle on Henry Tudor’s side, Richard and his men were immediately overwhelmed, not only by the quick re-formation of Henry’s infantry, but also by the cavalry charge led by Lord Thomas Stanley’s brother William. Richard was isolated, surrounded, his own troops cut down around him, brandishing his sword, he cried out that he would die a king on the battlefield, or win, Richard III was knocked from his horse, impaled by an unknown Welsh pikeman, and was then viciously beaten to death by Henry’s men, Lord Stanley, who had not fought at all at the Battle of Bosworth, rode across the field towards Henry, stopping to collect the battle crown from the mutilated and stripped body of Richard III, before placing the crown on Henry’s head. The odds against Henry had seemed nearly insurmountable, but he had achieved what no one, except perhaps his mother, thought he would, he had won the throne of England, by right of conquest, he would be King, but of course, becoming King was only the beginning of Henry’s challenges. He now had to establish and build, a stable regime into a dynasty, that would outlast him, a daunting task in a time in which, the last king to come to the throne with his claim unchallenged, had died more than a hundred years before, and so, one of Henry’s first actions was to imprison the nine-year-old Earl of Warwick, son of George, Duke of Clarence, and the last known male York claimant to the throne. Henry also issued pardons and favours to his supporters, he conferred the high honour of the title: “my Lady, the King’s Mother” on Margaret Beaufort, who did not fail thereafter, to sign herself “Margaret R” or “Regina,” even though she had never been crowned Queen, he also made his stepfather, Lord Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby, and his brother Lord William Stanley, his Lord Chamberlain, Henry was crowned King at Westminster Abbey, on the 30th of October 1485. Only a few days later, Henry VII held his first Parliament, taking the opportunity to re-work and indeed, rewrite the events of his accession to the throne of England, the records of Henry’s first Parliament show, that he made efforts to invalidate the claims of Richard III to the crown, and legitimize his own, he overturned the decree, which had declared the marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville illegal, and their children, bastards, thereby legitimizing his future bride, Elizabeth of York, and ensuring the legitimacy of any children he might have with her. Finally, and most shockingly, Henry re-wrote the history of his fight for the throne, he backdated the Battle of Bosworth field to the 21st of August 1485, when it had actually taken place on the 22nd of August 1485, by dating the beginning of his reign one day earlier, Henry gave himself the ability to accuse anyone who had fought on Richard’s side at Bosworth, or who had failed to fight for Henry, of treason, by way of failure to support the rightful King. This caused much disquiet and fear, but at this early stage, this action by the new King was likely little more than a threat, a simple reminder that, all were spared and made prosperous, only by Henry’s grace and favour, this tactic would fail to ensure domestic peace in England, and Henry would have to face no less than four rebellions, in the next twelve years. Henry VII delayed honoring his previous promise, to marry Elizabeth of York, until the following year, on the 18th of January 1486, the reasoning is still unclear, but the fact that Elizabeth gave birth to their first child less than seven months after her marriage, suggests that she was already pregnant when she was brought to the altar, this would suggest that Henry had made his final decision to marry Elizabeth, contingent on a demonstration of her fertility, but despite this, no doubt, unpleasant and distrustful beginning, Henry and Elizabeth’s marriage developed over time, into a partnership of genuine love and respect. It was not only Elizabeth’s bloodline, but also her popularity with the Yorkist nobles, and the English people, and her loving devotion to Henry and their children, which propped up Henry’s rule, their marriage is unique in the annals of British, and indeed, European, royal history, as Henry VII is one of the few kings, not believed to have ever taken a mistress during his marriage, Henry and Elizabeth’s union, produced seven children in seventeen years, four of whom survived to a marriageable age. The next twenty-four years of Henry VII’s reign, would be marked by rebellions, challenges to his rule by rival claimants to the throne, and various efforts on Henry’s part, to preserve and strengthen his hold on England, in April 1486, he put down a rebellion organized by Yorkists, the two remaining Stafford brothers and the Viscount Lovell, before it could get off the ground, besides this hiccup, 1486 seemed promising for Henry’s reign. Under his own roof, he appeared to have reconciled the two warring houses of York and Lancaster, and later that year, on the 19th