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The Who's Who of the Wars of the Roses

(this information was summarised from several pages including these references. If you see a reference not correctly cited, please contact me so that I can put things right!

• Margaret of Anjou
• Edward IV
• Edward V
• Edmund Beaufort 2d duke of Somerset
• George, duke of Clarence
• Henry VI
• Ralph Neville, 1st earl of Westmorland
• Richard Neville, earl of Warwick
• Henry Percy, 4th earl of Northumberland
• William de la Pole
• John de la Pole
• Richard Le Scrope
• Henry Stafford, 2d duke of Buckingham
• Elizabeth Woodville
• Richard III, duke of Gloucester
• Richard, duke of York

(from http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE055469.html )

The family of Ralph Neville was one of the most powerful in England and shared domination of the northern counties with the Percyfamily, with whom the Nevilles were closely allied. Neville succeeded his father as Baron Neville of Raby in 1388 and supported Richard II against the baronial party. In 1397 he was created earl of Westmorland. His second wife was Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt and half sister of Henry of Lancaster (later Henry IV). When, in 1399, Henry revolted against Richard, Westmorland supported Lancaster. He continued to support Henry as king and helped to put down the Percy revolt in 1403. When a new anti-Lancastrian revolt broke out in 1405, Westmorland captured two of the leaders, Archbishop Richard Le Scrope and the earl marshal of England, by trickery, but he had nothing to do with their quick execution. He was the father of a large family, many of whom made advantageous marriages. His daughter Cecily Neville married Richard, duke of York, and became the mother of EdwardIV and Richard III; another of his grandsons was Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, called the Kingmaker.

Richard IIHenry IV

Richard, duke of York,1411-60

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE056741.html

Richard was descended from Edward III through his father, Richard, earl of Cambridge, grandson of that king, and also through his mother, Anne Mortimer, great-granddaughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, who was the third son of Edward III. Richard was brought up as a royal ward, having become duke of York on the death of his uncle Edward in 1415. He inherited(1425) the vast estates of another uncle, Edmund de Mortimer, 5th earl of March, which made him the richest landholder in England. He served in the retinue of Henry VI in France (1431) and was lieutenant general of France and Normandy (1436-37). In 1438 he married Cecily Neville, daughter of the earl of Westmoreland. He served again as lieutenant general in France from 1441 to 1445 but became increasingly discontented with the English government, which diverted men and funds from his operations to those of John Beaufort, 1st duke of Somerset. The death of the king's uncle Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, in 1447 made York heir presumptive to the throne, and the government, to get him out of the way, promptly ordered him to Ireland as lieutenant. He did not go until1449 and returned in 1450 to struggle against the growing power of Queen Margaret of Anjou and Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of Somerset.

In 1453 a son born to Henry VI displaced York as heir to the throne, but the onset of the king's insanity enabled York to secure control of the government as protector (1454). Dismissed when the king recovered, York resorted to arms and, with the help of his wife's relatives, most notably Richard Neville,earl of Warwick, won the first battle of St. Albans (1455), in which Somerset was killed. After this victory York once more became protector, but by1456 the queen's faction had regained power. Forced to flee to Ireland in 1459, York returned after the victory of his supporters at Northampton(1460) and for the first time laid claim to the throne. A compromise was arranged by which York was recognised as protector and heir apparent to the throne, but Margaret (whose own son had thus been disinherited) gathered her forces and defeated the Yorkists at the battle of Wakefield, in which York was slain. His son, Edward of York, however, was to secure the throne as EdwardIV. And Edward the IV's younger brother, Richard of Gloucester was later to become Richard III.

Bibliography: See E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961).

Henry VI 1421-71 king of England(1422-61, 1470-71).

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE023553.html

Early Years

The only son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois, he became king of England when he was not yet nine months old. When his grandfather, Charles VI of France, died, Henry was proclaimed king of France by the English, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Troyes (1420).

