On 23rd November 1499, Perkin Warbeck faced his death at Tyburn. He was sentenced to be hanged until he was dead. His crime was attempting to escape the Tower of London where he was held a prisoner, but his story goes back several years and involves a tale of deception, treason and rumours of a young Prince come back to life!
[Read More...]
Susan Fern finishes her two part talk about the life of Rhys ap Thomas, from the Battle of Bosworth through the Field of the Cloth of Gold to his death in Carmarthen. Rhys was a fascinating character who has been largely forgotten yet was key to many of the successes of the Tudors.
[Read More...]
On 7th November 1485, at King Henry VII’s first Parliament, the late King Richard III and twenty-eight of his supporters were attainted, i.e. declared guilty of treason by bill of attainder.
[Read More...]
Today marks the anniversary of the death of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, on 1st November 1456. He died from the plague at Carmarthen Castle.
Thank you to Sarah Bryson for writing this article on Edmund for us.
Henry Tudor, King Henry VII, was the founder of the Tudor Dynasty. His mother was the imposing Margaret Beaufort who risked everything to see her son on the throne and in turn the houses of Lancaster and York united through the marriage of her son to Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV. But who was Henry Tudor’s father? While so much is known about Henry’s mother, his father is a much more elusive figure and sadly he did not live to see his only son and heir claim the English throne.
[Read More...]
On 30th October 1485, Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond and son of Lady Margaret Beaufort and the late Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, was crowned King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey.
[Read More...]
Thank you so much to Tudor Society member Ceri Creffield for telling me about an article that has been published as part of Wales Online’s Welsh History Month – Welsh History Month: St Armel, the refugee saint who protected the king.
[Read More...]
Here is the transcript of the session for those who weren’t able to make it live to Susan Fern’s chatroom session.
[Read More...]
Here’s this month’s expert talk, a wonderful description of the times just before the battle of Bosworth, when the houses of Lancaster and York were both trying to win the support of Rhys ap Thomas and Wales.
Susan Fern, author of “The Man Who Killed Richard III: Rhys ap Thomas” takes us step by step through these turbulent times and helps us to understand who Rhys was, and why he was to change the course of history.
This is PART ONE of a two part talk recorded exclusively for the Tudor Society. Susan will be joining us live in the chatroom on 14th October, 10pm UK time.
[Read More...]
On this day in history, 18th July 1509, Edmund Dudley, administrator, President of the King’s Council in the reign of Henry VII and speaker of the House of Commons, was convicted of treason after being blamed for the oppression of Henry VII’s reign. He was charged with conspiring to “hold, guide and govern the King and his Council” and ordering his men to assemble in London during the final days of Henry VII’s life.
In the Third Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1842), we have the record of “Trial and conviction of Edmund Dudley, Esq. – Constructive Treason – Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, London, 18 July, 1509. 1 Hen. VIII”:
[Read More...]On 3rd July 1495, the pretender Perkin Warbeck landed at Deal in Kent with men and ships. Around 150 of his men were killed and over 160 captured by Henry VII’s troops. Warbeck escaped, fleeing to Ireland. Warbeck claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower.
[Read More...]
The Battle of Blackheath, also known as the Battle of Deptford Bridge, was the battle which brought the Cornish Rebellion to an end. It was fought on 17th June 1497 and Henry VII’s forces were triumphant against the rebels.
[Read More...]
The Battle of Stoke field, which was fought on 16th June 1487, is known as the last battle between the Houses of York and Lancaster in the civil war we call the Wars of the Roses.
[Read More...]
In today’s Claire Chats, I look at an event from Henry VII’s reign, the marriage of Catherine of Aragon and Arthur, Prince of Wales, and the pageantry involved in Catherine’s procession through London.
[Read More...]
Henry VII, or Henry Tudor, was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle and was the son of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort. Henry’s paternal grandparents were Owen Tudor (a former page to Henry V) and Catherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V and mother of Henry VI. His maternal grandfather was John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and his maternal great-grandfather (John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset) was a son of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress (and later wife), Katherine Swynford. It was from this Beaufort side of the family that Henry VII derived his claim to the throne. Lady Margaret Beaufort was only thirteen years old when Henry was born and she was already a widow, his father having died from the plague three months earlier while imprisoned by Yorkists. Margaret had been taken in by her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, the man who helped bring Henry up, who took him into exile in Brittany and who helped him win the crown of England.
[Read More...]
At around 11 o’clock on the night of 21st April 1509, King Henry VII died at Richmond Palace. It was not a sudden death, the king had been ill for some time and had shut himself away at Richmond since January.
John Fisher, the future Bishop of Rochester, recorded details of Henry VII’s last days for a sermon. The king died a good Christian death but his last days were far from peaceful, they involved confession, prayer, weeping and a dying man trying to bargain with God, pleading with God that he would be a changed man if God sent him life.
[Read More...]The Battle of Bosworth has gone down in record as one of the most pivotal battles in English history. The aftermath of the battle changed the course of England and saw a new monarch and dynasty come to the throne.
The 1st of August 1485 was to be the day that Henry Tudor would finally leave France after fourteen years of exile in Brittany and France aiming to lay claim to the English throne. He set sail from Harfleur, France accompanied by approximately 400 Englishmen, 800 Scots and approximately 1500 French troops. The exact number of French troops is hard to estimate as different reports record different numbers.
[Read More...]
Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on the 28th January 1457. His parents were the thirteen year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort and her husband Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, who, unfortunately, had died of the plague three months before Henry’s birth.
[Read More...]
