(Cover image – © Unknown Artist – The National Portrait Gallery)
On this day, the 21st April 1509, over five-hundred years ago, the King of England - Henry VII - died at the age of fifty-two.
Henry had reigned as king for nearly twenty-five years and left a bold legacy both behind and ahead of him, having won the throne by force in his 20s and bringing glory to the Tudor name. His son, Henry, later known as the notorious King Henry VIII, also had a huge impact on the years of history to come.
As the son of Margaret Beauford and Edmund Tudor, Henry initially had a weak claim to the throne, but upon the deaths of Henry VI and his son, he soon became the only surviving male with an ancestral claim to the house of Lancaster {1}. However, support for the Lancastrian cause quickly faltered, meaning that Henry had to flee England and spend his early years with his uncle, Jasper, in the duchy of Brittany.
When Henry returned to England in 1485 as a grown man and with an army at his back, he managed to defeat King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, claiming the throne for himself by title of inheritance {1}.
Whilst Henry VII didn’t live a long life by today’s standards, he did meet the ‘typical’ life expectancy for a king living in medieval times, which was around 48 to 51 years old {2}. However, unfortunately for Henry, he didn’t die of old age or in the glory of battle. In fact, it is generally agreed that there were several causes for his eventual demise…
Love and loss
Shortly after his succession, in 1486 Henry married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of his rival, King Edward IV, and niece to the man he had deposed and killed, King Richard III. Whilst Henry’s marriage was certainly a political advantage, as he hoped to unite the Yorkist and Lancastrian forces, the pair were married for almost twenty years and were said to be fairly happy {3}.
In fact, it is reported that Henry was a ‘doting’ husband and father, and that there is evidence that he was devoted to his family {3}. According to financial records of the time, Henry was more than happy to ‘loosen his purse-strings generously for his wife and children’, for example, he gifted Elizabeth a lion for her menagerie! {3}
Together, Henry and Elizabeth had seven children, the first of which being Arthur, Prince of Wales, who was born in 1486. As Henry’s heir to the throne and first-born son, Arthur was likely doted on by his parents and was expected to one day take his father’s place as king.
However, this plan would never come to fruition. Despite Arthur’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1501, an important start to his career as king-in-waiting, Arthur appeared to grow weaker {4} and his health deteriorated. In March of 1502, both Arthur and Catherine fell ill with an unknown illness, that of a ‘malign vapour which proceeded from the air’ {4}. Whilst we will never be sure of what this illness was, it is likely that this could have been ‘sweating sickness’, a common yet mysterious and contagious disease in England at this time.
Unfortunately, at only fifteen years of age, Arthur died on 2 April 1502.
Once this news had travelled, King Henry VII was awoken from his sleep by his confessor, who revealed that his ‘dearest son hath departed to God’, and Henry burst into tears {4}. According to historians, Henry was extremely distressed by this news, with his grief being a surprise to those at court as he rarely showed much emotion.
Shortly after Arthur’s death, fortunes seemed to turn in that Henry’s wife, Elizabeth, was expecting another baby. On 2 February 1503, Henry’s daughter Katherine was born, but she sadly died several days later. Tragically, on 11 February 1503 at age thirty-seven, Elizabeth also succumbed to an infection and died shortly after the birth of her child.
At his wife’s death and this tragic series of events, Henry was completely heartbroken and was ‘shattered’ by this loss, shutting himself away for several days and refusing to speak with anyone {5}.
The Vaux Passional, an ‘illuminated manuscript that was once the property of Henry VII’, depicts the aftermath of Elizabeth’s death, with Henry shown in mourning robes and the young prince Henry weeping into the sheets of his mother’s empty bed {6}.
Effigies of Elizabeth of York and King Henry VII in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey
Whilst Henry had thoughts of remarriage, this never came to pass, as it is said that he desired a wife who was similar to Elizabeth {6}. On the anniversary of her death, Henry decreed that a requiem mass be sung, the bells be tolled, and 100 candles be lit in her honour {5}.
Illness and death
Henry fell severely ill soon after Elizabeth’s death, apparently only allowing his mother, Margaret, to visit him in the confines of his rooms. Members of the court, as well as Henry’s children, found this time to be extremely distressing, as the king rarely showed his emotions, let alone his weaknesses, to those outside of his family {3}.
It appears that Henry struggled to cope after such a huge loss and he quickly deteriorated, suffering from health issues such as gout and asthma. In 1509, Henry succumbed to tuberculosis, an infectious disease that affects the lungs. He was buried with his wife, Elizabeth, in Westminster Abbey chapel.
Despite Henry’s death not being one of glory or theatrics, it is clear that, for most of his life, he was able to find love and happiness in those closest to him. He loved his family greatly and, seemingly, had no desire to live without them.
After Henry’s death, he was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII, who would reign for many years to come.
References:
Britannica. (2024). Henry VII King of England. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VII-king-of-England
Woodbury, S. (2014). Life Expectancy in the Middle Ages. https://www.sarahwoodbury.com/life-expectancy-in-the-middle-ages/
Penn, Thomas. (2012). Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Weir, Alison. (2007). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Press.
Wikipedia. (2024). Henry VII of England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VII_of_England#Later_years_and_death
Weir, Alison. (2014). Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World. New York: Ballantine Books.
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