The Tudor dynasty began with the secret marriage between Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois; gaining strength in the only Earl of Richmond to become King of England and ending when Elizabeth died childless. Her successor was James VI of Scotland, a descendant of Henry VII through his daughter Margaret Tudor.
During his reign Henry VII turned England into a strong modern country, which he administered like a businessman. Henry succeeded in gaining royal land back from the Church and confiscated the lands of nobles who had been defeated or had died in the recent war. Henry also chose his own ministers from the towns middle classes and the country gentry. Henry's foreign policy aimed at making England's trading position stronger with Trade agreements and dynastic marriages. Furthermore, Henry laid the foundations of English naval power so that England could have its own merchant fleet as well to increase its military strength. Henry could be noted as a successful king. He had many goals that he had accomplished by the end of his reign. He had established a new dynasty after 30 years of struggle, also he had strengthened the judicial system as well as the treasury (Henry avoided war as it was too expensive) and had successfully denied all the other claimants to his throne.
A marriage treaty with Spain was finalised in July 1499, indicating Spain’s acceptance of Henry’s power. Also in 1501 Henry promised his daughter Margaret to James IV of Scotland as part of the treaty of Ayton and they were duly married in August 1503. This treaty marked a general improvement in Anglo- Scots relations although the potential for problems remained, especially if Anglo-French relations deteriorated. A series of deaths from 1502 put Henry in a difficult position, Henry needed to be actively involved in European affairs in order to safeguard his and England’s position. The first death was of Henry’s heir, Prince Arthur in 1502. There was suddenly a real doubt about the future of the Tudor dynasty, which now depended on eleven-year-old Prince Henry. The death of Arthur endangered the Anglo- Spanish alliance that rested on the Prince’s marriage wit Catherine of Aragon. Henry swiftly proposed that Catherine marry his new heir but Ferdinand of Spain was now in a more dominant position. Henry was in much more need of the marriage but Spain was now at peace with France and therefore less in need of the English to support them. Ferdinand demanded better terms and Henry tried to limit them until 1503, Franco- Spanish relations again deteriorated. Ferdinand now had to agree to the English terms, inaugurating a strong anti- France coalition of Spain, England and the Netherlands. The marriage of Catherine of Aragon and Prince Henry took place in 1503, this new marriage alliance ensured that England would be enmeshed in the complexities of European politics which followed the death of Isabella of Castile in 1504.This death meant Spain might again split into separate Kingdoms. Henry decided to support the ruler of the Netherlands, Philip of Burgundy, and his father Maximilian, as they were France’s enemies. Henry and Maximilian seemed natural allies, and both were fearful of French expansion and, as a result, a marriage was discussed between Henry’s daughter Mary and Charles, the heir of Philip of Burgundy. By having such marriages Henry manages to secure the Tudor Dynasty and have a safeguard for England.
Lambert Simnel was one of Henry VII problems during his reign. Lambert Simnel was a child pretender to the throne of England. Together with Perkin Warbeck, he was one of two imposter who threatened the rule of Henry VII. Roger Simon (Symonds) was a priest and trained Simnel to become a king by teaching him courtly manners. Originally Symonds intended to present Simnel as Richard Of York, son of Edward IV. However having heard rumors of Edward, Earl of Warwick dying during his imprisonment at the tower prevented this from happening. Symonds decided instead to spread a rumor that Edward had fled the tower and was under his guardianship. Simnel was taken to Ireland where there was still support of Yorkist (as Richard Duke of York had governed there) and presented him to the Earl of Kildare. The Earl was willing to support the story and invade England to overthrow Henry. Simnel was crowned “King Edward VI” in Dublin in 1487. Henry heard about the matter, yet he knew he had the real Edward of Warwick still imprisoned in the Tower of London. In February 1487 he presented the real Edward in public in an attempt to prove that the pretender was an imposter. Symonds avoided execution due to his priestly status but was imprisoned for life. Henry pardoned Simnel possibly due to Simnel being young and controlled by adults. Here we can say that Henry was a victorious leader and shows compassion and perhaps his forgiving personality towards Simnel.
Parliament played a small role during Henry VII reign. Parliament met only seven times during Henry’s reign, its deliberations taking just seventy- two weeks out of a reign of twenty four years. Parliament did not have a role in deciding policies and its place in government was therefore subsidiary. Parliament for the most part did the king’s bidding. One of the reasons for Henry VII’s success was his ability to combine a very high degree of personal involvement in government with effective use of a group of excellent officials. The basis for this efficient was the King’s council. Henry’s council was very much like Edward IV’s. The similarities lay in the number of councillors, Henry had a remarkably high number of councilliors, over two-hundred and forty. However, this number includes many occasional attenders and honorary title- holders. Henry when deciding his council members did not exclude noblemen, he used individuals for their abilities regardless of class.
By the end of Henry’s reign, nearly half of his income came from his royal estates. Unlike Edward IV, Henry rarely gave away lands to his supporters, so as he seized new estates through Acts Of Attainer, escheats and one – to –one agreements with nobleman. Henry not only became chief landowner in England, but also the largest single landowner for over five hundred years. As head of the legal system, the king was also entitled to money raised from finanical penalties imposed on convicted criminals. Henry also benefited from the receipts from tonnage (import tax) and poundage (export duty). Both of these were granted to the king for life by Parliament at the start of Henry’s reign. The church also made infrequent contributions to royal finances, usually to help finance against wars against the enemies of the Pope. Henry had a range of sources for finances. Henry’s revenues came from a combination of all the the following : rents from royal estates, fines imposed by his courts, loans from his nobles and parliamentary grants of taxation.
From this we can say that Henry was a successful King. Firstly from uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster together which kept peace in England. Henry also kept peace between European countries due to marriage treaties such as the one with Spain, thus giving England support if war was to take place. Henry’s reign also helped the trade industries for example the wollen industry gained continuous strength in the economy. It became the biggest sector of the export market, accounting for about 90% of all goods leaving English shores.