of September, the houses of York and Lancaster were truly united, with the birth of Prince Arthur at Winchester, a supposed location for legendary Camelot, for whose King, Arthur, the prince was named, the prince’s birth promised the coming of a new age, of wise rule, peace, and prosperity for England, and for a time, all seemed united in this vision. Henry’s mother-in-law, Elizabeth Woodville, was godmother to baby Arthur at his christening, this picture of a close family atmosphere in Henry’s household, was shattered only a few months later, when Elizabeth Woodville was stripped of her estates and sent into forced retirement at Bermondsey Abbey, it is unclear exactly why Henry VII would have treated his mother-in-law in such a way, but the cause likely lay with his own mother, Margaret Beaufort. Margaret was now, “my lady the King’s mother,” but this title was not quite so exalted, as “Dowager Queen of England,” the title held by Elizabeth Woodville, perhaps for Margaret, having to continue to defer to this woman, whom she had previously served, and who continued to outrank her, despite Margaret’s own position as the mother of the King, was more than she could bear. Indeed, for the rest of her days, Margaret continued to assert herself as a royal personage, wearing royal robes strictly reserved for crowned individuals, and walking only half a step behind her daughter-in-law, the actual Queen of England, Elizabeth of York, and indeed, the strain that lingered between the two royal houses, would spark more rebellions in the coming years. In 1487, John De la Pole, the Yorkist Earl of Lincoln, led a rebellion in support of an Irish peasant boy named Lambert Simnel, although most historians doubt, that this was the child’s actual name, Lincoln and his rebels claimed that this boy, was actually the young Earl of Warwick, whom they intended to place on the throne, but the real Earl of Warwick was still imprisoned in the Tower of London, Henry crushed this rebellion on the 16th of June 1487 at the Battle of Stoke, during which, the Earl of Lincoln was killed. Afterwards, Henry showed notable mercy to the rebels, pardoning most of them, including the boy, Lambert Simnel, whom he brought to his court and employed as a “spit boy,” tasked with turning the slow-roasting meats in the King’s kitchens, these responses to the uprising, were meant to portray Henry, not only as merciful and magnanimous, but powerful also. In the same year, Henry commissioned a new royal crown to be made, a fabulous new symbol of the monarchy, studded with elaborate jewels, and featuring the royal symbols of both England and France, the ostentatious crown reflected the growing ambition of Henry VII, to establish a glorious and enduring monarchy, the crown imperial, which was later reconstructed, after being destroyed during the English Civil War, more than a century later, is one of the most recognizable symbols of the English monarchy today. Other innovations of Henry’s, include the first creation of the gold “sovereign,” or one-pound coin, other medieval coins, typically featured an image of the monarch on one side, and a cross on the other, Henry’s gold “sovereign” however, instead of a cross, featured the “Tudor rose,” the combined white and red roses of the Yorks and Lancastrians, and the emblem of his monarchy, the rose was set against the coat of arms of England in the background, clearly communicating Henry’s message, that his would be an enduring dynasty. Henry also invested heavily in architecture and ornamentation to bolster his rule, building the impressive Palace of Richmond along the Thames, which was completed in 1500, and the magnificent chapel at Westminster Abbey, which he also plastered with his royal emblems: the red rose of Lancaster, the white and red Tudor rose, and his mother’s family badge, the Beaufort portcullis, all of these efforts, proved to have minimal impact, in shoring up Henry’s power. King Henry and Queen Elizabeth’s family continued to grow, throughout the first decade of their marriage, and on the 28th of November 1489, Elizabeth gave birth to their second child, and eldest daughter, Margaret, two years later, on the 28th of June 1491, their second son, Prince Henry, was born, Elizabeth was delivered of another daughter, also called Elizabeth, in July of 1492, who, tragically, lived only three years, but four years after the ill-fated Elizabeth’s birth, on the 18th of March 1496, Elizabeth was delivered of her last child to survive to adulthood, Mary. While Henry VII was widely known as a friendly, but nonetheless sober, cautious, and reserved personality, he thawed considerably with his wife and children, and apparently encouraged a close family life, in the early years of his reign, he was reportedly a doting father and husband, lavishing affection and gifts on his family, and was described as most relaxed and happy in their company, out of the public eye, opportunities to enjoy his family, however, grew fewer in the face of a war with France, and the