DANGER, ADVENTURE, TREACHERY, EXILE, AND POWER, the life of Henry VII had it all, and it’s a masterclass in how to survive in medieval times and how to take a throne, even with virtually no claim to it. Born in the midst of the Wars of the Roses (known at the time as the Cousins’ War and fought between the Yorks and the Lancasters), Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, was the son of Lady Margaret Beaufort, a 13-year-old widow and a descendant of King Edward III through his son, John of Gaunt. This line was originally illegitimate, though and was specifically barred from the throne. On the other side of his family, Henry was the grandson of a scandalous marriage between Queen Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor. He was therefore not in line for the throne, despite being the half-nephew of the Lancastrian King Henry VI. His life was also one of profound turmoil. Stripped of his lands and titles, he was in exile with his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke from the age of 14 and hunted across Brittany and France during the reign of Edward IV and the reign of Richard III (formerly the Duke of Gloucester). On numerous occasions, these two Yorkist Kings almost caught him, too, making Henry’s formative years a long list of close calls and near-death experiences. He survived though, going on to become the first Tudor king, having beaten Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. Join me for this week’s History Calling video, the first in my new Tudor monarchs series, to learn how he did it. You’ll hear about the schemes of Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth Woodville, the red queen and the white queen, about the fate of the Princes in the Tower (King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York) and above all, about Henry, the man who won the Wars of the Roses and who was the inspiration behind much of the character of Daenerys Targaryen, from Game of Thrones. The story of Henry VII and indeed the story of the Tudors starts here. Come back next week to learn about the reign of Henry VII and how to build a royal dynasty from scratch.
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