Henry VII (Welsh: Harri Tudur; 28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor.

Henry won the throne when his forces defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. Henry cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. He founded the Tudor dynasty and, after a reign of nearly 24 years, was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII.

Henry’s main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort. Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife Katherine Swinford. Katherine was Gaunt’s mistress for about 25 years; when they married in 1396, they already had four children, including Henry’s great-grandfather John Beaufort. Thus Henry’s claim from an Anglo-Norman point of view was somewhat tenuous.

 

Groat of Henry VII

Gaunt’s nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt’s children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397. In 1407, Henry IV, who was Gaunt’s son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings, but also declaring them ineligible for the throne.^[6] Henry IV’s action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it further weakened Henry’s claim.

Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining, after the deaths in battle or by murder or execution of Henry VI, his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret’s uncle, the 2nd Duke of Somerset.

But Henry also thought of himself as an ancient British King and attracted military support in Wales, thus safeguarding his army’s passage on its way to the Battle of Bosworth. He came from an old-established Anglesey family which claimed descent from Cadwaladr (in legend, the last ancient British king) and on occasion, Henry displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. He took it, as well as the standard of St George, on his procession through London after victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henry’s biographer, Bernard André, also made much of Henry’s Welsh descent.

Although, in reality, his hereditary connections to Welsh aristocracy were not just so strong, he was indeed descended by the paternal line, through several generations, from Ednyfed, the seneschal (steward) of Gwynedd and through this seneschal’s wife from Rhys ap Tewdwr, the King of Deheubarth in South Wales. His more immediate ancestor Tudur ap Goronwy had aristocratic land rights, but his sons, who were first cousins to Owain Glyndwr, sided with Owain in his revolt. One son was executed and the family land was forfeited. Another son, Henry’s great-grandfather, became a butler to the Bishop of Bangor. Owen Tudor, the son of the butler, like the children of other rebels, was provided for by Henry V, a circumstance which precipitated his access to Queen Catherine of Valois.

And so, to the bards of Wales, Henry was a candidate for Y Mab Darogan – “The Son of Prophecy” who would free the Welsh, last of the Britons to be anglicised, from English domination.