Henry V HenryVI

The French, however, recognised the son of Charles VI as Charles VII. During Henry's early years, England was under the protectorate of his uncles, John of Lancaster, duke of Bedford, who was regent in France, and Humphrey, duke of Gloucester. Gloucester did not wield full authority, however, for much of the actual power resided in a council dominated by Henry Beaufort. After the English defeat by Joan of Arc at Orléans in 1429 and Charles VII's coronation at Reims shortly thereafter, the council attempted to protect English interests in France by crowning Henry king of France at Paris in 1431. After the death of Bedford in 1435 and the defection of Burgundy from the Anglo-Burgundian alliance, however, the English cause in France became hopeless. Factional Struggles From c.1435, Henry fell under the dominance of a faction headed first by Henry Beaufort and later by William de la Pole, 4th earl of Suffolk, both of whom opposed continuing the war in France. Suffolk negotiated a marriage for Henry with Margaret of Anjouin 1445. This marriage was at first favourably received in England, but when Henry, now under the influence of his wife, surrendered Maine to Charles VII, Suffolk and the queen lost their popularity. Suffolk was impeached in 1450 and mysteriously murdered at sea while on his way to France. The rebellion of Jack Cade, which broke out after Suffolk's death, was but one of many riots and uprisings indicating popular dissatisfaction with the government. The faction headed by Queen Margaret and Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of Somerset, which dominated the king after Suffolk's death, was opposed by Richard, duke of York, the most powerful noble in the kingdom and heir presumptive to the throne. The struggle between these two factions developed into the dynastic battle between the Lancaster's and the York's known as the Wars of the Roses.

Insanity and War

In 1453, shortly before the birth of his son, Edward, the king became insane. The duke of York was made protector (1454) in spite of the protests of Margaret, but when the king recovered, York was excluded from the council. In 1455, York met the Lancastrians at St. Albans in a conflict generally regarded as the first battle of the Wars of the Roses; Somerset was killed, and the Yorkists gained control of the council. York was again protector (1455-56), but thereafter Margaret was in control until 1460 when the Yorkist party won another victory at Northampton. Henry was made a prisoner, and York was named protector and heir apparent to the throne to the exclusion of Henry's own son. York was killed at Wakefield in 1460, but his son Edward defeated the Lancastrian forces at Mortimer's Cross, entered London, and was proclaimed king as EdwardIV in Feb., 1461. Henry, who had been rescued from Yorkist captivity at the second battle of St. Albans a few days earlier, now fled to Scotland. He remained there during most of the subsequent fighting until 1465, when he was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. When RichardNeville, earl of Warwick, allied himself with Queen Margaretand invaded England in 1470, Henry was restored to the throne, but his second reign was short-lived. The unfortunate king was captured at the battle of Barnet and returned to the Tower. He was murdered there only days after Edward IV's final victory at Tewkesbury in May, 1471. In character Henry was a mild, honest, and pious man, a patron of literature and the arts and the founder of Eton College (1440). He was, however, unstable, weak-willed, and politically naive. It was his complete inability to cope with the pressures and responsibilities of kingship that probably drove him to insanity.

Bibliography

See biography by K. H. Vickers, England in the Later Middle Ages (7thed. 1950); E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961).

