How important was Parliament for Henry VII’s consolidation of royal authority following his victory at Bosworth and up to the end of 1487?

Henry VII consolidated his royal authority through a series of Parliamentary acts such as the acts of attainder, allowing him to give power to Lancastrian allies, and predating his reign, to allow him to make any of Richard’s Yorkist troops guilty of treason. Although he also consolidated his power by marrying a Yorkist heir and using his image to portray power.

The most important act passed by Parliament at the beginning of Henry VII’s reign was the acts of attainder and the repelling of Richard III’s titulus regius, this is because they allowed Henry to give power back to Lancastrians and legitimise Edward IV’s children. In giving power back to Lancastrians he made sure that his nobles supported him and could be relied upon – he also kept some Yorkists in key roles to avoid alienating their supporters. The legitimisation of Edward’s children allowed Henry to marry a Yorkist heir, Elizabeth, he wouldn’t have been able to do this without Parliamentary acts. Although Henry’s marriage itself was very important in securing royal authority as in marrying someone with a strong claim to the throne he would have greater authority as king and marrying into …show more content…
This alongside marriage to Elizabeth of York removed some Yorkist opposition. Tudor also used his image to strengthen his royal authority, as he portrayed himself as a strong but modest and truthful King, while Richard was made into a villain that England had been saved from. His portrayal of Richard was used to remind people that Henry is better that his predecessor and they didn’t want a return to a Yorkist