THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE TUDOR PERIOD (TO THE ACCESSION OF JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND, 1603). BY J. DAVIES, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, AUTHOR OF "MANUALS" OF GENESIS, EXODUS, JOSHUA, JUDGES, I. SAMUEL, :0:- LONDON: GEORGE PHILIP & SON, 32, FLEET STREET. HISTORY OF THE TUDOR PERIOD, (1485-1603). HENRY VII. Dates of Birth, Accession, and Death.—1456, (in Pembroke Castle; - Aug. 22, 1485;-April 21, 1509, (in Richmond Palace,―of consumption, brought on by repeated attacks of gout), in his 53rd year. Buried at Westminster, in the chapel bearing his name, and which he had built. Reigned 23 years. Descent.-Son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. On his mother's side he was a Lancastrian, as shown by the following table of his pedigree : : Owen Tudor, m. Catherine of France, widow of Henry V. Edmund Tudor, Earl of His father dying in the same year that Henry was born, he became Earl of Richmond, and was placed under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, Jasper, then Earl of Pembroke. On Ed. IV.'s accession Jasper left the country, and Henry was placed in the charge of Sir Wm. Herbert. During the time of Henry VI.'s restoration he was received at Court, and went to Eton. After the battle of Tewkesbury, he fled, with Jasper, and took refuge in Brittany, where he remained, handsomely supported by Duke Francis II., till 1484, when, in consequence of an attempt made by Rd. III. to gain possession of his person, he sought shelter in France, whence he conducted his expedition against Richard. Married Elizabeth, eldest daughter and heiress of Ed. IV. (d. 1503),—thus uniting the rival Houses of Lancaster and York. By the Treaty of Pecquigny, between her father and Louis XI., she had been betrothed to the Dauphin, Charles; but Louis broke the contract. At her father's death, she and her mother took sanctuary in Westminster, and there remained until starved into surrender after Buckingham's revolt. She was then placed under the charge of Queen Anne, and a marriage was arranged between her and Edward, Prince of Wales, who, however, died almost directly afterwards. On Anne's death Rd. proposed to marry Elizabeth, but, finding public opinion dead-set against the union, placed her, with her cousin Edward, Earl of Warwick, in close custody, in which she remained till after Henry's victory at Bosworth. Though his marriage with Elizabeth was the condition on which he was invited to dethrone Rd., and reign in his stead, Henry delayed their union until the succession was vested in himself and heirs, by Parliament, lest it should be considered that there were doubts of his individual claim, and that his title was derived from his marriage alone. The enthusiasm displayed on the occasion of the marriage gave Henry great umbrage, since he regarded it as virtually an expression of public opinion in favour of the House of York. In consequence, he postponed Elizabeth's coronation until after Simnel's rebellion, when, to conciliate the Yorkists, whose disaffection had been alarmingly manifested in that rising, and had proceeded mainly from his treatment of the Queen, he allowed the ceremony to be performed. It is sometimes stated that Henry's suspicions of the Yorkists extended to his wife, and caused dislike and coldness on his part towards her; but the balance of evidence is in favour of their wedded life having been quietly happy. Issue. Arthur, (d. 1502),-a gentle and promising prince. In 1501, Arthur, then aged 16, was married to Catherine of Arragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, of Castile and Arragon: she brought a dowry of 200,000 ducats. Margaret,-m. 1. Jas. IV., of Scotland. 2. Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus. From the intermarriage of the issue of these two unions sprang the English House of Stuart. 3. Henry Stuart, Lord Methven. Henry VIII.-As Ferdinand wished to preserve Henry's alliance, as a counterpoise against France, and Henry did not relish the idea of refunding Catherine's dowry, it was mutually agreed by the parents that she should be contracted to Prince Henry. A special dispensation having been obtained from Pope Julius II., they were betrothed 1504, Hy. being then 13 years old. Mary,—m. 1. Louis XII. of France. 2. Chas. Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. this marriage sprang Lady Jane Grey. Three other children, who died in infancy. From Claim to the Throne.-Not good,—but made so by Parliament. Henry based his title on his Lancastrian descent. This was unsound, for— 1. The House of Lancaster never had any just claim to the throne. 2. Even if the succession lay in the House of Lancaster, Henry was debarred from the crown. John of Gaunt's children by Catherine Swynford were illegitimate. They were legitimatized under Rd. II., and the Act was confirmed by Hy. IV., but with the express stipulation that they and their issue should be excluded from the succession. The rightful heir was Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Ed. IV., who, by the death of her two brothers in the Tower, had become the nearest representative of the House of York, in which the succession justly lay. Parliament, on meeting, pronounced no opinion as to |