Why was Henry VII called the Winter King? 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. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. The baby died and Elizabeth, herself, died on 11th February 1503, her 37th birthday. 'Meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520,' a painting by Friedrich August Bouterwek. After his victory at Bosworth Field, Henry married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. If you missed the programme then here is the YouTube video for you enjoy! Anne Boleyn | Biography, Children, Portrait, Death, & Facts - Britannica That is, suspicious, insecure and crafty but also determined, patient and fiercely proud of his Lancastrian ancestry. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.[a]. Henry VII | Biography & Facts | Britannica He was a ruler to be feared, a ruler to be paid. 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. [citation needed], All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the justices of the peace. I'm not giving this a star rating because I suspect it's me at fault not the book. 8 Things You May Not Know About Henry VIII - HISTORY 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. Watch for $0.00 with Prime. Henry VIII - Tudor History 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. The usurpation of Richard III (1483), however, split the Yorkist party and gave Henry his opportunity. [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. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort. [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. [9] He took it, as well as the standard of St. George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. [57], In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy. I would read more by this author. Henry VII: The Winter King. In 1502 the death of his heir Arthur left the dynasty's prospects with Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry. After winning the throne of England, he wed Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of the dead Yorkist king Edward IV. 4. Henry gained the support of the Woodvilles, in-laws of the late Edward IV, and sailed with a small French and Scottish force, landing at Mill Bay near Dale, Pembrokeshire. Henry VII: Winter King - A Review and Rundown - The Anne Boleyn Files Henry VII shut himself away in Richmond Palace from January 1509 and at 11pm on Saturday 21st April 1509 he died. I was disappointed by this it was decent but I think it was somewhat overhyped. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of. Author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor King, Henry VII. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. (We certainly can, and do, decide what sort of king Henry was based on what he had his government get up to, however.). [citation needed] 1517. Sometimes when reading nonfiction of this type, I never know if it is going to be dry and dull or not. [25][80], Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon. 1509. Watch with Prime The new prince was the embodiment of the red and white rose, he was the Tudor rose incarnate. In 1485 Henry landed at Milford Haven in Wales and advanced toward London. 7.1 59min 2013 16+. For inheriting an unstable throne, holding it for 25 year and leaving England relatively stable, Henry VII deserves his own biography and a lot more credit. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. Hed achieved the impossible, hed risen from refugee to King of England. Royal Collection Trust At the summit, even dinnerware testified to its owner's status. [31] Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. 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. Shakespeare, drawn to the colour on either side of the reign, skipped it. Henry needed an heir to secure his reign and fortunately an heir came quickly. Stanley placed Richards circlet on Henrys head, he was now King. Henry's original head was cut out of the painting and replaced at some point after the work's creation. 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. [62], Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. Thomas Mores coronation poem for Henry VIII contrasted the new Kings reign with the dark days of the past. A man who rewrote history and rebuilt the crown, but who was paranoid, manipulative and suspicious; a dark prince with a wintery reign. His bouts of grave illness brought the question repeatedly to the fore. To be notified of special offers, news, new courses, and new tutors, please subscribe to our newsletter. It was a fantastic programme and I highly recommend Thomas Penns book on Henry VII Winter King. During Henry's early years, his uncle Henry VI was fighting against Edward IV, a member of the Yorkist Plantagenet branch. His account of Henry's government is more contentious than he lets on. He invited artists, musicians and scholars to live at his court. There he claimed sanctuary until the envoys were forced to depart. The king's own death seven years later had to be kept secret until his nervous entourage had ensured the succession. [12], Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. He spent money lavishly, held big parties. Interesting look at the founder of the Tudor dynesty. It was really very well researched and painstakingly written. He was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. MP3 CD. Loyalty was ensured, and the nobility was effectively neuteredand Henry became the richest monarch in Europe. Henry VIII and the Break with Rome Timeline - History [40], Henry VII improved tax collection in the realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. 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. 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. Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until her death on February 11th, 1503. [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. 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. Life at court was merry under Henry 8th, a fresh new beginning likened to springtime. Then in 1491 appeared a still more serious menace: Perkin Warbeck, coached by Margaret to impersonate Richard, the younger son of Edward IV. [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. The 6 Main Achievements of Henry VII | History Hit [4] Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois. People saw him as being like a traditional king and hoped that his reign would bring positive change. Richard III's death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Yet in the hands of a narrator as accomplished as Penn, the reign acquires its own, troubling fascination. Stanleys betrayal led to a complete security overhaul and his privy chamber going into lockdown. This is why he named the book the Winter King. 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. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. With the English economy heavily invested in wool production, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade in 1486. [44] Following Henry VII's death, Henry VIII executed Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley, his two most hated tax collectors, on trumped-up charges of treason. Reasonably interesting overview of the reign of Henry VII of England. In the late 20th century a model of European state formation was prominent in which Henry less resembles Louis and Ferdinand. 