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00:02C'est parti !
00:33Sailing from France, an invading army is about to land in Wales.
00:40The leader of this army was a refugee, a fugitive, a man who had spent half of his 28 years
00:46on the run,
00:46and who had barely acclaim to the throne of England.
00:49His name was Henry Tudor.
00:55And as King Henry VII, he would create the dynasty that bore his name, the Tudors.
01:05But Henry VII remains obscure, eclipsed by the monarch he deposed, Richard III,
01:12by the glamour and notoriety of his wife-killing son, Henry VIII,
01:17and the charisma of his granddaughter, Elizabeth I.
01:23Yet Henry VII is possibly the most extraordinary story of them all.
01:29With a hunger for power and an iron determination to hang on to the throne at all costs,
01:35he would rewrite history, seizing the crown and rebuilding the monarchy in his own image.
01:42He would become paranoid, described later as an infinitely suspicious ruler, a dark prince,
01:50his reign seen as a bleak, wintry landscape.
01:56For years I've explored his murky story of spies and informers, intrigue and extortion.
02:05And I've found that the deeper you go, the more you discover fascinating glimpses of this manipulative king,
02:14who created one of the strangest regimes in history.
02:25This is the story of Henry VII, the first Tudor.
02:46This is Henry.
02:47It's what remains of his funeral effigy, which was paraded through the streets of London after his death,
02:52dressed in his parliament robes and clutching his auburn sceptre of state.
02:58We can see his fine-boned features and the distinctive cast in his left eye.
03:05But this is also a face emaciated and ravaged by illness and stress.
03:09It's the face of a man who's never known a moment's peace.
03:19Henry's journey to fulfil his unlikely destiny brought him to Milford Haven on Sunday the 7th of August, 1485.
03:30His small fleet appeared from the south and anchored quietly in Mill Bay.
03:42Henry's ships drop anchor here, and his men come ashore, and we can picture them,
03:46heaving munitions onto the beach, cannons, horses coming through the surf.
03:54Henry wades ashore, and as he gets to this beach, to the sand, he sinks to his knees,
04:00raises his eyes to heaven, clasps his hands in prayer, and says,
04:03Judge me, O Lord, and favour my cause.
04:10Henry would need all the help he could get.
04:12His army was a ragtag bunch of political dissidents and foreign mercenaries.
04:17A mixture of different accents filled the air.
04:22Henry had deliberately chosen this windswept and distant corner of Wales.
04:26He wanted to slip in undetected,
04:28giving him time to raise support in his Welsh homeland,
04:31before facing Richard III's much larger army.
04:35And so this invasion really feels, more than anything else,
04:40it feels almost not like an invasion.
04:42It feels very kind of furtive and anxious.
04:44He knows that the odds are stacked against him.
04:53Henry made his way northwards, to the homeland of his stepfather, Lord Stanley.
04:59The Stanleys, a powerful noble family, had half-promised Henry their support.
05:05The plan was to make for London, but Richard's army was now hot on his heels.
05:12He had no choice but to turn and fight.
05:18On the eve of battle, Henry knew Richard's army was only a few miles away,
05:23and that it massively outnumbered his own.
05:28It had come down to this.
05:31Tomorrow he would claim the throne of England, or he would die trying.
05:53Early on the morning of 22nd August, 1485,
05:57Henry advanced from over here,
06:00towards Richard's much bigger army, drawn up on the ridge.
06:08Over here, was Sir William Stanley with his men,
06:12watching as the battle unfolded.
06:17Stanley was keeping his options open.
06:20He only wanted to back a winner.
06:24Seeing Henry's army fragmented,
06:26Richard spotted his chance and charged.
06:30In the carnage, the two men fought nose to nose,
06:33and Henry's standard-bearer was cut down.
06:36And it was at this moment,
06:38probably as he saw Henry's standard begin to topple,
06:42that Sir William Stanley made his fateful decision.
06:46At the crucial moment, Stanley's army piled in on Henry's side.
06:54Richard, it was said, fought valiantly, like a true king.
06:59One of Henry's men reportedly heard him shout,
07:01I will die like a king this day, or win.
07:04And Richard himself was swept away.
07:08Richard III, the king of England,
07:11was viciously battered to death.
07:22By mid-morning, it was all over.
07:25Henry's men moved busily about the battlefield,
07:27relieving the dead and dying of their valuables,
07:30piling bodies onto carts.
07:33On a nearby hill,
07:34Lord Stanley placed the dead king's circlet on Henry's head
07:38to the shouts of acclamation from his troops.
07:45Against all odds, Henry had achieved the impossible.
07:49This man, who had been a refugee and fugitive half his life,
07:53had won the crown of England.
07:58The Battle of Bosworth may have been over,
08:00but the real struggle was about to begin.
08:03For over half a century,
08:05no monarch had passed on the crown without turmoil.
08:08Building a dynasty would be a battle
08:10that Henry would fight for the rest of his life.
08:31I'm taking off my shoes
08:33because I'm about to tread
08:35on what is one of the most extraordinary pieces of medieval art,
08:40not just in England,
08:42but in Europe.
09:06It feels astounding to stand here.
09:10Every single English king,
09:12and queen for that matter,
09:14since 138,
09:15has been crowned on this spot,
09:19precisely here.
09:21And it was here,
09:23on the 30th of October 1485,
09:25that Henry VII was crowned.
09:32It was a glorious,
09:34triumphant occasion,
09:35and Henry must have felt
09:36as though he'd achieved almost the impossible.
09:41This was an affirmation of his victory at Bosworth.
09:44It was a vindication of everything that he'd done,
09:46that he'd prayed for on the beach at Milford Haven.
09:55But there was perhaps a sense, too,
09:57of something else.
09:58After all,
09:58Henry had seen a crowned king,
10:00Richard III,
10:01killed,
10:02despoiled,
10:03mutilated,
10:04and trussed naked on the back of a donkey
10:05without so much as a rag to cover his genitals.
10:08And he knew
10:08that what had happened to Richard III
10:10could also happen to him.
10:23Henry's claim to the throne was precarious.
10:26His mother,
10:27Lady Margaret Beaufort,
10:28provided the only trickle of royal blood
10:30in Henry's veins.
10:32The Beauforts were a great,
10:34but illegitimate,
10:35Lancastrian family,
10:36banned from ever claiming the throne.
10:40On the other side of his family,
10:42Henry's grandfather,
10:44Owen Tudor,
10:45a fast-talking Welsh servant,
10:47had secretly married Henry V's widow,
10:49Catherine,
10:50some 50 years previously.
