Henry VII of England Henry VII ( ; 28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509 ) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509 , as the first monarch of the House of Tudor . Henry won the throne when his forces defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field . He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle . Henry cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III . Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses . He founded the Tudor dynasty and , after a reign of nearly 24 years , was peacefully succeeded by his son , Henry VIII . Although Henry can be credited with the restoration of political stability in England , and a number of commendable administrative , economic and diplomatic initiatives , the latter part of his reign was characterised by a financial rapacity which stretched the bounds of legality . The capriciousness and lack of due process which indebted many in England were soon ended upon Henry VII ' s death after a commission revealed widespread abuses . According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil , simple " greed " in large part underscored the means by which royal control was over - asserted in Henry ' s final years . Ancestry and early life . Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 28 January 1457 to the 13 - year - old Margaret Beaufort , Countess of Richmond . His father , Edmund Tudor , 1st Earl of Richmond , died three months before his birth . Henry ' s paternal grandfather , Owen Tudor , originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd , Isle of Anglesey in Wales , had been a page in the court of Henry V . He rose to become one of the " Squires to the Body to the King " after military service at Agincourt . Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V , Catherine of Valois . One of their sons was Edmund Tudor , father of Henry VII . Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452 , and " formally declared legitimate by Parliament " . Henry ' s main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort . Henry ' s mother , Lady Margaret Beaufort , was a great - granddaughter of John of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster , fourth son of Edward III , and his third wife Katherine Swynford . Katherine was Gaunt ' s mistress for about 25 years ; when they married in 1396 , they already had four children , including Henry ' s great - grandfather John Beaufort . Thus Henry ' s claim was somewhat tenuous : it was from a woman , and by illegitimate descent . In theory , the Portuguese and Spanish royal families had a better claim ( as far as " legitimacy " is concerned ) as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster , the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile . Gaunt ' s nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt ' s children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397 . In 1407 , Henry IV , who was Gaunt ' s son by his first wife , issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half - siblings , but also declaring them ineligible for the throne . Henry IV ' s action was of doubtful legality , as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament , but it further weakened Henry ' s claim . Nonetheless , by 1483 Henry was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining , after the deaths in battle or by murder or execution of Henry VI , his son Edward of Westminster , Prince of Wales , and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret ' s uncle , the 2nd Duke of Somerset . Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry , for example in attracting military support and safeguarding his army ' s passage through Wales on its way to the Battle of Bosworth . He came from an old - established Anglesey family which claimed descent from Cadwaladr ( in legend , the last ancient British king ) and on occasion , Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr . He took it , as well as the standard of St George , on his procession through London after victory at Bosworth . A contemporary writer and Henry ' s biographer , Bernard André , also made much of Henry ' s Welsh descent . In reality , however , his hereditary connections to Welsh aristocracy were not strong . He was descended by the paternal line , through several generations , from Ednyfed Fychan , the seneschal ( steward ) of Gwynedd and through this seneschal ' s wife from Rhys ap Tewdwr , the King of Deheubarth in South Wales . His more immediate ancestor Tudur ap Goronwy had aristocratic land rights , but his sons , who were first cousins to Owain Glyndŵr , sided with Owain in his revolt . One son was executed and the family land was forfeited . Another son , Henry ' s great - grandfather , became a butler to the Bishop of Bangor . Owen Tudor , the son of the butler , like the children of other rebels , was provided for by Henry V , a circumstance which precipitated his access to Queen Catherine of Valois . Notwithstanding this lineage , to the bards of Wales , Henry was a candidate for Y Mab Darogan – " The Son of Prophecy " who would free the Welsh from oppression . In 1456 , Henry ' s father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists . He died in Carmarthen Castle , three months before Henry was born . Henry ' s uncle Jasper Tudor , the Earl of Pembroke and Edmund ' s younger brother , undertook to protect the young widow , who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry . When Edward IV became King in 1461 , Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad . Pembroke Castle , and later the Earldom of Pembroke , were granted to the Yorkist William Herbert , who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry . Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469 , when Richard Neville , Earl of Warwick ( the " Kingmaker " ) , went over to the Lancastrians . Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick . When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470 , Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court . When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471 , Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany , where he spent most of the next 14 years . < nowiki > < / nowiki > Rise to the throne . By 1483 , his mother , despite being married to a Yorkist ( Lord Stanley ) , was actively promoting Henry as an alternative to Richard III . At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483 , Henry pledged to marry Edward IV ' s eldest daughter , Elizabeth of York , who was also Edward ' s heir since the presumed death of her brothers , the Princes in the Tower ( King Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury , Duke of York ) . Henry then received the homage of his supporters . With money and supplies borrowed from his host Francis II , Duke of Brittany , Henry tried to land in England , but his conspiracy unravelled , resulting in the execution of his primary co - conspirator , the Duke of Buckingham . Now supported by Francis II ' s prime - minister Pierre Landais , Richard III attempted to extradite Henry from Brittany , but Henry escaped to France . He was welcomed by the French , who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion . Having gained the support of the Woodvilles , in - laws of the late Edward IV , he sailed with a small French and Scottish force . Henry landed in Mill Bay , Pembrokeshire , close to his birthplace . He marched towards England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and the Earl of Oxford . Wales was traditionally a Lancastrian stronghold , and Henry owed the support he gathered to his Welsh birth and ancestry , being directly descended , through his father , from Rhys ap Gruffydd . He amassed an army of around 5 , 000 soldiers . Henry was aware that his best chance to seize the throne was to engage Richard quickly and defeat him immediately , as Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester . Richard only needed to avoid being killed in order to keep his throne . Though outnumbered , Henry ' s Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard ' s Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485 . Several of Richard ' s key allies , such as the Earl of Northumberland and William and Thomas Stanley , crucially switched sides or left the battlefield . Richard III ' s death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses , although it was not the last battle Henry had to fight . Reign . The first concern Henry had was to secure his hold on the throne . He honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York . They were third cousins , as both were great - great - grandchildren of John of Gaunt . The marriage took place on 18 January 1486 at Westminster . The marriage unified the warring houses and gave his 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 . It also ended future discussion as to whether the descendants of the fourth son of Edward III , Edmund , Duke of York , through marriage to Philippa , heiress of the second son , Lionel , Duke of Clarence , had a superior or inferior claim to those of the third son John of Gaunt , who had held the throne for three generations . In addition , Henry had Parliament repeal " Titulus Regius " , the statute that declared Edward IV ' s marriage invalid and his children illegitimate , thus legitimising his wife . Amateur historians Bertram Fields and Sir Clements Markham have claimed that he may have been involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower , as the repeal of " Titulus Regius " gave the Princes a stronger claim to the throne than his own . Alison Weir , however , points out that the Rennes ceremony , two years earlier , was possible only if Henry and his supporters were certain that the Princes were already dead . Henry ' s second action was to declare himself king retroactively from the day before Bosworth Field . This meant that anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason . Thus , Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III while restoring his own . However , he spared Richard ' s nephew and designated heir , the Earl of Lincoln . He also created Margaret Plantagenet , a Yorkist heiress , Countess of Salisbury sui juris . He took great care not to address the baronage , or summon Parliament , until after his coronation , which took place in Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485 . Almost immediately afterwards , he issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would , notwithstanding any previous attainder , be secure in his property and person . Henry secured his crown principally by dividing and undermining the power of the nobility , especially through the aggressive use of bonds and recognisances to secure loyalty . He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance , the great lords ' practice of having large numbers of " retainers " who wore their lord ' s badge or uniform and formed a potential private army . Henry was threatened by several rebellions in the next few years . The first was the Stafford and Lovell Rebellion of 1486 , which collapsed without fighting . In 1487 , Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of Lambert Simnel , a boy who was claimed to be the Earl of Warwick , son of Edward IV ' s brother Clarence ( who had last been seen as a prisoner in the Tower ) . The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke . Henry made the boy , Simnel , a servant in the royal kitchen . In 1490 , a young Fleming , Perkin Warbeck , appeared and claimed to be Richard , the younger of the " Princes in the Tower " . Warbeck won the support of Edward IV ' s sister Margaret of Burgundy . He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495 , and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496 . In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with a few thousand troops , but was soon captured and executed . In 1499 , Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed . However , he spared Warwick ' s elder sister Margaret . She survived until 1541 , when she was executed by Henry VIII . Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes . In this , he was largely successful . However , such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone ( John de la Pole , Earl of Richmond , is an example ) with blood ties to the Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne . Economics . Henry VII was a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation . In this he was supported by his chancellor , Archbishop John Morton , whose " Morton ' s Fork " was a catch - 22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes . Royal government was also reformed with the introduction of the King ' s Council that kept the nobility in check . Foreign policy . Henry VII ' s policy was both to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity . Up to a point , he succeeded . He was not a military man and had no interest in trying to regain French territories lost during the reigns of his predecessors ; he was therefore ready to conclude a treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England , and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne , such as Perkin Warbeck . However , this treaty came at a slight price , as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492 . Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands , signed an alliance with Spain to that end , and sent seven thousand troops to France . However , the confused , fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts , which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions , at a cost of ₤24 , 000 . However , as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars , the French were happy to agree to the Treaty of Etaples . Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life , prior to his ascending the throne of England . To strengthen his position , however , he subsidised shipbuilding , so strengthening the navy ( he commissioned Europe ' s first ever – and the world ' s oldest surviving – dry dock at Portsmouth in 1495 ) and improving trading opportunities . By the time of his death , he had amassed a personal fortune of £ 1 . 25 million ( £ as of 2018 ) . Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom and concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo ( 1489 ) , by which his son , Arthur Tudor , was married to Catherine of Aragon . He also concluded the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Scotland ( the first treaty between England and Scotland for almost two centuries ) , which betrothed his daughter Margaret to King James IV of Scotland . By means of this marriage , Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France . Though this was not achieved during his reign , the marriage eventually led to the union of the English and Scottish crowns under Margaret ' s great - grandson , James VI and I following the death of Henry ' s granddaughter Elizabeth I . He also formed an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I ( 1493 – 1519 ) and persuaded Pope Innocent VIII to issue a Papal bull of Excommunication against all pretenders to Henry ' s throne . Trade agreements . Henry ' s most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the " Magnus Intercursus " ( " great agreement " ) of 1496 . In 1494 , Henry embargoed trade ( mainly in wool ) with the Netherlands as retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy ' s support of Perkin Warbeck . The Merchant Adventurers , the company which enjoyed the monopoly of the Flemish wool trade , relocated from Antwerp to Calais . At the same time , Flemish merchants were ejected from England . The stand - off eventually paid off for Henry . Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce . Its restoration by the " Magnus Intercursus " was very much to England ' s benefit in removing taxation for English merchants and significantly increasing England ' s wealth . In turn , Antwerp became an extremely important trade entrepot , through which , for example , goods from the Baltic , spices from the east and Italian silks were exchanged for English cloth . In 1506 , Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip the Handsome of Burgundy . Philip had been shipwrecked on the English coast , and while Henry ' s guest , was bullied into an agreement so favourable to England at the expense of the Netherlands that it was dubbed the " Malus Intercursus " ( " evil agreement " ) . France , Burgundy , the Holy Roman Empire , Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty , which was never in force . Philip died shortly after the negotiations . Henry VII was also enriched by trading alum which was used in the wool and cloth trades for dyeing fabric . Since Europe had only one area where it was mined ( Tolfa , Italy ) , it was a scarce commodity and therefore valuable . Starting in 1486 , Henry VII became involved in the alum trade . With the assistance of the Italian merchant - banker , Lodovico della Fava and the Italian banker , Girolamo Frescobaldi , Henry VII became deeply involved in the alum trade by licensing ships , obtaining alum from the Ottoman Empire , and selling it to the Low Countries and England . This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper which raised opposition with Pope Julius II since the Tolfa , Italy alum mine was a part of papal territory thereby giving the Pope monopoly control over alum . Law Enforcement and Justices of Peace . Henry ' s principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses . There were too many powerful noblemen and , as a consequence of the system of so - called bastard feudalism , each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers ( mercenaries masquerading as servants ) . He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him . For instance , the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire , upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law . In other cases , he brought his over - powerful subjects to heel by decree . He passed laws against " livery " ( the upper classes ' flaunting of their adherents by giving them badges and emblems ) and " maintenance " ( the keeping of too many male " servants " ) . These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats . However , his principal weapon was the Court of Star Chamber . This revived an earlier practice of using a small ( and trusted ) group of the Privy Council as a personal or Prerogative Court , able to cut through the cumbersome legal system and act swiftly . Serious disputes involving the use of personal power , or threats to royal authority , were thus dealt with . Henry VII used Justices of the Peace on a large , nationwide scale . They were appointed for every shire and served for a year at a time . Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area . Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors , never more so than under Henry ’ s reign . Despite this , Henry was keen to constrain their power and influence , applying the same principles to the Justices of the Peace as he did to the nobility : a similar system of bonds and recognisances to that which applied to both the gentry and the nobles who tried to exert their elevated influence over these local officials . All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the Justices of the Peace . For example , Justices of the Peace could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries . They were also in charge of various administrative duties , such as the checking of weights and measures . By 1509 , Justices of the Peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII . They were unpaid , which , in comparison with modern standards , meant a lesser tax bill to pay for a police force . Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve . Overall , this was a successful area of policy for Henry , both in terms of efficiency and as a method of reducing the corruption endemic within the nobility of the Middle Ages . Later years and death . In 1502 , Henry VII ' s first son and heir - apparent , Arthur Tudor , died suddenly at Ludlow Castle , very likely from a viral respiratory illness known , at the time , as the " English sweating sickness " . This made Henry , Duke of York ( Henry VIII ) heir - apparent to the throne . The King , normally a reserved man , surprised his courtiers by his intense grief at his son ' s death , while his concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one . Henry VII wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance . He therefore arranged a papal dispensation from Pope Julius II for Prince Henry to marry his brother ' s widow Catherine , a relationship that would have otherwise precluded marriage in the Roman Catholic Church . In 1503 , Queen Elizabeth died in childbirth , so King Henry had the dispensation also permit him to marry Catherine himself . After obtaining the dispensation , Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine . Catherine ' s mother Isabella I of Castile had died and Catherine ' s sister Joanna had succeeded her ; Catherine was therefore daughter of only one reigning monarch and so less desirable as a spouse for Henry VII ' s heir - apparent . The marriage did not take place during his lifetime . Henry made half - hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs , but these never came to anything . In 1505 he was sufficiently interested in a potential marriage to Joan , the recently widowed Queen of Naples , that he sent ambassadors to Naples to report on the 27 - year old ' s physical suitability . Despite his efforts at remarriage , there is little doubt that Henry felt genuine grief for his wife ; on her death he " privily departed to a solitary place , and would that no man should resort unto him . " Henry VII died at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 of tuberculosis and was buried at Westminster Abbey . He was succeeded by his second son , Henry VIII ( reign 1509 – 47 ) . Legacy and memory . Historians have always compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries , especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon . By 1600 historians emphasised Henry ' s wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs . By 1900 the " New Monarchy " interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power . This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states . In the late 20th century a model of European state formation was prominent in which Henry less resembles Louis and Ferdinand . Henry ' s titles . Henry ' s full style as king was : " Henry , by the Grace of God , King of England , France and Lord of Ireland " Arms . Upon his succession as king , Henry became entitled to bear the arms of his kingdom . After his marriage , he used the red - and - white rose as his emblem – this continued to be his dynasty ' s emblem , known as the Tudor rose . Issue . Henry and Elizabeth ' s children are listed below . An illegitimate son has also been attributed to Henry by " a Breton Lady " : Further descendants . Henry VII ' s elder surviving daughter Margaret was married first to James IV of Scotland ( reigned 1488 – 1513 ) . Their son became James V of Scotland ( reigned 1513 – 42 ) , whose daughter became Mary , Queen of Scots ( reigned 1542 – 67 ) . Margaret Tudor ' s second marriage was to Archibald Douglas ; their grandson , Henry Stuart , Lord Darnley married Mary , Queen of Scots . Their son , James VI of Scotland ( reigned 1567 – 1625 ) , inherited the throne of England as James I ( reigned 1603 – 25 ) after the death of Henry ' s granddaughter , Elizabeth I ( reigned 1558 – 1603 ) . After divorcing Douglas , her third and final marriage was to Henry Stewart , with whom she had another daughter , Dorothea Stewart . Henry VII ' s other surviving daughter , Mary first married King Louis XII of France ( reigned 1498 – 1515 ) , who died after only about three months of marriage . She then married the Duke of Suffolk without the permission of her brother , now King Henry VIII . Their daughter Frances married Henry Grey , and her children included Lady Jane Grey , in whose name her parents and in - laws tried to seize the throne after Edward VI of England ( reigned 1547 – 53 ) died . The current monarch of the United Kingdom , Elizabeth II , is a direct descendant of Henry VII . The daughter of Henry ' s double - great - great grandson James I / VI , Elizabeth Stuart , was the mother of Sophia of Hanover whose descendants were the monarchs of the House of Hanover and the succeeding House of Saxe - Coburg - Gotha / Windsor .