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"). As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. 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. Henry VII ruled - as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do - through fear rather than love. 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. For Henry VII, it was all about the money and stability. He rewrote history by backdating his reign to 21st August 1485, the day before the Battle of Bosworth Field. He explained how Henry VII had achieved what he set out to do, he had passed on the crown successfully. The first rising, that of Lord Lovell, Richard IIIs chamberlain, in 1486 was ill-prepared and unimportant, but in 1487 came the much more serious revolt of Lambert Simnel. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard III as a usurper. That was to prevent the King of France capturing him and letting him loose on the English as a rival. The Great Debasement - Wikipedia [76] He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 150947), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. [32], Next, in 1487, Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of Lambert Simnel, a boy they claimed to be Edward of Warwick (who was actually a prisoner in the Tower). Thomas Penn's Winter King is not really a biography of Henry VII, and more a study of what he was directing his government to do in his name. Having established his claim to be king in his own right, he married Elizabeth of York on January 18, 1486. 24th April 2023 - courses open for registrations. 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. 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. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example)[27] with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry's father. Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. Quite ambitious in nature, Thomas Penn attempts to write a portrait of Henry VII and his reign. Otherwise, at the time of his father's arranging of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the future Henry VIII was too young to contract the marriage according to Canon Law and would be ineligible until age fourteen. [citation needed] The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell, which collapsed without fighting. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. Accordingly, he arranged a papal dispensation from Pope Julius II for Prince Henry to marry his brother's widow Catherine, a relationship that would have otherwise precluded marriage in the Church. What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death. I thought the way he controled the nobility was fascinating - keeping them in check as well a raising vast sums of money at the same time. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. Henry VII Facts, Information & Biography - Tudor Monarchs - English History When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. In response to this threat within his own household, the King instituted more rigid security for access to his person. 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. He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. Coinage of Henry VII of England | Mintage World [36] However, he spared Warwick's elder sister Margaret, who survived until 1541 when she was executed by Henry VIII. His first chance came in 1483 when his aid was sought to rally Lancastrians in support of the rebellion of Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, but that revolt was defeated before Henry could land in England. The future Henry VIII, in contrast,. Four different kinds of cryptocurrencies you should know. When Henry VIII and Francis I Spent $19 Million on the Field of Cloth Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. 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). I found this really interesting, but Im a history nut. 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. Henry was devastated. Inadvertently, he provoked a revolution. 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. Up to a point, he succeeded. Henry VIII | Biography, Wives, Religion, Death, & Facts Not only was . Stephens, "affords some illustrations of the avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". 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. 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. Old rivalries simmered, however. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with a few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed. Four good reasons to indulge in cryptocurrency! Swynford was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. [79], Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. Happy St Davids Day! 1) The number of books on Henry VII can basically be counted on one hand 2) This is Penns first book. The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke. Henrys throne, however, was far from secure. 1845. Luther made a protest against the Catholic practice of Indulgences. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. He would learn better as the new reign unfolded. Penn graphically describes a huge financial racket run by the king and his profiteering advisers. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry Tudor spent 14 years in exile in Brittany. There were some sections I had to skim because I didn't feel they were relevant to the storyline, but mostly I was hooked into this very complex King. Henry VII: The Winter King (95) 59min 2013 PG. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. He had to pay a 500 fine to save himself, to buy a pardon for the crime. Penn ended the programme by visiting the tombs of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in Henrys chapel at Westminster Abbey, a chapel that remains at the heart of political life. After the Holy Roman Emperor . Why was Henry VII called the Winter King? Penn explained how Henry reworked recent events to suit him. The country was in a perpetual state of emergency and Henrys subjects were scared and resentful. Thus, the two warring houses were joined in marriage. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. 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. 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. Through this, he found that his Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in the plot. He became paranoid and made the decision that if his people couldnt love him then they should fear him. His regime was magnificent, yet terrifying and oppressive. 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. 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. Having seen it pop up in a lot of papers' Books of the Year lists, I think I was expecting something altogether more gripping and dramatic, but in the end I thought the story of Henry VII and the Tudor succession was just not an especially thrilling tale. Henry, recognizing that Simnel had been a mere dupe, employed him in the royal kitchens. What did the people of England think of Henry VIII? - eNotes.com 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"). [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.