HENRY VII

Henry VII accession

Henry Tudor became king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485; ended major phase of Wars of the Roses; dated reign from 21 August so Yorkists who fought him were traitors

Henry VII claim to throne

Claim was weak because descended from John of Gaunt’s illegitimate Beaufort line through Margaret Beaufort; Beauforts barred from succession by Henry IV; strengthened claim through conquest marriage and papal support

Battle of Bosworth 1485

22 August 1485; Richard III killed; Stanley family switched sides during battle; Henry crowned on battlefield with Richard’s crown

Coronation of Henry VII

30 October 1485 before first Parliament to show authority came from God not Parliament

First Parliament 1485

Met November 1485; passed Acts of Attainder against Yorkists; granted tonnage and poundage for life; recognised Henry as rightful king

Marriage to Elizabeth of York

18 January 1486; united Houses of Lancaster and York; symbolised by Tudor Rose

Birth of Prince Arthur

19 September 1486; strengthened Tudor dynasty and succession

Lovell and Stafford Rebellion 1486

First Yorkist rebellion; led by Viscount Lovell and Stafford brothers during Easter 1486; little support; Humphrey Stafford executed Thomas Stafford imprisoned Lovell escaped

Importance of Lovell rebellion

Showed Yorkist threat remained after Bosworth but also showed lack of widespread support for Yorkists

Lambert Simnel rebellion 1486-1487

Simnel coached by priest Richard Symonds; claimed to be Edward Earl of Warwick; supported by John de la Pole Earl of Lincoln Margaret of Burgundy and Irish Yorkists

Lambert Simnel crowned in Ireland

Simnel crowned ‘King Edward VI’ in Dublin in May 1487 showing strength of Yorkism in Ireland

Battle of Stoke 16 June 1487

Henry defeated Simnel’s forces near Newark; Earl of Lincoln killed; often seen as final battle of Wars of the Roses

Importance of Battle of Stoke

Destroyed serious Yorkist military threat; Henry showed mercy to Simnel by making him kitchen servant then falconer

Yorkshire Rebellion 1489

Caused by taxation for Brittany campaign; Earl of Northumberland murdered; Henry forced to abandon full tax collection

Importance of Yorkshire Rebellion

Showed limits of Henry’s authority in North; rebellion not dynastic but tax-based

Perkin Warbeck rebellion 1491-1499

Warbeck claimed to be Richard Duke of York one of Princes in the Tower; received support from Burgundy France Holy Roman Empire and Scotland

Foreign support for Warbeck

Margaret of Burgundy trained him; Charles VIII supported him until Treaty of Etaples 1492; James IV supported him from 1495

Deal landing 1495

Warbeck landed in Kent in July 1495 but quickly defeated and forced to flee

Warbeck in Ireland and Scotland

Went to Ireland 1491 then Scotland 1495; James IV married him to Catherine Gordon and invaded England in 1496

Cornish Rebellion 1497

Caused by taxation for Scottish campaign; rebels marched from Cornwall to Blackheath near London; defeated by Henry on 17 June 1497

Importance of Cornish Rebellion

Showed resentment over taxation and regional grievances; around 15000 rebels involved

Warbeck and Cornwall 1497

Warbeck landed in Cornwall in September 1497 hoping to exploit Cornish unrest; captured at Beaulieu Abbey

Execution of Warbeck

Executed in November 1499 after alleged escape attempt with Earl of Warwick

Execution of Earl of Warwick

Executed in November 1499; removed strongest Yorkist claimant and helped secure marriage alliance with Spain

Edmund de la Pole Earl of Suffolk

Yorkist claimant who fled abroad in 1499; supported by Maximilian; surrendered in 1506 after Treaty of Windsor

Importance of Suffolk threat

Showed Yorkist threat remained into final years of Henry’s reign

Henry VII methods against nobility

Used ‘carrot and stick’ approach; rewarded loyalty but punished disloyalty using bonds recognisances attainders and laws against retaining

Acts of Attainder

Parliamentary acts removing lands and titles from traitors; 138 used during reign; 46 reversed by 1509 to reward loyalty

Retaining

Illegal keeping of private armies by nobles; laws passed in 1487 and 1504 to control it

Retaining law 1487

Nobles had to obtain royal licence to retain men

Retaining law 1504

Required nobles to pay for licences; Earl of Oxford fined £10000 in 1507 for illegal retaining

Bonds and recognisances

Legal agreements forcing nobles to pay money if they disobeyed king; by 1509 two-thirds of nobility under financial penalties

Council Learned in the Law

Financial body developed after 1495 to enforce bonds and feudal dues; led by Sir Reginald Bray then Edmund Dudley and Richard Empson

Importance of Council Learned

Increased royal revenue and control but caused hatred among nobility and gentry

Role of Parliament under Henry VII

Called Parliament only 7 times between 1485 and 1509; mainly used for taxation attainders and legitimising rule

Royal Council

Small group of advisers including churchmen lawyers and nobles; helped run government efficiently

