why was henry vii called the winter king

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. How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! I'm beginning to wonder if all of the kings beginning with the conquest weren't a little off their rocker in some way. [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. [48], Henry later concluded a treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England, and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne, such as Perkin Warbeck. 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. Claiming to be Edward, earl of Warwick, the son of Richard IIIs elder brother, George, duke of Clarence, he had the formidable support of John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, Richard IIIs heir designate, of many Irish chieftains, and of 2,000 German mercenaries paid for by Margaret of Burgundy. 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. Hence, the king was plagued with conspiracies until nearly the end of his reign. His claim to the throne was precarious and was from an illegitimate line, a family who had been banned from taking the throne, so Henry needed to make the people believe that he was their rightful King and to do that he had to start behaving like one. For me, history is alive and energizing - not something static and remote. 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. He was the last king of England to win . In 1502 the death of his heir Arthur left the dynasty's prospects with Arthur's 10-year-old brother, Henry. This meant that Henry had been the rightful King in the battle and that Richard had been the usurper, and those who supported him had been traitors. Henry VII is known for successfully ending the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York and for founding the Tudor dynasty. Henry VIII - Tudor History Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited as . 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. The father's government was an exercise in discoloration. If you are new the era, this wouldn't the first book I would pick up because it does flip flop around a bit in the beginning-but if you want to understand the players that ultimately have a significant impact on Henry VIII, this is the book for you. Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death. Watch for $0.00 with Prime. [49] The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at a cost of 24,000. When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition. [17] Now supported by Francis II's prime minister, Pierre Landais, Richard III attempted to extradite Henry from Brittany, but Henry escaped to France. [47], Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. 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. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. So 4 stars. Pembroke Castle, birthplace of Henry VII [ JKMMX ] [ CC BY-SA 3.0 ]. [38], Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. 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. [8], In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists. Henry VII is actually a less familiar figure, despite being the same person. When Henry VII called his first parliament he used it as an opportunity to legitimise his reign. BBC Two - Henry VII: The Winter King, Backdating Henry's Reign In that, he was quite successful, but he was neither loved nor admired. Amateur historians Bertram Fields and Sir Clements Markham have claimed that he may have been involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower, as the repeal of Titulus Regius gave the Princes a stronger claim to the throne than his own. At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. Henry VIII - Loss of popularity | Britannica - Encyclopedia Britannica 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. In 1621 Francis Bacon's history of. 24th April 2023 - courses open for registrations. He had unified the kingdom, accrued immense wealth and created the most notorious dynasty in English history: the Tudors. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. Rarely was a father's reign so widely disparaged and disowned on the accession of the son. The King was heavily guarded. [79], Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. 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. 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. 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. Henry responded to this threat by embedding spies into households. You can find out more on the conflicts between England and France, the Wars of the Roses and also the Tudors in our history courses. France, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard . Next month find out more on someone known as The Winter Queen! Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. 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. Here was a young man who enjoyed jousting, who enjoyed chatting with the other knights in the tiltyard and with people of low degree. 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 . 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. [65] Henry VII was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death impacted him severely. However, as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars, the French were happy to agree to the Treaty of Etaples. Then in 1491 appeared a still more serious menace: Perkin Warbeck, coached by Margaret to impersonate Richard, the younger son of Edward IV. Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn - review [6] Henry IV's action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it weakened Henry's claim. [citation needed], Henry began taking precautions against rebellion while still in Leicester after Bosworth Field. With the English economy heavily invested in wool production, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade in 1486. All the powers of Europe doubted Henrys ability to survive, and most were willing to shelter claimants against him. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. 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. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. 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). ||Wordpress installation and design by http://www.MadeGlobal.com, FREE Anne Boleyn He created the sovereign coin to spread the message that he was King. Since he was the second son, and not expected to become king, we know little of his childhood until the death of his older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales. In the late 20th century a model of European state formation was prominent in which Henry less resembles Louis and Ferdinand. Philip died shortly after the negotiations. 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. It was no easy feat. I picked this audiobook up because it was narrated by Simon Vance. [57], In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy. His claim to the throne was precarious and he wanted to portray Richard III as a usurper. They did as much to endanger his throne as to secure it. [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. After Wolf Hall, I wanted to find out about Henry VII, the lesser-studied father of Henry VIII, who founded the Tudor Dynasty. Elizabeth did get pregnant, but then went into premature labour. To be notified of special offers, news, new courses, and new tutors, please subscribe to our newsletter. However, with the help of the forces of his step-father, Lord Stanley, he defeated Richard and Richard was killed on the battlefield. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. 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. The union was both symbolic and necessary. this was well-written and i love henry vii for how he managed to a) get the throne of england and b) keep it and make the crown so solvent after the devastating years of the Wars of the Roses, but i can't help but think that a lot of this was rather dry. In 1622 Francis Bacon published his History of the Reign of King Henry VII. When Henry VIII Wrestled the King of Franceand Lost 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. 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. [7] He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr, in legend, the last ancient British king,[8] and on occasion Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. 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. The house of York then appeared so firmly established that Henry seemed likely to remain in exile for the rest of his life. 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. [5], The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. Up to a point, he succeeded. The king's own death seven years later had to be kept secret until his nervous entourage had ensured the succession. [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. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. Swynford was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. [66], Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. 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. Hed achieved the impossible, hed risen from refugee to King of England. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. As we know, Henry VII was true to his word, married Elizabeth and they founded the Tudor dynasty between them. 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. Most often asked questions related to bitcoin. Happy St Davids Day! 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. Musings on History - Henry VII - Learn for Pleasure Henry was the only child of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond , and Margaret Beaufort . 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 . Wow, it was like being battered by facts without remission for good intentions. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509.