10:51Not exactly the ideal pedigree for a king.
10:58Henry was born a nobleman,
11:00the Earl of Richmond.
11:02But his upbringing in exile
11:03had left him with no experience of governing.
11:06It had made him a sharp observer
11:09and a man who gave nothing away.
11:15For England to believe
11:17that Henry was the rightful king,
11:19he would need to behave like one.
11:21And that is exactly what he did.
11:31Parliament has met at Westminster
11:33for over 800 years.
11:43The official records of its debates,
11:46meetings and acts
11:47stretch back to the Middle Ages.
11:50In early November 1485,
11:53Henry VII's first parliament met.
11:55He would use it to tackle
11:57the inconvenient truth
11:58of Richard III's reign
12:00and to rework recent events
12:02to suit himself.
12:10And here's the written proof,
12:13the parliamentary record
12:14which shows how he did just that.
12:19In this record,
12:20Richard III is the usurper,
12:22Henry VII is the rightful king
12:24putting the record straight.
12:26Richard III is referred to as
12:28the late Duke of Gloucester
12:29and afterwards,
12:30indeed,
12:32and not of right,
12:34king of England.
12:37And his legislation is referred to
12:40as the act of
12:40false and malicious
12:43imaginations.
12:45But there was one thing
12:46in particular
12:47during this parliament
12:48that Henry did
12:49which sent a ripple of unease
12:51through the commons.
12:53He rewrote history.
12:56It simply consists
12:58of a date here.
13:00Now,
13:01the Battle of Bosworth
13:02was fought
13:02on the 22nd of August 1485.
13:05But here,
13:07Henry VII
13:08has dated his reign.
13:09The 21st
13:10in Roman numerals,
13:12day of August
13:13last past.
13:16That's to say,
13:17the day before
13:17the battle was fought,
13:19we might ask,
13:21what's in a day?
13:23Well,
13:23by backdating
13:24his reign
13:25to the day before
13:26he beat Richard III
13:28and became king,
13:30Henry was effectively
13:31accusing everybody
13:32who had turned out
13:33for Richard III
13:34on the battlefield
13:34of treason.
13:41The commons was shocked,
13:43but in practice
13:44there was very little
13:44they could do about it.
13:46Henry had won his battle
13:47and he was king
13:48and here it is,
13:50enshrined in parliamentary record.
14:01With Parliament sewn up,
14:03Henry's next move
14:04would bolster
14:04his position further.
14:09A marriage to cement
14:11all his dynastic ambitions.
14:14It was a strategic partnership,
14:16the fulfilment of a pact
14:17made while he was in exile.
14:20The pact on which
14:21his invasion was founded.
14:24The previous 30 years
14:25had seen England torn apart
14:27in what would come to be known
14:28as the Wars of the Roses,
14:30the House of Lancaster,
14:32represented by the Red Rose,
14:33against the House of York,
14:35represented by the White Rose.
14:38Richard III's coming to the throne
14:40in 1483
14:41divided the House of York.
14:44He imprisoned his young nephews,
14:46two princes,
14:47in the tower
14:48and proclaimed himself king.
14:50The princes
14:51were never seen again.
14:56Their supporters
14:57fled to Brittany
14:58where they found
14:59the young Lancastrian Henry,
15:01a refugee in exile.
15:04They agreed to support
15:05Henry's challenge to the throne,
15:07but only if he would marry
15:09Elizabeth of York,
15:10daughter of the late
15:11King Edward IV.
15:13It would be a union
15:15that promised
15:16to reconcile
15:16a divided England.
15:31But Henry needed something
15:33to reinforce this union,
15:35something that would link
15:36this new dynasty
15:37with the English crown
15:38in the minds of his subjects.
15:44So he brought in the decorators.
15:46At Westminster,
15:48the seat of government,
15:49he plastered his family emblems
15:51across the walls,
15:52ceilings and windows.
15:53They included a symbol
15:55so powerful in its simplicity
15:57that we still recognise it
15:58to this day.
16:00This, of course,
16:01is a Victorian building,
16:02but we can get a sense
16:04of how these badges
16:04and emblems
16:05were deployed
16:05and used by Henry.
16:07We can still see
16:08his mother's badge,
16:10the Beaufort portcullis,
16:11and alongside it,
16:13the most significant emblem
16:14of all,
16:15Henry's red rose.
16:19Henry's revival
16:20of a rather obscure
16:21Lancastrian emblem,
16:22the red rose,
16:23was a masterstroke.
16:25What it allowed him to do
16:26was to place his own
16:27rather sketchy credentials
16:29on a par
16:30with those of his wife,
16:31Elizabeth of York,
16:33the white rose.
16:34and together,
16:35these two roses
16:35would combine
16:36to create the most potent
16:37and enduring emblem
16:38in English royal history,
16:40the rose both red
16:41and white,
16:44the Tudor rose.
16:52Henry was stamping
16:53his mark on the nation.
17:05But, of course,
17:07the Tudor rose
17:07could only be truly
17:08embodied by an heir,
17:12vital if Henry
17:13was to build a dynasty.
17:17And Henry would not
17:19have to wait long.
17:21Named after King Arthur,
17:22the mythical King of Britain,
17:25Prince Arthur was born early
17:26on the rain-lashed morning
17:27of the 20th of September,
17:291486,
17:30at Winchester,
17:32the legendary seat
17:33of Camelot.
17:40This is a wonderful
17:41and very rare book.
17:42It's a song book
17:43from Henry VII's court.
17:47And we can see
17:48in this song book
17:49a song celebrating
17:51Prince Arthur's birth,
17:52and it says precisely this.
17:54I love the rose
17:55both red and white,
17:56it runs.
17:57Is that your pure
17:58perfect appetite?
17:59To hear talk of them
18:01is my delight.
18:02Joyed may we be,
18:04our prince to see,
18:05and rose is three.
18:07So, in other words,
18:09Arthur was the embodiment
18:10of the red
18:11and the white rose.
18:12He was the Tudor rose,
18:15incarnate.
18:18Henry and Elizabeth
18:19were lucky.
18:20they would have more children,
18:22including another son.
18:30Henry was building a myth
18:31that he and his family
18:33were the true
18:34and rightful
18:35royal blood of England.
18:38But there were those
18:39who just didn't buy it.
18:40In fact,
18:41they would do their own
18:42rewriting of history
18:43to expose Henry
18:45for the usurper he was.
18:48What we have here
18:50is a genealogical role.