Privy Chamber created 1495

Smaller more personal body controlling access to king; increased efficiency and security

Justices of the Peace

JPs expanded under Henry; unpaid local gentry officials responsible for law order tax collection and enforcing statutes

Star Chamber

Used to deal with powerful nobles and ensure justice though not yet fully developed under Henry VII

Financial policy of Henry VII

Aimed to increase crown income and independence from Parliament

Oriinary revenue

Regular income from crown lands customs feudal dues justice and profits of crown

Extraordinary revenue

Income from parliamentary taxation loans benevolences and clerical taxes usually for war

Crown lands under Henry VII

Income from crown lands rose from about £29000 in 1486 to about £42000 by 1509 due to Act of Resumption and Chamber finance

Act of Resumption 1486

Recovered crown lands given away by previous kings increasing royal income

Chamber system of finance

Henry restored Chamber finance from 1490s; allowed closer personal control and more efficient revenue collection than Exchequer

Feudal dues

Traditional payments owed to king including wardship marriage relief and livery

Wardship

King controlled lands of underage heirs and could sell marriages for profit

Customs duties

Tonnage and poundage granted for life in 1485; major source of income from trade

French pension 1492

Treaty of Etaples gave Henry annual pension of £5000 from France

Benevolences

Forced gifts to crown; used to raise money without Parliament

Morton’s Fork

Tax-raising method associated with Archbishop Morton; rich could pay because wealthy poor could pay because saving money

Trade policy of Henry VII

Aimed to expand cloth trade protect merchants and strengthen economy

Navigation Acts 1485 and 1489

Encouraged use of English ships and reduced dependence on foreign merchants

Intercursus Magnus 1496

Trade agreement with Burgundy restoring cloth trade after embargo during Warbeck crisis

Intercursus Malus 1506

Very favourable trade treaty for England after Philip of Burgundy shipwrecked in England; never fully implemented

Treaty of Medina del Campo 1489

Alliance with Spain; arranged marriage of Arthur and Catherine of Aragon; promised mutual protection against France

Importance of Medina del Campo

Major diplomatic success recognising Tudor dynasty and improving security

Treaty of Redon 1489

Henry agreed to support Brittany against France with 6000 troops

Treaty of Etaples 1492

France agreed to expel Warbeck and pay pension to Henry; Henry withdrew from France

Truce of Ayton 1497

Ended conflict with Scotland; first Anglo-Scottish peace treaty since 1328

Treaty of Perpetual Peace 1502

Peace agreement with Scotland leading to marriage of Margaret Tudor and James IV in 1503

Marriage of Margaret Tudor 1503

Margaret married James IV of Scotland; eventually led to Union of Crowns in 1603

Arthur and Catherine marriage 1501

Prince Arthur married Catherine of Aragon in November 1501 strengthening Spanish alliance

Death of Prince Arthur 1502

Arthur died at Ludlow in April 1502 creating succession crisis

Importance of Prince Henry

After Arthur’s death Henry became heir to throne and later Henry VIII

Death of Elizabeth of York 1503

Henry’s wife died in childbirth weakening Tudor image and affecting Henry personally

Treaty of Windsor 1506

Philip of Burgundy agreed to surrender Edmund de la Pole to Henry

Government by ‘new men’

Henry promoted loyal administrators of lower status such as Bray Dudley Empson Fox and Lovell rather than overmighty nobles

Role of churchmen in government

Bishops and archbishops like John Morton Richard Fox and William Warham served as key royal advisers because educated and dependent on king

Ireland under Henry VII

Difficult to control due to Yorkist sympathies; Poynings’ Law 1494 stated Irish Parliament could only meet with king’s approval

Poynings’ Law 1494

Reduced independence of Irish government and increased English control

Wales under Henry VII

Henry strengthened control through Council of Wales and the Marches led by Jasper Tudor

Religion under Henry VII

Henry remained orthodox Catholic; no major religious change but encouraged learning and humanism

Humanism under Henry VII

Influenced by Renaissance ideas stressing education and classical learning; supported scholars and education

Economic problems under Henry VII

Bad harvests and trade depressions occurred in 1490s; economy still largely dependent on wool and cloth exports

Exploration under Henry VII

Supported John Cabot’s voyage in 1497 which reached Newfoundland and expanded English exploration

John Cabot voyage 1497

Italian explorer sailing for England reached North America giving England future territorial claims

Population under Henry VII

England’s population around 2.25 million by 1509; mostly rural

Social structure in Tudor England

Nobility gentry yeomen and poor; gentry increasing in importance in local government

Impact of Henry VII’s rule by 1509

Established stable Tudor dynasty stronger royal finances greater control over nobility and improved foreign recognition

Death of Henry VII

Henry died on 21 April 1509; succeeded by Henry VIII

Key judgement on Henry VII

Henry transformed weak post-war monarchy into financially stable and politically secure Tudor state but his harsh financial methods caused resentment