challenging the succession Flashcards
how strong was henry vii’s claim to the throne
-weak claim, he owed his kingship to usurpation
-put him in danger as people could be encouraged to act similarly and usurp
-claim came through the Beaufort family who were descendents of the third son of edward iii, John of Gaunt
-beaforts were illegitimate, and henrys claim would be through a woman not a man
-his mother margeret beaufort married edmund tudor who had no claim to the throne
-raised legitimacy through divine right to rule by winning battle of Bosworth, promising to marry edwards oldest daughter elixzabeth of York
henry’s rivals to the throne? how were their claims stronger than his?
-John De La Pole:
earl of Lincoln and leading yorkist claimant. Nephew of Edward iV AND Richard III. during richards reign he was the heir presumptive.
Was a real threat to Henry as he became the main force of opposition in the first 2 years of his reign
-Edward Plantagenet:
-earl of Warwick, only 10 years old but a nephew of Richard III
-HIS AGE MADE IT EASIER TO CONTROL HIM AND WAS PLACED IN THE TOWER WHERE HE WOULD SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE
-this didnt stop him from being the focus of a plot against Henry
-Edward iV children:
-Edward and Richard (the princes in the tower)
-assumed to have died in the tower but were also the centre of plots against Henry
-edwards daughters also had claims but they were women, but could pass the claim to their own children
what were the numbers of troops and the actions of nobility in the battle of bosworth and how did it mpact Henry’s hold on the throne
-was fought on 22nd August 1485 (fought on Ambien hill)
-Henry had a smaller force of 5000 men whilst rchard had twice the amount (richards numbers should have been decisive but he lost due to miscalculation and actions of nobility)
-Thomas Stanley, his brother, Sir William and Henry Percy earl of Northumberland were nobles richard had expected to fight for him
-their loyalties were split, Henry’s mother had married Thomas Stanley
-Stanleys chose to watch the battle from the sidelines before Sir William committed his troops to Henry
-although henry won powerful nobles like the stanleys betrayed richard so his loyalty to henry wasnt garunteed
-With a weak claim he couldnt trust the nobility
-Henry drew support from people who thought richards usurption from his nephews was wrong, like the woodville family but it wasnt garunteed they would keep supporting henry once richard was dead
how did richards actions hinder him in the battle of bosworth
-when charging to target Henry he became seperated from his troops
-Sir William chose to intervene directing his troops to attack Richard (possibly saved henry’s life)
-Richard was killed
what measures did henry use to secure his throne after the battle of bosworth
1.)ensured he was crowned in official ceremony. coronation was when monarch swore by oach to serve and protect the country and seen as a moment when they were chosen by god (this heightened his claim that he had the divine right to rule)
2) used his first parliament in 1485 to punish his opponents at bosworth and also used parliament to predate his reign to the 21st august. This turned richard iii into a usurper and richards allies had committed treason so could be punished.
3.)removed titulous regius which was passed by Richard which declared edwards marriage to elizabeth woodville as invalid. if this went on henrys future children would have also been illigitimate.
4.)married Elizabeth of York and united the two factions of the York and Lancaster. Elizabeth gave birth the male heir. His children thereform had both york and Lancastrian blood, enhancing their claims.
5.)rewarded his supporters but avoided granting titles and estates that would allow nobility to form power bases of their own
6.)punished those who didnt support him (his coronation and declaration of kingship by parliament meant he could seize the land of these men)
-Henry did not execute many of the survivors of bosworth
-John de la pole swore loyalty to henry and allowed him to join the royal council
-Henry Percy briefly imprisoned
-Thomas Howard, earl of surrey imprisoned until 1987 but released
7.)went on royal progresses to enhance his credibility.
-1486 went to midlands and north where Ricardian support was especiallu high
-1485 parliament he made house of commons and lords swear by oath that they wouldnt recruit men illegally
-tried to secure crowns finances by passing the act of resumption in 1486 (allowed henry to take back crown lands that had been granted since 1455)
how did henry reward his supporters in the battle of bosworth
-only rewarded landed power to Jasper Tudor (his uncle and lifelong supporter)
-Thomas stanley made earl of bedford and Sir William was made sir chamberlain of the royal household
-Lovell made treasurer of the household and John Morton became chancellor and archbishop on canterbury (made them spend the rest of their years serving henry loyally)
-when he rewarded people with land rather than using crown lands he used land that had been forfeited by opponents
how did the anti-Ricardian yorkists pose a threat on Henry vii
-e.g The Woodvilles
-could have easily switched their support to rival claimants after richards death
-but this didnt happen as henry kept his marriage to elizabeth of york (meaning yorkists could transfer their support to the new yorkist regime)
who did Henry vii rely on most
-JASPER TUDOR: given extensive power in the troublesome region of Wales where he became chief justice
-JOHN DE VERE: prominent of henrys council (but these men couldnt become more powerful than trhe king)
-STANLEY FAMILY: trusted in early years as Thomas Stanley was married to Margeret Beaufort, henrys mother.