rise of yet another rebellion. In 1491, the French invaded Brittany, Henry’s former home and the seat of his closest allies during his exile, Henry responded by declaring war on France, Parliament was reluctant, however, to vote funding for this venture, and made their grant conditional on a promise, that the war would be of short duration, Henry was therefore delayed from setting sail for France until October, nearly the end of the campaigning season, and after only three weeks on campaign, the French offered Henry terms of peace. On the 3rd of November 1491, Henry agreed to withdraw, in exchange for an annual tribute of 12,500 pounds from the French King, the half-hearted attempt at war, and the modest payoff, which Henry had accepted, soured many Englishmen on his regime, once, their armies had commanded fear, throughout western Europe, now they seemed to slink home, after being bought off with a relatively small bribe. In 1493, the stability of Henry’s rule began to crack, word reached the King of a young man, called Perkin Warbeck, claiming to be the son of Edward IV, Richard, the younger of the two princes in the Tower, this young man, sheltering at the court of the Countess of Burgundy, who also happened to be the sister of Edward IV, added potentially deadly consequences for Henry VII’s reign, support for Henry’s kingship was, after all, based not only on his marriage to Edward’s daughter, Elizabeth, but also on the notion that Edward IV’s sons had died, before Henry’s victory at Bosworth, support for this man, claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne of England, would grow alarmingly over the next four years. The possibility that there might be a legitimate challenger for the throne still out there, unnerved Henry and convinced him of the need for regular intelligence, he began to build a comprehensive network of spies and informants, infiltrating suspects’ homes, secretly interrogating their servants and their confessors, to learn their secrets. To his horror, he uncovered a traitor at the very heart of his court, his Lord Chamberlain, the man most responsible for the safety of the King’s person, Lord William Stanley, who was brother to Henry’s own stepfather, and who had helped him win the crown, less than a decade before, in Stanley’s house, Henry’s spies had found a livery collar, studded with the white roses of the House of York and 10,000 pounds in ready cash, enough money to finance a major coup, Stanley was promptly charged with treason and executed. In 1497, England was threatened with war once again, as the man calling himself “Richard, Duke of York,” the son of Edward IV, known as Perkin Warbeck, had acquired more powerful allies, the Scots, who had not only arranged his marriage to Lady Catherine Gordon, a Scottish royal, but who had also provided him with troops, which threatened to invade England, this time, Parliament readily provided funds to meet the emergency, granting 120,000 pounds for England’s defense, and so, mobilization began. This new tax, however, sparked outrage and rebellion in Cornwall, the Cornish, who did not see why they should be taxed or forced to fight the distant Scots, swiftly assembled into a rebel force, which marched, unopposed, across southern England, while the bulk of Henry’s forces were far away in the north, terrified of being taken prisoner, Queen Elizabeth collected her younger son, Prince Henry, from the palace at Eltham, and sought refuge with him in the Tower. On the 17th of June 1497, Henry VII defeated the Cornish rebels at the Battle of Blackheath, and four months later, on the 5th of October, the man claiming to be Richard, Duke of York, was captured in Hampshire, and imprisoned in the Tower, after his interrogation, he signed a full confession, stating that his claim to the throne of England, had been fraudulent, and that his real name was indeed, Perkin Warbeck, a common Flemish man from Tournai. After a failed attempt to escape in November 1499, Perkin Warbeck was executed, this four-year episode, ended up costing Henry over 13,000 pounds, the equivalent of over 10 million U.S. dollars today, this enormous loss, and the efforts it had taken Henry to secure his reign, soured him, he had aimed for glory in war, to unite the houses of York and Lancaster decisively, and he had apparently failed to fully achieve both goals. Henry now began to turn to more bureaucratic methods, to strengthen his grip on power, these methods would make his subjects hate him, far more than they already did, but Henry pressed ahead, if he could not make his subjects love him, he would rule them through fear instead, to do so, Henry VII would take a page out of Edward IV’s book. During his reign, Edward IV had retained the services, of the highly learned former chief justice, under Henry VI, Sir John Fortescue, who established himself as one of England’s first political and constitutional analysts, he wrote a highly influential book on statecraft, often referred to, simply as The Governance of