the TUDOR TUTOR
Your cheeky guide to the dynastyArchive for Henry VII
Thou Art the Tops, Pops!
Today is Father’s Day in the States, and on this day I’d like to draw attention to the prominent dads of the Tudor dynasty…
- Edmund Tudor (dad to Henry VII)
- Henry VII (dad to Henry VIII, Arthur Prince of Wales, Margaret Queen of Scots, and Mary Queen of France)
- Henry VIII (dad to lowly girls Mary I and Elizabeth I, and exalted boy Edward VI, not to mention the illegitimate Henry Fitroy)
- God the Father (heavenly dad to all those Catholics and Protestants who were killing each other during this time period)
- James V of Scotland (dad to Mary Queen of Scots)
- Henry Grey (dad to Lady Jane Grey)
While our modern dads are happy to spend time with their children and the rest of their families today, that tie or cologne or barbeque equipment is certainly appreciated. Back in the day, however, simply becoming a father (especially to a son for certain men, ahem!) and carrying on that bloodline was a gift in itself. Considering the grim truth about personal hygenie in the 16th century, it’s a shame that cologne wasn’t an option after all!
Double Whammy Tudor Date!
Welcome to the 28th of January, a significant date in Tudor history for two reasons:
- On this date in 1457, Henry VII was born
- On this date in 1547, Henry VIII breathed his last
Tidy how that works out, isn’t it, with the same date, and the transposed digits in the middle?
When the founder of the Tudor legacy was born, his father had already been dead for a few months, and his mother was barely old enough to stay up late. She was only 13, but that wasn’t unusual for that time, of course. Unlike his much-married son, he wasn’t born into royalty right away, he had to go out and grab his reign by the reins.
When Henry Junior made his mark on this date, he was an even worse mess than you’d imagine. He was gray-haired, morbidly obese, and covered in nasty boils. (Good thing he wasn’t in the market for a new wife at the time!) He was often carried from place to place in velvet-covered chairs because his gout made it hard for him to walk.
His last words were “Monks! Monks! Monks!” so it seems that religion, a hot topic during his time as king, was on his mind to the very end. He was only 55; the day would have been his father’s 90th birthday.
Location, Location, Location
So, this event? It may not have even happened in that spot. Ya learn something new every day.
UPDATE: Nearly four months later, the real location has been revealed.
Who Died and Made YOU King?
What is [arguably] the most interesting dynasty in British royal history may have never come to be. Before the Tudors (of Wales) became the Tudors, Richard III sat on the throne, head of the house of York. During one little battle, Henry Tudor and his guys swept in and had the monarch knocked off his horse and onto his noggin. The king was dead, long live the new king, Henry VII!
But who did this Henry think he was? Primogeniture, the tradition of passing the crown on from father to oldest son, had been all the rage in England for about 400 years at that point. Richard III had no heirs when he died, but how did Henry Tudor enter the picture?
First, let’s talk about Henry himself. When Henry’s mom was pregnant with him (at age 13; not unusual for that time period), his father was imprisoned during the Wars of the Roses (more on that in a moment) and died in prison, before his baby son was born. Though his mother remarried later, Henry spent a lot of time with his uncle, and it was his uncle to took him to France when he was a teenager. As someone with a claim to the throne, Henry was safer in France at that point than in Wales.
I need to go into a very brief explanation of the Wars of the Roses, here. The Wars of the Roses were, basically, two sides of the same family fighting (known today in some families as “the holidays”) for about 30 years. The Yorks were one side; the Lancastrians, the other. Henry was the last surviving possibility for the Lancastrians, but the Yorks were currently on the throne in the form of Richard III. Keep in mind that Richard had no surviving children at this point, and the rest of the children on the York side were either freshly dead (the little princes in the Tower) or female (definitely a problem).
When he felt the time was right, Henry Tudor whipped up an army and marched off to meet Richard’s army in Leicestershire. Richard and his buddies thought this was amusing and basically claimed “Nyah-nyah-nyah, ya loser, you think you should be king? Prove it!” and they charged toward him on their horses. Henry’s buddies surrounded Richard’s horse on the way down, and Richard crashed to the ground and was killed instantly. Presto! –King Henry VII! (Who’s saying “nyah-nyah-nyah” now?)
Because family feuds are uncomfortable, and 30 years is a long time, the new king was smart enough to wrap up the Wars of the Roses by marrying Elizabeth of York, Richard III’s niece and the only heir left on the York side. Thus began the famous Tudor dynasty!
