...Henry VII (before accession known as Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond, Welsh: Harri Tudur; 28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England, ruled the Principality of Wales (until 29 November 1489) and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry won the throne when his forces defeated the forces of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. He founded the Tudor dynasty and, after a reign of nearly 24 years, was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII. Although Henry can be credited with the restoration of political stability in England, and a number of commendable administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives, the latter part of his reign was characterised by a financial greed which stretched the bounds of legality. The capriciousness and lack of due process which indebted many in England were soon ended upon Henry VII's death after a commission revealed widespread abuses. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple "greed" in large part underscored the means...
Words: 267 - Pages: 2
...When looking at the royal finance under Henry VII we observe how powerful he was and the fact that he created a strong financial situation upon which to secure his reign and dynasty. In this essay I will compare the two sources regarding the financial situation during Henry’s reign. Extract A seems to be more valuable because we know that he invested all his money in jewelry and plate in order to secure his money. According to the Extract A, Henry reinvested much of the money because he wanted to secure his reign. After his death, there were found many accounts of his leaving jewel plate. This is very valuable because we know that he had a lot of money. On the other side, all his money was spent by Henry VIII during the war; this questions the value of his finance. We also must consider that Henry started in debt and that he balanced his account by 1492, showing a sizeable surplus from 1497 onwards, he also made big loans to other rulers and small ones to merchants. His surplus was far from sizeable and the loans were made only to other rulers with the condition that the dynasty is under control and secure. He wanted to prevent a crash of his economy and tried to do things in such a way that nothing could affect his dynasty. However, his achievement should not be considered too impressive. Because, how it was mentioned, it took only two years for Henry VIII to dissolve everything what Henry VII left behind him. Another way in which we can question his royal finance is the...
Words: 766 - Pages: 4
...was Henry VII in fulfilling his foreign policy objectives? Generally speaking, overall, Henry VII was successful in fulfilling his foreign policy objectives. Although he did not achieve a number of things in the way he endeavoured to, Henry VII achieved the majority of his foreign policy objectives one way or another. Firstly, Brittany, a part of Europe where Henry spent a large part of his life, was under attack by the French and faced losing their independence, following an invasion in 1487. Henry felt as though he had a duty and sense of obligation to the Britons, and therefore summoned Parliament to grant him extraordinary revenue in order to raise an army sufficient enough to battle against the French. Crushing the potential French control of Brittany was very important to Henry, as by doing so would decrease the possibility of France invading England. This soon became one of Henry's main foreign policy objective, to defend Brittany and potentially, England. Additionally, England and Brittany signed the Treaty of Redon in 1489, in which, Duchess Anne would pay for a small English army to defend Brittany. Henry strived to strengthen is position by forming an alliance with Maximilian. Maximilian had contracted a marriage-by-proxy with Anne, and had no desire fro the Duchy of Brittany to fall into the French hands. The army went to Brittany to support their freedom, but Anne had lost her motive, and reluctantly married Charles VIII. To make things worse for Henry, Perkin...
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...The act of consolidating power means bringing together the separate parts of the society for one person to control. Henry VII felt that he had to go to extreme measures in order to consolidate his power - firstly due to the political instability following the Battle of Bosworth, but also because he had an illegitimate claim to the throne, compared to Elizabeth of York and other Yorkists who had a much stronger claim. Throughout this essay I will outline the challenges Henry faced while trying to consolidate power, including the factors that he had to overcome such as creating an heir to the throne, how he treated his opponents and supporters and how he dealt with the nobility. Henry won the throne in the Battle of Bosworth after defeating Richard III. As the usurper, his support and acceptance from the public was always going to be dubious; his throne was very insecure. But after being crowned in Westminster and calling a successful parliament who swore an allegiance to their new king, it was clear that the English public were in support of the Lancastrian. Cunningly, Henry dated his reign one day before the battle occurred, thus protecting him from any later potential accusations of treason. He pardoned many of the Yorkists who fought against him at Bosworth, proving his capability of a compassionate and peaceful leadership. However, he did not hesitate in imprisoning and executing some of his opponents either. Parliament also introduced the Act of Attainder, which declared...