England, but whose original title was: The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy. Fortescue had spent his life observing the differences, between English governance and that of her rival, France, he had concluded that the English king’s inability, to impose taxes without the consent of Parliament, was the crucial difference between the monarchies of England and France, the French King could levy taxes on his people, whenever he wanted, making him rich and powerful, but keeping his people poor, the common people of England, on the other hand, were far more prosperous than their French counterparts, but the limits to the English King’s ability to tax his subjects, left him poor and weak, this, Fortescue asserted, had been the primary cause of the ruinous Wars of the Roses. The solution, he believed, would be for the king to acquire lands and annual revenues, which would make him rich, and less dependent on Parliament, the king of England, in Fortescue’s estimation, should not embody the medieval ideal of being, “the first amongst equals”, but should be the “greatest and richest man in the kingdom,” which would help prevent his nobles, who often commanded as much wealth and military might as the king himself, from becoming too powerful, and after Stanley’s betrayal, and the Warbeck episode, Henry resolved to do just that. Henry heavily restricted the court, and drastically reduced the number of people who had access to the seat of power, previously, the goings-on in the Privy Chamber, had been fairly transparent, but going forward, Henry himself, innovated the practice of keeping all government matters, under lock and key, behind heavily-guarded doors, while dozens of hopeful petitioners, waited outside in the presence chamber, hoping to be granted a moment with the king, or with one of his advisers. Henry strengthened his network of surveillance and spies, he also began to acquire more lands and revenues, by pressuring his nobles to sell their property to him, wherever he could, and he took personal charge of England’s finances, each entry in the financial ledgers of England, was checked and signed personally by Henry, who was increasingly coming to view the accumulation of wealth, as the best source of security for his rule, he was so successful in this pursuit, that during the last twelve years of his reign, he had no more need of funding from Parliament, summoning them only once, between 1497 and 1509. The 12th of November 1501 was cold and drizzly, but London was gaily decorated and its people in a festive mood, eagerly anticipating the beginning of a two-week-long series of events, celebrating the wedding of Prince Arthur to the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, the crowds cheered as the sixteen-year-old Catherine, proceeded with grace and poise to the palace at Westminster, accompanied by the ten-year-old Prince Henry, smiling and waving at those cheering for him as well. Two days later, on the 14th of November, Arthur and Catherine were married at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, departing after a further ten days of feasting, tournaments, and entertainments, for Ludlow Castle and their married life in the Welsh marches, having cemented such a prestigious marriage for his eldest son and heir, with the rising royal house of Spain, which had brought with it a dowry of 100,000 pounds, Henry’s legacy now seemed secure, but then, less than six months later, disaster struck. In March 1502, Prince Arthur fell ill, possibly with the “sweating sickness," a mysterious disease that regularly swept through Tudor England, and on the 2nd of April, he died, two days later, a messenger arrived at the palace at Richmond, to deliver the dreadful tidings, Henry and Elizabeth were grief-stricken by Arthur’s death, Henry screamed and sobbed openly, upon hearing the news, shocking his courtiers, and Arthur’s funeral, while magnificent, was observed rather quietly at Worcester Cathedral, far from the crowded streets of London. The political fallout from the boy’s death was immense, now, Prince Henry was the only remaining male heir to the throne, Queen Elizabeth was deeply grieved, but summoned her resolve to reassure Henry, that they were both still young enough to have more children, within a few months, Elizabeth did indeed become pregnant, entering her confinement in January 1503, but sadly, it proved to be a difficult pregnancy, resulting in a premature birth, and in the grip of fever and agony, Elizabeth of York succumbed, to what was then known as “childbed fever,” or puerperal fever on the 11th of February 1503, on her 37th birthday, her child, a girl named Katherine, lived less than eight days. The death of Elizabeth of York, brought on an outpouring of grief across the length and breadth of England, she had been well-loved by the people, and her very presence had softened the hard edges of Henry’s tendency towards autocratic rule, her funeral procession and ceremony, were among the grandest and most expensive