The Tudors

King Henry VII was the first Royal Tudor. Born in Wales in 1457, he was named Hari Tudur. He was born shortly after the death of his father Edmund, Earl of Richmond. His young mother took him to live with her at Pembroke until the War of the Roses Yorkist peace in 1461. He was sent to live with his uncle Jasper, Duke of Bedford and a Lancaster. Henry's mother was Yorkist, but his father was a Lancaster and Henry was in the line of succession for the House of Lancaster.

Henry became an ally of Lancaster King Henry VI. After Henry VI was deposed and killed, he and his Uncle Jasper Tudor had to flee to Brittany. With her marriage to the Duke of Buckingham (another Henry), a Yorkist, his mother (Lady Margaret) came to have considerable political influence. She encouraged him to align himself with the Yorkist King Edward VI but he chose instead to remain a loyal Lancaster man. As the Lancaster heir to the throne, he was forced to remain in France with his Uncle Jasper Tudor for most of the next 14 years.

After the death of her husband, Buckingham, his mother kept her influence with her marriage to Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, Baron of Stanley and King of Mann. He was a supporter of Richard III, and a trusted favorite. She continued to conspire to get her son on the throne and actively suggested him as someone to replace the hated King Richard III. When her husband switched sides, unknown to Richard III, she enlisted him in her conspiracy with his brother George Stanley (Lord Strange) as well as the Dowager Queen Consort whose sons had disappeared when Richard was their regent.

In 1483, Henry borrowed money and supplies from The Duke of Brittany, Frances II, and tried to land in England – but the attempt failed. Richard III tried to have Henry Tudor extradited back to England from Brittany. Henry got away to France where he was welcomed. The French gave him support, troops and supplies to try again to land in England and defeat Richard III.

In 1485 Henry Tudor decided that the time was right. He, Jasper Tudor, John de Vere (Earl of Oxford) and 5,000 troops landed at Mill Bay in Pembrokeshire and marched to England.

Most of Wales was pro Lancaster and since Henry was descended from Lord Rhys, it was fairly easy to pick up supporters along the way. Henry knew he would have to strike fast and defeat Richard in the first battle or lose everything. He knew he would be outnumbered. Henry and his forces met Richard III and his troops on August 22, 1485 and the Battle of Bosworth Field commenced. He and his forces defeated Richard III.

Richard III fought bravely, he killed Henry's standard bearer and came close to getting Henry himself. Finally, Henry's forces surrounded and killed Richard III. Henry was helped when several of Richard’s supporters switched sides or deserted.

The battle was decisive in more ways than one. Not only did it end the reign of Richard III and bring Henry to the throne, it was also the beginning of the end of the War of the Roses.

Since King Henry VII was descended from both Lancaster and York he took as his house’s symbol a combined rose of red and white. The coat of arms of the House of Tudor is a shield divided into quarters. The first top quarter is blue with 3 fleur–de–les forming an upside down triangle (this shows his claim to the throne of France), the other top quarter is red with 3 horizontal gold lions one above the other (representing the English throne). The bottom quarters are a reversal of the top quarters. Henry was crowned King of England, Lord of Ireland, and heir to the throne of France on October 30, 1485. His step–father, Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby put the crown upon his head.

Henry VII was also lucky. Most of the other people who could claim the throne were dead – either in battle or executed by other kings before him.

Henry also needed to show his strength to claim his throne so he declared he was king one full day before the Battle of Bosworth Field. He made the claim by right of conquest. This made anyone who fought for Richard III a traitor. Henry VII still had others to fend off to keep his throne, and other battles to finally and completely end the War of the Roses. He kept the nobility divided, which also helped maintain his throne. He had pledged to marry Elizabeth of York to cement the union of the House of York and the House of Lancaster. They were married on January 18, 1486 at Westminster.

Henry VII succeeded in dealing with the Stafford and Lovell Rebellion in 1486. But then, in 1487, he had to contend with the first of the pretenders to the throne.

Lambert Simnel was presented as the rightful king as the Earl of Warwick, heir and nephew of Edward IV. The boy was 10 years old and supported by the Earl of Kilgore, one of the pardoned supporters of Richard III. Kilgore actually had the boy crowned King Edward VI in Dublin on May 24th 1487.

Henry VII produced the real Earl of Warwick who he had imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry pardoned everyone as long as they submitted to him and even gave the boy “king” (Lambert Simnel) a job in his kitchen as a spit turner.

Three years later he was again dealing with a pretender. Perkin Warbeck who claimed he was Richard, Duke of York, younger son of Edward IV (one of the princes in the tower who disappeared under Richard III's regency). While he never could get enough support to overthrow Henry, he visited the European monarchs as King Richard IV. Perkin made several attempts to go to England and overthrow the House of Tudor. Finally, Henry had the “would be king” executed in 1499.

Henry modernized the government and refilled the English treasury which had been raided by Edward IV's in–laws after his death. Henry had no great desire to regain the French lands that had been lost by prior Kings – he wanted to create peace and prosperity for his people.

He started holding the Nobility to high standards of conduct in and out of court. He created the Court of Star Chamber to help him cut through the legal system. It was made from some of the most trusted members of the Privy Council. He also introduced the system of Justices of the Peace. They served for one year without pay and were held to the same high standards of conduct as were the nobility.

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York had 7 children. Queen Elizabeth of York died in 1503 during childbirth.

