Henry VII was not expected to become the king of England when he was born in 1457 as the Tudors were a minor branch of the House of Lancaster, and for much of the 1460s and the 1470s the Yorkists held power. Inadvertently the brief restoration of Henry VI to the throne in 1470 - 1471 made Henry Tudor the most viable Lancastrian contender left alive as Henry IV and his son were murdered at the behest of the restored Edward IV. With Edward IV safely back on the throne Henry Tudor went into exile in France as the French hoped that they could use him to cause instability in England in the future. With two healthy sons had Edward IV reached old age then it is highly likely that Henry Tudor would have died in exile.
Taking The Throne off Richard III
Henry Tudor's prospects for becoming King of England improved markedly after 1483 with the sudden death of Edward IV and his brother's seizure of the throne from his son the uncrowned Edward V. The Duke of Gloucester had himself crowned Richard III having the deposed Edward V and the Duke of York put in the Tower of London. Rumours soon spread that Richard III had his nephews secretly murdered, and his inability to show that they were still alive gave Henry Tudor the opportunity to gain power.
In the summer of 1485 Henry Tudor and a small army landed in his native Wales determined to overthrow the usurper Richard III and gathered new recruits on their march towards London. Richard marched his own army to stop them. During the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22nd August 1485 Richard III was killed fighting his way bravely towards Henry Tudor. The battle was turned in Henry's favour by Lord Stanley's decision to join his side rather than fight for Richard III.
A Wise King
Henry VII was astute enough to know that his victory at Bosworth Field did not mean his position was secure as their Yorkist rivals still alive. The Earl of Lincoln was the most capable Yorkist rival his death at the Battle of Stoke greatly enhanced the security of the new Tudor dynasty. Henry's marriage to Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York was also a sensible strategy for securing the throne. The most serious threats to Henry VII came from two men who both claimed to be the murdered Duke of York miraculously escaped from the Tower of London, Perkin Warbeck, and Lambert Simnel.
In many respects the reign of Henry VII was exactly what the doctor ordered. After the plots involving Warbeck and Simnel were defeated the internal stability of England and Wales was restored. Peace allowed the English economy to recover whilst Henry sought to stay out of wars. Henry VII tried to maintain peace with France and Scotland, marrying his daughter Margaret off to the Scots king James VI, which would eventually lead to her great grandson James VI gaining the English throne in 1603. Henry also formed an alliance with Spain that sealed by the marriage of his son Arthur to Catherine of Aragon in 1502. Arthur's sudden death put his younger brother Henry next in line to the throne. Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509, and inadvertently changed his kingdom radically.
Bibliography
Ashley M, (2002) A brief history of British Kings & Queens, Robinson, London
MacCulloch D, Reformation – Europe’s House Divided (2004) Penguin Books, London
Gardiner & Wenborn (1995) the History Today Companion to British History,Collins and Brown Ltd, London
Morgan K O, (1993) the Oxford Popular History of Britain, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Roberts J.M, (1996) A History of Europe, Penguin, London
