General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> Harri /Tudor/
REFN: 5865AN
D.N.B.; Tudor Studies (gol. Seton-Watson), 1924; Tram. Cymm., 1917-8, 3-59
.
T.J.P.
-------------------------
Burial: Henry VII Chapel, Westminster, Abbey, England.
Reign (1485-1509) troubled by revolts, sometimes involving pretenders.
Formed 'Yeomen of the Guard' (oldest military corps in existence today).
Strengthened the power of the monarchy & scrutinized finances &efficiency.
Average Royal income went from ?52,000 to ?142,000 by end of his reign.
Henry spent money shrewdly and left a full treasury on his death in 1509.
There were four children of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by his mistr
ess, Catherine (Roet) Swynford, whom Gaunt later married (on 13January 139
6) as his third wife, at which time their four (grown) children were legit
imized, taking the surname Beaufort. After John of Gaunt's death, howeve
r, the four Beauforts were barred from succession to the English thro
ne by their half-brother King
Henry IV. Nevertheless, John Beaufort's (the eldest of the four childre
n) great-grandson Henry (VII) Tudor was able to win the throne in1485 part
ly by virtue of his descent, through John Beaufort from the Lancastrian Pl
antagenets. (it also helped enormously that he married a Yorkist Plantagen
et Princess).
REF: British Monarchy Official Website: Although supported by Lancastria
ns and Yorkists alienated by Richard III's usurpation, Henry VII's first t
ask was to secure his position. In 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, elde
st daughter of Edward IV, thus uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster. H
enry's reign(1485-1509) was troubled by revolts, sometimes involving prete
nders (such as Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel) who impersonated Edwa
rd V or his brother. In 1485, Henry formed a personal bodyguard from his f
ollowers known as the 'Yeomen of the Guard' (the oldest military cor
ps in existence today).
Henry strengthened the power of the monarchy by using traditional metho
ds of government to tighten royal administration and increase revenues (re
portedly including a daily examination of accounts). Royal income rose fr
om an annual average of ?52,000 to ?142,000 by the end of Henry'sreign. Li
ttle cooperation between king and parliament was required; during Henry
's reign of 24 years, seven parliaments sat for some ten and a half month
s. Henry used dynastic royal marriages to establish his dynasty in Englan
d, and help maintain peace. One daughter, Margaret, wasmarried to Jam
es IV of Scotland (from whom Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, Jam
es VI of Scotland and James I of England, were descended); the other daugh
ter married Louis XII of France. Henry spent money shrewdly and left a fu
ll treasury on his death in 1509.
-----------------------------
Though it did not seem so at the time, 22 August 1485 remains a seminal da
te in the history of English monarchy, for it ushered in the House of Tud
or and, ever since, the crown of England has remained in the line of the h
eirs of Henry Tudor, the victor at Bosworth Field. A dynasty was born. Hen
ry was head of the House of Lancaster through his remarkable mother, Marga
ret Beaufort, and he soon strengthened his claim to the throne of Engla
nd by Parliamentary approval and by his marriage with Elizabeth of York w
ho was destined to bear him three sons and four daughters, though only the
ir second son, Henry, and their eldest and third daughters, Margaret and M
ary re­spectively, were to survive their parents. Henry VIII was to beco
me so desperate to beget a healthy male heir that he divorced his first wi
fe to the consternation of Christendom and be­headed the second before emb
arking on four further marriages, the last three of them child­less, and l
eft, like his father, a son and two daughters. These all died without issu
e, yet their combined reigns lasted from 1547 to 1603, when James VI of Sc
otland, great-grandson of Henry VII's daughter Margaret, came s