• Arthur Tudor (born September 20th 1486) was named for Arthur of Camelot, after Henry VII sent genealogists out to prove his connections to the old Plantagenets. Arthur, Prince of Wales, was heir and married Catherine of Aragon in 1501. Arthur Tudor died of consumption a few months later in April of 1502 at the age of 15. Arthur had been trained to be a King. He was Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Knight of the Garter, Knight of the Bath and President of the Council of Wales and Marshes. He attended functions, spoke to emissaries and was expected to be politically proficient.
  
  
• Margaret Tudor (born November 28th 1489), was first married to James IV, King of Scots. It was said she was fated to be Queen of Scots, since she was christened on St. Andrew’s day in the church of St. Margaret, the only royal saint of Scotland. Henry VII first suggested the marriage when Margaret was only 5 years old. Then, in 1502 with the signing of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, Margaret was married to James by proxy. They were remarried later in person. They had six children but only one survived the first year. James V (born April 10th 1512).
  
  With the death of her husband at the Battle of Flodden, she was named Regent. She married Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus on August 6th 1514. She was replaced as Regent by John Stewart, Duke of Albany. She gave birth to Margaret Douglas on October 8th 1515. Margaret returned to England but Archibald returned to Scotland. After many power struggles with her husband she finally obtained a divorce.
  
  She then married Henry Stewart. According to Margaret he was worse than Archibald for using her money and running after other women. They had one daughter Dorothea who died young.
  
  Margaret Tudor died on October 18, 1541 of a stroke. All through her ups and downs in Scottish politics, she really only wanted a better relationship between England and Scotland.
  
  
• One of the most memorable Tudors was Henry VIII. He is well known for his obesity and his six wives and their fates.
  
  Henry Tudor (born June 28th 1491) was to enter the Church and possibly become Archbishop of Canterbury. He was well trained in languages and prepared for the Church, but not educated in politics. Although later he would write treaties on both Religion and Politics that were and are considered to be genius.
  
  When Henry was 3 years old he was named the Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of Cinque Ports. Then, a year later, he was named Duke of York and a bit later was named Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
  
  Upon the death of Arthur Tudor, Henry became heir. Since the marriage to Catherine had been pledged and many negotiations went with it, Henry VII decided to obtain a papal dispensation to marry the young widow to his son and heir Henry – or to himself as a last resort. Henry VII wanted an alliance with Spain, and so Catherine of Aragon had to swear that her marriage to Arthur Tudor had never been consummated. Henry VIII was not named Prince of Wales until a year after Arthur’s death. He had to wait to see if his sister–in–law Catherine of Aragon would produce an heir to Arthur’s title. Henry VII considered remarrying and having other children but never did it. He put off the marriage between Catherine of Aragon and his son Henry after reconsidering it and left it undone when he died on April 21, 1509.
  
  Meanwhile Henry was pledged to marry Catherine but as time passed, even though there were considerable political antics going on, he declared that the engagement was done without his knowing about it. However, after the death of his father, his advisors persuaded him to marry Catherine to maintain their alliance with Spain.
  
  
• Mary Tudor (born March 18th 1496) was the youngest surviving child of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. She and her older brother Henry were close as children. She was known to be beautiful, tall, graceful, and pale–skinned with golden red hair and grey eyes.
  
  In 1507, she was pledged to marry Charles of Castile who later became the Holy Roman Emperor. Due to the politics of the time and shifting alliances, the wedding never took place. She was married to Louis XII of France on October 9th 1514 and became the Queen Consort of France. Louis was on his third marriage and still had no sons and was eager to get an heir. He never got one, he died January 1st 1515. It was rumored he had tried a bit too hard to bring about an heir.
  
  Mary Tudor had already been in love with the Duke of Suffolk, Charles Brandon. Henry VIII wanted to use a marriage to Mary as an advantage and made Charles promise not to ask Mary to marry him when Henry sent him to escort Mary to England. Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon were married secretly in France on March 3rd 1515. King Henry VIII was very angry and was being advised by the Privy Council to kill Brandon. Friends of the couple, including Cardinal Wolsey, convinced Henry to spare them. He let them off with heavy fines. Henry's love for his sister had helped and this is proved by the fact that the couple kept their heads in spite of their defiance of his wishes.
  
  The “French Queen” as Mary was called at court and her Duke were remarried in England on May 13, 1515. The English never referred to Mary as the Duchess of Suffolk while she was alive. The couple spent most of their time in Suffolk and had 3 children. Henry Brandon, Earl of Lincoln (born March 11, 1516) died 3 days before his 18th birthday. Lady Frances Brandon (born July 16, 1517) married Henry Grey and was the mother of Lady Jane Grey. Lady Eleanor Brandon (born 1519) married Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland.
  
  Later in life she and her brother would become at odds with one another over his annulment problems. Historians believe that she many have been one of the few people that Henry truly loved. She died in 1533 of unknown causes.
  
  
• The three other children of Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth (Edmund, Elizabeth, and Katherine) died very young:
  • Edmund Tudor (born February 21, 1499) was given the title of Duke of Somerset at birth. His life was very short. He lived 15 months and his cause of death is unknown. He was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey.
  • Elizabeth Tudor (born July 2 1492) Died at the age of 3 of atrophy. Plans were being made to wed her to the Prince Frances of France who later became Frances I of France. She was interred in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey.
  • Katherine Tudor was born and died in 1503. Her mother, Queen Elizabeth, died while giving birth.

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