Henry VII of England
Henry VII | |
---|---|
Richard III | |
Successor | Henry VIII |
Born | Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond 28 January 1457 Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
Died | 21 April 1509 (aged 52) Richmond Palace, Surrey, England |
Burial | 11 May 1509 , London, England |
Spouse | |
Issue more... |
|
House | Tudor |
Father | Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond |
Mother | Lady Margaret Beaufort |
Signature |
Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was
Henry's mother,
Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the Low Countries had long-lasting benefits to the English economy. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. Henry reigned for nearly 24 years and was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII.
Ancestry and early life
Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at
The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised
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.[7] He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr, in legend, the last ancient British king.[8]
On occasion Henry displayed the red dragon.[9] He took it, as well as the standard of St. George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth.[10] A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard André, also made much of Henry's Welsh descent.[8]
In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the
Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when
Rise to the throne
By 1483, Henry's mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to
Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in
Reign
To secure his hold on the throne, Henry declared himself king by right of conquest retroactively from 21 August 1485, the day before Bosworth Field.[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 spared Richard's nephew and designated heir, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, and made the Yorkist heiress Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury suo jure. He took care not to address the baronage or summon Parliament until after his coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485.[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.[citation needed]
Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and the wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey.[24][17][25] He was 29 years old, she was 20. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt.[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. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example)[27] with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne.[28]
Henry had Parliament repeal
Henry began taking precautions against rebellion while still in Leicester after Bosworth Field.
Next, in 1487, Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of
In 1490, a young
When the King's agents searched the property of William Stanley (Chamberlain of the Household, with direct access to Henry VII) they found a bag of coins amounting to around £10,000 and a collar of livery with Yorkist garnishings. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. In response to this threat within his own household, the King instituted more rigid security for access to his person.[34] In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed.[35] However, he spared Warwick's elder sister Margaret, who survived until 1541 when she was executed by Henry VIII.[36]
Economics
For most of Henry VII's reign Edward Story was Bishop of Chichester. Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. Stephens, "affords some illustrations of the avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". 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. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose.[37]
Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration.[38] Despite this, during his reign he became a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer. Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. For instance, except for the first few months of the reign, the Baron Dynham and the Earl of Surrey were the only Lord High Treasurers throughout his reign.[39]
Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. He was supported in this effort by his chancellor,
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.[42] According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple "greed" underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years.[43] 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.[44]
Henry VII established the pound avoirdupois as a standard of weight; it later became part of the Imperial[45] and customary systems of units.[45] 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.[46]
Foreign policy
Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. Up to a point, he succeeded. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. Based on the terms of the accord, Henry sent 6,000 troops to fight (at the expense of Brittany) under the command of Lord Daubeney. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. According to John M. Currin, the treaty redefined Anglo-Breton relations. Henry started a new policy to recover Guyenne and other lost Plantagenet claims in France. The treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it.[47]
Henry later concluded a treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England, and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne, such as Perkin Warbeck. However, this treaty came at a price, as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492. Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent 6,000 troops to France.
Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom; he concluded the
In 1506, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
Trade agreements
Henry VII was much enriched by trading
Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the
In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from
Law enforcement and justices of the peace
Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. There were too many powerful noblemen and, as a consequence of the system of so-called bastard feudalism, each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers (mercenaries masquerading as servants).[58] Following the example of Edward IV, Henry VII created a Council of Wales and the Marches for his son Arthur, which was intended to govern Wales and the Marches, Cheshire and Cornwall.[59][60][61]
He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. 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"). These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats.[citation needed]
However, his principal weapon was the
Henry VII used
All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the justices of the peace. For example, they could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures.[64]
By 1509, justices of the peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. Overall, this was a successful area of policy for Henry, both in terms of efficiency and as a method of reducing the corruption endemic within the nobility of the Middle Ages.[citation needed]
Later years and death
In 1502, Henry VII's life took a difficult and personal turn in which many people he was close to died in quick succession. His first son and heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at
Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. Accordingly, he arranged a
Henry made half-hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs, but these never came to anything. He entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew the alliance with Spain – Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (a niece of Queen Isabella of Castile), Queen Joanna of Castile, and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile), were all considered.[69] In 1505 he was sufficiently interested in a potential marriage to Joanna of Naples that he sent ambassadors to Naples to report on the 27-year-old Joanna's physical suitability.[70] 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.
After 1503, records show the Tower of London was never again used as a royal residence by Henry VII, and all royal births under Henry VIII took place in palaces.[71] Henry VII falls among the minority of British monarchs that never had any known mistresses, and for the times, it is very unusual that he did not remarry: his son Henry was the only male heir left after the death of his wife, thus the death of Arthur created a precarious political position for the House of Tudor.
