Henry VII

  • Descended from a giant: the Worsleys of Hovingham

    Descended from a giant: the Worsleys of Hovingham

    The recent death of HRH the Duchess of Kent, who was married to the late queen’s cousin at York Minister in 1961, reminds us of her family’s long association with Yorkshire. This has included two brothers who served as archbishop…

  • From Lancaster to York and back again: the political evolution of the Derbyshire Blounts

    From Lancaster to York and back again: the political evolution of the Derbyshire Blounts

    Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the fortunes and shifting loyalties of one gentry family in Derbyshire during the Wars of the Roses. The troubled politics of the mid-fifteenth century are illuminated by the histories of leading gentry…

  • Unrest in the West: The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy

    Unrest in the West: The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy

    On this day, 1499, Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne, was hanged for treason, bringing an end to one of the most significant threats to Henry VII’s reign. Dr Hannes Kleineke, editor of our House of Commons 1461-1504…

  • A last roll of the dice? Richard III’s pardon to John Morton, 16 August 1485

    A last roll of the dice? Richard III’s pardon to John Morton, 16 August 1485

    On 16 August 1485, King Richard III issued a pardon to an old adversary, John Morton, bishop of Ely. Dr Hannes Kleineke, editor of our Commons 1461-1504 project, explores the issue that Morton posed to Richard and why he felt the need…

  • What might have been: The Sweating Sickness and the Representation of the County of Cornwall in Henry VII’s first Parliament of 1485-6

    What might have been: The Sweating Sickness and the Representation of the County of Cornwall in Henry VII’s first Parliament of 1485-6

    In today’s blog, Dr Hannes Kleineke, editor of our Commons 1461-1504 project, looks back to 1485, when a sudden epidemic impacted on the membership of Henry VII’s first parliament… By the time Henry VII overcame Richard III at the battle…

  • Mutton addressed as Stamp (or, the precursors of the electronic signature)

    In recent years electronic signatures have been given the same recognition as a hand-written version. This change has an early modern precedent, as Dr Hannes Kleineke, Senior Research Fellow in our Commons 1422-1504 project, explains… Since 1 July 2016, European…

  • The battle of Bosworth: consequences for winners and losers

    The battle of Bosworth took place on this day in 1485. Dr Charles Moreton, senior research fellow of the Commons 1422-1504 project, discusses the contrasting consequences for parliamentarians on both sides of the battle… At the battle of Bosworth the…

  • Henry VII’s first parliament

    As part of the ‘Tudor Court’ season, tomorrow night BBC2 will show ‘Henry VII: The Winter King’. Dr Hannes Kleineke discusses Henry VII’s first parliament in 1485… Henry VII’s first Parliament assembled at Westminster on 7 November 1485, not much…