And yet this time removed was summer's time, The teeming autumn, big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, Like widow'd wombs after their lords . More wrote that this King is loved and compared Henrys accession to the coming of a new season, a new spring following a winter of repression. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. I was disappointed by this it was decent but I think it was somewhat overhyped. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. [citation needed] The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell, which collapsed without fighting. From 1527 Henry pursued what became known as "the King's great matter": his divorce from Catherine. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Famed British author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. His history plays depicted the dramatic conflicts of the wars of the roses, which Henry's accession after his victory at Bosworth in 1485 brought to an end. Effectively an orphan, he had spent wretched years as a fugitive in Brittany. Yorkist malcontents had strength in the north of England and in Ireland and had a powerful ally in Richard IIIs sister Margaret, dowager duchess of Burgundy. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. Today is Shrove Tuesday time for pancakes! 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. The Lancastrians triumphed under the leadership of a 28-year-old exile named Henry Tudor. ||Wordpress installation and design by http://www.MadeGlobal.com, FREE Anne Boleyn Henry's original head was cut out of the painting and replaced at some point after the work's creation. 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. 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). Warbeck was finally captured in 1497 and executed. 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. Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent 6,000 troops to France. Penn explained that the marriage had been one of genuine love and that Henry was shattered by his wifes death. Martin Luther 95 thesis. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. There's a lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff here, something Henry and certain of his counselors seemed especially skilled at, and it was those parts that I particularly enjoyed. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth of York. 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). Early life [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. [58], Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. To say the least, Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England is quite an interesting read. [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. Hence, the king was plagued with conspiracies until nearly the end of his reign. Through luck, guile, and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, emerged as rulerbut as a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne, he remained a usurper and false king to many, and his hold on power was precarious. More than a biography of Henry VII, this book is really a highly detailed history of the last ten years of his reign, and how he meticulously and ruthlessly turned England into a police state ruled by what amounted to an organized crime syndicate. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. 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. His claim to the throne was tenuous and permanently contested. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.[a]. He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495, and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496. This book was way too focused on what happened, but not so much on the why or why it was important. For Henry VII, it was all about the money and stability. His spies and informers were everywhere. 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. She was Edward's heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. Henry started a new policy to recover Guyenne and other lost Plantagenet claims in France. [49] The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of 24,000. For him, it was never about glory and battle. I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. 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. Indeed he was born in winter, on January 28th 1457, in Pembroke Castle, in Wales and that is one of the reasons why the Welsh dragon always formed part of his insignia. 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. Philip died shortly after the negotiations. I couldn't even stay awake reading this. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. Hidden under the floor in St George's Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. Possession of something the French King wanted also made the Duke of Brittany safer in his own duchy. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. 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. Quite ambitious in nature, Thomas Penn attempts to write a portrait of Henry VII and his reign. 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. The nobility was forced into bonds, legal agreements that they would act as the King wanted or be fined. It was not until 1506, when he imprisoned Suffolk in the Tower of London, that Henry could at last feel safe. It was the end of the union of Lancaster and York and many had only accepted Henry as King because of his wifes Yorkist roots, so Henry was once more on shaky ground with his old enemies resurfacing and raising armies. His regime was magnificent, yet terrifying and oppressive. He made huge gobs of money binding his subjects to him with loyalty bonds. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. 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. Penn explained how Henry reworked recent events to suit him. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. Well written and really interesting about an often ignored king. This family took a dim view of Henry and it was John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who instigated the first rebellion against him. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". Inadvertently, he provoked a revolution. Indeed he was born in winter, on January 28th 1457, in Pembroke Castle, in Wales and that is one of the reasons why the Welsh dragon always formed part of his insignia. 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. The wedding was a triumph but in April 1502 a messenger brought the King the news that his eldest son had died of sweating sickness. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with a few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed. Both were survivors and as united in death as in life, as their tomb in Westminster Abbey illustrates. The king's own death seven years later had to be kept secret until his nervous entourage had ensured the succession. A King from upstart usurper to renaissance monarch to Machiavellian schemer. Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle, in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales. Henry was a remarkable man. He was the last king of England to win . It is not known precisely where Cabot landed, but he was eventually rewarded with a pension from the king; it is presumed that Cabot perished at sea after a later unsuccessful expedition. An ally of Henry's, Viscount Jean du Qulennec[fr], soon arrived, bringing news that Francis had recovered, and in the confusion Henry was able to flee to a monastery. The whole system was ingeniously designed to ensure the unchallenged supremacy of the king while stamping out any challenges to his authority from the nobles, merchants, and commons. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". All the powers of Europe doubted Henrys ability to survive, and most were willing to shelter claimants against him. Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. 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. (1): (April 24, 1883. The Field of Cloth of Gold: Royal Revelry. Fittingly he dressed in expensive black. In 1502 the death of his heir Arthur left the dynasty's prospects with Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry. I found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. [31] Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. [79], Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. I'm not giving this a star rating because I suspect it's me at fault not the book. [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. [33], In 1490, a young Fleming, Perkin Warbeck, appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". Thus, Henry Tudor had no choice but to gather together an army including mercenary soldiers as well as his own supporters, and he landed in Wales in August, 1485. It was 1501. Henry VII shut himself away in Richmond Palace from January 1509 and at 11pm on Saturday 21st April 1509 he died. [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . 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. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. He had finished his palace of Richmond, he was controlling his allies and keeping an eye on his enemies, and now was the time to finalise the marriage agreement between England and Spain. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. Yet Henry's techniques of power went beyond the needs of surveillance and survival. [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. Henry VII was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and father of Henry VIII and Ive been doing a bit of digging on this lesser known Tudor. [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.
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