Henry (VII, King of England 1485-1509)
Edmund Tudor had married Lady Margaret in 1455 when she was only twelve years old. When Edmund died in captivity a year later, Lady Margaret was expecting their first child, Henry. Henry's early years were spent with his uncle Jasper Tudor the Earl of Pembroke. In 1471, after Henry VI and the Prince of Wales were killed and the Lancastrians were defeated, Henry Tudor found himself head of the Lancastrian family. As it was unsafe for him to remain in England, Henry and Jasper Tudor fled to Brittany to wait for a chance of claiming the English throne.
With money from Charles VIII of France for soldiers and ships, Henry Tudor landed at Milford Haven in Wales in August of 1485. Within days his army was at Shrewsbury gaining support and on August 22 he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth.
Henry's claim to the throne of England was not the only one. Richard III had a nephew, Edward, Earl of Warwick.
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Wars of the Roses Phase Four (click here)
Rebellions to the rule of Henry VII (click here)
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Henry (VII, King of England 1485-1509) (b.1457 - d.1509) +Elizabeth (of York) (b.1466 - d.1503) = Arthur (Prince of Wales) (b.1486 - d.1502) | +Catherine (of Aragon, Queen of England) (b.1485 - d.1536) = Tudor, Margaret (Queen of Scotland) (b.1489 - d.1541) | +James (IV King of Scotland 1488-1513) (b.1473 - d.1513) | | = James (V, King of Scotland 1513-1542) (b.1512 - d.1542) | | +Madeleine (of Valois) (b.1520 - d.1537) | | +Mary (of Guise) (b.1515 - d.1560) | | | = Mary (Stuart, Queen of Scotland) (b.1542 - d.1587) | | +Erskine, Margaret (Lady) | | = Stewart, James (1st Earl of Moray) (b.1531? - m.1570) | +Douglas, Archibald (Earl of Angus) ( - d.1557) | = Douglas, Margaret ( - d.1578) | +Stewart, Matthew (Earl of Lennox) (b.1516? - d.1571) | = Henry (Lord Darnley) (b.1546 - d.1567) | = Stewart, Charles (Earl of Lennox) ( - d.1576) = Henry (VIII, King of England 1509-1547) (b.1491 - d.1547) | +Catherine (of Aragon, Queen of England) (b.1485 - d.1536) | | = Mary (I, Queen of England 1553-1558, Bloody Mary, Mary Tudor) (b.1516 - d.1558) | | +Philip (II, King of Spain 1556-1598) (b.1527 - d.1598) | +Boleyn, Anne (b.1501? - ex.1536) | | = Elizabeth (I, Queen of England 1558-1603) (b.1533 - d.1603) | +Seymour, Jane (Queen of England) (b.1508? - d.1537) | | = Edward (VI, King of England 1547-1553) (b.1537 - d.1553) | +Anne (of Cleves) (b.1515 - d.1557) | +Howard, Catherine ( - ex.1542) | +Parr, Catherine (b.1512 - d.1548) | +Blount, Elizabeth = Mary (Tudor, Queen of France) (b.1495 - d.1533) +Louis (XII, King of France) (b.1462 - d.1515) +Brandon, Charles (Duke of Suffolk) (b.1485 - d.1545) = Brandon, Frances (Lady) (b.1517 - d.1559) | +Grey, Henry (Duke of Suffolk) ( - ex.1554) | = Grey, Jane (Lady) (b.1537? - ex.1554) | = Grey, Catherine (Lady) = Clifford, Eleanor (Lady) ( - d.1547)Mistresses are shown in italic
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Timeline
Edmund Tudor married Margaret Beaufort, the heiress of the Duke of Somerset. Margaret was only twelve years old. Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort were the parents of Henry Tudor, the future King of England, Henry VII. [1]
Edmund the Earl of Richmond died in captivity in Carmarthen Castle. His thirteen year old bride Margaret was expecting their child who would become the future King Henry VII.
After the death of Edmund Tudor, his brother, Jasper Tudor Earl of Pembroke, moved Margaret Beaufort to Pembroke Castle. Margaret was the wife of Edmund Tudor and expecting their first child, Henry Tudor, the future King of England. [2]
The future king of England, Henry VII, was born at Pembroke Castle. His father was Edmund Tudor who had died a couple of months before the birth and his mother was Margaret Beaufort who was directly descended from King Edward III.