18:52These family trees
18:53were owned by kings
18:54and noblemen
18:55to describe
18:55and sometimes invent
18:57their glorious ancestries.
18:59And it's this part
19:00that we're interested in
19:01in particular
19:02and which tells us
19:02why Henry
19:03was so very afraid
19:04and what he was afraid of.
19:06We start here
19:07with Edward III,
19:09the Plantagenet king
19:10from whom both
19:11the Yorkists
19:11and the Lancastrians
19:12trace their lines
19:13of descent.
19:14We can see here
19:15the Lancastrian line
19:16coming down
19:17through Henry IV,
19:19Henry V,
19:21Victor of Agincourt
19:22and Henry VI.
19:24And then it stops
19:26because the Lancastrians
19:27are exterminated.
19:30and this thick red line
19:32is what this role
19:33believes to be
19:34the main line
19:35of royal descent
19:36and it goes
19:37to the Yorkist king,
19:38to Edward IV
19:39and to his wife,
19:41Elizabeth Woodville.
19:43The main line
19:44of descent
19:44carries on
19:45to Richard III.
19:48But as we can see,
19:49the line runs out.
19:51It's actually unfinished.
19:52Henry is notably absent.
19:55In this glorious vision
19:57of English kingship,
19:59Henry VII
20:00doesn't fit at all.
20:02He's squashed in here
20:03and then a thick black line
20:06traces his descent
20:07all the way up
20:09and it goes past
20:11the Lancastrian line.
20:12It's not connected
20:13to it significantly
20:14and it keeps going
20:15and it keeps going
20:16up to here.
20:18Not to any king
20:19but simply to
20:21Owen Tudor,
20:23a chamber servant.
20:27So this role
20:28was composed
20:29for a family
20:30who took a very dim view
20:32of Henry VII's claim
20:33to the throne indeed.
20:34What was more,
20:35they believed that they,
20:36not he,
20:37were the rightful
20:38kings of England.
20:40The role belonged
20:41to a great Yorkist family
20:43called the De La Poole's.
20:45John de La Poole,
20:46Earl of Lincoln,
20:47was related to the late king,
20:48Richard III
20:49and he claimed
20:50that Richard had named him
20:51as his heir to the throne.
20:54John de La Poole,
20:55Earl of Lincoln,
20:55would in fact instigate
20:56the first serious rebellion
20:58of Henry VII's reign.
21:01In 1487,
21:03Lincoln's forces clashed
21:04with Henry's troops
21:05in the East Midlands.
21:09But there would be
21:10no dead king
21:11as there had been
21:11at Bosworth.
21:13Henry's battle-hardened army
21:14massacred Lincoln's men
21:16and Lincoln himself
21:17was slaughtered.
21:25Henry had won
21:26a decisive victory
21:27and removed a genuine
21:29Yorkist contender
21:30for the throne.
21:34With this threat eradicated,
21:36he set about
21:37consolidating his rule.
21:39He looked for new ways
21:40to drive home
21:41the power and permanence
21:43of his reign
21:44through magnificent architecture,
21:48an opulent household
21:51and the thing
21:52dearest to his heart.
21:59money.
22:02The very first
22:03English gold sovereign,
22:04the very first pound
22:04as a coin.
22:06Wow, this is
22:07an extraordinary privilege
22:09really to see these.
22:11Barry Cook looks
22:12after the medieval
22:12coin collection
22:13at the British Museum.
22:15Henry VII is the first
22:16person to think
22:17I will create
22:17a pound coin
22:18and he gives it
22:19this very special name,
22:20sovereign.
22:21And what he's doing
22:21with the word sovereign
22:22is to say
22:23I am sovereign
22:24over my land.
22:25part of the whole
22:26royal package.
22:27This is not a coin
22:28anybody used
22:28in their daily lives.
22:29It's a way for the king
22:30to show his power
22:31and authority
22:32to spread his message.
22:33So to put in circulation
22:34his authority.
22:36And in some ways
22:37the audience for this
22:37might not have been
22:38so much his own subjects
22:39but foreign visitors.
22:41So when ambassadors
22:42were visiting,
22:43Hedion would have
22:43given them
22:44a kind of royal
22:44goodie bag
22:45as it were
22:45and along with them
22:46he would have given
22:47them a number of these,
22:48a takeaway souvenir
22:49of Henry's England
22:50as well.
22:50Absolutely.
22:51You have a huge
22:52stonking gold coin.
22:53What does that tell you
22:54about the person
22:54who gives it you
22:55in a casual way?
22:57Usually just the head
22:58of the monarch
22:59was featured
22:59but here
23:01Henry sits full length
23:02on a great throne
23:03auburn scepter in hand
23:05and the imperial crown
23:06on his head
23:07every bit
23:08the image
23:08of a king.
23:10But the most important
23:11part of the coin
23:12is on the reverse.
23:15This is a Tudor rose
23:17isn't it?
23:18That's again
23:18the tradition
23:19in the medieval period
23:20you had a cross
23:20on the back of a coin
23:21but now we've got
23:22the Tudor double rose
23:23and the arms of England
23:24superimposed upon it.
23:26It's very specifically
23:27associating
23:28the coat of arms
23:29of England
23:29with the symbols
23:31of the Tudor family
23:32the Tudor dynasty
23:33the two are interlinked
23:34inextricable.
23:36It means reality
23:36for power
23:37and that's what
23:38these things are.
23:39They are the one way
23:40a ruler can get
23:41the message across
23:42to the widest number
23:42of people
23:43before the others
23:43of the modern world.
23:44They are the only
23:45mass median
23:45so what's on them
23:47is very important.
23:50But while Henry
23:52was starting to convince
23:53the international community
23:54that he was here to stay
23:56at home
23:57old rivalries simmered
23:58and the aftershocks
23:59of rebellion
24:00rippled on.
24:05In early 1493
24:06Henry got wind
24:07of another plot.
24:09Yorkist exiles
24:10in Europe
24:11were grooming
24:12a young man
24:12named Perkin Warbeck
24:14to impersonate
24:15one of the princes
24:15in the tower
24:16and were raising
24:17an army
24:18to invade England.
24:20For Henry
24:20this was a disaster.
24:24Many had accepted
24:25him as king
24:26only because
24:27the princes
24:27in the tower
24:28were presumed dead.
24:30Now
24:31with this supposed
24:32reappearance
24:33their loyalties
24:34would be torn.
24:39after a decade
24:40of battling
24:40to establish
24:41his dynasty
24:42this was a threat
24:43that Henry
24:44had to defuse.
