HENRY VII, King of England. - First king of the Tudor dynasty, b. at Pembroke Castle on 28 Jan. 1457, d. at Richmond on 21 Apr. 1509. A descendant on his mother's side from Lancaster, having defeated and killed Richard III at Bosworth, he was crowned king on 30 Oct. 1485. The following year he married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV of York, putting an end to the Wars of the Roses.

His constant aim was the consolidation of the throne, thwarting the intrigues of the Yorkists, supported by the Irish and the Scots, reducing the powers of Parliament to the advantage of the privy council and removing the nobility from power. To counter French expansion he allied himself, in 1496, with Spain, but in order not to jeopardize the throne he did not descend into open conflict and preferred to secure friendship through a skillful marriage policy.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: A. F. Pollard, The reign of Henry VII, from contemporary sources, London 1914; G. Temperley, Henry VII, ibid. 1917; C. H. Williams, England under the early Tudors, ibid. 1923; K. Pickthorn, Early Tudor government, Henry VII, Cambridge 1931; H. M. Smith, Pre-Reformation England, London 1938, passim. On the society of his time: G. M. Trevelyan, Storia della società inglese, Italian trans., Turin 1948, p. 129-130.

Sergio Cotta

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Henry VII, King of England

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