Pembroke Castle was captured by William Herbert. The young Henry Tudor was found in the castle where he had been hiding. [3]
William Herbert was given the castle at Pembroke in recognition of his assistance to Edward IV. Herbert was made the guardian of the future Henry VII who was living at the castle.
Along with his uncle Jasper Tudor, Henry flee England after the defeat of the Lancastrians and death of King Henry VI. They went to Brittany where they were given refuge.
Henry, the second Duke of Buckingham, took part in a rebellion called Buckingham's rebellion against King Richard III. Involved also in the plot was John Morton, the Bishop of Ely at the time. Morton was an enemy of the King and was held captive in Buckingham's castle at Brecknock. The plan was to remove Richard and place Henry Tudor on the throne. An army was raised in Wales but due to bad weather the plot ended in failure. Buckingham was captured and executed on November 2nd. Many of the other rebels were later pardoned. [4]
Henry Tudor, the future king of England Henry VII, landed at Milford Haven in Wales avoiding the south coast which was more heavily defended and made his way north. He was given money by Charles VIII of France to pay for soldiers and ships for the invasion. His claim to the throne of England was through his mother whose great-grandfather was John of Gaunt, the son of King Edward III. He was accompanied by his uncle Japser Tudor. [5]
By August 15th, Henry Tudor had reached the town of Shrewsbury. He had gained the support of some Welsh as he marched north. [6]
King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth and Henry Tudor was proclaimed King of England. [7]
The 10 year old Earl of Warwick was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. His claim to the English throne was strong and Henry VII wanted him out of the way.
Henry Tudor is crowned as Henry VII at Westminster Abbey. [7]
Henry married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, at Westminster Abbey. This act brought the two houses, the Lancastrians and Yorkists, together under a new house, house Tudor.
King Henry was confiscating the possessions of the House of York, and Lord Lovell, a Yorkist supporter, led a revolt in the north of England, but the rebellion was quickly put down. The rebellion took place while King Henry was touring the country. [5]
Elizabeth of York gave birth to a son which was named Arthur and was heir to the English throne. The child was born several weeks early.
Lambert Simnel and the Earl of Lincoln landed on the Lancashire coast in early June and with some support from the locals were able to win a battle at Bramham Moor.
Henry VII fought the Earl of Lincoln and Lambert Simnel at the Battle of Stoke. The English throne was at stake. Simnel was captured and Lincoln was killed. This battle ended the Wars of the Roses. The king realised Simnel was just a puppet in Lincoln's scheme and pardoned the young boy. [2]
Elizabeth of York was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was murdered by a mob opposed to the collection of taxes. Parliament had granted King Henry VII permission to raise taxes to help defend Brittany. In Yorkshire a rebellion started in protest against the taxes. [8]
Margaret, Henry VII's and Elizabeth of York's second child was born. [9]
King Henry VII signed a trade agreement making Pisa on the Italian coast the staple town for importing English wool. English traders were given special privilages in the town in return for this special arrangement.
Benevolences is the term to describe the giving of money by the people to the Crown voluntarily when the country was in need of finance at times of war. Unfortunately several kings abused this making the payments compulsory, including King Richard III, and the practice was made illegal. King Henry VII overturned the ban and used Benevolences to raise money for a war with France.
The future king of England Henry was born at Greenwich Palace. He was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
The Tudor king Henry VII landed in Calais leading a large army against the French King Charles VIII. They captured the town of Boulogne.
England was exporting large amounts of wool to Flanders and so the Flemings took advantage of this and levied large import duties. King Henry understood that the Flemings needed the wool as much as the English needed to export it, so stopped wool exports going direct to Flanders and sent it through Calais instead. The Ruler of Flanders, Duke Philip needed the support of Henry because of tensions in northern Europe so signed an agreement known as the Intercursus Magnus. This ensured free trade between the two nations.
Henry VII granted John Cabot, his sons and heirs the power to explore unknown areas under the English flag. They were allowed to conquer these new lands. Although the Cabots had to fund the explorations themselves, they only had to pay the Crown one fifth of the money they made by selling the goods they found.
Bishop John Alcock of Ely was granted permission by both King Henry VII and Pope Alexander VI to convert Cambridge's derelict Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's priory into a college of graduate priests studying for degrees in theology.
In support of Perkin Warbeck, who had taken refuge in Scotland, King James invaded England in an attempt to remove king Henry VII. The invasion quickly failed and the Scots returned home.