Margaret of Anjou 1430?-1482

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Margaret was the queen consort of King Henry VIof England, daughter of René of Anjou. Her marriage, which took place in 1445, was negotiated by Williamde la Pole, 4th earl (later 1st duke) of Suffolk (see under Pole, family).Margaret soon asserted influence at the English court, allying herself with Suffolk and Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of Somerset, in their rivalry with Richard, duke of York, heir presumptive to the throne. When the king became temporarily insane in 1453, York was made protector, but the birth (1453) of Margaret's son, Edward (which destroyed Richard's chances of succession), and Henry's recovery of his faculties(1454), allowed Margaret to regain the ascendancy. With the clash between the followers of York (the Yorkists) and the supporters of the king (the Lancastrians) at St. Albans (1455), the Wars of the Roses began. Margaret was very active in the warfare; for 16 years she fought in defence of her son's claim to the throne. Richard of York was killed (1460), but RichardNeville, earl of Warwick, and Edward, the new duke of York (later Edward IV), took up the Yorkist cause. After the Lancastrian defeat at Towton (1461), Margaret went to Scotland with her son and husband and thence to France, where she secured aid for an abortive invasion (1463) of England. Thereafter she was forced to bide her time until, following the quarrel between Warwick and Edward IV, she made common cause with Warwick to invade England and restore Henry VI to the throne (1470). The next year Edward IV triumphed at Tewkesbury, where Margaret was captured and her son killed. The payment of ransom by Louis XI enabled her to return to France (1476),where she spent her last years in poverty.

Bibliography:

See biography by Philippe Erlanger (tr. 1970); E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961); J. H. Dahmus, Seven Medieval Queens (1972).

Edward IV 1442-83 - king of England(1461-70, 1471-83)

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE016302.html

Edward was the son of Richard, duke of York. He succeeded to the leadership of the Yorkist party after the death of his father in Wakefield in 1460.

Edward IV

Edward defeated the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross in 1461, entered London shortly thereafter, and was proclaimed king. Later in the year he won another victory over the Lancastrians at Towton Field, after which the deposed Henry VI fled the country.

Edward's secret marriage (1464) to Elizabeth Woodville and subsequent favouritism to his wife's family angered his cousin, the able and ambitious RichardNeville, earl of Warwick. At the same time severe reprisals taken by Edward's constable, John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, against the Lancastrian party alienated many nobles. Warwick made a marriage alliance between his daughter and Edward's rebellious brother, George, duke of Clarence, and openly revolted in 1469. Although Warwick defeated Edward's forces at Edgecote, the king soon regained his strength, and Warwick fled (1470) to France. There he formed an alliance with Margaretof Anjou, wife of Henry VI. He returned to England with an army, and Edward, who lacked the forces to fight, fled to Holland. Warwick then restored Henry VI to the throne. Edward, however, gathered an army and returned in 1471 to defeat and kill Warwick at Barnet and rout the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury. In the latter battle Margaret was captured and her son, Edward, prince of Wales, killed. After the death of Henry VI in the Tower of London later in the year, Edward's position was secure. The remainder of his reign was a peaceful one. Edward invaded France in 1475 but allowed himself to be bought off without actual fighting. He reorganised the revenues of the crown lands(now greatly expanded by the addition of the Yorkist estates) and promoted trade, benefiting from the increased customs revenues. His resulting wealth allowed him to be largely independent of Parliament, and he developed many of the absolutist precedents inherited and utilised by the Tudor monarchs.

Bibliography:

See C. L. Scofield, The Life and Reign of Edward IV (2 vol., 1923; repr.1967);

E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961); Charles Ross, Edward IV (1974).

Elizabeth Woodville,1437-92

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE056279.html

Elizabeth was the queen consort of Edward IVof England. She was the daughter of Richard Woodville (later the 1st Earl Rivers). Her first husband, Sir John Grey, was killed fighting on the Lancastrian side at the battle of St. Albans (1461) in the Wars of the Roses. By him she had two sons, Thomas, 1st marquis of Dorset, and Richard. Edward IV married her in secret in 1464, partly because the powerful RichardNeville, earl of Warwick, had other marriage plans for him and partly because of Elizabeth's Lancastrian connections. The marriage was soon made public, however, and Elizabeth's large family received numerous royal favours. At the death (1483) of Edward IV, Richard, duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), seized custody of the young EdwardV, Elizabeth's eldest son by the late king, and destroyed the power of the Woodvilles (Elizabeth's brother the 2d Earl Rivers and son Richard Grey were executed). The queen mother again took sanctuary in Westminster and soon surrendered her second son by Edward, Richard, duke of York, to Gloucester. He then placed both boys in the Tower of London and declared them illegitimate, asserting that Elizabeth's marriage to Edward was voided by a precontract of marriage on Edward's part. (The boys were subsequently murdered.) After Henry VII seized the throne from Richard, he married (1486) Elizabeth's eldest daughter, who was also named Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Woodville

