Written by TJHawkinsiswriting
Henry VII is widely regarded as a bad king. This is a shame, because although he probably wasn’t a nice man, he was certainly a good king. He was one of the only monarchs (king or queen) in British history to leave his heir money; every other king or queen left debt. He also laid the foundations for one of the most enduring dynasties in history, The Tudors.
But why do people dislike Henry VII so much? Well it may be partly because he shouldn’t really have become King in the first place. He invaded England via Wales with a ragtag army of hired soldiers, angry Welsh people and French prisoners. Then, with no battlefield experience, he defeated Richard III, a man who had been commanding troops for decades. This sort of thing can make people very upset.
After that, he very successfully rebranded himself not as an invading stranger but rather a King who had come to save England. Having been at war with itself for a long time a lot of England quite liked this as an idea. But not everyone.
In the first few years of his reign young Henry VII was running all across the country putting down rebellions and stopping pretenders to the throne. In one case a man named Lambert Simnel tried to claim he was a lost prince. When Henry finally defeated him he had him put to work in the kitchens and Lambert Simnel eventually retrained as a falconer. Did Henry show mercy? Or was he showing how no one was a real threat? With clever old Henry, it could easily be both.
But it wasn’t all rebellions and pretenders to the throne, Henry also had to make sure that he had heirs to the throne too. He and his wife Elizabeth had seven children together. The boys were:
Arthur, who was going to make a great King of England one day.
Henry, who loved tennis, hunting and fighting.
Edmund, who died while still a baby.
The girls were:
Margaret, who became Queen of Scotland.
Mary, who became Queen of France.
Elizabeth and Katherine both of whom died very young.
Henry was also very good at what we would call ‘branding’ now. Everywhere he went he left little Tudor Roses in walls, on ceilings, in windows, on clothes. Basically if you could put a rose on it Henry did it. This served mainly two jobs.
One, it showed that the old War of the Roses was now over as both roses were joined together (it wasn’t even called that at the time, another bit of cunning Henry branding) and two it reminded everyone who was in charge now. Henry was never subtle when it came to telling everyone just how much he deserved to have the throne. Maybe because he was a bit worried he shouldn’t really have it…
So all is going well for Henry, he has put down the rebellions, his wife and he have loads of children and everywhere in the kingdom is plastered in Tudor Roses from top to toe. But then tragedy strikes. Arthur had just married the Spanish princess Katherine of Aragon, a marriage that had taken years to organise and Henry was very keen on. But then shortly after the wedding, Arthur died. Then, not long after that, Elizabeth, Henry’s wife, also died. Sadly, dying was quite common in Tudor times.
Henry was suddenly left with only one male heir, which was considered important at the time but we now know is a load of old rubbish and women run the show just as well (if not better) than men. Still, Henry was most upset that the child he had spent many years grooming to be King and the son he had loved was now dead. This left the wise King Little Henry.
Little Henry had not really been trained to be King. Little Henry had been left to go hunting with his friends, ride around on horses hitting friends with sticks and spend his father’s cash on whatever he wanted. Suddenly, all this was taken away from Little Henry and he was made to be very careful and to stay near his dad in case anything happened to him. This made Little Henry very annoyed and keen to go and do exciting things.
At the same time Henry had begun to become even more paranoid about money than he already had been. Henry was careful with money the whole time he was King, probably because he never really had much growing up. But now, with everything going wrong, his desire for cash went into overdrive. How he collected the extra money is sort of interesting but to cut a long and number ridden story short he basically threatened posh people until they gave him cash. But he didn’t threaten them himself, he got his lawyers to do it. Clever old Henry. This had two effects, lots of cash, lots of angry posh people.
Then, Henry died. Rather than blame dad, Little Henry had everyone blame a couple of his dad’s lawyers instead. That way everyone still liked his dad and Little Henry got to keep all the cash. The lawyers were imprisoned and killed. Like I said, lots of people died in Tudor times. So, spoiled, boisterous, unprepared Little Henry became King, and was crowned King Henry VIII. And we all know how that turned out…
So there we have it, a quick overview of Henry VII’s reign. A really good King, an OK man, and someone who history has really ignored despite setting up the most famous family of Kings and Queens the western world has ever seen. The Tudors.
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By day he is a primary school teacher (known as The Bard for his innate desire to sing) who raises a family in the same hills where Tolkien lived and by night he is a historical fiction author who has just published his debut novel about, yes, you’re right, Henry VII, and Henry’s illegitimate son, Roland, and the Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard III was defeated.
“Roland holds a secret that could destroy the Tudor dynasty before it even begins; he is Henry Tudor’s son.“
But that’s not all, you can simply subscribe to his newsletter and also receive a free novella to download! The Leap From Hammes Castle, a prequel to A Bastard’s Bosworth, follows the Earl of Oxford as he struggles through the political landscape at the time, resulting in imprisonment and the need to escape.
So please take your pick – follow his socials below, subscribe to his newsletter or buy his book, and leave him a comment to let him know how you have enjoyed his writing!
Threads: Hills, tea, cardigans. I also write historical fiction and fantasy. I am UK based.
Instagram: Writer of Historical Fiction and Fantasy. Reader of many wonderful words.
Stories of Queens 