Words: 1013 - Pages: 5
...an unsuccessful king. This coupled with the amount of foreign enemies, unsuccessful battles, and level of profit accumulated in relation to the cost of battle among others are some of the factors that resulted in a kings reputation being formulated. Henry VII as a monarch has a reputation of rebuild and restructure in regards to foreign policy and kingship, but the extent to which foreign policy is the key to stability can be assessed. Known as the ‘auld alliance’, reputation with France had shaped the support among the population of monarchs for years upon years. Henry VII was seen to be in a legacy of debt to the French king after he has supported Henry Tudors claim to the throne. In previous years control of France had made the reputation of the king but this time it could be seen as the ultimate controlling factor. Immediately this was seen to act as a stabilising factor, this left the English king in a position of comfort knowing that a positive relationship with France has already been achieved and did not have to be forced. However, in 1482 Henry was seen to send troops to support Anne, the Duchess of Brittany against France. Although this action was not one of aggression, and certainly didn’t compromise stability. Henry admitted his troops towards the end of the year which stressed that he only intended for a short campaign. The number of troops that were sent were also limited but were strong enough to show England as a powerful force to its neighbours. This was a tactical...
Words: 2276 - Pages: 10
...to say that the Yorkists remained a serious threat to Henry VII’s security throughout his reign? It is probably not accurate to say the Yorkists remained a serious threat throughout Henry's reign. Throughout his reign he had many pretenders trying to make a claim on his crown, for example Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel. Most had weak conspiracies and minimal support; however foreign help was high from England traditional enemies such as Scotland and France. Although betrayal from Stanley was serious for Henry, there were many factors of his reign helping maintain his thrown; which were he married the most prominent Yorkist and he dealt well with the threats through his spy system. Although Henry was considered vulnerable in his reign, and he did face challenges from Yorkist supporters, they were not a constant serious threat to his security. The first signs of Yorkists dissatisfaction with Henry VII were the Lovell Rebellion of 1486. While Henry was on royal progresses in the North the conspirators broke sanctuary; The Stafford brothers travelled to Worchester to start up rebellion and Lovell headed north to ambush the king. However Henry learnt about the uprising and sent an army to stop Lovell, the rebels fled. This rebellion was of little threat to Henry’s security as the army was small as they lacked support from nobles, there was no foreign backing and Henry managed to deal with the Yorkists well. The Stafford’s...
Words: 1561 - Pages: 7
...can range anywhere from the rules that individual languages are based off of or even the definition and use of a word. This is possible because there are so many words and each language is so versatile that over time, words can begin to take on new meanings based on the context that they are used in. An example of this would be the word “brave.” Stemming from the Old Spanish and Old Italian word “bravo,” the use of brave was first recorded in the early sixteenth century by Henry VII in State Papers (Merriam 3). After its evolution from Old Spanish, the original meaning of brave was “to defy or to challenge (Photo 1).” Shortly after making its entry into language, brave became a word that was often used in the fine arts. Less than fifty years later, brave was being used in plays written by Shakespeare and many other English playwrights. Once again though, the meaning of the word had changed and was no longer intended to be used when challenging or threatening somebody. First seen in Shakespeare’s play Henry VI, the word’s definition had once again evolved and was now being used as an adjective. At this point in time, the use of brave had completely changed and was used to describe a person who was courageous, daring, or intrepid (Photo 1). Although there are many rules in every language, it is still constantly changing. The way that the use of brave has changed over the last five hundred years is just one small example of how much language can change over a large period of time...
Words: 375 - Pages: 2
...I feel that Wolsey’s domestic policies were disappointing as he did not go through with his word and did not have enough power to apply his authority over the nobles and other religious figures which were all below and also some above him. These people needed controlling. Source T agrees with the statement and says that, not only were his policies disappointing, but so was Wolsey himself. Source V has more of an negative view of Wolsey’s policies and they were disappointing but this was not Wolsey’s fault as his had a lot of work to do and Henry had no other trusted advisors. Source V says that ‘there is a danger of judging by anachronistic standards’ which means that whilst we may see that the policies were ineffective as we are used to having ‘changes and improvements’ made, during Wolsey’s time it was more about seeking ‘stability and security’. This shows that during his time in office these policies were effective and we in the modern society are judging him too harshly, he was able to seek out stability financially by introducing a very modern taxation system in that if you earn more you paid more in tax, which was another dislike of the nobles. Also his justice policies especially brought about a more stable justice system, not only for the rich but for the poor too. However Source T disproves this theory as this was written at the time and shows that the whole country hated his policies. Source V aims to present an even argument for and against Wolsey’s policies, whereas...
