An In-depth essay on "To what extent had Henry secured his claim to the throne by 1487?". The essay received full marks 20/20 and was commended by the marker. It goes into full detail on Yorkist support and the policies enacted by Henry VII to claim the throne.
To what extent had Henry secured his claim to the throne by 1487?
Henry VII officially ascended to the throne following the battle of Bosworth
in August of 1485. He needed to secure his position as the reigning
monarch for several reasons, yet it was vital because of the strong rival
claimants to the throne, his weak lineage that was passed through his
mother and the misplaced trust he granted to key figures such as John De
La Pole. Henry's claim to the throne is initially seen as weak as his mother,
a woman, could not legitimately pass on a claim but also due to the fact
she was an illegitimate heir to the throne herself. This places Henry in a
difficult position being exposed to rivals who would rather seek the throne
for themselves such as Lambert Simnel and his uprising. It can be argued
that for many reasons Henry was insecure on his throne by 1487, mainly
due to Richards' supporters still surrounding the royal court for example
the Stafford family alongside the looming threat of instability from
factionalism within the Nobility. However, it is more convincing to argue
that Henry was secure on his throne by 1487 due to his key moments of
dealing with parliamentary power, placing authority back into the crown
domain and manipulating the sequence of events leading up to Bosworth
to make Richard seem as the tyrant challenging the King, furthermore to
great success he did secure his rule through the Yorkist support garnered
from his marriage to Elizabeth and his new passed policies that brought
the Church into his support alongside his dealings with parliament. This
depicts that by 1487, to a large extent, Henry had secured his claim to the
throne although that is not to say there are not still many challenges he
had to face before installing his dynasty.
Henry’s main problem was the matter of succession that left him exposed
to rivals in all directions, to deal with this he ensured that he was crowned
in a formal ceremony in 1485, this involved a coronation oath that all of
the parliament was forced to swear depicting it as a highly religious
ceremony, this made it appear that the crown was given to Henry by God
deeming all those who stood against him as treasonous and potentially
heretics by standing against God. His victory at the battle of Bosworth
also helps portray Henry as chosen by God and spreads the idea that it
was his divine right to sit on the throne and defeat the “tyrant” who was
Richard III. To deal with the majority of Yorkists, the marriage to Elizabeth
of York was a tactical move that united both the houses of York and
Lancaster together, setting aside many Yorkists who were still loyal to
Richard following his death. The marriage also brought legitimacy to his
rule and the birth of their son further consolidated Henry's position by
, establishing a male heir to the throne. Henry also ensured there was a
royal prerogative to summon parliament, this was done to declare himself
as king and bring further legitimacy to himself as rightful King of England.
These alongside the abolishment of Titulus Regius - a policy that brought
about claims of illegitimacy against Elizabeth of York, all helped deal with
the matter of succession by placing himself in a position that made it
appear as though he was chosen by god and the Church this helped to
secure his claim by portraying rivals as traitors and heretics. The actions
taken by Henry not only weaken his rival's claim but bring legitimacy to
his own as his marriage allows him to have a stronger claim due to the
abolishment of Titulus Regius. This newfound legitimacy allows him to
secure the throne against other claimants and the swiftness of his actions
left little opportunity for his rivals to take advantage of him, this therefore
suggests that to a large extent by 1487, he had secured his throne.
Following this, he managed to increasingly secure his claim to the throne
by accumulating more power over the nobility and parliament as well as
preventing rivals from appealing to the nobility in his court by removing a
main source of their power that led to bastard feudalism in the years prior
- private armies. Henry started his rule by outlawing private armies or
recruiting individuals without the explicit permission of the crown, this
made it especially difficult for rivals to efficiently and effectively bring
together Henry VII officially ascended to the throne following the battle of
Bosworth in August of 1485. He needed to secure his position as the
reigning monarch for several reasons, yet it was vital because of the
strong rival claimants to the throne, his weak lineage that was passed
through his mother and the misplaced trust he granted to key figures such
as John De La Pole. Henry's claim to the throne is initially seen as weak as
his mother, a woman, could not legitimately pass on a claim but also due
to the fact she was an illegitimate heir to the throne herself.
This places Henry in a difficult position being exposed to rivals who would
rather seek the throne for themselves such as Lambert Simnel and his
uprising. It can be argued that for many reasons Henry was insecure on
his throne by 1487, mainly due to Richards' supporters still surrounding
the royal court for example the Stafford family alongside the looming
threat of instability from factionalism within the Nobility.
However, it is still more convincing to argue that Henry was secure on his
throne by 1487 due to his key moments of dealing with parliamentary
power, placing authority back into the crown domain and manipulating the
sequence of events leading up to Bosworth to make Richard seem as the
tyrant challenging the King, furthermore to great success he did secure
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