George, duke of Clarence, 1449-78

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George was the son of Richard, duke of York, and the brother of Edward IV. In defiance of Edward, Clarence married Isabel Neville and joined her father, RichardNeville, earl of Warwick, in rebellion against the king in 1469-70.He deserted that party in 1471, however, and was reconciled with Edward. In 1478, exasperated by Clarence's continued facetiousness, Edward had him attainted for treason by Parliament. He was sent to the Tower of London, where he was secretly executed. It was rumoured that he was drowned in a butt of malmsey wine.

Richard Le Scrope, 1350?-1405

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE046665.html

Was an archbishop, who probably studied law at both Oxford and Cambridge. Having taken priest's orders in 1377, he rose steadily in church rank. In 1386 he became bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and in 1398 at there quest of Richard II the pope made Scrope archbishop of York. Scrope at first supported Henry IV, but in 1405 he issued an indictment of Henry's government and raised an armed body of supporters. By the guile of the leader of the king's forces, the earl of Westmorland,Scrope was arrested and imprisoned. He was convicted, and his execution, held at York as an example to the people, tended to elevate him as a martyr.

Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of Somerset, 1455

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Edmund fought in France in the Hundred Years War, receiving his first command in 1431, recapturing Harfleur in 1440, and relieving Calais in1442. For this last feat he was made (1442) earl of Dorset. In 1444 he succeeded his brother John as earl of Somerset. He became lieutenant of France in 1447 and was created duke of Somerset in 1448. After the war in France was resumed in 1449, Somerset's army was consistently defeated, and by 1453 all of England's French possessions except Calais had been lost. Since the murder (1450) of Williamde la Pole, 1st duke of Suffolk, Somerset had been the head of the court faction and was protected by Henry VI against popular resentment and the attacks of the Yorkists. He was imprisoned by Richard,duke of York, during Henry's first period of insanity (1453-55) but returned to power when the king recovered. Somerset was killed at St. Albans in the first battle of the Wars of the Roses.

Henry Stafford, 2d duke of Buckingham,1454?-1483

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He was the grandson of Humphrey Stafford, the 1st duke, whom he succeeded in 1460. He passed the death sentence on George, duke of Clarence, in 1478, but it was not until the death (1483) of EdwardIV that Buckingham achieved political prominence. Though married to a sister of Edward's widow, Elizabeth Woodville,he joined Richard of Gloucester (later Richard III) in taking custody of the young Edward V from the queen mother and figured largely in the political plot by which Richard seized the throne. He was given enormous power, especially in W England and Wales, but soon, for reasons not clear, he rebelled against Richard, intending to place Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) on the throne. His army, gathered in the west, was prevented from advancing by floods of the Wye and Severn rivers and soon dispersed. He went into hiding, was betrayed by one of his retainers, tried as a traitor, and beheaded. It has been suggested that, as constable of the Tower of London, Buckingham, rather than Richard III, was the probable murderer of the two princes held in the Tower.

Henry Percy, 4th earl of Northumberland,1446-89

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE037703.html

When his father, the 3d earl, was killed fighting in the Lancastrian army at Towton (1461), he was imprisoned by EdwardIV and the earldom forfeited. He was released in 1469, restored to the earldom in 1470, and served the Yorkist monarch. Although Northumberland accepted lands and offices from Richard III,he withheld his men in the battle at Bosworth (1485) and submitted to the earl of Richmond, who was crowned Henry VII.

