Henry VII of England

He had eight children from Elizabeth of York. He lost Arthur, Prince of Wales, his first son and heir-apparent on April 2, 1502 while Elizabeth died on February 11, 1503 which left him grief-stricken.

On April 21, 1509, he succumbed to tuberculosis at the Richmond Palace and was interred beside his wife at the Westminster Abbey. His second son, Henry VIII, succeeded him to the throne.

Henry VII was born on January 28, 1457 in Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, to Edmund Tudor and Lady Margaret Beaufort. His father died three months prior to his birth.

Edmund Tudor was born to Owen Tudor, a Welsh squire and the widow of King Henry V, Catherine of Valois whom Owen married secretly. In 1452, Edmund became Earl of Richmond, and was "formally declared legitimate by the Parliament".

Lady Margaret was the daughter and the only heiress of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset. He was one of the great-grandsons of King Edward III, and grandson of the latter’s third surviving son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. His father, John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and also three of the latter’s siblings were born to John of Gaunt and his mistress, Katherine Swynford, prior to their marriage (1396).

Although the parliament of King Richard II of England declared children of Beaufort as legitimate in 1390 and 1397 respectively and Pope Boniface IX also declared their legitimacy in September 1396, their half-brother, Henry IV, restricted them from succession to the throne.

Thus the claim to throne for Henry Tudor remained weak and of little significance until the demise of King Henry VI of England and his only son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, in 1471. Along with this, the death of two remaining kinsmen of the Beaufort line made Henry Tudor as the only surviving male having any lineal claim to the House of Lancaster.

While in South Wales fighting for Henry VI, Henry’s father was taken into custody by the Yorkists at the Carmarthen Castle in 1456 where the latter succumbed to the bubonic plague on November 3, around three months before the birth of Henry Tudor.

His paternal uncle, Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, started looking after the 13 year old widow, Lady Margaret, and the new-born Henry. The Battle of Towton (March 29, 1461) witnessed decisive victory of Yorkists with Yorkist Edward, Duke of York overthrowing Lancastrian King Henry VI to become King Edward IV.

During such time Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad while Welsh nobleman, politician and courtier William Herbert who backed the Yorkist cause during the ‘War of the Roses’ became the Earl of Pembroke taking control of Pembroke Castle and guardianship of Lady Margaret Beaufort and young Henry.

After fallout with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick in 1469, who went on to back the Lancastrians, Herbert was captured and executed. In 1470, Warwick restored Henry VI as the King following which Jasper Tudor came back from exile and brought Henry Tudor to court.

Edward IV was enthroned again in 1471, and Henry Tudor escaped to Brittany.

While his mother began promoting him as the credible replacement of the then King of England, Richard III, Henry Tudor took pledge on December 25, 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and the only surviving heir of Edward IV, thus receiving the reverence of his adherents.

Two significant revolts broke out against Richard III. While the first one led by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham failed, Jasper Tudor and Henry Tudor led a second rebellion in August 1485.

Geared up with the supply of French troops and equipments and Scottish forces and garnering support of the Woodvilles - in-laws of late Edward IV, Henry Tudor along with Jasper Tudor, had a decisive victory over the Yorkist army led by Richard III on August 22, 1485 at what became famous as the Battle of Bosworth Field, marking the last major battle of the ‘Wars of the Roses’.

The killing of Richard III in the battle not only marked the ultimate overthrow of the House of York but also the rise of the Tudor Dynasty with Henry Tudor becoming the first English monarch of the dynasty, Henry VII of England. His coronation took place on October 30, 1485, in Westminster Abbey.