24:45Henry spun
24:46a web of surveillance.
24:48Outwardly
24:49he was always calm
24:50and inscrutable
24:51giving nothing away
24:52but this masked
24:53a savage intensity.
24:55He embedded spies
24:57in suspects'
24:57households
24:58interviewing their
24:59servants
24:59and the chaplains
25:00and confessors
25:01to whom they
25:01opened their souls
25:02and he discovered
25:03to his horror
25:04that the trail
25:05of conspiracy
25:05led him very close
25:06to home indeed.
25:10In fact
25:11right to the heart
25:12of the royal household
25:13to his Lord
25:14Chamberlain
25:15who was responsible
25:16for the king's
25:16personal security.
25:18this man
25:19was none other
25:20than Sir William Stanley
25:21whose intervention
25:23had won Henry
25:24the Battle of Bosworth.
25:29When Henry's men
25:30searched Stanley's house
25:31they found a Yorkist
25:33livery collar
25:34studded with
25:35white roses
25:37and 10,000 pounds
25:40enough money
25:41to bankroll
25:42an army.
25:46Henry began
25:47to feel
25:48that he would
25:48never be able
25:49to convince everyone
25:50that he was
25:50the rightful king.
25:52He would need
25:53to become
25:53even more vigilant
25:55starting with
25:56how he ran
25:57his household.
26:04This is the fabulous
26:05great hall
26:06at Hampton Court.
26:12Henry's royal houses
26:13were destroyed
26:14centuries ago
26:15but Hampton Court
26:16is laid out
26:17along much
26:17the same lines.
26:21This is the
26:21awe-inspiring
26:22public face
26:23of the royal household
26:24and just to get in here
26:25you would have had
26:26to have been
26:26one of the many
26:26hundreds of servants
26:27who worked here
26:28on a regular basis
26:29or an accredited visitor.
26:31But the king
26:32was rarely seen here.
26:34He resided
26:35in the state apartments
26:36which began behind
26:37this heavily guarded door
26:41and if your name
26:42wasn't down
26:42you weren't coming in.
26:54This is one of the
26:55great public apartments
26:56and on the feast days
26:57of court
26:57it would have been
26:58packed with noblemen,
27:00courtiers,
27:00diplomats,
27:01petitioners of all kinds
27:02hoping to catch a glimpse
27:03of the king.
27:09But it was this door
27:10that people most
27:11wanted to get through
27:12and behind which
27:13very few indeed
27:14were ever admitted.
27:16Behind this door
27:17lay the secret
27:17or privy chamber
27:18the private apartments
27:20where the king
27:20worked, slept,
27:21ate and relaxed
27:22and it was what
27:23happened behind
27:24this door
27:25that would become
27:26synonymous
27:26with Henry VII's reign.
27:32With the discovery
27:33of the Stanley plot
27:34the privy chamber
27:35went into lockdown.
27:39Previously
27:40its workings
27:41were transparent
27:42but with the new
27:43security overhaul
27:44only those
27:45who would best
27:46content the king
27:47were admitted.
27:49So at the heart
27:50of this glittering
27:51household
27:52was an institutional
27:53black hole
27:54whose workings
27:55were known
27:55only to Henry himself.
28:01Inside the privy chamber
28:02things were changing.
28:04Henry was obsessed
28:05with control
28:06especially when
28:07it came to money.
28:09The remit
28:10of his private
28:10chamber treasury
28:11was expanding.
28:14These books
28:15are chamber accounts
28:16they're books
28:17of payments
28:17and what's interesting
28:19about these books
28:20is that they represent
28:20Henry's very personal
28:22control of finance.
28:24These account books
28:25are brought to him
28:25and he will look down
28:26everything
28:27and he will sign it
28:27at the bottom.
28:29We have everything
28:30from wages
28:31for trumpeters
28:32for barbers
28:34Queen's minstrels
28:35the prince's trumpeters
28:37falcons brought
28:38from Hungary.
28:39Falcons brought
28:40from Hungary
28:40brilliant.
28:41It's quite a journey.
28:41Brilliant.
28:42Historian Sean Cunningham
28:44has been studying
28:45Henry's account books.
28:46This one shows
28:47money coming directly
28:48into Henry's
28:49personal coffers
28:50and these pages
28:51are written
28:52by Henry himself.
28:54I love this entry
28:55in particular.
28:56We have money delivered
28:58in old weighty crowns.
29:01You can sense him
29:03weighing it in his hand.
29:04That's right.
29:05Just seeing what
29:05the value is.
29:06Picking up his weighty crown.
29:07Oh, that's good.
29:07And then I like this
29:09good crowns.
29:10Yeah, these are some
29:12good crowns we have here.
29:13And it's thousands
29:14of pounds worth
29:15of bullion
29:15going through the king's,
29:16literally through
29:17the king's hands.
29:20To Henry,
29:21money meant security
29:22and control
29:23and how he used it
29:25was key.
29:26There's all sorts
29:27of unofficial activity
29:29going on.
29:30You'll have,
29:31for example,
29:32quite substantial rewards
29:33of tens
29:34or maybe hundreds
29:35of pounds sometimes
29:36being given
29:36to strangers
29:37and reward people
29:38from across the sea
29:39or certain persons
29:42riding on the king's business.
29:44And here,
29:45this is an interesting one.
29:46Sean,
29:47who's this?
29:47This is Sir Charles.
29:50Probably Sir Charles Somerset.
29:52Who was one of the king's
29:54masters of intelligence.
29:57Yeah.
29:57For a man of Flanders.
29:58A man of Flanders.
30:02Up to something or other
30:04on unofficial business.
30:05Lack of full detail,
30:07isn't it,
30:07which is a bit frustrating.
30:08Well, it's always a giveaway,
30:09though, isn't it?
30:09If you haven't got the detail,
30:11you have a sense that
30:12he's on His Majesty's
30:13secret service.
30:17Henry was building up
30:18a dense network
30:19of spies and informers
30:21whose reach would extend
30:23into the furthest
30:24and darkest corners
30:25of the realm.
30:27He would map
30:28the political loyalties
30:29of his subjects,
30:30putting under surveillance
30:32those who looked likely
30:33to cause trouble.
30:39In 1497,
30:41Warbeck,
30:42the Yorkist pretender
30:43who had caused Henry
30:44such anxiety over the years,
30:46was captured
30:47and eventually executed.
30:57As the new century began,
30:59Henry VII had been
31:01on the throne
31:01for 15 years.