William de la Pole, 4thearl and 1st duke of Suffolk, 1396-1450

William de la Pole, 4th earl and 1st duke of Suffolk played an active role in the later stages of the Hundred Years War and for a time held the chief command. He arranged the marriage (1445) of Margaretof Anjou to Henry VI and rose to a position of great political authority, reaching the peak of his power in 1448 when he was made duke. His persistent efforts to gain peace with France enabled his enemies to accuse him of treason, especially after disastrous losses in Normandy. His long record of service, his eloquent appeal to Parliament, and even the favour of the king could not save him from impeachment. When setting out for a five-year exile he was abducted from his ship and beheaded in a boat off Dover. His wife was the granddaughter of Geoffrey Chaucer.

John de la Pole, 2nd duke of Suffolk, 1443-91

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE041491.html ,

William de la Pole's son, John de la Pole, 2nd duke of Suffolk, married Edward IV's sister Elizabeth and held offices under that king. He later supported Richard III, yet was favoured by Henry VII. Of his sons, the eldest was John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, 1464-87, who was recognised by Richard III as his heir presumptive. At first he appeared to accept Henry VII, but he soon joined the rebellion in favour of Lambert Simnel. He led an invading army from Ireland and was killed at the battle of Stoke. The second son, Edmund de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, 1472?-1513, agreed to the wish of Henry VII that he forego the ducal title in return for some of the property forfeited as a result of his brother's treason. Later he declared his ambition for the throne and tried to get help on the Continent. He was eventually delivered (1506) as a prisoner to Henry VII by the Burgundians. He was imprisoned for years and finally executed by Henry VIII.

RichardNeville, Earl of Warwick (1428 - 1471)

from http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE054963.html

Richard Neville was nicknamed the Kingmaker. Through his grandfather, RalphNeville, 1st earl of Westmorland, he had connections with the house of Lancaster; he was also the nephew of Cecily Neville, wife of Richard,duke of York. Through his wife, Anne de Beauchamp, he inherited the earldom of Warwick and the vast Beauchamp estates. Thus by virtue of his family and lands, Warwick was the most powerful noble in England and the principal baronial figure in the Wars of the Roses.

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick

Yorkist Leader

With his father, the earl of Salisbury,Warwick supported Richard of York in his bid for the protectors hip of Henry VI (1454) and took up arms when York lost his office. Warwick was largely responsible for the Yorkist victory at the first battle of St. Albans (1455)and was appointed to the strategic post of governor of Calais. In 1459when fighting broke out again, York, Salisbury, and Warwick were forced to flee the country, but in 1460 they returned and captured the king at the battle of Northampton. The queen, Margaretof Anjou, raised an army in the north, defeated and killed York and Salisbury at Wakefield (1460), and defeated Warwick and recaptured Henry at the second battle of St. Albans (1461). But York's son, Edward, won the battle of Mortimer's Cross (1461), entered London, and was proclaimed king as Edward IV.

Rising against Edward IV

Henry and Margaret were decisively defeated at Towton (1461), and Edward was crowned. Warwick was now the most powerful man in England, and the Nevilles received extensive royal favours; but Edward resented the earl's domination. In the midst of negotiations by Warwick to marry Edward to Bona of Savoy, the sister-in-law of Louis XI of France, the king announced(1464) that he had secretly married Elizabeth Woodville. Edward now favoured a Burgundian alliance against France, the Woodvilles received favour, and Warwick was gradually pushed into the background.

He formed an alliance with the king's brother George, duke of Clarence, to whom he married his daughter, against Edward's orders. Together they rose against Edward in 1469, defeated the king's forces, and placed Edward in captivity. By the end of the year, however, Edward had regained control, and in 1470, after another abortive rising, Warwick and Clarence fled to France. There Louis XI persuaded them to makeup their differences with Margaret of Anjou, and in Sept., 1470, Warwick invaded England as a Lancastrian, defeated Edward(who fled abroad), and restored Henry VI. Within six months Edward secured Burgundian aid, landed in England, and was joined by Clarence. Edward and Warwick met in battle at Barnet; the earl was defeated and was slain in flight.

