Summary

HENRY VII
Henry Tudor + The Battle of Bosworth
Claim to the throne:
 Very weak
 Came from mother (Margaret Beaufort) who was a descendant of Edward III

Early life:
 Born in 1457, son of Edmund Tudor (Earl of Richmond)
 Raised by mother and his uncle Jasper Tudor – father died before birth
 During the Wars of the Roses many Lancastrians died, leaving Henry as the leading
Lancastrian claimant
 Jasper Tudor took Henry to France to keep him safe
 He lived in Brittany for 14 years until the death of Edward IV in 1483
 Richard III (Edward IV’s brother) seized control by locking up his nephews in the Tower of
London
o They were known as the “Princes in the Tower” and were never seen again
 In France Henry built up a following of people who opposed Richard III
o Jasper Tudor and financial support from French Charles VIII

Battle of Bosworth:
 August 1485
 Henry landed in Pembroke in Wales and gained support whilst marching towards the English
border
 Richard III had the advantage at the start as he had arrived at Bosworth earlier and had more
men
 However, Henry gained the Stanley’s support who betrayed Richard III and he was killed in
battle

Consolidation of Power
 Henry dated his reign from the day before the Battle of Bosworth – this meant he was King
before battle so anyone who fought against him could be tried for treason
 Able to imprison many Yorkists who had better claims to the throne than himself
 Rewarded his supporters (e.g., the Stanleys) and controlled the nobility
 Marriage to Elizabeth of York – unification of the two houses
 Heir to the throne – Prince Arthur born, vital step to securing the Tudor Dynasty

Dealing with the nobility
 Throughout his reign, Henry tried to reduce wealth, land, and support of the nobles
 Attainders
o Special laws passed without trial by parliament
o Used against nobles he suspected of disloyalty
o Land taken -> increases finances of the Crown
o 138 attainders passed, 46 reversed to secure loyalty
 Patronage
o Monarch grants nobles land or rewards to gain support
o Only used a couple of times at start of reign where he rewarded the supporters of
the Battle of Bosworth
o Didn’t want to use too much patronage as he didn’t want to create a new group of
nobles who could offer any threat to the crown
 Number of nobles fell dramatically
 H7 was the main landowner in all of England

,  Lord Stanley = retained control of Cheshire and Lancashire
 Jasper Tudor = made Duke of Bedford

Financial controls:
 36 out of 62 nobility families under financial bonds
 Places nobles in debt to the Crown so they had to remain loyal in the future
 Council Learned in Law – set up by H7 and Sir Reginald Bray to deal with the King’s fiscal
matters initially but later used as a legal device to enforce payments of debts and investigate
whether noblemen were paying proper dues
o Designed to exploit the king’s prerogative rights
o Introduced bonds – many cases falsified to earn revenue

Tudor government
Henry’s government was run off personal monarchy: this meant that political power and influence of
a courtier depended on their relationship with the King
 Royal court – centre of the government and was very glamorous to show the wealth of the
crown to other countries and courtiers
 Household proper – responsible for looking after the King
 The Chamber – presided over by the Lord Chamberlain who was an experienced nobleman
and friend of the King
o After William Stanley’s involvement with Warbeck the Privy Chamber was created
 Parliament – only used a few times at the start of his reign when he was less secure, used to
pass laws and grant taxation to the Crown, early Parliaments based on raising Crown
revenue and national security
 Local and regional government – H7 reliant on JPs who maintained law and order in the
countryside, they were appointed from local landowners and met 4 times a year

The Council:
 Could include nobility, churchmen, gentry, or lawyers
 They advised the King and made legal judgements
 John Morton – Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Cardinal in 1493,
encouraged nobles to offer loans to the Crown
 Sir Reginald Bray – helped H7 raise money for Battle of Bosworth, created Council Learned in
Law
 Empson and Dudley – created a system of spies and informers who looked for misdeeds
among the wealthy, both executed at start of H8 reign

Finances
After Wars of the Roses, the Crown has very poor finances and Henry’s financial policies were
cautious as he neglected an aggressive foreign policy
Henry established new posts intended to deal with finance:
 Surveyor of the Kings Ward – investigate money owed to him from wardships
 Court of Audit – measured government spending
 Council Learned in Law
 Star Chamber
o Created in 1487 under the Star Chamber Act
o Aim of prosecuting anybody who acted in a rebellious or lawless manner
o Used against those who were politically prominent, and their reputation would
prevent ordinary courts from convicting them