Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Henry was devastated. Penn explained how Henry reworked recent events to suit him. 7.1 59min 2013 16+. 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. 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. Henry VII ruled as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do through fear rather than love. Overblown prose trumpeting his reign seemed to be the order of the day. 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. "King Henry VII" redirects here. The expressive and evocative power of his writing, and the union of scholarship with artistry, are rare in modern historical writing. [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. The Winter King is also the title of a book by Thomas Penn, and a useful read. Shakespeare later turned to Henry's son and successor Henry VIII, whose rule brought marital sensation, renaissance spectacle and the reformation. His legacy was his son, Henry VIII, lucky old England Penn commented. 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. 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. Two themes of his book preside: the permanent vulnerability of Henry's regime, and his ruthless methods of rule. I really enjoyed it. His father, Henry VII, was a cold, calculating man (he wasn't called "the Winter King" for nothing), a greedy monarch who during his last years on the throne had squeezed every last drop. In 1501, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, coups . [citation needed] John Cabot, originally from Genoa and Venice, had heard that ships from Bristol had discovered uncharted new found territory far west of Ireland. He had gone from a refugee landing on an isolated beach in Wales to being a great king. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of. 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. 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. Why was Henry VII called the Winter King? Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Martin Luther 95 thesis. 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 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. [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. 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. After the Holy Roman Emperor . Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle, in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales. Corrections? He had a populist touch and his reign started with pardons, reforms and justice. After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. 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. When he met Richard III at Bosworth Field, Henry found that his army of dissidents and mercenaries was completely outnumbered. 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. So 4 stars. The future Henry VIII, in contrast,. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort. Penn explained that the marriage had been one of genuine love and that Henry was shattered by his wifes death. 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. On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. 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. 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). Thomas Penns Winter King in a brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography. [citation needed], After 1503, records show the Tower of London was never again used as a royal residence by Henry VII, and all royal births under Henry VIII took place in palaces. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. Henry then consolidated his reign with magnificent architecture, an opulent household and money. His bouts of grave illness brought the question repeatedly to the fore. Henry VII was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. Claiming the throne by just title of inheritance and by the judgment of God in battle, he was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. [21], Henry devised a plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester. 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. He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. 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. Watch for $0.00 with Prime. A man who rewrote history and rebuilt the crown, but who was paranoid, manipulative and suspicious; a dark prince with a wintery reign. 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. Henry VIII Books livestream YouTube 18 February 2023, February 13 A queen and her lady-in-waiting are beheaded. Gaunt's nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. Yet Henry's techniques of power went beyond the needs of surveillance and survival. After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry Tudor spent 14 years in exile in Brittany. In 1622 Francis Bacon published his History of the Reign of King Henry VII. Happy 14th Birthday to the Anne Boleyn Files! 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. Its inhabitant was once one of England's most exuberant kings, yet his resting place was only re-discovered in 1813. 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. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. Henry VII: The Winter King (95) 59min 2013 PG. Penn graphically describes a huge financial racket run by the king and his profiteering advisers. Their main aim was 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. 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. By 1600 historians emphasised Henry's wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs. 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 . In response to this threat within his own household, the King instituted more rigid security for access to his person. Henry, recognizing that Simnel had been a mere dupe, employed him in the royal kitchens. 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 was crowned on October 30 and secured parliamentary recognition of his title early in November. Henry Tudor, named after his father, Henry VII, was born by Elizabeth of York June 28, 1491 in Greenwich Palace. To be notified of special offers, news, new courses, and new tutors, please subscribe to our newsletter. Poor Henry VII. 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. [4] Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois. During Henry's early years, his uncle Henry VI was fighting against Edward IV, a member of the Yorkist Plantagenet branch. Wales was historically a Lancastrian stronghold, and Henry owed the support he gathered to his Welsh birth and ancestry, being agnatically descended from Rhys ap Gruffydd. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.[a]. The rebels were defeated (June 1487) in a hard-fought battle at Stoke (East Stoke, near Newark in Nottinghamshire), where the doubtful loyalty of some of the royal troops was reminiscent of Richard IIIs difficulties at Bosworth. 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. 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). It was no easy feat. In the late 20th century a model of European state formation was prominent in which Henry less resembles Louis and Ferdinand. Still, as Penn observes, the national sense of relief in 1509 was palpable. 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. Hence, the king was plagued with conspiracies until nearly the end of 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. Life at court was merry under Henry 8th, a fresh new beginning likened to springtime. [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. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. By 1500, Henry felt safer and things were looking good. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. Penn then went on to talk about the heir to the throne, the young Prince Henry, who seemed very different to the King. He was, said Penn, a man who never knew a moments peace during his reign. Early life Inadvertently, he provoked a revolution. The King, normally a reserved man who rarely showed much emotion in public unless angry, surprised his courtiers by his intense grief and sobbing at his son's death, while his concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one, as is his reaction to Queen Elizabeth's death the following year, when he shut himself away for several days, refusing to speak to anyone. In 1485 Henry landed at Milford Haven in Wales and advanced toward London. A King from upstart usurper to renaissance monarch to Machiavellian schemer. [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. [38], Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. The 17 year-old Prince Henry became King Henry VIII and started a different era. Only through the deaths of more obvious claimants, and after the accession of Richard III in 1483, when Henry was 26, did he become a leading candidate. This is why he named the book the Winter King. 