31:03Only now did he feel
31:04truly safe.
31:08Things seemed good.
31:11Henry completed
31:12his magnificent new house
31:13on the Thames,
31:14west of London,
31:15and named it
31:16after his earldom,
31:17Richmond.
31:21Here,
31:22in his maze of rooms,
31:24Henry could control
31:24his allies
31:25and keep a close eye
31:27on his enemies.
31:31The Spanish ambassador
31:33was clearly impressed
31:34by the state
31:35of the nation.
31:38England,
31:38he said,
31:39was remarkably tranquil.
31:40Previously,
31:41he wrote,
31:42there had always been
31:42a number of competing
31:43claims for the throne,
31:44but now there remained
31:45only the true blood
31:47of Henry VII,
31:48Queen Elizabeth,
31:48and their first-born
31:49son and heir,
31:50Prince Arthur.
31:51There remained
31:52not a drop
31:53of doubtful royal blood
31:54left in the kingdom.
32:02The stage was now set
32:04for the most significant
32:05moment of Henry's reign
32:07so far,
32:08a royal marriage
32:09that had taken
32:10a decade to broker.
32:11His eldest son,
32:13Prince Arthur,
32:14was to marry
32:15by a great Spanish princess,
32:17Catherine of Aragon.
32:22For Henry,
32:23it would be the culmination
32:24of everything
32:25he had fought for,
32:26setting the seal
32:27on his dynastic ambitions.
32:37and the celebrations
32:38would be glorious.
32:40On the early afternoon
32:41of Friday,
32:42the 12th of November,
32:43151,
32:43Catherine's procession
32:44rode into the city
32:45across London Bridge.
32:47It was a dank,
32:48grey,
32:48drizzly afternoon,
32:49but what awaited her
32:50was spectacular.
32:51It was the first stage
32:52in the fortnight-long series
32:54of wedding celebrations
32:54that would be
32:55Henry's ultimate PR event,
32:56and it would showcase
32:57his chief source
32:58of political capital,
33:00his sons.
33:02London was in
33:03a carnival mood.
33:08The heaving streets
33:09were a riot of colour.
33:11Accompanying Catherine of Aragon
33:12on her procession
33:13through London
33:14was the king's
33:15younger son.
33:16The ten-year-old
33:17Prince Henry
33:18loved the limelight.
33:20Already,
33:20he was a boy
33:21with the popular touch.
33:23But one thing
33:24was clear to everybody
33:25and to Catherine
33:26in particular,
33:27she was about to become
33:28part of something
33:29very special indeed.
33:33But for one onlooker,
33:35this lavish occasion
33:36provoked unease.
33:39Among the masses
33:40that lined the route,
33:41craning to catch
33:41a glimpse of the princess,
33:43was a young legal student
33:44called Thomas More.
33:46More later described
33:47the procession.
33:48He'd been enraptured
33:49by Catherine.
33:49She was so beautiful,
33:50he said,
33:51that words couldn't
33:52do her justice.
33:53But he ended
33:54on a slightly hesitant note.
33:55I do hope,
33:57he said,
33:57that these celebrations
33:58will prove a happy omen.
34:00It was as if,
34:01in their splendour
34:02and magnificence,
34:03that the festivities
34:04were somehow
34:04tempting fate.
34:08The wedding
34:09was a triumph.
34:10The Tudor myth
34:11was turning
34:12into reality.
34:13But as Arthur
34:14and Catherine
34:14left London
34:15to start their married life,
34:16it wouldn't be long
34:18before Thomas More's
34:19words would be fulfilled.
34:29late on the 4th of April,
34:31152,
34:32a boat docked
34:33at Greenwich
34:34where the king and queen
34:35were in residence.
34:37Aboard was a messenger
34:38who brought terrible news.
34:41Prince Arthur
34:42had caught the virulent
34:43sweating sickness
34:44and was dead.
34:50Henry was devastated.
35:04On St George's Day,
35:06Prince Arthur
35:07was laid to rest
35:07here at Worcester Cathedral.
35:11Far away from Westminster
35:12and the glare
35:13of international attention.
35:18It was a funeral
35:20befitting a prince,
35:22reflecting the scale
35:24of the tragedy.
35:29As a requiem mass
35:30was sung,
35:31through this door,
35:32the west door,
35:33and through crowds
35:34of mourners
35:35rode a man
35:36on horseback.
35:37Wearing Arthur's
35:38own plate armour
35:39and gripping a pole axe
35:41blade downwards,
35:42the man-at-arms
35:44rode a black
35:44comparisoned warhorse
35:46up the nave
35:47and into the choir.
35:52Arthur's coat of arms,
35:54his sword and shield,
35:55the symbols
35:56of his earthly roles,
35:57were offered up
35:58and his coffin body
35:59was lowered
36:00into its grave.
36:01To have seen the weepings
36:03when the offering
36:03was done,
36:04wrote one herald,
36:06he had a hard heart
36:07that wept not.
36:15This is Arthur's chapel,
36:17his final resting place.
36:21The political impact
36:22of Arthur's death
36:23was immense.
36:27The Tudor dynasty
36:28now hung by a thread.
36:38The dynasty's future
36:40now rested
36:41on the shoulders
36:41of Arthur's
36:42younger brother,
36:43Prince Henry,
36:44the king's
36:45only surviving son.
36:47But Elizabeth
36:48reassured the king
36:49that they were still
36:50young enough
36:51to have more children,
36:52and sure enough,
36:54within months
36:54she was pregnant.
36:56The royal household
36:58moved here
36:59to the tower
37:00where Elizabeth
37:01was to give birth.
37:03She went into confinement
37:04surrounded by her
37:06ladies and gentlewomen.
37:07But it was a traumatic
37:09and premature labour.
37:10With a raging temperature
37:12she slipped
37:12in and out
37:13of consciousness.
37:14Henry was beside himself.
37:18Messengers rode
37:19through the night
37:20to summon specialists.
37:21But nothing worked.
37:24on the 11th of February
37:251503,
37:27her 37th birthday,
37:29Elizabeth died.
37:38Their marriage
37:39had been one
37:39of genuine love
37:40and Henry
37:41was shattered
37:42by her loss.
37:46But of course,
37:47their marriage
37:47had represented
37:48something else as well.
37:49The union
37:50of Lancaster and York,
37:52the reuniting
37:53of England
37:53after decades
37:54of civil war.
37:59Many had accepted
38:00Henry as king
38:01out of loyalty
38:02to Elizabeth's
38:03Yorkist family.
