Back to the Houses Of Lancaster And York calendar
Meanwhile the Lancastrians had been regrouping and found a new leader, luckily called Henry and so well suited to be a king
someday. His surname was Tudor and he was a little bit Welsh and a little bit Lancastrian. He had been at the court of Henry VI and when Edward IV was restored as
King in 1471 he had also fled to France.
In 1485 he landed at Milford Haven in Wales and using his Welsh ancestry picked up a lot of support. Then his mother, who despite being married to a
Yorkist wanted her son on the throne, helped out with support and Henry’s small army met the army of Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485.
Henry probably only had about 5,000 men but several of Richard’ supporters either switched sides, Henry’s mother’s husband being one, or left the battlefield and
Richard lost and was killed.
Henry might have a few more battles to fight but the Wars of the Roses was over. Henry was actually the last King of England to win his crown on a
battlefield. Now Henry VII was King of England and Wales and, if you remember, Calais in France. His claim to the throne was because his grandfather, Owen Tudor,
had secretly married Henry V’s widow so he was, very loosely, connected to the House of Lancaster.
Henry needed to get rid of all his opponents and he did this in a
very sneaky way. When the records were written about him becoming King he had the date written down as 21 August 1485. The actual Battle of Bosworth Field, where
he had defeated Richard III took place on 22 August 1485. Henry VII could now claim that anyone who fought against him in that battle was guilty of treason. Treason
means any crime against a King or Queen or against a country. This allowed those who were on Richard’s side to be guilty of treason and tried, and most likely
executed, as a traitor. A traitor, in law, is someone who commits treason. It was pretty obvious that Henry was going to be a very strong King. The House of Tudor
was now in power and the Tudor rose was a combination of both red and white roses.
Henry was crowned, in Westminster Abbey, on October 30 1485. He wanted to put an end to the 85 years of civil war that had been going on. Henry thought
that the best way to do this was by uniting the two House of Lancaster and York. He was, you may remember, from the House of Lancaster. In January 1486 he married
Elizabeth of York, thereby achieving his aim.
Forward to 1486AD
