Historical
and Commemorative Medals
Collection of Benjamin Weiss
HENRY VII DASSIER, Jean: England, 1731, Bronze, 41 mm Henry VII (Henry Tudor) (1457-1509), King of England
(1485-1509), was the founder of the Tudor dynasty, being the son of Edmund
Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort. His claim to the throne was
weak until he became, with the death of Henry VI in 1471, the main surviving
male in the House of Lancaster. He then went to France, where the Yorkists
made several attempts on his life before he landed with an army on the
English coast in 1485. He became king by defeating Richard III in the final
battle of the Wars of the Roses at Bosworth Field. He then united the houses
of Lancaster and York by marrying the Yorkist heiress, Elizabeth. His
financial acumen and encouragement of trade through commercial treaties
restored England’s fortunes after the devastation of civil war. He also
established peaceful relations with France and with Scotland. In 1501 he
forged an alliance between England and Spain by marrying his son Arthur to
Catherine of Aragon. He took effective action against pretenders to his
throne, notably Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the
young Yorkist princes, Edward of Warwick and Richard of York, last seen in
the Tower. When he died there was no opposition to the succession of his
son, Henry VIII, who also inherited the fortune Henry had created. (From
O’Brien)
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