Scapegoats were needed for Henry VIIs reign, people to blame for the old regime, so Edmund Dudley was imprisoned and executed on trumped up charges. During Henry's early years, his uncle Henry VI was fighting against Edward IV, a member of the Yorkist Plantagenet branch. Some of it is due to his personality--he played his cards close to the vest, unlike his son--and some of it is due to Tudor spin--they were, after all trying to bolster up the royal credentials for a man who didn't have that many. His bouts of grave illness brought the question repeatedly to the fore. No. It is a sobering reflection for professional historians that the apparently unpromising territory of Henry's reign has recently produced two memorable books, both of them written outside their ranks: this one, and Ann Wroe's biography of the pretender, Perkin (2003), a longer work on a shorter subject. Henry VII: The Winter King. He was supported in this effort by his chancellor, Archbishop John Morton, whose "Morton's Fork" was a catch-22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes: those nobles who spent little must have saved much, and thus could afford the increased taxes; in contrast, those nobles who spent much obviously had the means to pay the increased taxes. Henrys Chamber Accounts show payment to strangers and people across the sea, who appear to have been part of a network of spies and informers who kept an eye on potential troublemakers and alerted the King. He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. [30] Before departing for London, Henry sent Robert Willoughby to Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, to arrest Warwick and take him to the Tower of London. He was the last king of England to win . The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry Tudor spent 14 years in exile in Brittany. Historians debate the extent of Henry's rapacity. [68] 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. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. Henry VII was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. Penn pointed out that for over half a century no king had passed on the crown without turmoil and Henry knew that what had happened to Richard could happen to him. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. Henry VIII was spring and Henry VII was winter. "King Henry VII" redirects here. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Claire is going live on YouTube on 11 February! Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. Henry VII shut himself away in Richmond Palace from January 1509 and at 11pm on Saturday 21st April 1509 he died. [citation needed], By 1509, justices of the peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. The fact that a Cockney could provide a recognisable representation of him gives away part of his enduring appeal; in national memory, Henry was one of the lads, the only English king to have. 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"). His first son and heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at Ludlow Castle, very likely from a viral respiratory illness known at the time as the "English sweating sickness". The Lancastrian Henry and his Yorkist wife Elizabeth strove to reconcile the factions, but unreconciled Yorkists, to whom he was no more than a usurper, harassed his reign. This book is a nonfiction look at King Henry the VII. He would learn better as the new reign unfolded. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn - review The insurrections fronted by the pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck emerged from wide and formidable networks of conspiracy that drew in foreign rulers and leading English magnates, and infiltrated Henry's court. Catherine's mother Isabella I of Castile had died and Catherine's sister Joanna had succeeded her; Catherine was, therefore, daughter of only one reigning monarch and so less desirable as a spouse for Henry VII's heir-apparent. Penn graphically describes a huge financial racket run by the king and his profiteering advisers. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. I am glad to say that I think it does, for it concentrates on the reign, and court, of Henry VII, giving a different slant to the well known story. Rarely was a father's reign so widely disparaged and disowned on the accession of the son. [75], Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 and was buried in the chapel he commissioned in Westminster Abbey next to his wife, Elizabeth. 1509. The union was both symbolic and necessary. He was, said Penn, a man who never knew a moments peace during his reign. [62], Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. [10] A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard Andr, also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. Both were survivors and as united in death as in life, as their tomb in Westminster Abbey illustrates. Henry VIII was the first English king to be called "Your Majesty.". [18] He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. Edward would have liked to rid himself of Henry, a rival to his throne, but Francis kept Henry safe. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. But, his enemies didnt agree. I would read more by this author. Present were exiles from Richards court, friends of Edward IVths queen, but King Richard was able to bribe the ageing Duke of Brittany to relinquish Henry in return for funds to fight an increasingly hostile French king, whereupon Henry Tudor flew to the French court for sanctuary. February 7 Sir Francis Bryan loses an eye and Henry VIII has a new love, An interview with historical novelist Sandra Byrd, Henry VIII and His Six Wives event open for registration. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . On the other side of the coin, instead of the cross, was a Tudor rose and the arms of England. [24][17][25] He was 29 years old, she was 20. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. Philip had been shipwrecked on the English coast, and while Henry's guest, was bullied into an agreement so favourable to England at the expense of the Netherlands that it was dubbed the Malus Intercursus ("evil agreement"). The author does a good job drawing on his sources and bringing the characters to life while staying true to the history, but the subject matter is just not inherently as sexy as Henry VIIIs or Elizabeth Is reigns. Henry VII (28 January 1457 - 21 April 1509) was King of England from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. Even if the king outfaced his enemies in his lifetime, would they not forestall a Tudor succession? It was no easy feat. Updates? He was probably baptised at St Mary's Church, Pembroke,[1] though no documentation of the event exists. What are the differences between Henry VII and Henry VIII? If Penn's interpretation can sometimes seem slanted, its exposition would be hard to over-praise. Coinage of Henry VII of England | Mintage World They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. 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. Henry VII: The Winter King (95) 59min 2013 PG. When the Lancastrian cause crashed to disaster at the Battle of Tewkesbury (May 1471), Jasper took the boy out of the country and sought refuge in the duchy of Brittany. Henry VIII had become heir to the throne when his elder brother, Arthur, died in 1502. Some of them have more to say than Penn about the constructive sides of the reign, which developed the state-building methods of his Yorkist predecessors. He was the only child of Lady Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond. Henry VII declared himself king by just title of inheritance and by the judgment of God in battle, after slaying Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. From his victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, to his secret death and the succession of his son Henry VIII, the film reveals the ruthless tactics . This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. [56] This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper, which raised opposition from Pope Julius II, since the Tolfa mine was a part of papal territory and had given the Pope monopoly control over alum. This is why he named the book the "Winter King". The parts on how he abused his position and the law to enrich himself while an entire nation watched helplessly are, frankly, pretty relevant to now. The reigns of his three predecessors were interrupted or foreshortened. Henry Tudors claim to the throne was, therefore, weak and of no importance until the deaths in 1471 of Henry VIs only son, Edward, of his own two remaining kinsmen of the Beaufort line, and of Henry VI himself, which suddenly made Henry Tudor the sole surviving male with any ancestral claim to the house of Lancaster. His younger brother, Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, undertook to protect Edmund's widow Margaret, who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. [49] The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of 24,000. [9] He took it, as well as the standard of St. George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. Two themes of his book preside: the permanent vulnerability of Henry's regime, and his ruthless methods of rule. Henry needed an heir to secure his reign and fortunately an heir came quickly. People saw him as being like a traditional king and hoped that his reign would bring positive change. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". Sometimes, Penn explained, charges against people were fabricated so that they would have to pay a fine, for example, a man who was charged with murdering a child and who was found guilty because the jury was rigged. Henry came to the throne following the death of his father, Henry VII. [7] He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr, in legend, the last ancient British king,[8] and on occasion Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the Low Countries had long-lasting benefit to the English economy. Why was Henry VII called the Winter King? His dynasty was hanging by a thread and all his hopes had to rest on his youngest son, Henry, and Elizabeth of York producing another son, a spare. Henry's father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, a half-brother of Henry VI of England and a member of the Welsh Tudors of Penmynydd, died three months before his son Henry was born. The nobility was forced into bonds, legal agreements that they would act as the King wanted or be fined. Watch for $0.00 with Prime. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [55] Since alum was mined in only one area in Europe (Tolfa, Italy), it was a scarce commodity and therefore especially valuable to its land holder, the Pope. Annoyingly, much of the most interesting stuff concerns his son, and whenever Penn comments intelligently on how the events here affected the future Henry VIII's reign I found myself perking up such as the suggestion that Henry VII's marriage to Elizabeth was the kind of marriage that their second son, Prince Henry, would spend his whole life trying to find. Its restoration by the Magnus Intercursus was very much to England's benefit in removing taxation for English merchants and significantly increasing England's wealth. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. In 1502 the death of his heir Arthur left the dynasty's prospects with Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry. You can find out more on the conflicts between England and France, the Wars of the Roses and also the Tudors in our history courses. For me, history is alive and energizing - not something static and remote. [2] His father died three months before his birth. Henry, recognizing that Simnel had been a mere dupe, employed him in the royal kitchens. Based on the terms of the accord, Henry sent 6000 troops to fight (at the expense of Brittany) under the command of Lord Daubeney. Unfortunately, since all I really wanted to know about was learning about Henry the 7th and his family as people - the things that happened to them, what kind of people they were, etc. [citation needed] Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life before becoming king. Most often asked questions related to bitcoin. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. Life at court was merry under Henry 8th, a fresh new beginning likened to springtime. [12], Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. Soon after his fathers burial on 10 May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine, leaving unresolved several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the marriage portion. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. It was 1501. Alternate titles: Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, Professor of Medieval History, University of Liverpool, 196780. Anne Boleyn | Biography, Children, Portrait, Death, & Facts - Britannica Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. One interesting thing about him is his early youth and the fourteen years he spent in exile in France Brittany to be precise and those, I believe, made him the man he was eventually to become. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states. An easy read? According to John M. Currin, the treaty redefined Anglo-Breton relations. [41] Henry also increased wealth by acquiring land through the act of resumption of 1486 which had been delayed as he focused on defence of the Church, his person and his realm. He likens the beginning of Henry VIII's reign to a metaphorical spring, a second coming of sorts because Henry VIII seemed to be the opposite of his father. I thought the book was well written, even though a bit dry is spots. Henry's original head was cut out of the painting and replaced at some point after the work's creation. Henry Tudor is a familiar name to students of English history, especially the military side of it. Please check your email to confirm your subscription. By subscribing you confirm that you have read and agree to the Privacy Policy [opens in new window] and the Terms & Conditions [opens in new window]. In 1485, history was about to be changed for ever by a man who was a refugee, a fugitive whod spent half his life on the run and with barely a claim to the throne: Henry Tudor. Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England Thank you for subscribing. Files Welcome Pack of 5 goodies, 28 January 1457 Birth of Henry VII at Pembroke Castle, 30 October 1485 Coronation of Henry VII, Henry VIIIs Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell A Review and Rundown, Henry VII: Winter King A Review and Rundown, 31 May 1533 The Coronation Procession of Queen Anne Boleyn, Why I think Henry VIII was ultimately responsible for Anne Boleyns downfall, 4 March 1522 Anne Boleyn plays Perseverance, The Boleyns of Hever Castle now 99p on Kindle on Amazon UK, YouTube Live 4 March 2023 The Fascinating Background of Henry VIII. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. There are an awful lot of books written about the Tudor era, both fiction and non-fiction, so you have to ask whether this book adds anything new. In 1407, Henry IV, Gaunt's son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. They overrode all the usual legal processed and acted with complete impunity. One of the councils prominent members was Edmund Dudley, a man who helped Henry by enforcing the Kings legal rights, finding old laws to use against people and stretching the law to its limits. [74] 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. [13] When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470, Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. Omissions? I've never read much on the reign of Henry VII - mostly because to really get to grips with his policies, you first have to get to grips with his exhaustively complicated financial policies - but Penn provides a wonderful accessibility through his writing, which provides valuable context to the man who founded England's most famous dynasty. So 4 stars. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Sonnet XCVII - Massachusetts Institute of Technology When he met Richard III at Bosworth Field, Henry found that his army of dissidents and mercenaries was completely outnumbered. Henry VIII, (born June 28, 1491, Greenwich, near London, Englanddied January 28, 1547, London), king of England (1509-47) who presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation. The King was heavily guarded. It took Henry, who in any case needed to marry her if the expected issue was to solve the succession problem, some six years to achieve their joint purpose. 24th April 2023 - courses open for registrations. By 1600 historians emphasised Henry's wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs. Dydd Gyl Dewi Hapus! 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. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. BBC Two - Henry VII: The Winter King, Backdating Henry's reign Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! [46] In 1506 he resumed the construction of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, started under Henry VI, guaranteeing finances which would continue even after his death. Why was Henry VII called the "Winter King"? - Quora