38:04Now,
38:05her death
38:06threatened to tear
38:06the country apart
38:07all over again.
38:10Perhaps nothing
38:11summed up better
38:11the situation
38:12that Henry
38:12now found himself in
38:13than a poem
38:14that Thomas More wrote
38:15on the occasion
38:16of Elizabeth's death.
38:18Where are our castles
38:19now,
38:20More's poem read?
38:21Where are our towers?
38:23Goodly Richmond,
38:24soon art thou
38:24gone from me.
38:25At Westminster,
38:27that costly work
38:28of yours,
38:28mine own dear lord,
38:29now I shall never see.
38:34More was referring
38:35to the new chapel
38:36Henry VII was building
38:38at Westminster Abbey.
38:43Adorned with all
38:44the familiar symbols
38:45of his kingship,
38:46the Beaufort Portcullis
38:47and the Tudor Rose,
38:49the chapel was intended
38:50to be yet another monument
38:52to the splendour
38:52of Henry's dynasty.
38:56Thomas More's poem
38:58struck at the heart
38:59of the matter.
39:00Henry could build
39:01all the magnificent
39:02buildings he wanted,
39:03but without his wife,
39:05the very foundations
39:06of his reign were shaken.
39:10Usually so inscrutable,
39:12Henry's reaction
39:13to Elizabeth's death
39:14was one of complete
39:15physical collapse.
39:20Retreating into
39:21the depths of Richmond,
39:23he came close to death.
39:25But when he emerged
39:26six weeks later,
39:27the mask was back in place
39:29and his drive for control
39:31was even more remorseless.
39:39The cornerstones
39:40of his reign,
39:41his wife and heir,
39:43were gone
39:43and Henry's crown
39:44was more at risk
39:45than ever.
39:49Old enemies
39:50had resurfaced.
39:52John de la Poole,
39:53who had instigated
39:54the first rebellion
39:54against Henry,
39:55had died 15 years before.
39:58But his younger brother,
40:00the Earl of Suffolk,
40:01was now a man
40:02and at large
40:03on the continent
40:04raising an army.
40:07increasingly ill,
40:08suspicious
40:09and unable
40:10to trust people,
40:11Henry saw conspiracy
40:12at every turn.
40:14But his resolve
40:15was unshakable.
40:17He would hang on
40:18to the crown,
40:19whatever the cost.
40:20If his subjects
40:21would not love him,
40:23they would be made
40:23to fear him.
40:30Henry was perfecting
40:31a very effective
40:32system of repression.
40:35His counsellors
40:36were experts
40:36in extortion.
40:38They forced people
40:39into bonds
40:39and debts
40:40to the king
40:41to guarantee
40:42their good behaviour
40:42and fined people
40:44vast, unpayable
40:45sums of money.
40:46For everyone,
40:47from nobles
40:48to merchants,
40:49it was like being
40:50on permanent bail.
40:51Anybody who broke
40:53the conditions
40:53of these bonds
40:54faced financial ruin.
40:56Now,
40:57betraying the king
40:58was not just unthinkable,
40:59it was unaffordable.
41:06This terrifying system
41:08was enforced
41:09by a shadowy tribunal
41:11known as the
41:11Council Learned
41:12in the Law.
41:17It would become
41:18the most notorious
41:19expression of Henry's rule.
41:24and the minutes
41:25of its meetings
41:26are recorded here
41:27in this book.
41:29It wasn't legally
41:30constituted,
41:31it wasn't a court
41:31of record,
41:32but it consisted
41:33of a number
41:35of Henry's
41:35most powerful
41:36legal advisors
41:37and this council
41:38answered directly
41:40and only
41:40to the king.
41:43It relied on information
41:45supplied by the regime's
41:46network of informers
41:47and spies
41:48who provided details
41:49about offences committed
41:51or potential debts
41:52owing to the king.
41:54And what's interesting
41:55about the council
41:56Learned
41:56is that it overrode
41:58a lot of the normal
42:00processes of government
42:01and of law.
42:02It might, for example,
42:03interrupt normal legal
42:04processes that were
42:05going on
42:06and pluck them
42:07out of the process,
42:08pluck them out
42:08of the system
42:09and haul them
42:10in front
42:10of this group
42:11of councillors.
42:12It acts with
42:13complete impunity.
42:14It is totally
42:15unaccountable.
42:16This was a process
42:17that struck fear
42:18and rage
42:19and frustration
42:20into those people
42:21who were caught up
42:22in its dealings.
42:26Of all the men
42:27associated with
42:28the council Learned,
42:29perhaps the most
42:30infamous and potent
42:31was a silver-tongued
42:33lawyer named
42:34Edmund Dudley.
42:36Dudley had spent
42:37six years working
42:38in the city of London,
42:40networking
42:40and becoming
42:41intimately familiar
42:42with its corridors
42:43of power,
42:44its major players
42:45and the intricate web
42:46of rivalry,
42:47opportunism
42:48and distrust
42:49that linked
42:50the guilds
42:50and companies.
42:53And he saw
42:54first-hand
42:54the dodgy dealings
42:55and corrupt transactions
42:56of the bankers
42:58and merchants
42:58that made
42:59the city tick.
43:02when in autumn
43:03153,
43:04Dudley resigned
43:05from his post.
43:06He was given
43:07a golden handshake
43:08by a grateful city.
43:09But what the city
43:10did not expect
43:11was that Dudley
43:12was going to work
43:14for the king.
43:17Dudley was a poacher
43:18turned gamekeeper.
43:20Fast-tracking him
43:20into royal service,
43:22Henry handed him
43:23an unprecedented role.
43:25Dudley's expertise
43:26lay in defining
43:27and enforcing
43:28the king's legal rights.
43:29Sifting through pages
43:31and pages
43:31of financial paperwork,
43:33he used long-forgotten laws
43:34to inflict crushing
43:35financial penalties
43:36on Henry's subjects.
43:39Dudley described
43:40the brief he had been given.
43:42Henry, he said,
43:43wanted many persons
43:44in danger at his pleasure,
43:46bound to his grace
43:47for great sums of money.
43:50What Dudley was doing
43:51was technically legal,
43:53but it was stretching
43:54the law
43:54to its absolute limits.
43:56It was, he said,
43:59extraordinary justice.
44:01And nowhere
44:02was this extraordinary justice
44:03applied more thoroughly
44:05than in Dudley's
44:06own stamping ground,
44:08the city of London.
44:18But as time passed,
44:20the charges brought
44:21against people
44:22didn't just stem
44:23from obscure laws.
