Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. There he found more English fugitives, willing to invade England in support of Henry, and bearing news that Richard III had serious plans to marry the princess Elizabeth himself. Through luck, guile and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, had clambered to the top of the heap--a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne. [54], Henry VII was much enriched by trading alum, which was used in the wool and cloth trades as a chemical fixative for dyeing fabrics. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . 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"). Bacon wanted the future Charles I to learn from Henry's reign, but the financial methods that would provoke fatal opposition to Charles look pale beside the exactions levied by Henry from often innocent subjects, who were denied legal process or threatened with trumped-up prosecutions and had to buy their freedom (though at moments of apparently impending death the king would repent of his methods and have the jails cleared and pardons issued). All the information is from Thomas Penn. Henry VII was also shown, but his black line just traced back to Owen Tudor, a chamber servant. of course, a large proportion of my opinion is probably due to the fact that i knew a lot about henry vii already, and Penn tried to create quite a thrilling/mysterious feel, which is all well and good if you don't already know how everything plays out. As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. 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. The marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon would be the culmination of everything that Henry VII had fought for at the Battle of Bosworth, so in 1501 there was a fortnight of marriage celebrations and London was in a carnival mood. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. An easy read? Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. Wolf Hall this is not. I thought the book was well written, even though a bit dry is spots. Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. 3.5 Stars. [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. Iain Hollingshead reviews Henry VII: Winter King, a BBC Two documentary which examines how the first Tudor monarch came to power and went on to have a 23-year reign. I found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. Thanks largely to the desertion of his stepfather, Lord Stanley, to him, he defeated and slew Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485. [62], Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. A fresh look at the endlessly fascinating Tudorsthe dramatic and overlooked story of Henry VII and his founding of the Tudor Dynastyfilled with spies, plots, counterplots, and an uneasy royal succession to Henry VIII. [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. Henry, son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, was born nearly three months after his fathers death. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. If he trusted anyone, it would be his queen and why not, since both had so much in common both being familiar with being in sanctuary, and pawns in the game of power? Henry VII can look a dull king, so dull that Thomas Penn's title omits his name. It was not until 1506, when he imprisoned Suffolk in the Tower of London, that Henry could at last feel safe. Through luck, guile and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, had clambered to the top of the heap--a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne. Shakespeare later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. [51], Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom; he concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo, by which his son Arthur, Prince of Wales, was married to Catherine of Aragon. But that's not really what I wanted from a book about Henry VII. I picked this audiobook up because it was narrated by Simon Vance. Swynford was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. Not only was . Henry VII comes across as a talented micromanager and financier. This is why he named the book the "Winter King". 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. The new prince was the embodiment of the red and white rose, he was the Tudor rose incarnate. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. Loyalty was ensured, and the nobility was effectively neuteredand Henry became the richest monarch in Europe. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. [64] This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, heir apparent to the throne. During Henry's early years, his uncle Henry VI was fighting against Edward IV, a member of the Yorkist Plantagenet branch. 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. Royal Collection Trust At the summit, even dinnerware testified to its owner's status. All the powers of Europe doubted Henrys ability to survive, and most were willing to shelter claimants against him. Historians debate the extent of Henry's rapacity. [20] He amassed an army of about 5,0006,000 soldiers. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. Penn's picture of a reign of terror carries disturbing echoes of the Roman historian Tacitus's account of the emperor Tiberius, another ruler whose abridgements of liberty followed an era of civil strife. He married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with a few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of the reign called Henry "a dark prince, and infinitely suspicious". 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. In 1502 the death of his heir Arthur left the dynasty's prospects with Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry. Lincoln was killed in battle and Henry was victorious. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. Supported at one time or another by France, by Maximilian I of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (Holy Roman emperor from 1493), by James IV of Scotland, and by powerful men in both Ireland and England, Perkin three times invaded England before he was captured at Beaulieu in Hampshire in 1497. While most of us are familiar with Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and we probably have a sense of the Wars of the Roses in England, but how many of us are familiar with Henry VII. At any rate, the Wars of the Roses had ended with a victory by which the winner took all, and regardless of his somewhat dubious Plantagenet ancestry. Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. [11] When Edward IV became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. I would read more by this author. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. My obsession is European history from the 12th through 17th centuries - especially British history - so of course, when I was offered the chance to review this book, my interest was piqued immediately. The last few years of his reign were ones of repression. $14.97 1 Used from $14.96 3 New from $14.97. He spent money lavishly, held big parties. Anyone perceived to have any potential political power or social capital was rendered deeply indebted to the crown and at risk of complete financial ruin upon the whim of the king and his councillors. 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. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. Yet in the hands of a narrator as accomplished as Penn, the reign acquires its own, troubling fascination. A man who rewrote history and rebuilt the crown, but who was paranoid, manipulative and suspicious; a dark prince with a wintery reign. I'm beginning to wonder if all of the kings beginning with the conquest weren't a little off their rocker in some way. The rest, as we say, is history; Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth and Henry Tudor had arrived out of nowhere and avenged the death of the little princes in the tower, although there is some debate as to who was actually responsible for their murder. He was the founder of the Tudor dynasty, and his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville brought together the too sides that were facing off during the Wars of the Roses (the Lancasters and the Yorks) basically uniting the two houses into a single family. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Claire is going live on YouTube on 11 February! Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. 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. For example, they could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Many influential Yorkists had been dispossessed and disappointed by the change of regime, and there had been so many reversals of fortune within living memory that the decision of Bosworth did not appear necessarily final. Edward, Earl of Warwick, the ten-year-old son of Edward IV's brother George, Duke of Clarence, was the senior surviving male of the House of York. ), The Reign of Henry VII. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. The reigns of his three predecessors were interrupted or foreshortened. 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"). For many he remained a usurper, a false king. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. King Henry the VII and King Henry the VIII both feared being invaded by foreign countries. The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. Early life This was excellent. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VII-king-of-England, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Henry VII, English Monarchs - Biography of Henry VII, Henry VII - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Henry VII - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! Henry started a new policy to recover Guyenne and other lost Plantagenet claims in France. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry's father. For other uses, see, Henry holding a rose and wearing the collar of the, Law enforcement and justices of the peace, the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Cultural depictions of Henry VII of England, "Tudor Pembroke | Ymddiriedolaeth Harri Tudur | Henry Tudor Trust", "BBC Wales History Themes Pembroke The Main Street", "Westminster Abbey website: Coronations, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York", "Calendar of State Papers, Spain: Supplement To Volumes 1 and 2, Queen Katherine; Intended Marriage of King Henry VII To Queen Juana", "Domestic and foreign policy of Henry VII", "Queen Margaret's Arch | York Civic Trust", "Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond", The Reign of Henry VII. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! Rarely was a father's reign so widely disparaged and disowned on the accession of the son. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.[a]. Even if the king outfaced his enemies in his lifetime, would they not forestall a Tudor succession? [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. Thomas More hailed the end of "slavery" and the return of "liberty", "the end of sadness, the beginning of joy". 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. [63] Despite this, Henry was keen to constrain their power and influence, applying the same principles to the justices of the peace as he did to the nobility: a similar system of bonds and recognisances to that which applied to both the gentry and the nobles who tried to exert their elevated influence over these local officials. 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. He attained the throne when his forces, supported by France, Scotland, and Wales, defeated Edward IV's brother Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry attained the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry IV had confirmed Richard IIs legitimation (1397) of the children of this union but had specifically excluded the Beauforts from any claim to the throne (1407). [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. Henry showed remarkable clemency to the surviving rebels: he pardoned Kildare and the other Irish nobles, and he made the boy, Simnel, a servant in the royal kitchen where he was in charge of roasting meats on a spit. He invited artists, musicians and scholars to live at his court. Henry VII shut himself away in Richmond Palace from January 1509 and at 11pm on Saturday 21st April 1509 he died. His early reign was plagued by pretenders to the throne, giving the new Tudor dynasty a rocky start and a fear of conspiracy which dogged Henry VII throughout his life. I have to admit to being a history geek. However, as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars, the French were happy to agree to the Treaty of Etaples. I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. 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. The Field of Cloth of Gold: Royal Revelry. Henry VII ruled as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do through fear rather than love. He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. On one side of the coin, instead of a profile of his face, there was a full length depiction of Henry sat on his throne with his crown and sceptre. Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. This book was way too focused on what happened, but not so much on the why or why it was important. If you missed the programme then here is the YouTube video for you enjoy! The union was both symbolic and necessary. [24][17][25] He was 29 years old, she was 20. 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. Henry was building a myth, the idea that he and his family were the true royal blood of England. Henry VIII Books livestream YouTube 18 February 2023, February 13 A queen and her lady-in-waiting are beheaded. [70] 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. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. Before Henry VIII, English kings were addressed as "Your Grace" or "Your Highness.". The Lancastrians triumphed under the leadership of a 28-year-old exile named Henry Tudor. Happy St Davids Day! (ROYAL HISTORY) Directors Stuart Elliott Genres Documentary, International Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English. But he leaves us wondering how Henry got away with it. I'm not giving this a star rating because I suspect it's me at fault not the book. Richard III's death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. [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. [45], Henry VII established the pound avoirdupois as a standard of weight; it later became part of the Imperial[46] and customary systems of units. 7.1 59min 2013 16+. [2] His father died three months before his birth. 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. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard . [citation needed], In 1502, Henry VII's life took a difficult and personal turn in which many people he was close to died in quick succession. Corrections? He created the Tudor dynasty. In my never-ending quest to read possibly every single published book on the Tudor monarchy, I spied this little gem a few weeks ago and picked it up. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. So Henry was a valuable bargaining tool, whose fate always depended on what relations were between England and France, always tainted by the recent Hundred Years War, and how Brittany sought to ward off threats to its own independence. Updates? In 1622 Francis Bacon published his History of the Reign of King Henry VII. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. Henry the older was lean and shriveled, rigid with prudence, empty of any hunger other than a desire to secure his throne through the acquisition of cash. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". 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], 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.
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