How important were Foreign Alliances in Promoting Support of the Tudor Dynasty?

Aug 22, 2014Jun 13, 2017 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 2 Comments

Foreign alliances were the backbone of the Tudor dynasty (1485-1603). They were a way to demonstrate support for a new dynasty, and cement its credentials. The claim of Henry VII to the English throne wasn’t that strong on its own, but was strengthened by political marriages, like that of Katherine of Aragon to Prince Arthur in 1501. However, wars also demonstrated that the dynasty had a right to the throne – Henry VII claimed that since he beat Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Richard wasn’t the rightful ruler and Henry was. Foreign alliances were also used to neutralise threats from enemy countries, like Scotland. Several of these instances will be examined in the following essay.

The most important foreign alliance in the sixteenth century was the marriage of Prince Arthur, heir to Henry VII, to Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1501.This marriage demonstrated that the Spanish monarchy recognised the claim of the Tudors to the English throne. Refusing the marriage would show that the Spanish didn’t believe Henry VII to be the rightful King of England. Continue reading “How important were Foreign Alliances in Promoting Support of the Tudor Dynasty?” →

Why Did Thomas Wolsey Fall from Power in 1529?

Aug 20, 2014Jan 27, 2015 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

Cardinal Wolsey by an unknown artist c.1520 from the National Portrait Gallery.

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was Henry VIII’s chief minister from his accession in 1509 until his dramatic fall in 1529. The reasons for this sudden fall are hotly debated amongst historians – was it his inability to give Henry VIII a divorce from Katherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn? Or was it that the nobility were jealous of Wolsey’s huge amount of power and influence? Or was it just bad luck? At what point did his fall become inevitable? These ideas will be discussed in the following short essay.

The issue of Henry VIII’s divorce or “great matter” has taken over the history of this period. This and the break with Rome seem to almost characterise the Tudor dynasty. However, there was so much more to it than fame. Henry VIII’s desire for Anne Boleyn brought down his chief minister, and led to England’s division from the Papacy in Rome. It also led to the idea that a king could marry for love. Continue reading “Why Did Thomas Wolsey Fall from Power in 1529?” →

Richard III: His Reputation and the Discovery of His Bones

Apr 28, 2014Jan 27, 2015 ~ Helene Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Late 16th Century portrait of Richard III, housed in the National Portrait Gallery.

Reputation

Richard III was a soldier, and proved an ‘excellent’ king – laws were to be followed, forced loans were abolished, and he protected the rights of the Church.[i] This is a more modern view. However, Richard III is often considered to be the most ‘evil’ of our nation’s kings.[ii] This idea has been built on from Tudor propaganda which was used to strengthen the Tudors own claim to the English throne. The main incident which inherently damaged the reputation of Richard III was the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower around 1483. It provoked ‘shock and indignation’ particularly as the princes were still children and had done nothing wrong.[iii] People believed that the Princes were in danger even before they vanished. People believed in Richard’s guilt. But this has more significance historically than whether Richard actually committed the crime.[iv] The disappearance of the Princes rather than the death, adds fuel to the idea that Richard was in fact innocent of their murder.[v] Edward IV displayed the body of Henry VI after his death, so that people would know he was dead, and not use him as a figurehead for rebellion. Continue reading “Richard III: His Reputation and the Discovery of His Bones” →

Prince Arthur and Katherine of Aragon’s Relationship

Apr 15, 2014Jan 27, 2015 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 3 Comments

Preliminaries

Anonymous portrait of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York c.1501.

The marriage between Prince Arthur and Katherine of Aragon had been in the making for two years before it actually took place, and it had been proposed as early as 1489.[i] The marriage between Arthur and Katherine of Aragon was intended to involve England in European politics.[ii] England had been in the midst of a civil war for half a decade, but now she was ready to re-enter international affairs. The only job intended for Katherine was to produce sons and heirs for the English throne.[iii] Their children would unite the blood of England and Spain. A dispensation was needed to allow the marriage to go ahead, as Katherine and Arthur were both descended from John of Gaunt.[iv] Gaunt was the third surviving son of Edward III.

Arriving in England

On Katherine’s arrival in England, the future Henry VIII (Arthur’s younger brother) immediately set her at ease.[v] Continue reading “Prince Arthur and Katherine of Aragon’s Relationship” →

Significance of the Marriage Between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.

Mar 21, 2014Jul 5, 2019 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 2 Comments

Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville’s marriage was the first time that an English king had married a commoner without a foreign wife first. Edward III’s son, John of Gaunt, had married Katherine Swynford but they already had children before their marriage, who were legitimised after the marriage. The descendents of this marriage became the Tudors, and it was these complicated marriage alliance which led to the Wars of the Roses, into which Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV were key players because of their marriage, and their many offspring. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married the future Henry VII, and their two eldest sons, Edward and Richard, became the ill-fated Princes in the Tower.