Although an able diplomat and a man of great energy, Warwick owed much of his greatness to his birth and marriage. By the marriage of his daughter to Clarence and the marriage after his death of another daughter to the duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, all of Warwick's property went to the royal house.

Bibliography

See P. M. Kendall, Warwick the Kingmaker (1957, repr. 1987).

Richard III

1452-85, king of England (1483-85), younger brother of EdwardIV. Created duke of Gloucester at Edward's coronation (1461), he served his brother faithfully during Edward's lifetime-fighting at Barnet and Tewkesbury and later invading Scotland. On the death (April, 1483) of the king, Edward's eldest son, then only 12 years old, was proclaimed king as Edward V.

Richard, aided by Henry Stafford, 2d duke of Buckingham,seized custody of the young king from Edward IV's widow, Elizabeth Woodville, and her relatives, and was able to assume the protectorship. Soon afterward, apparently suspecting a conspiracy against himself, he arrested and summarily executed Lord Hastings, a leading member of the council. He followed this provocative move by having Parliament declare his brother's children illegitimate. Edward V and his brother were placed in the Tower of London, where they were almost certainly murdered. This was probably done on Richard's orders, though the evidence is inconclusive, and historians have suggested several other figures of the time who might have instigated the killing of the princes.

Richard had himself crowned king in July, 1483. A rebellion broke out in Oct., 1483, led by Richard's erstwhile supporter Buckingham, in favour of Henry Tudor (later Henry VII). This revolt collapsed, and Buckingham was executed. In 1485, however, Henry landed in Wales, defeated and killed Richard in the battle of Bosworth Field, and ascended the throne.

Despite his usurpation of the throne, Richard was not the total villain that tradition has made him. His evil reputation, perpetuated by Shakespeare's Richard III, was shaped at least in part by the efforts of Tudor propagandists to justify Henry VII's own usurpation. Richard was the last of the Yorkist kings, and, in retrospect, his death ended the Wars of the Roses.

Bibliography:

See biographies by Paul Kendall (1955, repr. 1972), Charles Ross (1982),and Rosemary Horrox (1989); E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961).

Richard III

Edward V, 1470-83?

Edward was crowned king of England in 1483, the elder son of EdwardIV and Elizabeth Woodville. His father's death (1483) left the boy king the pawn of the conflicting ambitions of his paternal uncle, the duke of Gloucester(later Richard III) and his maternal uncle, Earl Rivers. Gloucester had Rivers arrested and confined the king and the king's younger brother, Richard, duke of York, to the Tower of London. The young princes were declared illegitimate, and Gloucester, with a show of reluctance, took the throne. The two children disappeared from the English scene, and it is likely that they were murdered. However, conclusive proof of their exact fate has never been found. One of the oldest and most prevalent theories-that they were smothered in their sleep by order of Richard III-was propagated or even invented by the victorious Tudors after 1485, and it has been suggested that HenryStafford, 2d duke of Buckingham, or Henry VII,as well as Richard III, could have been responsible for the death of the princes. Skeletons, presumed to be those of the princes, were unearthed in the Tower in 1674. The skeletons were thought to be those of boys aged 12-13 and 10, the ages of the princes in 1483.

Bibliography:

See Paul Kendall, Richard the Third (1955).

Henry VII, 1457-1509

King of England (1485-1509) and founder of the Tudor dynasty.

http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce5/CE023558.html

Claim to the Throne

Henry was the son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, who died before Henry was born, and Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of Edward III through John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. Although the Beaufort line, which was originally illegitimate, had been specifically excluded (1407) from all claim to the throne, the death of the imprisoned HenryVI (1471) made Henry Tudor head of the house of Lancaster. At this point, however, the Yorkist Edward IV had established himself securely on the throne, and Henry, who had been brought up in Wales, fled to Brittany for safety.

