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King Henry VII of England was born on the 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle, to Lady Margaret Beaufort. His father, Edmund Tudor 1st Earl of Richmond died three months before his birth. Henry'suncle Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke and Edmund'syounger brother, undertook the protection of the young widow, who was 13 yearsold when she gave birth to Henry. During the Wars of the Roses, guardianship of Henry was passed around depending on who was in power.
Henry was tall, dark, blue-eyed, well-built and athletic. He was interested in the arts, and skilled in diplomacy, as well as financially astute.
Henry's claim to the English throne is derived through a complex maze steaming from his mother through the House of Beaufort. Indeed, Lady Margaret was the great-granddaughter of John the Gaunt ( Duke of Lancaster) who was in turn the fourth son of King Edward III and his third wife Katherine Swynford. However, Katherine was the king's mistress for nearly 25 years when the married in 1396 and had already birthed four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort. To conclude, Henry's claim was tenuous as it stemmed from a woman and by illegitimate descent. Nevertheless, King Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Kathrine in 1397. Henry's claim was solidified when in 1483, he was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining after the deaths of the Wars of the Roses.
In 1483 Lady Beauford was actively promoting her son as an alternative to King Richard III. To further her ambitions, Margaret orchestrated a marriage between her son and Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV as well as his heir. On Christmas Day of the same year, Henry pledged to marry the York Princess at Rennes Cathedral in France. However, during his attempt to land in England, Richard III attempted to extradite Henry from Brittany, but Henry fled to France where he was welcomed by the French who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for another invasion. Henry also gained support from the Woodvilles, the parents of Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth Woodville. Henry sailed to Wales where his French and Scottish force was joined by the Welsh. He assembled an army of around 5000 soldiers.
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Elizabeth of York
His seizure of the throne took place at the Battle of Bosworth Field in what would be the end of the Wars of the Roses. Henry's army, though outnumbered, defeated Richard III's Yorkist army. The death of the King ended the Wars of the Roses. Interestingly, Henry VII was the last King of England to win his throne on the battlefield. His was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485 at the age of 28. To further cement his claim, Henry Tudor married Elizabeth of York in 1486, who in turn was crowned Queen Consort in 1487.
The marriage unified the warring houses and gave Henry's children a strong claim to the throne. The unification of the houses of York and Lancaster by this marriage is symbolised by the heraldic emblem of the Tudor Rose, a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. Henry and Elizabeth had eight children, four of who survived childhood. The marriage unified the warring houses and gave Henry's children a strong claim to the throne. The unification of the houses of York and Lancaster by this marriage is symbolised by the heraldic emblem of the Tudor Rose, a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.
Their eldest son, Arthur Tudor, was born in 1486. He married Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon in 1501, but six months after their marriage Arthur died of an unknown ailment. Arthur's untimely death paved the way for Henry's accession as Henry VIII in 1509. The King, normally a reserved man who rarely showed much emotion in public unless angry, surprised his courtiers by his intense grief and sobbing at his son's death.
Their eldest daughter, Margaret Tudor, was born in 1489 and eventually married King James IV of Scotland, becoming the great-grandmother of King James I of England.
Henry Tudor was born in 1491 and upon his elder brother's death became, King Henry VIII of England.
Their youngest surviving child, Mary Tudor, was born in 1496 and eventually became Queen of France and subsequently wife of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
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In 1502, Elizabeth of York became pregnant once more and spent her confinement period in the Tower of London. On 2 February 1503, she gave birth to a daughter, Katherine, but the child died a few days afterwards. Succumbing to a post-partum infection, Elizabeth of York died on 11 February, her 37th birthday. Her husband and children appear to have mourned her death deeply. According to one account, Henry Tudor "privily departed to a solitary place and would no man should resort unto him." Shortly after his wife's death, Henry became extremely ill himself. Although Henry entertain the idea of a remarriage, this never happened. Indeed the physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors of what he desired in a new wife matched the description of Elizabeth. We can thus conclude that despite its arranged nature, the marriage between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was a happy one.
On the 21 April 1509, Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace at the age of 52, and was buried at Westminster Abbey, next to his wife, Elizabeth, in the chapel he commissioned. He was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII.
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Henry VII & Elizabeth of York's final resting place.