events staged during Henry VII’s reign, costing in excess of 3000 pounds, but neither Henry himself, nor his children, attended Elizabeth’s funeral. Henry had suffered a complete physical and emotional collapse, at the news of his wife’s death, they had come a long way together, despite a rocky and distrustful beginning, and the family they had built together, in love and happiness, had softened the harsher edges of Henry’s personality, following Elizabeth’s death, Henry shut himself away for days, refusing to see or speak to anyone, and when he emerged, all tenderness seemed to have departed from him, and he became harder, more autocratic, and more ruthless than ever, in his grief for his wife, he even seemed to have withdrawn from the hearts of his own children. He took his remaining son, Prince Henry, and his training and education, closely in hand, this development stimulated a frequent clash of wills between father and son, and Henry was now consumed, with keeping his last son and heir safe from harm, he therefore kept Henry close, monitored his education and training closely, criticized him constantly, and provided him a long list of now-forbidden activities, particularly, participation in extreme sports like jousting, which Prince Henry loved. More surprising, King Henry, with a notable lack of emotion, arranged the marriage of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Margaret, to King James IV of Scotland, a bare six months after his wife’s death, Henry VII, it seemed, drifted further away from everything, except the imperatives of securing his legacy and acquiring wealth. Following Arthur’s death, the King and Queen of Spain had begun to demand the return of Princess Catherine’s dowry of 100,000 pounds, a hefty sum which Henry desperately did not want to give back, he considered marrying Catherine himself, now that his own wife was dead, but he did not seem to have considered this very seriously, in the end, he sought a papal dispensation, for the betrothal of Catherine to his second son, Henry, on the grounds of non-consummation of the marriage between Arthur and Catherine, in order to retain his daughter-in-law’s dowry. In the autumn of 1503, Henry recruited an experienced London lawyer, named Edmund Dudley, to assist him with his unscrupulous revenue-raising activities, and they became more unsavory than ever, not satisfied with simply pressuring landowners to sell their estates and give their annual revenues to him, King Henry now enlisted Dudley to transform the Privy Chamber and Royal Treasury into somewhat of a racket, like a modern-day organized crime syndicate. Dudley revived laws, long unenforced in England, in order to impose fines, on those who “broke” them, if anyone refused to pay these fines, or protested the injustice of them, they were imprisoned, many chose to pay the fines, rather than risk dying in prison, or being accused of treason, and forfeiting all of their property and wealth to the King anyway, and Henry levied fines against his nobles for keeping private armies, despite the fact that this had always been the practice, in medieval England. King Henry assembled a small group of handpicked lawyers, to serve as his “Council Learned in the Law”, this body had no official power, but worked directly for Henry, they frequently “lifted” various legal proceedings, from England’s official courts, and privately adjudicated the matters themselves, then proceeding to appropriate all fines, for the King’s treasury, eventually, all pretense was dropped, and Henry and his council simply began inventing laws and crimes, to charge people with. For the last six years of Henry’s life, this process accelerated, as Henry’s wealth increased to unimaginable levels, so too did the virulent hatred and intense resentment of his subjects, in only a few short years time, when his son, Henry VIII ascended the throne, one of his first acts was to have Edmund Dudley, whom most people blamed for Henry VII’s cruel system of revenue raising, arrested on trumped-up charges of treason, and executed. By 1507, it was clear that the most popular person in England was Prince Henry, his father, the King, glad to show off his son’s abilities, tasked him with organizing and staging the spring tournaments that year, the fifteen-year-old Henry, literally shone during the ceremonies and events, presiding over the tournaments, greeting dignitaries, chatting with both noblemen and commoners, with friendliness and charm, and graciously presenting the tournament’s victors with expensive trinkets, everyone present could see, the glaringly clear distinction between the dour, serious, detached, and tyrannical figure of Henry VII, and the smiling, gregarious openness, of his well-loved son. Prince Henry, the people believed, would be a different kind of King, one who thirsted for honor and glory, rather than gold, who would extend privilege and favour to his nobles, and his loyal subjects, rather than suspicion and extortion. The effigy sculpted for Henry VII’s