On this day in Tudor history, 5th August 1503, administrator Sir Reginald Bray died.
Now, you may not have heard of him, he’s not a household name, but this quiet powerhouse of the Tudor court knew Henry VII from boyhood, helped plan the invasion that toppled Richard III, and then served as one of the most powerful men in England.
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Today is a date packed with significance in Tudor history – it’s Henry VII’s birthday, the anniversary of the death of Henry VIII, and the anniversary of the accession of Edward VI.
Let’s take a closer look at how these three monumental events shaped the Tudor dynasty.
First, let’s go back to 28th January 1457, when Henry Tudor was born at Pembroke Castle in Wales.
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th January 1502, King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, ratified a peace treaty, the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, with King James IV of Scotland, at Richmond Palace in the presence of James’s representatives, Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow, Patrick Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and Andrew Forman, who all signed it.
This treaty was a landmark agreement between England and Scotland aimed at ending two centuries of conflict between the two nations. It was a diplomatic triumph for both monarchs, King Henry VII of England and King James IV of Scotland, and it marked a rare moment of peaceful relations in what was often a turbulent and violent history.
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On this day in Tudor history, the forces of Henry Tudor defeated those of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was executed for his part in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne…
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On this day in Tudor history, Henry Tudor dropped anchor at Mill Bay in readiness to claim the throne of England; five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, set sail for France; and mariner and cartographer Sir Robert Dudley, illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was born…
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th May, Henry VII’s remains were taken to St Paul’s Cathedral; James V of Scotland and Marie de Guise were married by proxy; and William Bradford, founder of the Plymouth Colony, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th January, King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, uniting the Houses of Lancaster and York, Henry VIII dressed up as an outlaw to surprise his wife, and a man who was a composer, musician and spy was born…
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King Henry VII is often neglected in favour of his seemingly more interesting son, Henry VIII, or granddaughter, Elizabeth I, but he is a fascinating historical character.
In this week’s “from the archives”, historian Nathen Amin, author of The House of Beaufort and Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simnel, Warbeck, and Warwick, talks about Henry VII: the Man…
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th November 1485, the late King Richard III and his supporters were attainted by King Henry VII’s first parliament.
In the act of attainder, Richard was referred to as Richard, late Duke of Gloucester, and as a usurper. The list of others attainted for fighting against Henry at Bosworth included the late John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and his son, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey.
Find out who else was included and whether Parliament’s actions were unusual…
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How much do you know about the reign of the first Tudor monarch. King Henry VII?
Test yourself with this fun crossword puzzle.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th June 1567, in Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle.
She’d been taken prisoner following her surrender at the Battle of Carberry Hill on 15th June.
At Loch Leven, it was reported that she miscarried twins fathered by her third husband, the Earl of Bothwell, and she was also forced to abdicate. She did, however, escape, but her freedom was very short-lived.
Find out more about this time in Mary, Queen of Scots’ life…
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th May 1509, the remains of King Henry VII were taken to St Paul’s to prepare for his burial at Westminster Abbey.
I share an account of the journey to St Paul’s…
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The king is dead! Long live the king!
On this day in Tudor history, 21st April 1509, the founder of the Tudor dynasty, King Henry VII, died at Richmond Palace. He had ruled since 1485, when his forces defeated those of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth.
Henry VII was succeeded by his seventeen-year-old son, Henry, who, it was said, did “not desire gold or gems or precious metals, but virtue, glory, immortality”!
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th November 1485, Henry VII’s first parliament attainted King Richard III and his supporters.
As well as Richard, who was referred to as Richard, late Duke of Gloucester, and a usurper, the list of those attainted for their treason in fighting against the king at Bosworth included the late John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and his son, the Earl of Surrey.
Find out who else was included and whether Parliament’s actions were unusual, in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th October 1600, Queen Elizabeth I refused to renew Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex’s monopoly on sweet wines, saying that “an unruly horse must be abated of his provender, that he may be the easier and better managed.”
It may not sound like a major event, but it was for Essex and it drove him to desperation and, ultimately, to the scaffold.
Why? What was going on? How could the queen’s refusal to renew this monopoly lead to Essex’s undoing?
Find out what was happened in 1600 and what happened next with the queen and her favourite, in this talk…
[Read More...]Here is the transcript of last week’s live Q&A session with Nathen Amin on Henry VII: The Man for those of you who missed it. It was a wonderful chat.