During his lifetime the nobility often criticised Henry VII for re-centralizing power in London, and later the 16th-century historian Francis Bacon was ruthlessly critical of the methods by which he enforced tax law, but it is equally true that Henry VII was diligent about keeping detailed records of his personal finances, down to the last halfpenny;[72] these and one account book detailing the expenses of his queen survive in the British National Archives, as do accounts of courtiers and many of the king's own letters. Until the death of his wife, the evidence is clear from these accounting books that Henry was a more doting father and husband than was widely known and there is evidence that his outwardly austere personality belied a devotion to his family. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Many of the entries show a man who loosened his purse strings generously for his wife and children, and not just on necessities: in Spring 1491, he spent a great amount of gold on a lute for his daughter Mary; the following year he spent money on a lion for Elizabeth's menagerie. With Elizabeth's death, the possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished.[73] 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."[74] 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.[75] Margaret Tudor wrote letters to her father declaring her homesickness, but Henry could do nothing but mourn the loss of his family and honour the terms of the peace treaty he had agreed to with the King of Scotland.[76]
Henry VII died of
Appearance and character
Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. His biographer, Professor Stanley 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". On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health.[25][81]
Legacy and memory
Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially
Family
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2020) |
Henry VII and Elizabeth had seven children:[b]
- Arthur (19 September 1486 – 2 April 1502), Prince of Wales, heir apparent from birth to death (named after the legendary King Arthur)[84]
- James V
- Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547), Henry VII's successor
- Elizabeth (2 July 1492 – 14 September 1495)
- Queen of France as the wife of Louis XII, then wife of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
- Edmund (21 February 1499 – 19 June 1500), styled Duke of Somerset but never formally created a peer[85]
- Katherine (2 February 1503 – 18 February 1503)
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Family tree of the principal members of the house of Tudor Red text indicates Monarch of Scotland .
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See also
Notes
- Royal houseof Welsh-French origin
- ^ Roland de Velville (or Veleville), who was knighted in 1497 and was Constable of Beaumaris Castle, is sometimes presented as the clear "illegitimate issue" of Henry VII of England by "a Breton lady whose name is not known". The possibility this was Henry's illegitimate son is baseless.[83]
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-1445646060– via Google Books.
- ^ "BBC Wales – History – Themes – Pembroke The Main Street". British Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ Rogers & Turvey 2000.
- ^ Kendall 1973, p. 13.
- ^ Williams 1973, p. 17.
- ^ Kendall 1973, p. 156.
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 3; Davies, Norman. The Isles – A History. pp. 337–379.
- ^ a b Mackie 1952, p. 47.
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 3.
- ^ Mackie 1952, p. 54.
- ^ Starkey 2006, p. 4.
- ^ Marilee Mongello. "Tudor Monarchs – Henry VII, one". Englishhistory.net. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ a b Williams 1973, p. 19.
- ISBN 978-1445612034.
- ISBN 978-1445646060.
- ^ Chrimes 1977, p. 65
- ^ a b Williams 1973, p. 25
- ^ Kendall 1973, p. 297
- ^ "Henry Tudor's landing site". History Points. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-85159-005-9.
- ^ Kendall 1973, p. 361; Williams 1973, p. 31
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 50
- ^ "Westminster Abbey website: Coronations, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York". Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ Weir 2007, p. 7
- ^ a b Chrimes 1999, p. 53
- ^ Morgan 1988, p. 709
- ^ a b Chrimes 1999, p. 72
- ^ Penn 2011, pp. 22–23
- ^ Weir 1995, p. 190
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 51
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 69
- ^ Williams 1973, p. 62
- ^ Chrimes 1999, pp. 69–70
- ISBN 978-0750939898.[page needed]
- ISBN 978-0750916103.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Blessed Margaret Pole". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Stephens 1876, pp. 176–177
- ^ Chrimes 1977, p. 119
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 121
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 203
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 123
- ^ Penn 2011, pp. 371
- ^ Guy 1988, pp. 272–273
- ^ Elgin 2013, p. 55
- ^ international pound), now used chiefly in the United States, but since the 16th century the most commonly encountered unit of mass throughout the English-speaking world. The magnitude of the pound avoirdupois has varied less than 1% since the middle of the 14th century.
- ^ Hunt & Towle 1998, p. 88
- JSTOR 24423267.
- ^ Mackie 1952, p. 97
- ^ Currin 2000, pp. 379–412
- ^ Chrimes 1999, pp. 228–230
- ^ Warnicke 2000, p. 103.
- ^ Setton 1976, p. 47.
- ^ Setton 1976, p. 50.
- ^ Penn 2011, pp. 201
- ^ Penn 2011, pp. 203–204
- ^ Williams 1973, pp. 167–168.
- ^ Williams 1973, p. 198–201.
- .
- required.) (subscription required)
- ISBN 978-0064911269.
- ^ Chrimes 1999, pp. 249–256
- ^ Williams 1973, p. 178.
- ^ MacCulloch 1996, pp. 39–42.