funeral, and the portraits painted of him late in his life, show the ravages of his life and position, his high cheekbones, nose, and cleft chin, which were always prominent, seemed to protrude even more, in his increasingly thin, pale face, the deep lines in his forehead and down the sides of his nose, and the hollows beneath his seemingly cold blue eyes, tell the story of a man, whose early life had been full of promise, but whose constant companions in the years since, had been anxiety, suspicion, disappointment, tragedy, illness and grief. Henry’s health began to deteriorate, in the years following the deaths of his wife and eldest son, in January of 1509, his condition worsened, and he withdrew from the court, into seclusion at Richmond Palace, and on the 21st of April 1509, Henry VII, King of England, died, he was fifty-two years old and had ruled England for twenty-four years. For two days, his death was kept secret from everyone, except those who had been present at his bedside, for more than a century, no king had ascended the throne of England, without struggle or challenge, and Henry’s council members were determined, that this would not happen again, quickly acting to secure and smooth Prince Henry’s path to the throne, before informing England of the King’s death. Henry VII died a thoroughly hated man, or at least, deeply resented by his subjects and his family members alike, he seemed to be little missed by most of the court, with the exception of his mother, Margaret Beaufort had remained her son’s closest and most trusted advisor to the very end, and her love and support for her son had never wavered. It was Margaret who had scrambled to secure the accession of her grandson Prince Henry, temporarily repressing her grief for her son, until the succession was assured, and with the rest of the court in formal mourning, it was she, who organized her son’s funeral, and her grandson’s coronation, it had been Margaret who had advised the young King Henry VIII, on selections for his privy council, and Henry had heeded her every recommendation. The day after her grandson’s eighteenth birthday, on the 29th of June 1509, less than two months after her own son’s death, Margaret Beaufort followed Henry VII to the grave, Henry was buried next to his wife in the chapel he had built and plastered with his family’s emblems, in Westminster Abbey, their effigies lying in peaceful repose, with their hands clasped in prayer, Margaret Beaufort was laid to rest in her own impressive tomb, only a few feet away from the graves of Henry and Elizabeth. The reign of Henry VII brought to an end a period of massive political instability, a series of civil wars fought over three decades for the English throne, extremely ambitious, intelligent, and lucky in many respects, Henry would nonetheless have to fight and scheme for the rest of his life, to both maintain the stability of the English throne, and to keep himself on it, an impressive achievement in such tempestuous times, especially considering that four out of the last seven English kings before him, had been murdered, either openly, on the battlefield, or secretly, by their successors. Henry VII is also remembered for his close, personal management of the political and economic affairs of England, resulting in practices broadly viewed as absolutist and oppressive, which made many of his subjects grateful to see the end of his reign, and hopeful at the rise of his more popular son, Henry VIII, yet, it was Henry VII’s tight grasp on the governance of England, and his harsh policies which laid the foundations for the greatest consolidation of royal power in English history, under the Tudors, whose rule was to last for more than a century. For centuries, the reign of Henry VII was eclipsed by his more famous descendants, but in more recent years, historians have begun to re-examine and investigate the impact of his reign more closely, many of them have concluded that the rule of Henry VII was instrumental in the strengthening of monarchy and the development of English might and wealth in Europe, for which his later descendants have traditionally been given full credit. The terrors, trials, and disappointments of his life made him hard, cruel, and oppressive, making his subjects want to forget him as quickly as possible, his reputation as a tyrant, however, cannot mask his singular achievements of winning the throne against all the odds, maintaining his grip on it through numerous rebellions, and successfully passing it on, without challenge, to his son and heir, Henry VII was the only king for more than a century who had achieved all three goals. What do you think of Henry VII? Does his reign deserve the same level of notoriety as his more famous children and grandchildren? Was he vicious and tyrannical at heart, or was his heart and humanity slowly eroded by years of danger, loss, and tragedy? Please let us know what you think in the comments section below, and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching!