how did hard line richard supporters immediately begin creating problems
Thomas and Humphrey stafford and Francis, Lord Lovell had fought for richard in bosworth and still hoped to restore yorkist monarchy
-1486- rumours of plots began to spread (e.g earl of warwich had escaped from tower and fled to the channel islands OR agents of earl of lincoln caught smuggking gold and silver abroad trying to raise an army)
-Stafford brothers and Lovell had all escaped after bosworth and entered the protection of sanctury at Colchester
-1486 Staffords tried to raise rebellion in the name of the earl of Warwick(sir humphrey was executed and thomas was pardoned)
what was Henry vii’s response to simnel
-Realised the simnel challenge was serious when alerted of John De la Poles involvement by april and started to raise troops and showed tactical awareness despite his lack of experience.
1.) ordered the coasts to be guarded, although rebels still managed to land
2.)recieved intelligence that they would invade from ireland so he gradually moved northwards and westwards , gathering troops as he went
3.)8th may Henry arrived at Kenilworth castle (which he adopted as his base) when he recieved news of the rebels arriving he marched north meeting them at stoke (sparking battle of stoke)
BATTLE OF STOKE
-German mercenaries were quite well trained and equipped but irish forces lacked body armour and suffered many loses as a result
-results went deciscively in favour of Henry
-John de la Pole and Martin Schwarz (leader of german mercenaries) were killed and Lovell disappeared and was never seen again
-Simnel captured and put to work in kings kitchens and eventually became the kings falconer
-simnel rebellion over almost as quickly as it started
what was the threat posed by lambert simnel and when
-1486-87
-De la pole and lovell were rivals
-a young boy called Lambert simnel was found by the yorkists as a suitable figurehead
-he had no royal blood and was the 10 year old son of a joner from oxford
-trained by a priest called richard simons to act as if he were a royal prince
-posed as the Earl of Warwick (who was imprisoned in the tower but this didnt stop the rebellion gaining momentum)
EVENTS
-John De la Pole fled to Burgundy where he joined Francis Lovel and Margeret Burgundy
-Margret used her money and power to raise the support of 2,000 german mercenaries led by Martin Schwartz
-the rebells and their troops sailed to ireland (the traditional yorkist power base)
-In ireland John de la pole and Lovell met with irish nobility who were sympathetic to their aim (Gerald Fitzgerald Earl of Kildare)
-Irish and English yorkists crowned simnel as king in Dublin
-launched invasion of England
-rebel army arrived in the north in early June of 1487 and marched south
-Henry Percey earl of northumberland did nothing to stop the rebel army
how serious was the threat of the simnel rebellion
-in some ways threat was very serious
-rebel alliance that forced in 1487 was a dangerous mix of rival claimants, Yorkist support and foreign support
-the fact that simnel was a puppet for de la pole is significant as de la pole had a much stronger claim to the throne than Henry (if rebels had won simnel would have likely been replaced by de la pole)
-support of the irish was particulary crucial as it provided a point od invasion
-Henry was slow at recongising the betrayal of De la pole and continued to trust and employ him showing his inexperience
How did henry overycome the callenge from simnel and his supporters
HENRYS DECISONS
-Henry acted decisively once the treat was clear
-prepared to raise an army himself
-reacted swiftly and made sure he was well placed
-his tactics meant he was able to win fairly easily (reinforced notion that he was rightful king)
-removed john de la pole threat to kingship
REBELS WEAKNESS
-Henry was able to defeat them as they made mistakes and lacked support
-decision to declare simnel as the earl of Warwick was a poor one and coul easily been disproven
-Still die hard supporters of yorkists BUT these die hards were a minority in 1487 as the fighting force wade up of mercenaries not other yorkist loyalists
-irish nobility (like Kildare) remained in ireland to watch from the sidelines
-the earl of northumberland, the supposed first line of defence didnt flock to them either (despite being the traditional stronghold of yorkists) as they liked the stability henry offered and didnt want to risk their property or live in rebellion of the anoited king
why did henry call parliament against the simnel rebels
november 1487 called second parliament of his reign
-used to pass 28 act of attainder against the rebels
-in addition members of the kings council were given additional powers to deal with local disorder
when was the threat from perkin warbeck and what was its nature
1491-99
