"King Henry VII" redirects here. How did a precariously enthroned ruler, lacking a police force or a standing army, manage to run roughshod over the law? This book was way too focused on what happened, but not so much on the why or why it was important. [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. Not only was . 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. He created the Tudor 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. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Wow, it was like being battered by facts without remission for good intentions. 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). I couldn't even stay awake reading this. 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. He explained how Henry VII had achieved what he set out to do, he had passed on the crown successfully. After the Holy Roman Emperor . 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. As his mother was only 14 when he was born and soon married again, Henry was brought up by his uncle Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke. If Penn's interpretation can sometimes seem slanted, its exposition would be hard to over-praise. I'm not giving this a star rating because I suspect it's me at fault not the book. Henry VII ruled from 1485-1509 and had a dubious claim on the throne, spending most of his time before the famous Battle of Bosworth Field in exile and gaining credibility from his marriage to Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death. From 1527 Henry pursued what became known as "the King's great matter": his divorce from Catherine. After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry Tudor spent 14 years in exile in Brittany. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. However, King Henry the VIII was much more self-centered as most of his spending was inappropriate and did not benefit England much. So 4 stars. 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. He died shortly afterwards in Carmarthen Castle. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. Henry VII was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. 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. Corrections? The King was heavily guarded. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. 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. [67], Henry made half-hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs, but these never came to anything. He was the last king of England to win . He was the only child of Lady Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond. Henry himself was clearly a distant figure who governed through his ministers, but this means that it's quite hard to get much of a sense of his character from the few sources available. [38], Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. Penn graphically describes a huge financial racket run by the king and his profiteering advisers. [citation needed] Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of Henry VI (son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois), his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret's uncle, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. 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. 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"). [34], 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. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. (We certainly can, and do, decide what sort of king Henry was based on what he had his government get up to, however.). The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. 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. I picked this audiobook up because it was narrated by Simon Vance. The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. [57], In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy. [58], Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. The treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it. 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. If you missed the programme then here is the YouTube video for you enjoy! 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. 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. Its goals, relentlessly pursued until Henry's death in 1509, were the establishment of a royal house, the elimination of opposition, and the steady accumulation of power and wealth. Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. Henry the eighth was a renaissance King. In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. 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. I have to admit to being a history geek. 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. 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. Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. This was excellent. Royal Collection Trust At the summit, even dinnerware testified to its owner's status. The rebellion began in Ireland, where the historically Yorkist nobility, headed by the powerful Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, proclaimed Simnel king and provided troops for his invasion of England. Penn went on to show Henry VIIs wax funeral effigy, which I saw on my recent trip to London, and which shows his fine-boned features and his crooked eye, but also a face bearing the signs of stress and illness. The significant role played by bitcoin for businesses! This is why he named the book the "Winter King". By 1900 the "New Monarchy" interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power. 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. Overblown prose trumpeting his reign seemed to be the order of the day. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. But definitely rewarding! 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. [37], For most of Henry VII's reign Edward Story was Bishop of Chichester. [19] He marched toward England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. In response to this threat within his own household, the King instituted more rigid security for access to his person. [33], In 1490, a young Fleming, Perkin Warbeck, appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". Historians debate the extent of Henry's rapacity. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth of York. The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Henry VIII had become heir to the throne when his elder brother, Arthur, died in 1502. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. 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. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. Henry then consolidated his reign with magnificent architecture, an opulent household and money. (HIST003) Persecutions, Populations and Politics: Early Modern Britain 1550-1750, (HIST004) Country, Colonies and Culture: Early Modern Britain 1550-1750, (HIST006) The Stuart Court: History Politics and Culture, (HIST010) The Tudors: History, Culture and Religion, (HIST011) The English Country House: History, Architecture and Landscape, (HIST018) The Changing English Countryside, 20th Century Musicals: A Celebration of Song and Dance on the Silver Screen and the Stage. The usual courts and justice system were totally circumvented, and there was no chance of appeal other than purchasing extremely high priced royal pardons. [72] 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. Famed British author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. His biographer, Professor 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". [31] Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. To unite the opponents of Richard III, Henry had promised to marry Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV; and the coalition of Yorkists and Lancastrians continued, helped by French support, since Richard III talked of invading France. When Richard III became King, Henrys strategy, planned by Margaret Beaufort, the mother whom he had not seen for years, was to declare in public, in Brittanys Rennes Cathedral, that he would marry Edward IVs daughter Elizabeth, then in sanctuary with her mother, and thus bury the enmity between Lancaster and York by making her his queen. 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. It was presented by historian Thomas Penn, author of Winter King and was an excellent examination of the King who, as Penn pointed out, tend to be eclipsed by Richard III, the glamour and notoriety of Henry VIII and the charisma of Elizabeth I. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Great Debasement (1544-1551) was a currency debasement policy introduced in 1544 England under the order of Henry VIII which saw the amount of precious metal in gold and silver coins reduced and in some cases replaced entirely with cheaper base metals such as copper. I had an idea Henry VII was a force for stability; in fact he was a terrifying kleptocrat, abusing the law with arbitrary fines and imprisonment, scheming to effectively steal entire estates and wring every penny out of subjects as well as impose political control through financial means. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry's father. Henry had only been accepted as King because the Princes in the Tower, the sons of Edward IV, were dead, so when Yorkist exiles groomed Perkin Warbeck to pose as one of the princes and raised an army it was a huge threat. Penn explained that the marriage had been one of genuine love and that Henry was shattered by his wifes death. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. 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. 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. Please check your email to confirm your subscription. 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. ||Wordpress installation and design by http://www.MadeGlobal.com, FREE Anne Boleyn Rarely was a father's reign so widely disparaged and disowned on the accession of the son. 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. Since we are in the middle of winter, Ive been thinking of a volume on my shelves on Henry VII, who could be called the Winter King.