Henry VII The Road to the Throne

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Henry VIIThe Road to the Throne

• Ian Dawson
• Thinking History
• www.thinkinghistory.co.uk
• ian_at_thinkinghistory.co.uk

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Key Issue
How did Henry become king? The road to the
throne
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The Road to the Throne1457

• 1457
• Henry Tudor born
• His father had died several months earlier and
  his mother was 14
• His mother was distantly related to the
  Lancastrian royal family but there were plenty of
  people who had a better claim to the crown

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The Road to the Throne1461

• 1461
• The Lancastrian king, Henry VI, lost the crown to
  the Yorkist, Edward IV
• Henry Tudor, aged 4, was looked after and closely
  watched by Edwards friend, William Herbert, Earl
  of Pembroke

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The Road to the Throne1470

• 1470
• Henry VI became king again after a rebellion
• 13 year old Henry Tudor was freed but he was
  still an unimportant member of the royal family
  because the King had a son

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The Road to the Throne1471

• 1471
• Edward IV won the throne back and killed Henry VI
  and his son
• By now so many people had died that Henry Tudor
  was the most important Lancastrian
• He escaped to Brittany to save his life but
  Edward was in charge again. There were hardly any
  Lancastrian supporters left

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The Road to the ThroneApril 1483

• 1483 April
• Edward IV died and his 12 year old son became
  Edward V until his uncle Richard seized the
  crown and made himself King Richard III
• Henry Tudor was still in Brittany

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The Road to the ThroneAugust 1483

• 1483 August
• A group of lords rebelled against Richard because
  they thought he had stolen the crown and murdered
  young Edward V. They chose Henry Tudor as their
  leader
• This showed how desperate they were to get rid of
  Richard because they had been Yorkists and now
  had a Lancastrian leader
• The rebellion failed before Henry arrived in
  England. Some rebels escaped and lived in exile
  with Henry

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The Road to the Throne1484

• 1484
• Richard bribed the Duke of Brittany to capture
  Henry for him
• Henry escaped at the last minute, dressed as a
  servant and rode across the border into France

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The Road to the Throne1485

• 1485
• The King of France wanted to distract Richard
  from invading France so he gave Henry an army to
  invade England
• Early in August Henry landed in Wales with an
  army of French and Scottish soldiers and some
  ex-Yorkists
• He hoped Thomas, Lord Stanley (married to Henrys
  mother) might join in on his side

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The Road to the Throne1485

• 1485
• Henry faced Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth
• Richard charged and battered down Henrys
  standard bearer. For a moment Richard and Henry
  fought each other and then the Stanleys charged
  in against Richard!
• Henry was king!

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Who was most responsible for Henry VII being king?
Richard III
King of France
Henry Tudor
Rebels who Joined Henry
Stanleys