HENRY VII, king of England, first sov ereign of the house of Tudor: b. Wales, 28 Jan. 1457; 43. Richmond, Surry, 22 April 1509. He was the son of Edmund, Earl of Richmond, son of Owen Tudor and Catharine of France, widow of Henry V. His mother, Margaret, was the only child of John, Duke of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt. After the battle of Tewkesbury he was carried by his uncle, the Earl of Pembroke, to Brittany, to seek refuge in that court from the jealousy of the victori ous house of York. On the usurpation of Richard the young Earl of Richmond was natu rally turned to as the representative of the house of Lancaster. In 1485 Richmond landed at Milford Haven, where he was immediately joined by some leaders of rank, but had only 6,000 men when Richard met him at Bosworth, with an army twice as numerous in appearance; but the defection of Lord Stanley with his forces, who joined Richmond during the battle, obtained for the latter a complete victory. Henry was proclaimed king on the field of battle, and his right was subsequently recog nized by Parliament. In 1486 he married Eliza beth, daughter of Edward IV and heiress of the house of York, and thus united the claims of the rival houses of York and Lancaster. The reign of Henry VII was troubled by repeated insurrections. The project of France for an nexing the province of Brittany, by marriage with the heiress, induced Henry to declare war, but his measures were so tardy and parsi monious that the annexation was effected. He then raised large sums on the plea of the necessity for hostilities; and landing a numer ous army at Calais in 1492, almost immediately accepted a large compensation for peace. The Duchess-dowager of Burgundy, governess of the Low Countries, now advocated the cause of Perkin Warbeck, a youth who gave himself out to be Richard Plantagenet, the younger of the two sons of Edward IV, supposed to have been murdered in the Tower of London, and the justice of his claim has been maintained even by some historians of a recent date. The
duchess professed to be satisfied with the proofs of his identity, and acknowledged him as her nephew. He was so far successful as to secure a large following, with which he marched to Taunton; but there his heart failed him and he fled. Captured by Henry he confessed himself an impostor and was sent to the Tower, where he became acquainted with the Earl of War wick and persuaded him to accompany •him in an attempt to escape. They were both retaken and Warwick was recommitted to the Tower and Perkin Warbeck hanged at Tyburn (1499). Soon after the king ordered the Earl of War wick also to be executed. After a long negotia tion he brought about a match between the Infanta Catharine, daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and of Isabella of Castile, and his eldest son Arthur; and on the death of the latter, in order to retain the dowry of this princess, caused his remaining son Henry to marry the widow by Papal dispensation, an event which, in the sequel, led to a separation from the see of Rome. He married his eldest daughter to James IV, king of Scotland, from which union there ultimately resulted the union of the two crowns. His reign was, upon the whole, beneficial to his country. Being con ducted upon pacific principles it put a period to many disorders and gave an opportunity to the nation to flourish by its internal resources. His policy of depressing the feudal nobility, which proportionably exalted the middle ranks, was highly salutary; and it was especially ad vanced by the statute which allowed the break ing of entails and the alienation of landed es tates. It was under the patronage of Henry VII that John Cabot made his voyage of 1497 and discovered the North American continent. Consult Bacon's 'History of Henry VIP (ed. by Lumby, 1:•:1) ; Gairdner's 'Henry VIP (1889) ; and 'Lives,) by Pollard (1913-14) and Temperley (1914).