-prtender emerged in ireland, warbecks background was uncertain and he made contradictory claims to the throne
-well educated and brought up in netherlands
-learnt english age 17 and travelled to ireland and made his claim to the throne
-claimed to be Richard, duke of york (the younger of the two supposedly dead princes in the tower
-this was strong as it could not be disproven as the princes whereabouts were unknown as he had disappeared in 1483
-if prince was alive he would have been around warbecks age
-warbecks challenge had international dimension. Recieved support from many foreign rulers who felt he could be used to put pressure on Henry
-Charles VIII of France, Philip of Burgundy, his father the holy emperor and his mother Margret Burgundy, Scottish King James iV all prepared to offer support
-irish nobles less keen due to simnel failing
when was warbecks landing in deal, Kent and what happened
-July 1495 warbeck attempted a landing at Deal in kent with a small force of 300 soldiers- he failed to get local support and fled leaving the few men who had waited for him to be captured, tried and executed
Warbecks gain of foreign support/domestic support 1491-95
-Ireland reception mixed: people of Cork were enthusiastic but Isle of Kildare was reluctant to be directly involved
-due to lack of irish support Warbeck and Earl of Desmond began to write to european leaders to get more help
-Charles VIII of france invited warbeck to france in 1992 where warbeck was treated as if he were a prince (but henrys prompt actions he was soon no longer welcome there)
-Warbeck moved to burgundy an drecieved acceptance from Margret Burgundy and her relatives as Richard duke of york, her nephew (even though she would have last seen him in 1480 when he was 70
-Margret determined to remove henry and restore yorkist line
-by 1994/95 henry increasingly worried as warbeck began to gather domesting support in england by exploiting traditional yorkist loyalties to edward iv and his family
-agents from burgundy were able to infiltrate england and some men tried to recruit supporters for warbeck
-Sir william stanley (was responsible for helping henry at bosworth) was implicated in a plot against him
-his betrayal was particularly worrying for henry as he was chamberlain of the kings household and had daily personal acess to henry himself
-march 1946 stanley agreed with sir robert Clifford that clifford would go abroad and speak to warbeck
-clifford who had then been a spy all along informed henry that the stanleys had been in communication with warbeck
-Janury 1995 Stanley was convicted and tried for treason and executed the following month
…
-but the execution didnt stop challenge from warbeck
-July 1995 warbeck attempted a landing at Deal in kent with a small force of 300 soldiers- he failed to get local support and fled leaving the few men who had waited for him to be captured, tried and executed
what were the events of warbecks challenge from 195-97 and how did he gain support
SCOTLAND
-after failure at deal warbeck moved to Scotland (James IV keen to cause trouble for his traditional enemy england, supporting warbeck would do this)
-In scotland warbeck was relatively safe from Henry
-There was a possibility that he would be able to launch invasion across the scottish boarder
-In september 1496 he tried to invade engand with a small force of 1400 men, but like simnel before him he was unable to raise much support in the north so he retreated back to Scotland
REBELLION IN CORNWALL
-1497- Henry was forced to raise taxation to fund an army to fight warbeck
-demand for additional tax provoked rebellion in Cornwall 1497
-rebels numbered up too 15,000
-they chose to march in london and Henry had to rapidly change his plans
-Henry was forced to divert troops intended for defence in the north.
-troops met rebels at Blackheath and Kent and won over the poorly equipped rebels
-1000 rebels may have been killed
-however this cornwall distraction shows weakness to henrys position in warbeck rebellion
SCOTLAND TO IRELAND
-James iv’s support for warbeck was tiring to in July 1497 warbeck left scotland for ireland
-when he failed to get support in ireland he seeked support from cornwall
WARBECK LANDING IN COWNWALL
-Wareck landed in cornwall in september 1497aiming to take advantage of the unrest to Gain support for his rebellion
-By this point the army of 14,000 had shrunk to 300
-attracted between 30000-8000 men in cornwall but wasnt able to attract gentry or nobility in southwest
-city camr close to falling but the rebels were driven out by soldiers and citizens
TAUNTON
-after failure warbeck and his remaining men went to taunton
-here they were trapped by advancing royal forces led by Giles Daubeney
-warbecks remaining supporters melted away and he was captured as he tried to escape