44:24Sometimes they were
44:26entirely fabricated.
44:30Perhaps nothing
44:31sums up the atmosphere
44:32of confusion
44:32and terror
44:33in the city
44:34at this time,
44:34more than an appalling
44:36case of extortion
44:37involving the prosperous
44:38London haberdasher
44:39Thomas Sunniff
44:40and his wife Alice.
44:43Dudley falsely accused
44:45the Sunniffs
44:45of murdering
44:46a newborn child
44:47and dumping
44:48the body
44:49in the Thames.
44:51The phony charges
44:52were designed
44:53to make it seem
44:54that the Sunniffs
44:54had broken
44:55an existing bond
44:56for good behaviour.
44:58The fine for doing so
44:59was £500,
45:01a huge sum of money.
45:03Sunniff
45:04refused to pay.
45:06Instead,
45:06he was carted off
45:07to prison
45:08where he stayed
45:08for three months.
45:09When his case
45:10finally came to court,
45:12the jury was rigged
45:13and the judges,
45:14intimidated by
45:15the king's lawyers,
45:16found him guilty.
45:19With no prospect
45:20of release
45:21and fearing
45:22that he may have
45:23died in jail,
45:24Thomas Sunniff
45:25finally broke
45:26and paid up.
45:30In his account book,
45:31Dudley entered
45:32Sunniff's fine
45:33of £500
45:33for a pardon
45:35for the murdering
45:36of the child.
45:41As his men
45:42tightened their grip
45:43on the city,
45:45Henry had an incredible
45:46stroke of luck.
45:47He received
45:48an unexpected guest
45:50at court.
45:52In January 156,
45:54Philip of Burgundy,
45:55the man sheltering
45:56the Earl of Suffolk
45:57on the continent,
45:58was shipwrecked
45:59on the coast of England.
46:02Seizing the opportunity,
46:03Henry welcomed
46:04this powerful prince
46:05with lavish hospitality.
46:06but it was clear
46:08that Philip was trapped.
46:09Henry would release him
46:11only if he agreed
46:12to hand Suffolk over.
46:15And so,
46:16in mid-March,
46:17a ship carrying
46:18the fugitive Earl
46:19docked at the Port of London.
46:21A heavily armed
46:22reception committee
46:23marched him
46:24to the tower.
46:27He would never emerge.
46:33The threat of Suffolk
46:34was finally gone.
46:36But two decades
46:38spent fending off rebellion,
46:40plot and conspiracy
46:41had left their mark.
46:42This perpetual state
46:44of emergency
46:44had hardened
46:45into a way of rule
46:46and England
46:47was now in the grip
46:49of a system
46:49that people found
46:50both disorientating
46:51and terrifying.
46:54Henry's subjects
46:54were scared
46:55and they were resentful.
46:58But they knew that Henry
46:59could not go on forever.
47:03Closeted away at Richmond,
47:05his health had been failing
47:06for years.
47:09All eyes were on Prince Henry
47:11and what sort of king
47:12he was going to be.
47:16ever since Prince Arthur's death,
47:18the king had wrapped
47:19Prince Henry
47:19in cotton wool,
47:21keeping him confined
47:22in the royal household.
47:24By 157,
47:26Prince Henry
47:27was growing
47:27into a brilliant,
47:28handsome
47:29and athletic teenager,
47:30but his father's control
47:32had begun to chafe.
47:36The king,
47:38increasingly ill,
47:39was only too happy
47:40to show off his son.
47:41He allowed Prince Henry
47:42to organise
47:43the spring tournament.
47:45The prince would be shown off,
47:47but not in the way
47:49his father anticipated.
47:59Tournaments were spectacular events
48:01lasting for days
48:02and at their centre
48:04were the chivalric
48:05superheroes of the age,
48:07armoured knights,
48:08jousting on horseback.
48:10But although he was proving
48:11a brilliant jouster,
48:13Prince Henry
48:13was not allowed to fight.
48:15His father
48:16had already lost one son
48:17and wasn't about
48:19to lose another.
48:20Toby Capwell
48:21is the curator of arms
48:22at the Wallace Collection
48:23and has first-hand experience
48:25of the joust.
48:27There's always risk
48:29in anything
48:30that's worth doing,
48:31right?
48:31and jousting
48:33would be pointless
48:34if it was completely safe.
48:36When you look at
48:37what they're fighting with,
48:38this is a safe one.
48:40This is the safe kind.
48:42You have three prongs
48:43on the head
48:44and that prevents
48:45the lance
48:46from penetrating
48:47too much.
48:48But still,
48:49if you can imagine
48:50being struck
48:50by one of these
48:52in your face
48:53at a closing speed
48:54of 40 miles an hour
48:55or more
48:56in a collision
48:57that is
48:58in all respects
48:59very much
49:00like a car crash,
49:01the danger
49:02is what makes
49:03it meaningful.
49:04Right.
49:05Strong bonds
49:06were formed
49:07in the jousting arena
49:07between knights,
49:09their loyalties
49:10forged in combat
49:11like brothers in arms
49:12on a battlefield.
49:15So while Henry VII
49:16commanded loyalty
49:17through financial control,
49:19his son,
49:20Prince Henry,
49:21would form his bonds
49:22in the tilt yard.
49:24He's clearly built
49:25physically very differently
49:26from his father
49:27but also he thinks
49:28differently from him as well.
49:29It's really just a matter
49:31of Henry VII
49:33being perfectly aware
49:34of the importance
49:35of chivalry
49:36and chivalric display.
49:38But he just wasn't willing
49:40to back that up
49:42with his own body.
49:44Whereas his son
49:45couldn't wait
49:46to get involved personally.
49:49Prince Henry's friends
49:50put on a thrillingly
49:51violent display
49:52of jousting,
49:53pushing the sport
49:54to its boundaries
49:55in a brash disregard
49:57for the rule book.
49:58It was a performance
49:59that the king
50:00and his counsellors
50:01found alarming.
50:02But Prince Henry
50:03loved it.
50:05Caught up in the occasion,
50:06he eagerly chatted
50:07with gentlemen
50:08of low degree,
50:09his openness
50:10a sharp contrast
50:11with his father's
50:12remote detachment.
50:14So people started
50:15to see Prince Henry,
50:17even at the tender age
50:18of 15,
50:19as someone who would
50:20be a return
50:20to a traditional
50:21kind of king.
