Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
son crowned himself Edward IV, causing Henry VI to flee—but he returned, was
captured, and then restored to the throne in 1471. Then it was Edward's turn to flee,
but he returned to destroy the Lancastrian army at Tewkesbury and Henry was mur-
dered shortly afterward.
Edward IV appointed his brother Richard to be Protector when he was succeeded
by his 12-year-old son, Edward V, in 1483. It was a bad decision. Richard put the boy
king and his younger brother (also Richard) in the Tower of London and crowned
himself Richard III. The Princes in the Tower, as they became known, were mur-
dered. But things didn't work out well for Richard III, either. In 1485 Henry Tudor,
born in
Pembroke Castle
(p. 707) and part of the House of Lancaster, killed Rich-
ard in the Battle of Bosworth Field, between Coventry and Leicester, and claimed the
throne to become Henry VII, the first of the Tudor dynasty.
The Tudors (1485-1603)
There's now a Bosworth
Battlefield Heritage Centre
(p. 554) at the spot where
Henry VII won the crown. But it's fair to say Henry Tudor is responsible for far more
of England's and Wales's heritage than that. His reign is considered to be the close of
the Middle Ages, and he ended rivalry between the Houses of Lancaster and York by
marrying Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV.
He was a clever king: Avoiding costly wars, forging trade alliances to create more
wealth, setting up councils in Wales and the north to bring them into the administra-
tive fold, and reforming the judicial system by introducing the Court of Star Cham-
ber. Flamboyant Henry VIII inherited a fortune from his father in 1509, and a wife
from his elder brother Arthur. Arthur had married the King of Spain's eldest daughter,
Catherine of Aragon, at London's old St. Paul's Cathedral in 1501, but the sickly heir
to the throne died 5 months later. Catherine came with a huge dowry so Henry VII
petitioned the Pope to have the marriage annulled so that his new heir, Henry, could
marry her and keep the money.
The marriage went forth and Catherine gave birth to several children, but only
daughter Mary survived—and Henry wanted a son. By now he also wanted Anne
Boleyn, born at
Blickling Hall
in Norfolk (p. 525) and a member of his wife's court.
The 2008 film
The Other Boleyn Girl
portrays Henry's affair with Anne's sister Mary,
but Anne was more ambitious and demanded to be queen.
Henry petitioned the Pope in 1530 for an annulment to his marriage with Cath-
erine, but the Pope didn't want to upset the Spanish king. A few years later, Anne
gave in to Henry's lust, and when she became pregnant, he secretly married her in
1533. When the Pope declared the marriage invalid, Henry announced himself
Head of the Church of England, confirmed by an Act of Parliament in 1534. The
Reformation had begun.
Henry still considered himself a Catholic and persecuted Protestants, but he was
also suspicious of those loyal to the Pope, particularly monks and nuns. So in 1535
he executed several as a warning to others, then sent out officials to investigate the
monasteries. In 1538 he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and eventu-
ally closed all monasteries and nunneries and sold off their land.
By this time Henry had already executed Anne Boleyn for alleged adultery and,
within days, married Anne's lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour. Anne had given birth to a
girl—Elizabeth—but Jane finally gave Henry a male heir, Prince Edward, then died
shortly afterward.
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