The death of Edward IV (1483) and accession of Richard III left Henry the natural leader of the party opposing Richard, whose rule was very unpopular. Henry made an unsuccessful attempt to land in England during the abortive revolt (1483) of Henry Stafford, 2d duke of Buckingham. Thereafter he bided his time in France until 1485 when, aided by other English refugees, he landed in Wales. At the battle of Bosworth Field he defeated the royal forces of Richard, who was slain. Henry advanced to London, was crowned, and in 1486 fulfilled a promise made earlier to Yorkist dissidents to marry Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth. He thus united the houses of York and Lancaster, founding the Tudor royal dynasty.

Reign

Although Henry's accession marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, the early years of his reign were disturbed by Yorkist attempts to regain the throne. The first serious attempt, an uprising in favour of the imposter Lambert Simnel, was easily crushed (1487). The French invasion of Brittany aroused great antagonism in England, and ultimately, in concert with Spain and Archduke Maximilian (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I), Henry led (1492) an army against Boulogne. He soon made peace with France, however.

In 1494, Henry sent Sir Edward Poynings to Ireland to consolidate English rule there. Poynings drove out of Ireland the Yorkist pretender Perkin Warbeck, who then sought support from the Scottish king, James IV. James attempted (1496) to invade England, but the next year, under pressure from Spain, he expelled Warbeck. The latter was defeated shortly thereafter in an attempted invasion of Cornwall. A truce (1497) between England and Scotland was followed by the marriage (1503) of Henry's sister Margaret Tudor to James-a marriage that led ultimately to the union of the monarchies of England and Scotland.

Another threat to Henry's throne was posed by the Yorkist claimant Edmund de la Pole, earl of Suffolk (see under Pole, family), who received some support on the Continent but in 1506 was surrendered to Henry by Philip of Burgundy (soon recognised as Philip I of Castile). In 1501, Henry had married his son Arthur to Katharine of Aragón, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. After Arthur died in 1502, an agreement was reached by which Katharine was to marry Arthur's brother Henry (later Henry VIII).

On the death of Philip I (1506) Henry VII, then a widower, proposed that he should marry Philip's widow and Katharine's sister, Joanna, but Joanna's madness made the match impossible. The English king then opened unsuccessful negotiations for the marriage of his daughter Mary to Philip's son (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). Relations between Henry and Ferdinand became strained; the latter allied himself with the French while Henry arranged treaties with Maximilian. Shortly thereafter Henry contracted an illness from which he never recovered.

Character and Influence

Henry was an astute political leader. He established the Tudor tradition of strong rule tempered by a sense of justice. His marriage and his relentless suppression of Yorkist plots to regain the throne brought order out of the chaos of civil war. In his suppression of the recalcitrant nobles he was greatly assisted by the use of the court of Star Chamber as a supremely powerful judiciary body. His diplomatic abilities kept England at peace, and he arranged a favourable commercial treaty with the Netherlands. England's navy was developed, and explorations in the New World began. In Henry's later years, however, his extortionist practices alienated many.

Bibliography

See biographies by Roger Lockyer (1968), R. L. Storey (1968), and S.B. Chrimes (1973); A. F. Pollard, The Reign of Henry VII (1913-14); J.D. Mackie, The Earlier Tudors, 1485-1558 (1952); G. R. Elton, England Under the Tudors (1955); A. F. Ida, Mercantile Policies of Henry VII (1986).

References

Richard III Society Homepage

TheLongbow by Robert E. Kaiser, M.A.

Wars of the Roses

Britannia and TheMonarchs of England

Directory of Royal Genealogical Data

Nationality/Time Frame Index

<>Special Collections Resources on the Web

http://info.lib.uh.edu/specoweb.html - reported as bad link

GAIL DEDRICK'S GUIDETO THE MONARCHS OF ENGLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN PASSWORD REQUIRED! (last reported as 'access denied')