Henry VII: The First Tudor King

Henry Tudor, a man of relatively obscure origin, defeated the usurping king Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in 1485. He was now Henry VII, thereby becoming the first Tudor king of England which would be one of the most remarkable dynasties in all history. Henry was crowned king at Westminster Abbey, 2 short months after his victory at Bosworth. However, like the vanquished Richard III had been, Henry himself was now a usurper and usurpers would sit uneasily on the throne. And challenges to his fragile authority were quick in coming.

One of those challenges famously came from Lambert Simnel who, being only a young boy, became the figurehead of a rebellion against Henry. Lambert was crowned king of England in Dublin by the Earl of Lincoln before the rebels mustered as many men for their army as they could before launching their daring invasion of England to overthrow Henry. But the odds were stacked heavily against them due to the nature of the soldiers at their disposal. Only a small number of men were professional soldiers, these coming from Germany who had been paid to fight, but the rest of the army was little better than shambolic. Soon after their landing in England, Lambert and his men were joined in battle at Stoke in 1487 by the royalist army where Simnel's men were horribly routed. Henry, as he would do on other occasions as well, would show mercy to the young Lambert. He first set him to work in the royal kitchens before Lambert worked his way up to the position of the king's chief falconer. For Lambert, things turned out better than he could possibly have dared to hope in the aftermath of Stoke.

After the country had been divided for decades by the destructive civil war known as the Wars of the Roses, Henry knew that one of his main priorities as king was to try and bring peace to England and unite the country after a conflict that had not only torn the nation apart but even families as fathers fought against sons. Henry's claim to the crown, albeit an obscure one, came through the Lancastrian line so it made logical sense for him to look for a Yorkist bride and it would be Elizabeth of York he would marry. Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward IV and the sister of the tragic Prince In The Tower who had been murdered by their uncle Richard III. The marriage would prove to be a success. When Elizabeth died in 1503, aged only 37, Henry was deeply upset and his character over the final few years of his reign would change as a result.

Another famous rebel during Henry's reign was Perkin Warbeck. Unlike Lambert Simnel however, Perkin would prove to be a persistent problem for the king. Perkin claimed that he was the younger Prince In The Tower, Richard, Duke of York, and alleged that he had not been murdered at all but had in fact survived and escaped. As Simnel had done, Perkin had gained support in Ireland but he posed a far greater threat than Lambert had ever done as Perkin was even welcomed at the court of the French king Charles VIII. Henry had no choice but to take this matter seriously.

As the 1490s wore on, Warbeck's story continued to gain momentum as it became clear that many people believed he was indeed the young son of Edward IV. Warbeck's fame grew remarkably as he shared correspondence with Isabella of Castile and he was even introduced to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Henry survived Warbeck's repeated bids for power and showed him leniency on more than one occasion. Warbeck however pushed even Henry's patience too far and he was eventually executed in 1499.

Henry is sometimes viewed as being a fairly dour and even miserable king. But this is not a fair or accurate portrayal of him. Henry had a serious countenance but he also showed real emotions when suffering bereavements. I have mentioned his reaction to the passing of his queen Elizabeth already but the year before Elizabeth had died, Henry had suffered an even weightier blow. This was the death of his son and heir Prince Arthur at Ludlow castle in April 1502. It's not certain what killed Arthur, there have been various suggestions, but what is certain is that Henry took the news badly. It was only thanks to the comforting words of Queen Elizabeth that Henry took some solace. Soon after, Elizabeth herself broke down in grief and it was Henry's turn to comfort his queen.

These touching moments shared between not only a king and queen, or a husband and wife but also a mother and father demonstrate Henry was very much a caring man. After Elizabeth's death, his gradual withdrawal from the public gaze is not a demonstration of him being a cold man but quite the opposite. He was a man who had been left shattered by grief. On his own death in 1509, Henry left England in a much healthier state then he had found it. The country was financially healthy and the Wars of the Roses was now long in the past. With Arthur dead, the crowned passed to the second of Henry's three sons who was now king Henry VIII. It's safe to say he made a bit of an impression.