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. 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. 1509. Henry started a new policy to recover Guyenne and other lost Plantagenet claims in France. 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. It seems that Henry was skilful at extracting money from his subjects on many pretexts, including that of war with France or war with Scotland. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Here is a rundown of the programme for those who missed it. Henry VII: The Winter King. [28], Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius, the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. Henry VII, grown rich from Morton's Fork and other squeezes, was far from a bumpkin trying to break into the royal circles of western Europe--he was being courted, and he knew very well to play Castile (Hapsburg) and Aragon off against one another after Isabella died (and Catherine might very well have been packed off home to marry someone else, it was common). The country was in a perpetual state of emergency and Henrys subjects were scared and resentful. [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. Raised in France, admiring of Italian-trained lawyers (and reaping the reward of the return of a whole generation of educated English commoners who sat out the War of the Roses abroad), with good taste in Renaissance art and advised by his gracious wife and steely mother, Henry VII is a major figure, not a prequel. 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. He had brought the country to the brink of dynastic ambition, but not quite, so his closest advisers kept his death secret until St Georges Day, the annual meeting of the Order of the Garter. For him, it was never about glory and battle. These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. Elizabeth did get pregnant, but then went into premature labour. [69] The wedding never took place, and the physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors of what he desired in a new wife matched the description of his wife Elizabeth. The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke. 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. 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. This was accomplished through the targeted imposition of fines and bonds through extrajudicial councils. 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. [50] Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. Possession of something the French King wanted also made the Duke of Brittany safer in his own duchy. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with the Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. 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"). Hidden under the floor in St George's Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. [citation needed], Henry began taking precautions against rebellion while still in Leicester after Bosworth Field. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. With the English economy heavily invested in wool production, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade in 1486. Penn notes something else about the paeans on the son's accession: later in the Tudor period, apologists for the regime would remember Henry VII as the restorer of national peace and unity, but in 1509 it was the king's death, not his rule, that was held to have ended a long era of dark instability. [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. Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . He explained how Henry VII had achieved what he set out to do, he had passed on the crown successfully. I would read more by this author. In 1837 Henry VIII's tomb was eventually marked in the chapel with a commemorative marble slab. Pembroke Castle, and later the Earldom of Pembroke, were granted to the Yorkist William Herbert, who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry. His account of Henry's government is more contentious than he lets on. Thomas Mores coronation poem for Henry VIII contrasted the new Kings reign with the dark days of the past. 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. He created the Tudor dynasty. Henry the eighth was a renaissance King. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard III as a usurper. Royal Collection Trust At the summit, even dinnerware testified to its owner's status. He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance, the great lords' practice of having large numbers of "retainers" who wore their lord's badge or uniform and formed a potential private army. I was disappointed by this it was decent but I think it was somewhat overhyped. What old December's bareness every where! 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. 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. 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. The devastated King became so ill that he was close to death, but then he recovered and Penn explains that when he took control once more, he was remorseless. Seriously, got nudged by my partner when I'd nodded off. It was not until 1506, when he imprisoned Suffolk in the Tower of London, that Henry could at last feel safe. 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. Read all Directors Giulia Clark Stuart Elliott Writers Not only was . I wasn't disappointed because, as usual, he did a great job with the narration. 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. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. It was propaganda to spread the message that he was the rightful King. (We certainly can, and do, decide what sort of king Henry was based on what he had his government get up to, however.). 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. [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. Omissions? Why was Henry VII called the Winter King? If Penn's interpretation can sometimes seem slanted, its exposition would be hard to over-praise. We know that Henry attended the wedding celebrations of Arthur and his bride . Four different kinds of cryptocurrencies you should know. 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. 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. [37], For most of Henry VII's reign Edward Story was Bishop of Chichester. For me, history is alive and energizing - not something static and remote. 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. 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. 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]. 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. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states. He had, Bacon added, much to be suspicious about, "his times" being "full of secret conspiracies and troubles". 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. [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. Henry VII ruled - as Machiavelli, just after his reign, was to advise usurpers to do - through fear rather than love. During his 23-year reign, Henry had only two Lord High Treasurers, and this continuity helped provide stability. After Wolf Hall, I wanted to find out about Henry VII, the lesser-studied father of Henry VIII, who founded the Tudor Dynasty. It was really very well researched and painstakingly written. In many ways, it highlights that Henry VIII was a feckless inheritor of the tools of Machiavellian power, but had no idea to what productive end to put them. He would learn better as the new reign unfolded. [citation needed], During his lifetime the nobility often criticised Henry VII for re-centralizing power in London, and later the 16th-century historian Francis Bacon was ruthlessly critical of the methods by which he enforced tax law, but it is equally true that Henry VII was diligent about keeping detailed records of his personal finances, down to the last halfpenny;[71] these and one account book detailing the expenses of his queen survive in the British National Archives, as do accounts of courtiers and many of the king's own letters.
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