The Mystery of the Princes in the Tower

The mystery of the Princes in the Tower has dogged historians for centuries. When two small skeletons were found under a Tower staircase it was assumed these were their bones but no evidence has actually been found and no DNA testing was conducted. Continue reading “Significance of the Marriage Between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.” →

Catherine and Henry Carey: Children of Mary Boleyn

Feb 9, 2014Aug 3, 2016 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

Catherine and Henry Carey were the children of Mary Boleyn. Their parentage is questioned, as their father could be one of two men; either Mary Boleyn’s husband, William Carey, or her lover, King Henry VIII of England. This post will examine the evidence for each side, and look at the futures of the pair. Neither Henry nor Catherine were acknowledged by Henry VIII, unlike Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII’s son by Bessie Blount. However, Mary Boleyn was already married, unlike Bessie Blount. If Mary was sleeping with both the King and her husband, then she herself may have been unsure of their paternity.[1] Leanda de Lisle claims that there was no evidence at all to suggest that either of Mary Boleyn’s children were fathered by Henry VIII.[2] Read on for my arguments and a summary of the ‘evidence’.

Arguments for the parentage of the Carey children

Catherine Carey by Steven Van Der Meulen 1562.

Catherine was born around 1524. Henry was born around 1525/6. Philippa Jones has these dates reversed, with Catherine in 1526 and Henry the elder, born in 1524.[3] However, I don’t believe Jones is correct, as there is more evidence for Catherine being the elder. Continue reading “Catherine and Henry Carey: Children of Mary Boleyn” →

Important Tudor Executions on Tower Hill

Dec 20, 2013Jan 27, 2015 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

Memorial on Tower Hill to those executed there.

Very few executions actually took place within the walls of the Tower of London. Most executions took place on the nearby Tower Hill. This post will cover the latter executions. A different post covers the former executions in the Tower itself. The executions on Tower Hill were more of a spectator sport, whereas the Tower dealt with potentially dangerous or controversial executions like Queens of England and prominent nobles.

Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham c.1520

Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham 1521 – Edward Stafford was executed on 17^th May 1521. Henry VIII knew that Stafford probably had a stronger legitimate claim to the throne than he did as the Tudor descended from the illegitimate Beaufort line. In 1520 Henry authorised an investigation against him and he was tried before a group of seventeen of his peers, as was customary for the nobility. It is suggested his opposition to the King stemmed from his hatred of Wolsey. Continue reading “Important Tudor Executions on Tower Hill” →

Tudor Executions within the Tower of London

Dec 10, 2013Aug 3, 2016 ~ Helene Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Very few executions actually took place within the walls of the Tower of London. Most executions took place on the nearby Tower Hill, like those of Thomas Cromwell, Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham, and Thomas More. These will be discussed in another post. Below are the notable executions that took place within the Tower during the reign of the Tudors. Lord Hastings was the first real execution in the Tower in 1483, although it is also suspected that the Princes in the Tower (Edward V and Richard Duke of York) were also secretly killed here around the same time.

Anne Boleyn 1536

Anne Boleyn was executed on 19^th May 1536 on charges of adultery, incest and treason. I fully believe she was innocent and was actually executed because she failed to give Henry VIII a son and he had fallen in love with Jane Seymour who did eventually give him a son. Her so-called ‘accomplices’ had died two days earlier, including her brother and a court musician, Mark Smeaton. The other accused were William Brereton, Francis Weston and Henry Norris. All perished. Continue reading “Tudor Executions within the Tower of London” →

What Made the Tudor Dynasty Unique?

Dec 8, 2013Jan 27, 2015 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

The Tudor dynasty was unique in several ways, not least that two of our most remembered monarchs were Tudors – Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Furthermore, the dynasty was unique in issues of marriage, succession, political unity, religion, and love. Read on to find out more.

Henry VIII is the only reigning monarch to have married more than twice. He was also only the second to have a wife who had already been married (the first was Edward IV whose Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, already had two sons when they married). He is also only the second King to have married a commoner (Edward IV was, again, the first). He is also the only monarch to have had one of his wives (let alone two!) executed. Even more shocking that the two executed were in fact cousins.[1]

Edward VI was the third reigning English monarch not to marry, the first two being William II and Edward V, the second of whom was too young to be married when he died, and the former appeared to have been too busy with wars and dissenters to think about a family. Continue reading “What Made the Tudor Dynasty Unique?” →

Assess the Effects of the Reformation on the Lives of Women in Sixteenth-Century Europe?

Oct 26, 2013Jan 27, 2015 ~ Helene Harrison ~ 1 Comment

I was very proud of this essay which I wrote as part of my Masters degree. It got me a first. Please don’t use sections from it in your own work without proper referencing.

The issue of women in history has been neglected until relatively recently. Hence the historiography on the effects of the Reformation on the lives of women is quite up-to-date. Cissie Fairchilds and Peter Wallace have two contrasting opinions which will both be explored in this essay. Fairchilds argues that the Reformation brought ‘some losses but more gains’ for women and ultimately improved women’s status in society.[1] Conversely, Wallace argues that the reformation ‘bound women more tightly to men’s authority’ which diminished their status.[2] These two opinions are irreconcilable, so one must triumph over the other. In this author’s opinion, the Reformation allowed women a measure of freedom, more than had been achieved in the Medieval period, but they were still ultimately subject to patriarchal authority. It was not until much later, into the twentieth century, that women managed to completely break away from man’s authority. The Reformation acted as a catalyst for these later changes. In examining the Reformation in relation to women it is politic to look at several fields of interest: education, marriage, witchcraft, religion, scholarship and monarchy. These key areas will demonstrate the effect of the reformation on the lives of European women in the sixteenth century. Continue reading “Assess the Effects of the Reformation on the Lives of Women in Sixteenth-Century Europe?” →

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