‘Assess the value of the source for revealing how secure Henry VII’s position on the throne
was in the early years of government’
Henry VII claimed the throne following the defeat of Richard III’s army at the Battle of Bosworth
in 1485. However, as Henry did not ascend to the throne as the rightful heir of Richard III and
possessed only tenuous links to the royal family, he was labelled a usurper by his Yorkist
opponents. As a result, Henry was obliged to continuously assert his authority and quell
potential uprisings against him. Source 4, which was written by Italian humanist and historian
Polydore Vergil, could be viewed as an example of Henry’s attempts to secure his position, by
commissioning and publishing propaganda which justified and commended his actions against
any insurrections which arose. While Vergil’s account may not be wholly reliable due to being
commissioned by Henry VII, he was known for not always portraying the king in a favourable
light, which suggests that his account is largely based on his opinion. Additionally, Vergil tended
to portray Thomas Wolsey negatively, as he imprisoned Vergil in the Tower of London in 1515.
Therefore, while the source may be reliable as a portrayal of Vergil’s personal opinions, his
account may be tainted by personal prejudices.
Vergil claims that Henry was acutely aware of individuals who may ‘stir up civil discord’ and
aimed to ‘quell the insurrections’ without hesitations. He specifies the threat of Edward, Earl of
Warwick, who possessed a strong claim to the throne as a nephew of Richard III. Edward
‘remained in the tower until his death’: a method used by Henry to eradicate potential threats
to his position. Vergil may have chosen to include this detail due to himself being temporarily
imprisoned in the Tower by Wolsey, however this is not detrimental to the reliability of the
source. Vergil’s brief description of the threat posed by the Earl of Warwick is useful for an
investigation into the extent of Henry’s security on the throne in the early years of government,
because it describes the methods used by Henry to eradicate the threats posed by rival
claimants to the throne. However, Vergil’s account would be more accurate and therefore
reliable if he had included details of other threats to Henry’s position, such as pretenders to the
throne. Lambert Simnel, for example, impersonated the imprisoned Earl of Warwick and
gathered support in Ireland with the intention of defeating Henry’s army in battle in order to
claim the throne. However, his campaign was undermined as Henry revealed the real Earl of
Warwick was still living in the Tower, proving that Simnel had no claim to the throne. This
demonstrates alternative methods used to by Henry in order to quell insurrections and secure
his position, which would have further contributed to the source’s accuracy and reliability.
Another threat to Henry’s position on the throne was the underlying rivalry which existed
between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. Many Ricardian Yorkists believed that Henry did
not possess a strong claim to the throne and consequently refused to accept his authority as
king. By contrast, many Lancastrians supported Henry and frequently clashed with his Yorkists
opponents. In order to eradicate this threat to his position, Henry decided ‘the people of
England should not be further torn by rival factions’ and he would therefore ‘take for his wife
Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward’. Henry’s marriage to Elizabeth of York was crucial to the
