Chronicler Edward Hall recorded:
"After this he with great pompe was conueighed to Westmynster, and there the thirtye daye of Octobre was with all ceremonyes accustomed, enoynted & crouned kyng by the whole assent as well of the comons as of the nobilite, . & was named kyng Henry the. vij. of that name, which was in the yere of our redempcion. M. cccc. Ixxxvi.Frederyke the. iii. then beynge Emperouv of Almayne, Maximilian his sonne then beynge newely elected kyng of Romanes, Charles the. viij. reignyng ouer the Frenche nacion, & James the iij. rulyng the realme of Scotland. Which kyngdorne he obteyned & enioyed as a thyng by God elected & prouided, and by his especiall fauoure & gracious aspecte compassed and acheued. In so muche that men comonly reporte that. vii. C. xcvii. yeres passed, it was by a heauenly voyce reueled to Cadwalader last kyng of Brytons that his stocke and progeny should reigne in this land and beare domynion agayn: Wherupon most men were persuaded in their awne opinion that by this heauenly voyce he was prouided & ordeyned longe before to enioye and obteine this kyngdom, whiche thing kyng Henry the. vi. did also shewe before as you haue heard declared."
Chronicler Raphael Holinshed wrote:
"[...] with great pompe he rowed unto Westminster, & there the thirtith daie of October he was with all ceremonies accustomed, anointed, & crowned king, by the whole assent as well of the commons as of the nobilitie, & called Henrie the seaventh of that name: which was in the yeare of the world 5452, and after the birth of our Lord 1485, in the fortie and sixt yeare of Frederike the third then emperour of Almaine, Maximilian his sonne being newlie elected king of the Romans, in the second yeare of Charles the eight then king of France, and in the fiue and twentith of king James then ruling the realme of Scotland."
John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and confessor and chaplain to Lady Margaret Beaufort, wrote of Margaret's reaction to her son's coronation:
"For whan the kynge her sone was crowned in all that grete tryumphe & glorye, she wepte meruayllously [marvellously]."
Historian Thomas Penn notes that his coronation was the occasion when Henry was reunited with his mother after fourteen years of separation. What an emotional day it must have been for both of them.
Henry, of course, had become king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth on 22nd August 1485.
Notes and Sources
- Hall's Chronicle, p423.
- Holinshed's Chronicle (1587 edition), Volume 6, p762
- The English Works of John Fisher: Bishop of Rochester, p305-306.
- Penn, Thomas (2011) Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England, Penguin, p11