Words: 715 - Pages: 3
...Margaret was born in 1046 and was a member of English royal family. She was the granddaughter of King Edmund Iron side of England through his son Edward. She was beautiful like also intelligent receiving her formal education in Hungary. As some of the last remaining Saxon Royals in England, Margaret and her family’s position was uncertain and fearing for their lives they fled northwards, in the opposite direction to the advancing Normans. They were heading back to the continent from Northumbria when their ship was blown off course and landed in Fife. The Scottish King, Malcolm III, known as Malcolm Canmore offered his protection to the royal family. He was particularly protective towards Margaret. She at the beginning refused his proposition of marriage, preferring and according to one account, a life of godliness as a virgin. Malcolm however was a persistent and the couple finally married in Dunfermline in 1069. Their union was exceptionally happy and fruitful for both themselves and the Scottish nation. Margaret brought with her some of the finer points of current European manners, ceremony and culture to the Scottish Court, which highly improved its civilised reputation. Queen Margaret was famous for her good influence on her husband and also for her godly piety and religious observance. She was a prime mover in the reform of the Church in Scotland. Under Queen Margaret's leadership Church councils promoted Easter communion and abstinence from work on a Sunday. Margaret founded...
Words: 1209 - Pages: 5
...Bloody Mary Have you ever been told to go in to a dark room with mirrors and chant “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary. . .” and something bad will happen to you? Many people, including myself, have heard the legend of Bloody Mary as some people would call it the face in the mirror. The version I have been told was that if you go into a bathroom in the dark with a lit candle and say the words “Bloody Mary” 3 to 100 times, you will see her face. There are many possibilities that can happen when you upset Bloody Mary. It has been told that she will kill the person calling her, scratch his or her eyes out, drive the person mad or even bring the person into the mirror with her. If you had seen the movie Candyland or Urban Legend, perhaps, you would recognize the similarities to that of Bloody Mary [Halloween Web]. Teenage girls are usually the ones who call upon Bloody Mary, mostly summoned at sleepovers as a form of entertainment. However, you might wonder why kids might want to call this chilling woman. It may be a safe way to mess with danger. People who think they have seen Bloody Mary have said that she appeared in the mirror with a 1700s-1800s style dress holding her dead baby. Her face seemed decayed and rotten and her eyes were either white or rolled back. Bloody Mary also went by the names Bloody Bones, Hell Mary, Mary Worth, Mary Worthington, Mary Whales, Mary Johnson, Mary Lou, Mary Jane, Agnes, Black Agnes, Aggie and Svarte Madame. It has been rumored that you can also call...
Words: 866 - Pages: 4
...15th October 2014 History Why did Henry Tudor win the Battle of Bosworth in 1485? Lead up to Battle RICHARD III STRENGTHS | HENRY TUDOR STRENGTHS | * Beacon network in place to warn of Tudor’s invasion | * Due to ‘Bucks’ rebellion, he knew he had to plan his second invasion with great political, military and diplomatic care | * Reinforced his position | * His promise to marry Elizibeth of York won support from disaffected Royal Servants in England | * Placed himself in Nottingham Castle, putting himself centrally in England | * Tudor had agents frequently crossing the Channel to assess and build his level of public support | * Had a large army (10,000-15,000) | * Tudor’s mother, Margarat Beaufort, was in a strong position to influence her opinions as she was married to the powerful Noble Lord Stanley | * Already repelled Henry’s invasion in 1483 | * Charles VIII of France lent him 60,000 francs and Philibert de Chandee gave him 1,800 merceneries | * Started the Battle on Higher Ground (Ambien Hill) | * Rhys ap Thomas brought additional 1800-2000 men, Sir Richard Corbet brought 800 men whilst Sir Gilbert Talbot brought 500 men | * Had Lord Stanley’s son (Lord Strange) as hostage | * Tudor went through Wales unopposed | * Able warrior | | RICHARD III WEAKNESSES | HENRY TUDOR WEAKNESSES | * Spent huge amounts of money commisioning a fleet in Southampton | * No Great Magnate had fully declared for...