- ^ Pickthorn, Kenneth (1949). Early Tudor Government. p. 65.
- ^ Penn 2011, p. 70.
- ^ Chrimes 1999, pp. 302–304.
- ^ Weir 2013, p. 404.
- ^ Penn 2013, p. 204.
- ^ Bergenroth, G A. "Calendar of State Papers, Spain: Supplement To Volumes 1 and 2, Queen Katherine; Intended Marriage of King Henry VII To Queen Juana". British History Online. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ISBN 978-1605830179.
- ISBN 978-1444394993.[page needed]
- ^ "Domestic and foreign policy of Henry VII". Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
- ^ "Henry VII Winter King". Queen to History.
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 304; Penn 2013, pp. 110–113
- ^ "Queen Margaret's Arch | York Civic Trust". Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Tudor Times". Tudor Times. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ Chrimes 1999, pp. 313–314, n5
- ^ Hunt & Towle 1998, p. 69
- ^ Lockyer 2014, p. 88
- ^ "Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- S2CID 4350364.
- ^ Gunn 2009, pp. 380–392
- ^ Chrimes 1999, p. 67 n3
- ^ Wagner & Schmid 2011, p. 1104.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 385.
- ^ Chrimes 1972, Select Pedigrees: I & II
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-413-28590-4.
- —— (1977). Henry VII (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-413-38400-3.
- —— (1999). Henry VII (3rd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. OL 21264946M.
- —— (1977). Henry VII (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Currin, John M. (November 2000). "'The King's Army into the Partes of Bretaigne': Henry VII and the Breton Wars, 1489–1491". War in History. 7 (4). S2CID 154603131.
- Elgin, Kathy (2013). Henry VIII: The Charismatic King who Reforged a Nation. Arcturus Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-782-12859-5.
- .
- ISBN 978-0-192-85202-1.
- Hunt, Jocelyn; Towle, Carolyn (1998). Henry VII. Longman History in Depth. New York: Longman. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-582-29691-6.
- ISBN 978-0-351-17095-9.
- Lockyer, Roger (2014). Henry VII. Taylor & Francis. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-317-89432-2.
- ISBN 978-0-192-89327-7.
- ISBN 978-0-198-21706-0.
- ISBN 978-0-19-285202-1.
- ISBN 978-1-439-19156-9.
- —— (2013). Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England (Reprint ed.). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-439-19157-6.
- —— (2013). Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England (Reprint ed.). Simon and Schuster.
- Rogers, Caroline; Turvey, Roger (2000). Henry VII. London: Hodder & Stoughton Educational. ISBN 978-0-340-75381-1.
- ISBN 978-0-871-69161-3.
- ISBN 978-0-007-24766-0.
- Stephens, W. R. W.(1876). Memorials of the South Saxon See and Cathedral Church of Chichester. London: Bentley.
- Wagner, John; Schmid, Susan Walters (2011). Encyclopedia of Tudor England. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-598-84298-2.
- ISBN 978-0-521-17969-0.
- ISBN 978-0-345-39178-0.
- —— (2007). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-802-19875-4.
- —— (2013). Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen. Random House. ISBN 978-1-448-19138-3.
- —— (2007). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Press.
- Williams, Neville (1973). The Life and Times of Henry VII. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-76517-2.
Further reading
- Anglo, Sydney (1987). "Ill of the dead. The posthumous reputation of Henry VII". Renaissance Studies. 1 (1): 27–47. JSTOR 24410008.
- Ashley, Mike (2002). British Kings & Queens. Carroll & Graf. pp. 280–286. OL 8141172M.
- Cooper, J. P. (1959). "Henry VII's Last Years Reconsidered". Historical Journal. 2 (2): 103–129. S2CID 162609810.
- Cunningham, Sean (2007). Henry VII. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-26620-8.
- S2CID 159982738.
- ISBN 978-0313265983.
- .
- Morrill, John (1996). The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor and Stuart Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Wikidata Q107248208.
- —— (1886). "Wikidata Q107248250.
- —— (1886). "
- Towle, Carolyn; Hunt, Jocelyn (1998). Henry VII. New York: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-29691-6.
- Ward, Kevin (2006). A History of Global Anglicanism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00866-2.
- ISBN 978-1-446-44911-0.
- —— (2002). Henry VIII: King and Court. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-6451-6.
- —— (1966). Before the Armada: the growth of English foreign policy, 1485–1588. OCLC 530462.
- —— (2002). Henry VIII: King and Court. London: Pimlico.
External links
- Henry VII at the official website of the British monarchy
- Henry VII at the official website of the Royal Collection Trust
- Gairdner, James (1891). Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 26. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 67–94. . In
- Tudor Place page on Henry VII
- Discussion of marital bed by Janina Ramirez and Jonathan Foyle: Art Detective Podcast, 15 Feb 2017
- Portraits of King Henry VII at the National Portrait Gallery, London