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As yesterday was the anniversary of Henry Tudor landing on the Pembrokeshire coastline in 1485 in preparation for claiming the throne of England, I thought I’d test your knowledge of Henry VII’s early life, from his birth in 1457 to his defeat of Richard III in 1485.
Get those little grey cells working with this fun quiz.
[Read More...]Nathen Amin, author of The House of Beaufort and Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simnel, Warbeck, and Warwick is our August expert speaker and here he is with a wonderful talk on Henry VII…
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As my latest “Facts about…” video is about the very first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII, I thought I’d share it here.
Henry VII does seem to be a neglected monarch, as many people find his son, Henry VIII, and his granddaughter, Elizabeth I, far more interesting, but he deserves some attention, don’t you think?
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In this first part of This Week in Tudor History for week beginning 29th March, I talk about William Wager, a playwright and clergyman who picked wonderful titles for his works; the interesting life and career of Sir Ralph Sadler, who started out working for Thomas Cromwell and who went on to serve Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Jane (Lady Jane Grey) and Elizabeth I – oh, and I will tell you about his bigamous marriage! Then, finally, I will leave you with the dying King Henry VIII making his last will and testament.
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In this week’s Friday video, Claire looks at a beautiful manuscript with links to Henry VII and the Vaux family. It really is stunning and it’s wonderful that it’s survived. It also appears to give us an inisght into his grieving children following the death of their mother, Elizabeth of York.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th November 1485, Henry VII’s first parliament attainted King Richard III and his supporters.
As well as Richard, who was referred to as Richard, late Duke of Gloucester, and a usurper, the list of those attainted for their treason in fighting against the king at Bosworth included the late John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and his son, the Earl of Surrey.
Find out who else was included and whether Parliament’s actions were unusual, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history,18th January 1486, twenty-nine year-old King Henry VII married twenty year-old Elizabeth of York at Westminster Abbey.
This was over two years after he had vowed to marry her and nearly 5 months after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Why did Henry VII delay in marrying Elizabeth of York?
Find out what delayed the marriage, and more about the bride and groom, in today’s talk.
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Note: I say that Margaret of York was the Princes’ sister, when actually she was their aunt. Sorry!
On this day in Tudor history, 23rd November 1499, in the reign of King Henry VII, pretender Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn after allegedly plotting to help another claimant, Edward, Earl of Warwick, escape from the Tower of London.
Perkin Warbeck had claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower, and had even been proclaimed King Richard IV, but his rebellion and claim failed.
In today’s talk, I give Perkin Warbeck’s background, and explain how he ended up trying to claim the throne of England, and what happened.
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th October 1485, Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond and son of Lady Margaret Beaufort and the late Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, was crowned King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey in London.
Henry VII had of course become king following the defeat of King Richard III’s forces, and the death of Richard, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485.
Find out about his coronation celebrations and his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort’s reaction to Henry’s coronation in today’s talk:
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This week’s Claire Chats talk is the first in as series on the Tudor monarchs: the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m going to be examining each Tudor monarch and their reign, and discussing their accomplishments, the good they did for their people, and also the not so good things of their reign.
Today’s Claire Chats is on Henry VII. I’m sure you’ll be able to add to my list, so do feel free to comment below.
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Carrying on from my recent Claire Chats talk on proxy marriages, I just wanted to look at the negotiations for a marriage between Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII, and Charles of Castile (later Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), and the end result, a ceremony that took place in December 1508.
What’s interesting is that the service in 1508 was different to what had actually been agreed between Henry VII and Emperor Maximilian. Let me explain…
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Today is the anniversary of the battle which started the Tudor period: the Battle of Bosworth Field. The Tudor dynasty on the throne of England began on this day, when Henry Tudor’s forces beat those of King Richard III, and Richard was killed.
In today’s talk, I explain what happened on that day in rural Leicestershire, and how Henry Tudor was victorious even though Richard III came into battle with a huge advantage.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th August 1485, Henry Tudor, the soon-to-be King Henry VII, returned from exile, landing at Mill Bay in Wales. His intention was, of course, to claim the throne of England and to depose King Richard III.
I share two accounts of his landing and explains what Henry did next.
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