Words: 418 - Pages: 2
...Using enumeration and polysyndeton, he listed Hastings and Edward’s children, the Woodvilles, King Henry, and Edward. Buckingham indicate that his victims have been “miscarrièd” in line 5, and in line 6 he refers to their murderers, which are Richard and himself, as “underhand corrupted foul injustice”. He does so because he finally realizes that the reasons behind the victims’ murders were immoral and unjust, thus making them miscarrièd, and the murderers, himself included, are sneaky, dishonest murderers who would do anything for power. In line 7-9, “If that your moody, discontented souls...even for revenge mock my destruction”, Shakespeare utilises an apostrophe and have Buckingham begging the souls to mock his “destruction”, as if he’s merely a thing who does not deserve the word “death”, if they are watching. Also, personification was...
Words: 843 - Pages: 4
...Conversely Gunn argues that war was ‘Tournament through other means’ and that this was the primary motivator in Henry’s thinking. Wooding agrees, focussing on the pragmatic case that Henry warred against both Scotland and France not for security, rather because he felt secure enough to do so. Even Richardson concedes to some extent, despite the title of his article being Eternal Peace, Occasional War. He argues that by the end of the reign Francis could no longer compete for glory after Henry had clearly gained the greater amount in war. The imbalance meant there could be no more ‘Eternal peace’, so relations continued to be cold at best, hence the swift reconquest in 1550 after Henry had died. Given this evaluation, the idea of glory at least towards the end of the reign, being credited through war, seems more legitimate. Whilst it had a role to play in peacetime, the withdrawal from foreign diplomacy in 1546 strongly suggests that the glory he had achieved in war was unparallelled...
Words: 1588 - Pages: 7
...How far was Richard III’s downfall a result of his own mistakes? (24 marks) Richard III’s downfall was partly due to his own actions. Despite the fact that in his short time as king he made some good decisions that would have benefitted him in the long run, had Tudor’s rebellion been quashed, in the short term they caused much antipathy which resulted in support for Tudor growing, despite his poor claim to the throne of England, the mere fact that Tudor’s claim to the throne was farfetched suggests that Richard made some awful decisions as support for Tudor grew rapidly. From the death of Edward IV it did in fact seem that Richard had the world against him, however it cannot be forgotten that parliament, practically begged Richard to take the throne and even Edward IV had named Richard as protector. Many Ricardian historians agree that, if Richard had wanted to survive, his only way of action was to make a move against the Woodviles, who were social climbers intent on gaining control of the country. Therefore, logistically, the only way for Richard to endure would be to remove them from power. The probable murder of the princes was a terrible stain on Richards Reign, and although some historians would say that you cannot prove that he murdered the princes, Richard failed to shift the blame onto anybody else, and in particular I think that Richard should have taken the opportunity to force the blame onto the Duke of Buckingham, and his failure to do this even after rebellion...
Words: 999 - Pages: 4
...to obtain the annulment of his marriage in the years 1525-29 was the determined opposition of Katherine of Aragon? Within the years of 1525-29 Henry failed to obtain an annulment of his marriage, it was suggested that the main reason for this failure was because of the determined opposition of Katherine of Aragon however it is also argued that other factors such as the pope keeping peace between England and Spain as well as the overall weakness of the kings case and his reliance’s on biblical reasons as well as Katherine’s of Aragon’s opposition all these factors also contributed to the failure to obtain the annulment. The view that the main reasons on why Henry didn’t receive his annulment was because of the determined opposition of Katherine of Aragon, within source 4 its suggested that Katherine was trying to uphold her dignity as Henry persisted for the annulment. Henry's reasoning for the annulment left Katherine feeling red-faced as well as full of anguish Henry was trying to declare (by the end of the marriage) his 23 years of marriage to Katherine of Aragon was a deception which supplied Katherine with the determined opposition to annul Henry their marriage which conducted to the failure to obtain the annulment. Another supportive evidence found in source 4 that encourages the view that the main reasons on why Henry didn’t receive his annulment was because of the determined opposition of Katherine of Aragon in the years 1525-29 was that Katherine was suggest to...
Words: 1030 - Pages: 5
