Henry VII

• Henry Tudor


  Henry VII, 1485-1509
• At first, Henry seemed weak because he was a usurper with only a weak claim to the throne
• Yorkist princes with better claims to the throne


  • Edward, Earl of Warwick
  • John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln
• Henry had little active support from the nobility of England
• Three of the last four kings of England had been violently overthrown during the Wars of the Roses
• Henry's strong position


  • Married Elizabeth of York and quickly had a son, Prince Arthur, thus gaining support from many Yorkists
  • Had the support of Lancastrians
  • Richard III's only son had died as a child in 1484
  • Had not gained the throne with the aid of a great nobleman
  • There were no 'overmighty' noblemen left who might mount a serious challenge to Henry's kingship
  • Lack of close relatives was a major bonus for Henry VII
• The Wars of the Roses, although they had unseated several monarchs, had not seriously undermined the machinery of government, which, for the time was fairly sophisticated
• Henry's defeat of Richard III was seen as God's judgement on a regicide, a man who had overthrown and killed the rightful king, Edward V
• Henry VI was a weak man who suffered a serious mental breakdown, rendering him unfit to govern
• Henry VII was an able politician who had learnt his trade as a powerless refugee. He therefore worked hard to retain his office
• The nobility was not a serious threat to Henry's position
• Reasons why the nobility was not a threat

  • No 'over-mighty subjects' left after Bosworth who could unseat the king
  • Henry had few close relatives of the type who had caused trouble during the Wars of the Roses. He had no brothers, no adult children before his death and only one loyal uncle
  • The nobles who fought against him were 'attainted', but allowed to win back lands and titles only gradually, through loyal service
  • Bills of Attainder were widely used to deal with opponents in the fifteenth century. The accused was denied a trial and was declared guilty by Act of Parliament. Life, property and titles were all forfeit
  • The Earl of Lincoln, who was loyal at first but then joined Lambert Simnel, was killed at Stoke in 1487
  • The Earl of Northumberland was killed in a brawl in Thirsk in 1489 leaving a minor to succeed him. Government of the North was entrusted to the Earl of Surrey, who had no lands in that area
  • Sir William Stanley, Henry's Chamberlain was executed in 1495 for negotiating with Warbeck
  • The Duke of Buckingham was a minor
• Henry VII's activities


  • aces
  • gambled
  • hunted
  • feasted
  • Extensive diplomacy, sending agents to foreign countries
• Henry VII avoided the kind of expenditure that can drain royal funds
• Henry VII only went to war once in 1492
• Instead of fighting and trying to gain territory, Henry VII was paid off by the French
• Henry VII's foreign policy was otherwise defensive
• Henry VII was not generous in giving his supporters rewards
• Henry VII ensured that his agents or 'new men' earned their rewards from the people they persecuted and prosecuted rather than from the Crown
• Henry VII managed to earn more than he spent
• Henry VII did not have sufficient money to set up a paid bureaucracy or a royal standing army
• Henry VII used questionable means to obtain money, allowing his Councillors and other agents to bend the law for their own and the king's enrichment
• This built up opposition and discontent because of what was seen as misrule by the king
• Henry VII probably left the equivalent of two years income when he died in 1509, which was about £300,000
• Developments in the domestic economy were limited during Henry VII's reign
• England's agrarian economy remained unchanged, not seriously disrupted by the Wars of the Roses
• Main growth areas during Henry VII's reign

  • iron
  • wool
  • cloth
• More enclosures under Henry VII
• In many towns gilds, as major regulators of industry, were doing quite well
• Only about 50 statutes during reign dealt with social/economic issues and only one third of those initiated by Henry's government
• Crown passed laws concerning

  • Alien/foreign merchants
  • Coinage - counterfeiting made treasonable offence in 1488
  • Coinage reform, including new denominations
  • Wages to be paid to labourers
  • Some enclosure legislation - one Act of 1489 dealt with the Isle of Wight
  • Vagabonds, new statutes tended to moderate punishment of vagabonds passed in earlier Acts
• Henry's foreign policy was largely defensive and he was fortunate to rule at a time when England's main enemy France turned her attention to Italy
• Henry used his foreign policy to defuse the threats to his throne from pretenders
• Henry also tried to ally England with continental power and to marry his children advantageously
• At first Henry's policy was anti-French

  1489 he signed Treaty of Redon, agreeing to support the new Duchess of Brittany (Anne) against French attempts to take to duchy
• 1492 he invaded France with 15,000 men as Charles VIII's government was supporting Perkin Warbeck and encouraging Scots to attack


  Henry signed Peace of Etaples in 1492. No fighting. He is given a pension for 15 years
• After 1492 relations with France improve
• Henry was unable to prevent France taking control of Brittany after Anne the Duchess married the French king
• France invaded Italy in 1494, which remained the focus of her foreign policy thereafter
• Spain used by Henry as counter-weight to France


  However alliance took time to arrange and looked less valuable as Spain became divided and close to civil war when Queen Isabella of Castile died in 1504