50:22Valuing honour
50:23and glory over money,
50:25he would privilege
50:26noblemen above lawyers
50:27and accountants,
50:29an entirely different proposition
50:31to his calculating
50:32and distant father.
50:37Imperceptibly,
50:39allegiances
50:39were starting
50:40to shift.
50:45In January 159,
50:47Henry VII
50:48shut himself away
50:49at Richmond.
50:50His health
50:51was failing yet again,
50:53only this time
50:54there would be
50:55no recovering.
50:59At 11 o'clock
51:00at night,
51:01on Saturday,
51:02the 21st of April,
51:031509,
51:06Henry VII died.
51:09He had brought
51:09the kingdom
51:10to the brink
51:11of dynastic succession.
51:13Almost,
51:14but not quite.
51:16This is a pen and ink
51:17drawing of the scene
51:18around Henry's bed
51:19in his privy chamber
51:20at the moment
51:20of his death.
51:21Here we can see
51:22one of the king's
51:23gentleman ushers
51:24closing Henry's eyes
51:25at the moment
51:25of his death,
51:26and we can see here
51:27doctors holding
51:28urine flasks.
51:32Among those present
51:33were some of Henry's
51:34oldest and closest servants.
51:36in the past century,
51:37the deaths of kings
51:38had brought violence
51:39and instability to England,
51:41and they were determined
51:42to make sure
51:42the same thing
51:43did not happen this time.
51:46Now, the 14 people
51:47in this picture
51:47were the only people
51:49who knew
51:49that Henry VII
51:50had died.
51:51They had a unique
51:52opportunity
51:53to order events
51:54to their own advantage,
51:55and this is precisely
51:57what they did.
51:58They agreed to keep
51:59the king's death
52:00a secret
52:01for two days
52:02until the court
52:03gathered for the
52:04feast of the Garter
52:05on St George's Day.
52:08But in order
52:08to smooth the path
52:09of Prince Henry's
52:10succession,
52:11there would need
52:12to be scapegoats,
52:13people to take
52:14the rap for the wrongs
52:15that had been done
52:16in his father's name.
52:21The new regime
52:22had to send out
52:23an emphatic statement
52:24that it would not
52:26be like the old.
52:28One of those
52:28not at court
52:29on St George's Day
52:30was Edmund Dudley.
52:32He was away
52:33in the city.
52:35Dudley had failed
52:36to understand
52:36how resented
52:37and isolated
52:38his rapidly acquired
52:39power had made him,
52:41and consequently,
52:42he failed
52:42to watch his back.
52:47He had become
52:48the unacceptable face
52:49of the old regime.
52:51He was thrown
52:52into the tower
52:53on trumped-up charges
52:54of treason
52:55and finally executed.
53:07As the 17-year-old
53:09Henry VIII
53:10was proclaimed king,
53:11he worked
53:12with a populist touch,
53:14issuing a general pardon
53:15which promised reforms,
53:17justice,
53:19and the redressing
53:20of wrongs.
53:23Thomas More's
53:24coronation poem
53:25celebrated the coming
53:26of this spectacular
53:27new young king
53:28and contrasted
53:29the rain to come
53:30with the dark days
53:31that had just passed.
53:32This day is the end
53:34of our slavery,
53:35the beginning
53:35of our freedom,
53:36the end of sadness,
53:38the source of joy.
53:40Now, he said,
53:41there were no thieves
53:42with their sly,
53:43clutching hands,
53:44and no longer
53:45does fear hiss
53:46whispered secrets
53:47in one's ear.
53:48This king is loved.
53:51More also said
53:52that the crowning
53:53of the new king
53:53was like the coming
53:54of a new season.
53:56But this reference
53:57to the seasons
53:57also said something else.
53:59In fact,
54:00it underscored a contrast
54:01that More emphasised
54:02throughout his poem.
54:03If there was to be
54:04a new spring
54:05of joy and freedom,
54:07it had to follow
54:07a winter
54:08of repression and fear.
54:10If Henry VIII
54:11was the spring,
54:13Henry VII
54:13had been the winter.
54:24Henry VII's funeral cortege
54:26processed through
54:27London's streets,
54:28his effigy displayed
54:29on a carriage
54:30drawn by five horses
54:31draped in black velvet.
54:35But for all the criticism
54:36of his reign,
54:37Henry VII
54:38had still achieved
54:39what he had set out
54:40to do.
54:42He had passed on
54:43the crown of England.
54:50Westminster Abbey
54:51is a national shrine,
54:52the burial place
54:53of kings,
54:54politicians,
54:55poets and playwrights.
54:58And this is where
55:00Henry VII
55:00was laid to rest
55:01in the chapel
55:02he had been building
55:03for the past six years.
55:05It was one of the
55:06architectural wonders
55:07of the age.
55:25It was described
55:26in the 16th century
55:27as miraculum
55:28orbis universale,
55:29the wonder
55:29of the entire world
55:31and it really is
55:32a staggering building.
55:35This spectacular mausoleum
55:37is Henry's ultimate
55:38statement to the world.
55:42Not what we might expect
55:44from a wintry
55:45miser king.
55:48is Henry's ultimate
55:51God's victory.
55:51He was divided
55:52by a man
55:52from a wintry
55:52and do it.
55:52and the true
55:52and the true
55:53and true
55:54and true
55:55and true
55:56and true
56:16Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
56:46...as they were in their prime.
56:47They're intended to be eternal figures of kingship and queenship.
56:58More than 500 years after his death, Henry's chapel remains at the heart of British political life.
57:05It stands as testament to his extraordinary determination and will to power, to everything he aimed for and wanted to
57:12be.
57:15From an isolated beach in Wales, where he landed with little claim to the throne and even less hope.
57:24He fought and he won his battles.
57:30He unified a kingdom.
57:34He accrued immense wealth.
57:38But his greatest legacy would only become clear over time.
57:45Running around the tomb is an inscription.
57:49Henry, it says, was the most rich, the most intelligent, the most dignified, the most glorious of kings.
57:55And Elizabeth, his wife, was the most beautiful, the most chaste and the most fruitful.
58:01Not only had their marriage been a happy one, but crucially, it had also produced children.
58:08The inscription concludes by saying that the land of England should count itself particularly lucky in the foremost of those
58:15offspring.
58:15The current king, Henry VIII.
58:19Lucky old England.
58:23Henry VIII's reign would be turbulent in the extreme.
58:27Yet it was also his father's greatest achievement.
58:31Henry VII had created our most famous, most notorious dynasty.
58:36The Tudors.
58:38The Tudors.
59:00The Tudors.
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