After the previous year's invasion by the Scottish king, James IV, King Henry demanded money be collected in the form of taxes to pay for an invasion of his own into Scotland.
Due to the demands of high taxation to pay for a Scottish invasion, a rebellion broke out in Cornwall. The rebels were led by Michael Joseph, a blacksmith, and Thomas Flamank (Flammock) the son of a gentleman. They advanced to Exeter then on to Taunton. At Wells they were joined by James Tuchet, Lord Audley, the only noble to oppose the King in this rebellion.
Under the English flag, John Cabot left Bristol on his voyage of exploration across the Atlantic to find a route to Asia and to open new trade routes.
Expecting to find the east coast of Asia Cabot and his fleet of explorers landed on what we now know as Newfoundland or Nova Scotia.
The Cornish rebels advanced as far as London. Henry VII had assembled a large army, much larger than the rebels own army and the two met in battle at Deptford Bridge (also know as the Battle of Blackheath). The rebels' army was no match for the King's troops and tactics and were heavily defeated.
John Cabot returned to Bristol after his voyage of discovery.
One of the conditions of a seven-year peace treaty between England and the Scots had meant Perkin Warbeck had to leave Scotland. With a small army Warbeck landed on the south coast on England at Whitsand Bay, Cornwall. It was a favourable location as Cornwall was home to a good number of rebels.
Perkin Warbeck was hiding in Beaulieu Abbey where he was found by Henry VII's army and captured. He was taken to Taunton Castle where the king was staying. Warbck confessed that he was not Richard, the son of King Edward and that he had been used by others to try and remove Henry from the throne. [5]
Henry VII had plans to spend Christmas at his royal palace of Sheen but it was destroyed by fire. Henry had the palace rebuilt and renamed the building Richmond Palace in honour of the Earl of Richmond title that he held. [10]
Perkin Warbeck was able to escape from captivity but was recaptured at Shene, Richmond. He gave himself up on condition of being spared and confessing that he was an imposter. After a public disgrace he was taken to the Tower of London.
Plans were formed to free the Earl of Warwick from the Tower of London and put him on the throne of England. The plans could have also included or been assisted by Perkin Warbeck. The plot was uncovered and both Warbeck and Warwick were accused of treason.
Both Perkin Warbeck and Edward, Earl of Warwick were executed at the Tower of London, found guilty of treason. Edward had been held captive in the Tower since the age of ten when Henry VII became King of England after defeating Edward's uncle Richard III at the battle of Bosworth. Perkin Warbeck had claimned to be one of the two Princes in the Tower who had mysteriously disappeared during the reign of Richard III.
The plague arrived in England and affected London. The king escaped to Calais while the pestilence was at its worse.
King Henry VII held a tournament at the Tower of London. [11]
After rebuilding the palace formerly known as Sheen, King Henry renamed it Richmond.
At a meeting at Calais the terms of the marriage bewteen Arthur, Prince of Wales and Catherine of Aragon were finally agreed.
This peace treaty signed between King Henry VII of England and King James IV of Scotland was an attempt to bring long term peace between the two nations. Part of the agreement was the marriage of James to Henry's daughter Margaret.
Elizabeth, Henry VII's wife died in childbirth.
Henry VII and his eldest daughter Margaret, started their journey to Scotland where the arranged marriage between Margaret and the Scottish King James IV would take place. Margaret was only fourteen years old.
The marriage of the 30 year old Scottish king James IV to Margaret the 14 year old daughter of Henry VI took place at Holyrood house in Edinburgh.
Pope Julius II gave permission for the marriage between Catherine of Aragon and King Henry VIII. The legality of the marriage was in question because Catherine had been married to Henry's elder brother Arthur.
When bad weather forced Archduke Philip of Flanders to take shelter in Weymouth harbour, King Henry VII took the opportunity to extort more favourable trade terms between the English and Flemish, building on the terms agreed in the Intercursus Magnus of 1496. The terms were far more favourable to the English and so the agreement was known as the Intercursus Malus or evil agreement.
Thomas Wolsey was given the position of royal chaplain to Henry VII.
Shortly before his death King Henry granted a general pardon releasing all debtors out of prison who only owed small amounts of money. Henry paid off the debts from his own purse.
King Henry fell ill and within a day he had died. His body was first moved to St. Paul's and then to Westminster Abbey where he was buried next to his wife. [12]
Henry VII was buried inside the Lady Chapel that he had funded the construction of at Westminster Cathedral. [13]
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