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Henry VII Consolidation Of Power

Background

Henry Tudor did not have a strong claim to the thrown of England, he had his claim from his mother Margaret Beaufort who was a descendent of Edward III via the marriage of his third son, Margaret’s great grandfather. 

Henry was born in 1457, the son of Edmund Tudor who had died a few months before his sons birth so Henry grew up with his mother and uncle. Due to many deaths in his family Henry became the main Lancastrian claimant to the thrown so his uncle Jasper took Henry to safety in France. Henry spent most of the next 14 years in Brittany.

 In 1483 the situation changed suddenly as Edward IV died. His brother Richard III came to the thrown to rule in the place of Edwards sons. However Richard proclaimed himself as king and denied the succession of his nephew the young Edward V.  The young princes (Edward & Richard) were put into the tower of London and disappeared. Richard III, unsurprisingly, has been Widley held responsible the princes deaths. Richard III coming to the thrown lead to a lot of disunity in England. It was at this point that Henry Tudor decided to invade England with financial support from French king Charles VIII.

The Battle Of Bosworth 1485

Henry set sail from France on the first of August 1485 with a small army of English supporters and French soldiers. They landed in Wales and marched north towards the English border. He gained more support as he marched towards Shrewsbury and then further towards the midlands but even then his forces could not match those of Richard III who was based at Nottingham Castle.

On the morning of the 22 of August 1485 the five thousand strong army of Henry Tudor met the army of Richard III in the battle of Bosworth Field near Leicester. Richards troops arrived first and therefore got a better starting position.

However despite how it seemed Henry won the battle and Richard the third was killed and Henry took the thrown.

Establishing His Right To The Thrown

After the battle on Bosworth field, Henry moved quickly to legitimatise his claims by officially been crowned king and marrying Elizabeth of York though Henry was careful that his coronation in October 1485 came before his marriage in January 1486 so it couldn’t be said that he gained the thrown through his wife. To cement his power further Henry summoned parliament in November 1485 and embarked on a royal progress in April 1486.

Henry displayed political awareness when it came to handling nobility after his victory as supporters where rewarded with land and titles

Note:

this post will be edited with in the next few days to add further detail.All information was gathered from subject relivent text books.